[2008] Southcape Resort

engelesq · Dec 31, 2010

Warning to the Remaining SouthCape Week OWNERS

It makes zero cents (but lots of dollars for Festiva, not for you) to pay Festiva (plus give them the deed to your SouthCape week) for the dubious privilege of turning your deeded week at SouthCape into Festiva points, points that MIGHT be useable at one of the very few, very uninterestingly located other Festiva resorts WHEN YOU IN FACT WANT TO GO THERE.

At SouthCape Festiva purchased primarily off-season weeks, weeks no one else wanted. No doubt the weeks they are foreclosing on are also primarily off-season weeks; someone with a prime week would not let Festive foreclose to avoid paying $525. Thus what they have to offer their members who want to use Festiva points to visit SouthCape is primarily weeks when no one else wants to be there.

In all likelihood it's the same at the rest of the Festiva resorts.

You know what you have. You know that you can arrange to trade it for any of very many time share weeks, often in places that are far better maintained, and at least as well located, as SouthCape is, via one of the time share trading services, for a fairly nominal cost, and, after the trade, you still own your week at SouthCape for years to come (the "Master Deed" eventually runs out, but "eventually" has not arrived yet).

If you are thinking of paying Festiva for the right to give them your money plus your deed in exchange for Festiva points, no matter how many, think again.

Sou13 · Jan 8, 2011

Welcome, engelesq!

Welcome, engelesq, and thank you for your post!

By keeping this discussion alive you help other Southcape owners find us. Here's an example:

Hello,
My husband purchased a week at SouthCape resort without my knowledge (as a surprise) well I started researching the place and came up with this forum and was rather interested in your posts and any info you can give us to help us with this. We are here this week for our assigned week (November 13-20) well today Monday the 15th my husband went for what he was told was a mandatory owners meeting. He returned 5 minutes later they would not meet with him without me they claim they need me there. He explained we have a 14 month old and I couldnt go and they insist I be there so he needs to re-schedule this suppossed meeting. Before we go what should we be on the look out for and what kind of info do you have for us and what should we be on the lookout for? I know its a scam and that they are going to try to bully us into buying more weeks. Any help you can give or any documents you can send me would be very helpful.

So now Festiva's marketing company is scheduling appointments for "mandatory owners meetings"! I have learned from an owner who fell into the Festiva trap that they went to the meeting believing that other owners would be there with them, only to find out that it was a sales promotional meeting. Had they found us before attending that meeting they would still be Southcape interval owners!

engelesq · Jan 8, 2011

One Can Now Pay SouthCape Maintenance Fees Online

After weeks of the website not working properly, and calls to the Festiva number (on the bill itself!) going unanswered, the website finally works, and I was able to pay my 2011 maintenance fee online, via my credit card, with no (known) extra fee for doing so, and with the usual airline miles bonus my credit card gives me (I did not pay the trip insurance fee, which is optional--and the bill makes that clear).

Finally, something good!

People should not get the idea that SouthCape is not a very good place at which to own a deeded week, rent a week or spend a week in some other manner (such as via a trade or with Festiva points). It is very nice for what it is. It's not a Marriott or other super-luxury resort, but the units are large. The place is both quiet and very conveniently located (unless you want to be ON a beach). It's quite attractive. If you are into tennis there is a lot of available, no-extra-charge outdoor court time available, and indoor courts can be reserved. There are indoor and outdoor pools, and they are almost never crowded. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than a week at a Cape Cod hotel or motel with even remotely similar facilities--if you are an owner, you get the equivalent of an entire, good-sized, two-bedroom, two-bath condo unit, fully furnished, with nice on-site facilities, for under $600 for an entire week, even in prime season--where can you get a better deal on Cape Cod?!

Sou13 · Jan 15, 2011

I, too, am finally able to log in to the website, after contacting ownerservices@festiva.travel explaining my problem. It took a few days longer for mine to get corrected but at least I didn't have to wait by the telephone to talk to a human being. If I had wanted to do that why would I need to register to pay online?

Thanks, engelesq, for putting in good words for Southcape Resort, and for making the case for hanging on to your deeded weeks. So long as you own a week you can rent it privately and post your rental on a variety of websites. You can also exchange through other exchange networks than II, the only exchange company available to FAC members. If you own Condo II week you will no longer be able to exchange through RCI if you convert your weeks to FAC points.

scrjs · Jan 15, 2011

If you transferred your Southcape or Sandcastle deed please read this

If you bought Festiva points and relinquished your Sandcastle or Southcape deed, in almost every case your quitclaim deed was illegally notarized at the Outfield Marketing office in Texas and then registered with the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds. The only job of a notary is to witness signatures to ensure that everything is on the up and up. The notaries knew they were violating a trust and the law by notarizing signatures (about 700 of them!) without the signer being present.

Be aware that some people did sign quitclaim deeds with the knowledge that they would be notarized somewhere else. This is still illegal and demonstrates that the salesmen knew that if they gave people time to think, they probably would lose the sale.

However there are other people who were unaware that their deed was transferred to Festiva. We believe that Outfield Marketing began cutting even more corners, didn't clearly inform people about the process and may even have forged or affixed signatures in some way to the quitclaim deeds.

