TUGBrian
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Article gives timeshares/resale/TUG a mention!
- Thread starter TUGBrian
- Start date
Arusso
TUG Member
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2017
- Messages
- 184
- Reaction score
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- 153
As the author notes in his article, the three examples given all share a common feature - the consequences surrendering the product after purchase. The two insurance product examples i.e. annuities and cash-value life insurance are complex regulated products that have unique features and can only be sold by licensed and registered individuals. Also, as the author comments, these products not suited for anyone in the market in need of life insurance nor are they intended to be considered an investment suited for every portfolio. There are serious consequences for the broker or financial professional for disclosing information the purchaser should have prior to making the purchase.
This is not at all the case with the timeshare industry. Fractional ownership based on a real property, whether deeded or time-limited RTU or whether purchasing a vacation membership with a long-term "ownership" or other iterations of the same concept with the obligation to pay an upfront price and then assessed yearly, with increasing maintenance costs, while sharing similar characteristics with the other financial products mentioned, is a unique consumer product not subject at all to the same scrutiny by federal or state regulatory agencies. nor is the post purchase "worse case scenario" disclosed at the time of purchase.
The main problems as I see it, apart from the poor disclosure is the lack of transparency necessary to determine whether the purchase makes any financial sense whatsoever. I am not at all referring to the scrutiny of a pure investment. I'm simply referring to what we all want to do before making a consumer purchase. Long gone are the days when a salesperson was able to demonstrate the future cost savings and convincing potential buyers that it makes sense to lock in future vacations in a condo-apartment instead of a hotel room. So, how can consumers determine if deal "a" is better than "b" or better than "c" and so forth.
Sure it would be nice if people knew about TUG (God Bless TUG!), Time Sharing Today or any number of web sites and other forums from which to get information before any purchase. For the most part, they don't and this may help explain the number of people reporting buyers remorse.
What can be done? Maybe I'm simple minded. Nevertheless, the answer is intuitive to It is: Because we are talking about a real estate product, state consumer protection regulations should simply state that any product sold whether directly or indirectly associated with a real property and not intended to be a primary residence is a unique real estate transaction and that before the transaction can be considered final, the buyer must affirmatively attest to the fact that he/she has had the opportunity to refer and/or consult with a licensed third party knowledgeable regarding the product under consideration for purchase or, if the buyer so chooses, in the very least, independently research the product being offered including but not necessarily exclusive to a listing of available printed or on-line resources as disclosed by the applicable state authority.
In my view, this is how government can protect the consumer from marginal sales operators.
This is not at all the case with the timeshare industry. Fractional ownership based on a real property, whether deeded or time-limited RTU or whether purchasing a vacation membership with a long-term "ownership" or other iterations of the same concept with the obligation to pay an upfront price and then assessed yearly, with increasing maintenance costs, while sharing similar characteristics with the other financial products mentioned, is a unique consumer product not subject at all to the same scrutiny by federal or state regulatory agencies. nor is the post purchase "worse case scenario" disclosed at the time of purchase.
The main problems as I see it, apart from the poor disclosure is the lack of transparency necessary to determine whether the purchase makes any financial sense whatsoever. I am not at all referring to the scrutiny of a pure investment. I'm simply referring to what we all want to do before making a consumer purchase. Long gone are the days when a salesperson was able to demonstrate the future cost savings and convincing potential buyers that it makes sense to lock in future vacations in a condo-apartment instead of a hotel room. So, how can consumers determine if deal "a" is better than "b" or better than "c" and so forth.
Sure it would be nice if people knew about TUG (God Bless TUG!), Time Sharing Today or any number of web sites and other forums from which to get information before any purchase. For the most part, they don't and this may help explain the number of people reporting buyers remorse.
What can be done? Maybe I'm simple minded. Nevertheless, the answer is intuitive to It is: Because we are talking about a real estate product, state consumer protection regulations should simply state that any product sold whether directly or indirectly associated with a real property and not intended to be a primary residence is a unique real estate transaction and that before the transaction can be considered final, the buyer must affirmatively attest to the fact that he/she has had the opportunity to refer and/or consult with a licensed third party knowledgeable regarding the product under consideration for purchase or, if the buyer so chooses, in the very least, independently research the product being offered including but not necessarily exclusive to a listing of available printed or on-line resources as disclosed by the applicable state authority.
In my view, this is how government can protect the consumer from marginal sales operators.
Larry M
TUG Member
No. It was Robert A. Heinlein. This from Wikipedia:
The phrase and the acronym are central to Robert Heinlein's 1966 science-fiction novel The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which helped popularize it.[2][3] The free-market economist Milton Friedman also popularized the phrase[1] by using it as the title of a 1975 book,[4] and it is used in economics literature to describe opportunity cost.[5] Campbell McConnell writes that the idea is "at the core of economics".[6]