Smart Timeshare Reminders

Gone are the days when owners enjoyed timeshare vacations’ benefits. Owning a timeshare before was a gift from the heavens since it was only with this kind of ownership that people experience a lifetime of pure enjoyment and relaxation. A timeshare unit offers a spacious suite that could accommodate family members and their friends. No need to book for another room and so everybody can have a small gathering similar to home. Each and everyone of you can use the resort’s amenities like indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, spas, tennis courts, golf courses, gym for free. You don’t have to go far away since all the things you need are just surrounding you. It is even more convenient than your personal home. All these and more are just few of the timeshare privileges you get once you are willing to pay for the costs.

Speaking of costs, those perks I’ve mentioned amount to thousands of dollars once you purchase the unit. Aside from that, there are maintenance fees that you should think about after you’ve signed the contract. The maintenance fees are intended for the upkeep and functionality of the unit. This is required by the developer and there are no exemptions to this. Since it’s recession, almost all industry prices be it services or commodities has gone up. Tendency is that owners are forced to pay for hefty maintenance fees. And when the economic crisis badly hit you, there’s no way you can pay those in thousands of dollars. So the question is, where do you go? Who do you seek for help? Will they be able to help you out of your problem?

The immediate option for desperate timeshare owners is to head towards a resale company. But they don’t have to do it anymore since the resale companies themselves go after them. Owners must not be thankful of this since many of the resale companies are now engaged into unsound business practices. That means owners are more prone to falling into their dirty tactics. What can be dirtier than being rubbed out of money?

I suggest to seek the best timeshare relief available in the market. Don’t just settle for resale companies. Find and know better options.

Timeshares Continue to Drop

The opening of 2008 has been a real crash for businesses especially for the timeshare industries. The recession has influenced the rising of goods and commodities’ prices as well as the services rates. It tightened the belts of many timeshare owners and so they think it is just fully sane to withdraw from their precious timeshare properties.

The popularity of timeshares in the 1970s has slowly died down. According to Howard Nusbaum, American Resort Development Association President and Chief Executive Officer, that timeshare sale may drop up to 30 per cent this year. The market for timeshares within the next 18 months will greatly be a challenge according to Patrick Scholes, FBR Capital Markets & Co. Senior Equity Research Analyst.

Deutsche Bank Securities New York Analyst, Chris Woronka, said that timeshares are considered to be discretionary items in which people are afraid to pay for it. He also stressed that the main obstacle faced by the industry will be “a semi-permanent reduction in demand” since people are not eligible to have it due to low credit scores and so timeshare buyers are lesser.
So far, the highest timeshare sales drop was in 2007 with $10.6 billion. This was the first downfall of the industry since it started its concept in 1975. Last year, it dropped to 8.5 per cent equivalent to $9.7 billion losses according to an Ernst & Young LLP study prepared for ARDA. In effect, there were jobs slashed down.

Three notable timeshare major hotels have been affected with the crisis. Marriott International Inc., have cut prices, stopped further constructions, and sold their underdeveloped lands. Senior Vice President of Marriott’s Investor Relations, Laura Paugh said in a phone interview that there will be no more developments given the risks, yet still they plan to finish the inventory made.

Wyndham Worldwide Corp., considered to be the largest seller of timeshare units, plans to cut 40 per cent sales made in 2009. Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., sales dropped at 48 per cent as reported last January. With it, they have shut down nine sales centers across the world and slashed down 900 employees since early 2008. Scholes said that the industry is being tied up with the availability and/ or lack of financing for the timeshare units.

These are just some of the little news. The timeshare resale market keeps increasing day in and day out. Listings are being posted on websites so many can avail of the services that these timeshares have to offer.

Transfer America’s ‘Get Rid of My Timeshare’ Seminars

Timeshare owners had never been so grateful to Transfer America for their complimentary seminars on ‘Get Rid of My Timeshare’ held in cities such as Alabama, North Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Arkansas last June 11-14.

The seminar was intended for frustrated timeshare owners who wanted to cut their expenses badly through giving up their timeshares due to economic recession. The financial downfall urged these owners to surrender their properties since they no longer can sustain the fees associated with it. There is also an oversupply of timeshare resales with few potential buyers. Charities don’t easily accept timeshares for donations since it would also cause problems to them. Renting doesn’t work either since it is quite impossible too because of the lack of market. Escaping from paying the fees is never a solution as companies may sue and charge you with more additional fees and penalties as well as bring you before a court for criminal liabilities.