Whatever category you fit into, the process was not legal.

Please consider filing a complaint with the TX Secretary of State who oversees notaries there.

The form can be obtained on line:

http://www.texasnotary.com/docs/complaint.pdf

To get the name of the notary, you need to look at the last page of the deed. You can look up the deed by going to www.barnstabledeeds.org. Follow the instructions for searching records and enter your name as grantor. The deed will have been transferred to Intercity Escrow (grantee.) This will give you the book and page reference. You can view the deed online if you download free software from the site.

You can also obtain a copy of the deed by sending $3.00 together with the book and page reference of the deed you are looking for to P.O. Box 368, Barnstable, MA 02630.

Sou13 · Jan 29, 2011

You need to post this info to the Sandcastle discussions as well, for those owners who have yet to find them on TUG.

Sou13 · Feb 4, 2011

Deed discrepancies

I've been making up a spreadsheet of all the Southcape owners who converted to Festiva and am finding errors in the recorded deeds. One deed has been erroneously registered 4 times, all four times by a notary public in Texas! Instead of registering Unit 27 Week 48, the deed has been registered as Unit 48 Week 27! This is a BIG ONE because it converts a winter week into a 4th of July week!

Sou13 · Feb 8, 2011

Yes, it is a BIG mistake!

Sou13 said:
I've been making up a spreadsheet of all the Southcape owners who converted to Festiva and am finding errors in the recorded deeds. One deed has been erroneously registered 4 times, all four times by a notary public in Texas! Instead of registering Unit 27 Week 48, the deed has been registered as Unit 48 Week 27! This is a BIG ONE because it converts a winter week into a 4th of July week!

I contacted the owner who was incorrectly converted to the 4th of July week and learned that the owner was surprised to be able to spend a summer week at Southcape but not pleased about having to pay $828 MF to Festiva as well as the $400 special assessment that the Outfield Marketing rep had told them they'd be avoiding having to pay to Southcape.

So who are the winners and losers here? Who is the deeded owner of Unit 48 Week 27 who was unable to stay in his deeded unit? How did the resort handle this when there were two parties expecting to stay in the same unit?

Sou13 · Feb 24, 2011

Owners now deeding weeks back to Southcape

While going through records at the Barnstable Registry of Deeds I discovered that 24* owners have deeded their weeks back to the resort in 2011! Can anyone explain this? Is the resort accepting deedbacks, and if so, why?

Or is it possible to foreclose on delinquent weeks under the new Massachusetts law, and if so, how could it have been done so quickly?

More importantly, what does the resort intend to do with these weeks?

Sou13 · Mar 8, 2011

Mystery solved

Received today from Kevin Blocker, the Festiva Trustee who painted such a rosy picture at our Community Association meeting in May 2010:

These weeks were accepted back into the HOA through a settlement offer issued by Mr. Hagberg before our involvement. He approached several owners who were severely delinquent in their maintenance fees and were unwilling or unable to pay. Other associations' HOA boards have done this recently through what is called a deed in lieu process. The goal is to regain control of weeks that are owned by members, but have almost no chance of being brought current. The HOA's feel it is better to regain control of the deed and be in a position to control what happens to it next. They can then rent it or sell it. Something they cannot do if the deed is still in the name of the delinquent owner. In most cases, most or all of the past due fees are waived in exchange for the deed. This process is financially preferred over foreclosure as foreclosure is expensive, and the end result is the same.

These deeds are now in the name of the HOA at Southcape. Southcape employees are attempting to rent the weeks for the profit of the HOA which will have a positive influence on future operating budgets. The Trustees will discuss a suitable offering for any owners who wish to own additional weeks. Our goal is to replace these delinquent owners with ones who will pay their maintenance fees going forward.

There are 5 or 6 additional deeds that will be deeded to the Festiva Adventure Club's trustee. These weeks represent owners that have either converted to the Club product, or have approached the Club wishing to transfer their ownership. All deeds accepted in this manner were paid up and current in their obligations to Southcape. The maintenance fee burden for these deeds now belongs to the Club and they are not "developer weeks."
See also the latest posts to Massachusetts signs non-judicial foreclosure bill for timeshares! Good news

Sou13 · Apr 6, 2011

Annual meeting?

Has anyone been contacted about the annual meeting?

Sometime in January I received a call from either Southcape Resort or Festiva, advising me to be expecting a call about the owners' "meetings" sometime in the future. At the time I reasoned that it might be less expensive to call the owners than to mail them, but that would mean that the resort or Festiva has all of the owners' telephone numbers. Since there was no mention of the annual meeting in the meeting minutes or any of the mailings from Festiva, it is now necessary for either the resort or Festiva to notify the owners that a meeting is supposed to be taking place. This notice is supposed to be mailed out no less than 21 days prior to the meeting, which should be soon if the meeting is supposed to be taking place May 14.

Has anyone contacted the resort or the trustees to inquire about the date of the meeting?

Sou13 · Apr 21, 2011

Annual meeting update

An owner who called the resort to inquire about the meeting was told that it is scheduled for May 14 and that notices will be mailed. I've received no notice so far, and in two days it will be 21 days before the meeting.

