timeshare news

New guidelines for timeshare resale companies in the works by ARDA.

The Timeshare Resale Forum at last week’s American Resort Development Association Convention in Orlando was pretty exciting in terms of future directions for the timeshare industry. With roughly 100 participants from all areas of timeshare resales present, it was great to see such a strong level of participation and enthusiasm. Right now, ARDA is working to craft a much needed Code of Ethics for timeshare resale companies.

ARDA currently has a Code of Ethics that covers all member businesses. Complaints about a company or its practices are referred to the ARDA Ethics Committee for discussion and possible revocation of membership , depending on the severity of the complaint. The new guidelines will center more on timeshare resale companies and ARDA’s role in potentially policing them.

New ARDA Guidelines for Timeshare Resales

Three primary themes were discussed at the Forum: Disclosure, Transparency, and Enforcement. I could not feel more strongly about the pressing need for these types of guidelines for timeshare resales. If you read The Timeshare Authority regularly, you already know my conviction that standardizing timeshare sales, timeshare resales, and timeshare rentals benefits the timeshare industry just as much as it benefits the consumer.

Greater disclosure in the marketing and sale of timeshare resales would address areas such as costs, with the guidelines requiring all costs be discussed with the consumer at the start of the timeshare sales process, thereby eliminating the possibility for surprise, or ‘hidden fees’ cropping up later.

Transparency in the timeshare resales process would cover marketing practices and what the consumer will actually receive in services from a timeshare resale company. Transparency will also help standardize the reporting of the sales results a timeshare resales company achieves, as well as addressing how the company can use those claims in its marketing. In other words, timeshare buyers will be able to compare apples to apples when looking at the timeshare sales results published by different resale companies.

New timeshare resale guidelines for enforcement will deal more with ARDA’s role in holding timeshare resales companies accountable for their marketing, advertising, and sales practices. Like the guidelines in ARDA’s present code, after review by the Ethics Committee, ARDA members breeching the new resales code may be subject to expulsion from ARDA.

Sell My Timeshare NOW and the New Code of Timeshare Resale Ethics

As a part of the timeshare industry and an active member of ARDA, Sell My Timeshare NOW welcomes the additional scrutiny that an expanded code of ethics for the resale market will bring. Timeshare resale companies should provide information and verification about their timeshare sales results and the claims they make to consumers. In fact, I’ll go even further and call for independent, third party evaluations to substantiate these claims. As an industry, we need to do everything we can to raise the bar for integrity of standards in timeshare resales.

ARDA’s new timeshare resales guidelines are expected to be finished sometime this summer and The Timeshare Authority will keep you apprised of developments along the way.

Timeshare leaders at the ARDA Convention see a changing paradigm for timeshare companies.

Some of the most interesting conversations at the American Resort Development Association 2009 timeshare convention in Orlando, Florida this week have dealt with the timely topic of the slow (and in some cases stalled) credit market.

Yes, the timeshare companies are responding to this in logical ways. Marriott timeshare is requiring larger deposits from consumers buying timeshares. Other timeshare companies are setting shorter terms for timeshare financing sometimes paired with the requirement for a higher down payment. The goal is clearly to minimize the risk for default on the timeshare financing.

But along with stricter terms for financing there prevails, throughout the timeshare industry, a paradigm shift. As Franz Hanning, the president and Chief Executive Officer, of Wyndham Vacation Ownership (Wyndham Timeshare) explained, the desire is not to be a consumer financing company, but to be the vacation ownership industry. Hanning points out that although it is easy to find people who want to buy timeshare, today’s focus must be on finding people who are also qualified to buy timeshare. One of the comments made during the discussions was: ‘650 is the new 600’ — meaning that consumer credit scores of 600 may no longer be the threshold for buying timeshare as timeshare companies look to reduce their risk by targeting timeshare sales to buyers who present a lower statistical risk of defaulting on their timeshare deal.

You might call the outlook one of “back to the basics” and it can only prove to be a highly positive direction for timeshare owners and the timeshare industry in general. With a back to the basics movement, you will see improved quality of service and a true value proposition with a sincere commitment to meeting (and perhaps exceeding) the needs of timeshare owners, timeshare buyers, and timeshare renters.