In the said seminar, the timeshare owners were able to know how the downfall of economy affected timeshare owners and resulted to the influx of timeshare secondary market. It also revealed the timeshare industry’s tactics and strategies to let you fall in that timeshare trap. Total calculation impact of keeping a timeshare, used or not, in one’s finances were discussed. Main-stream media, governmental agencies, and other print publication’s documented researches of timeshares were shown. And lastly, the seminar presented solutions on how to be 100% timeshare free for the rest of their lives.

These seminars were possible because of the many complaints of timeshare owners about their timeshares. Carolyn & Larry MCullen tried to sell their RV timeshare at a very low price of $295 yet still nobody wants to have it. John Payne questioned himself whether he needed a timeshare that is believed to be an investment but in the long run is considered a liability.

Timeshare owners who were invited across the U.S. that badly needed an exit solution strategy attended the complimentary seminars. A pre-registration was required before attending the event. The specified times and locations were only provided during the registration period.

In my point of view, the said seminar will also enlighten the owners, despite their desperation, not to go to an outside agency that might use their hard-earned money. Scammers have spread across the world and are surrounding these potential timeshare victims.

275 Salesmen Sue Timeshare Companies

Pennsylvania – 275 timeshare salesmen got together to sue timeshare developers they were working for before. According to them, the timeshare developers classified them as independent dealers instead of identifying them as employers to the companies. Their lawsuit was granted by a judge of Philadelphia County last week.

The salespeople want to be properly-compensated. They have sacrificed and gave all their time and effort to be able to sell timeshare properties but the timeshare developers and companies did not give them the benefits they deserved for more than 3 years of their service (June 2005 to December 2008). It is said that the timeshare companies ceased to give them benefits that are estimated to cost up to $2.1 million. The salespeople also have to be paid in compensation for being misclassified.

Among the timeshare developers that were sued are Vacation Charters Ltd. And Split Rock Resort. The two salesmen who are leading the lawsuit against the companies are Albert Whitehead and Austin Miller-Orteneau. Their cases have been filed since 2008 by 2 Elliot Greenleaf lawyers.

Despite his services, Miller-Orteneau was not paid by Vacation Charters because according to the company, he was not their official employer. Miller-Orteneau got confused with that, so he asked IRS if his status was really non-employee. IRS said that he should have been employed by the company.

After hearing about the first two complaints, several salespeople also joined their lawsuit. The other salespeople were hired as independent dealers. As a result, they got exploited. They were the ones who paid for their own federal income taxes. They also did not receive any benefits that they worthy of, like medical insurance.

After the allegations, Vacation Charters changed their terms and classified all salesmen as their official employees in early 2009.

The Return of the Timeshare

Timeshare has its share of good and bad news. When it just started, you could only hear positive news about it. But when recession has started, multiple numbers of malevolent news came out. However, nowadays, it seems like the European Union has regulations that could make using timeshare during vacation a wonderful option.

Usually, there is what we call the seasonal or shared ownership or holiday membership club type of owning timeshare. This is the practice of having a specific time in using their timeshare units every year. But then, this kind of ownership still requires us to pay somehow an average amount of between £4,000 to 10,000 every year. On the other hand, despite the price, we are assured that we can experience the lifestyle of owning a timeshare for the meantime. But what happens if you cannot use the timeshare for a year?

According to an article by Liz Rowlinson, entitled Are Timeshares making a comeback? , there are many people who can buy timeshare units as their second home. But on one second thought, they would love to buy it if the timeshare arrangement is flexible for both parties, especially with regards to the timeshare exchange programs. This is due to the fact that most owners would save money for the future then would want to change their timeshare units for another when it already gets boring to visit.

Though we know that holiday exchange programs in United States are already prevalent, Dimitris Manikis of RCI’s Business Development thinks otherwise for United Kingdom. Though people from UK also like the program, they prefer to look for timeshares in their country rather than to its outside boundaries. This is what they called staycation.

Dimitris said that this trend only started last year simply because of the heavy consequences of the recession. This trend has become more prevalent due to uncertainty issues of air travel. And at the present, in UK, RCI has 105 affiliated timeshare resorts with its 105 members who can use them. It is also offering cottages for rent with ski and beach resorts as well as golfing estates and health spas.

Some of the timeshares available there are the Hever Hotel & Country Club, which can give you the time of your life playing tennis and golf in its countryside; the five- star golfing resort of Gleneagles in Perthshire, Scotland with apartments that you can pass on to your other family members; and the Forest Holidays’ Membership Club which can give you an extravagant experience of staying in a luxurious big log cabin.

On the other hand, with regards to the problems facing the reselling of timeshare which is still prevalent, there is now what we call the existing regulated channels for guidance. No worries anymore because of this EU regulation.