Projected result: a stable and top-quality timeshare industry with many happy timeshare owners.

The Berkshire Eagle reports that at Berkshire Bentley Brook, a Bentley Brook timeshare condominium, 40 employees (roughly half the resort’s staff) were laid off last week. Wyndham timeshare, which owns and operates Bentley Brook, says that the employees are receiving comprehensive severance packages, and that this lay off is the last expected at the resort.

Bentley Brook Timeshare Resort

Bentley Brook timeshare opened in 1998, and is located in the Jiminy Peak ski resort, of Hancock, Massachusetts. The timeshare condo has 155 timeshare units and was formerly a Fairfield Resort. Today Bentley Brook is one of more than 145 Wyndham timeshare vacation ownership resorts.

The resort’s location, with easy access to ski lifts and year-round area attractions, has long made it a popular destination for vacations in every season. Skiers enjoy the convenience of ski lifts only 200 feet from the resort – ski out your front door. In the spring, outdoor enthusiasts are eager to hit the area’s many trails for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Summer is the time for water sports, picnics, and amazing cultural opportunities from Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, to the Shakespearean theater, nearby museums and historic sites. And in the fall, of course, everyone comes to see the autumn colors.

Bentley Brook timeshare resales are available in a range of prices, and as timeshare rentals. Employee cutbacks at the resort primarily involved the timeshare resort’s sales staff and should not impact the service and attention you will receive on a Bentley Brook timeshare vacation.

(Sources: The Park Record; Deseret News) The tightening of the credit market combined with the declining economy has already forced Westgate timeshares to lay off workers and to scale-back sales efforts. And just when they did not need more bad news, a Utah County Court has ordered Westgate timeshare to pay $1 million in punitive damages in a consumer related court case. The timeshare company is being held accountable for having attempted to attract prospective timeshare buyers to their Westgate Park City Resort, by using problem-ridden travel vouchers as bait.

An attorney representing the Consumer Protection Group says that the timeshare company defrauded consumers. “They weren’t telling them they were getting a voucher; they were telling them they were getting an Anaheim trip,” explained attorney Scott Boyd, who qualified that the trip was supposed to include air travel and lodging and have a value of approximately $500. Boyd explained, “For all timeshares, they have to get bodies through the door so they can do the sales. Now how different companies choose to get people through the door may tell you who’s reputable and who’s not so reputable in the industry.”

Here’s How the Westgate Timeshare Problem Started

People who toured Westgate timeshares in late 2000 and in 2001, received letters advising them that they may have been defrauded. More than 900 individuals responded to the Consumer Protection Group’s letter. In the end, 30 Utah residents (or 15 parties) made up the case against Westgate Resorts.

As is too often the case in such timeshare problems, people who toured at Westgate timeshare believed they were receiving a product (a gift) that in the end, turned out to be too problematic to use. Voucher holders were restricted from redeeming their trip during any weeks before or following 10 different holidays and they were required to depart only on a Tuesday, and return only on a Thursday.

Adding to the confusion and complexity of the ‘deal’ was the fact that the voucher holder had to kick in $135 upfront, and redeem the voucher within 21 days. While many people looked at the extensive restrictions and simply tossed out the vouchers, others complied with all the stipulations only to be told that the dates requested were not available.

After a three-week jury trial, the case was decided in favor of the plaintiffs. Attorney Boyd admitted that the individuals involved, “did not stand to make a lot of money,” but said that, “This is to make a point to the timeshare industry, to Westgate, that you cannot have a fraudulent scheme.”

Westgate reportedly has plans to appeal a final civil judgment. The timeshare company’s attorneys claim that it was an independent telemarketing firm that scheduled the timeshare tours, and that they (the telemarketers) had failed to warn callers of the travel restrictions.

The Timeshare Authority is not defending or condemning Westgate timeshares, as there are always two sides to every story. But the question does arise … if there were only 30 plaintiffs, which was defined as 15 couples, and they do, “not stand to make a lot of money,” then who do you think is receiving the lion’s share of the million dollar settlement?

Other recent posts on The Timeshare Authority involving Westgate timeshare:

• Bluegreen Timeshares and Westgate Timeshare Mogul Settle Pending Lawsuit
• Hotels, Timeshares, and the Bailout