Has anyone received a notice? If so, who sent it?

engelesq · Apr 25, 2011

Annual Meeting

No notice received so far.

engelesq · Apr 29, 2011

Expect Nothing

If you take a look at the online journal Festiva just sent us, at the section that deals with resort improvements, you will notice that Southcape is not even mentioned. Presumably that means that there have been none.

If anyone knows of anything Festiva has done FOR us, as opposed to TO us, let's hear about it. I'd love to be able to support them, but that means that they also must support us.

Russ45 · May 6, 2011

engelesq said:
No notice received so far.

Received my notice for the May 14th meeting about a week ago in the mail.

Russ45 · May 13, 2011

meeting

Russ45 said:
Received my notice for the May 14th meeting about a week ago in the mail.

i won't be able to make the May 14 meeting but would be interested to know if anything noteworthy is discussed.

Sou13 · May 17, 2011

Southcape Resort & Club Annual Owners Meeting

It looks as though it's up to me or bhound54 to fill you in because we're the only TUG guests* who were at the meeting to my knowledge.

There were about the same # of owners at the 2011 meeting as there were in 2010, but not the same owners. By "owners" I also mean the new "developers" who bought the 559 NEVS weeks. They were represented by Kevin Blocker and Jason Buchanan. Mr. Blocker convened the meeting and Mr. Buchanan mostly observed.

I was unable to take notes because I was monitoring the door as latecomers arrived, directing them to the agenda packets and handing them what I had brought to pass out. This year I wanted them to have copies of the BY-LAWS and what I had found at https://72.8.52.132/ALIS/WW400R.PGM of the history of Trustees which I posted at http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/41573436/1696252388/name/SOUTHCAPE+TRUSTEES.pdf. The reason I wanted owners to have copies of their rights according to the BY-LAWS was that I knew that Mr. Blocker was going to tell us why Festiva believes that we have NO RIGHT to representation on the board of directors. I also handed out a list of the weeks that Festiva bought (or mortgaged) from NEVS.

The owners who were concerned enough about the future of their timeshares at Southcape Resort have signed up for email updates and I've been busy this week adding them to the Yahoogroup and updating my contacts. If you are a Southcape Resort interval owner who has not yet contacted me or checked out our Yahoogroup, please do so before we lose all our rights as interval owners. Festiva currently controls more than 860 weeks and continues to go after more control. The MF-paying membership in the Community Association has decreased to less than 1600 (did I hear 1565?) and Festiva is neither selling any of the 559 weeks purchased (or mortgaged?) from NEVS nor paying MF on those weeks. The 1565 MF-paying owners includes 300 FAC members whose voting rights are assumed by Festiva. This means that there are now only 1200 interval owners who should but do not have the right to elect at least two Trustees to the board.

I have published links to the minutes of the 1984 meeting when the owners elected two owners to the expanded board. According to the BY-LAWS and Master Deed, there should still be 5 Trustees, and Festiva does not have the right to occupy three of the five seats on the board according to the original Master Deed.

We have learned that NEVMSLLC is still exercising control of the foreclosures. There was a notice in the Mashpee Enterprise that an auction of 330 foreclosed weeks will be held June 10. I have yet to see a copy of this notice but will publish details as soon as I get them.

*The other TUG guest at the meeting doesn't like to post comments to this discussion.

Stevenh1 · May 21, 2011

Ahh timeshare sales people...The only group of people who are able to make the used car industry look reputable:hysterical:

scrjs · May 23, 2011

Auction of Foresclosed Southcape Units

Sou 13 asked me to post the following:

There is a notice in the Mashpee Enterprise today (5/23/2011) regarding the public auction of Southcape Resort Condominium 2 Units pursuant to
MGL 183B, section 29D. (Thought to include 330 foreclosed units.)

Auction will be held at Souhcape Resort, Rm. 28, Mashpee at 10:00AM, June 10.

Terms of sale: certified check, other terms to be announced at the sale.

For further information contact Denise Daly at NEVS, 774-994-0450 or email NEVSLLC@gmail.com

Sou13 · May 23, 2011

Thank you, scrjs!

Please see my post at http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1113096#post1113096 and check back tomorrow for further details.

Sou13 · Jun 2, 2011

Email me for a map

In addition to the link to the Units/Weeks and Weeks/Units published in my previous post I have a map of the resort showing what kind of Unit each is and where. I've been unable to successfully publish this, though, so if you want a copy to go with the list you'll need to email me for it.

When I copied the notice into a spreadsheet I counted more than 330 weeks, more like 343, but some of them might have been settled and removed from the list. My list is of the weeks that were published in the May 6 Mashpee Enterprise.

Sou13 · Jun 13, 2011

Another auction?

Found on craigslist:

$1 / 2br - Timeshare Foreclosure Auction (Mashpee Ma/Cape Cod )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2011-06-11, 1:50PM EDT
Reply to: hous-phjty-2434462958@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spacious and private two bedroom timeshare cottages available thru public foreclosure auction. Resort is located in beautiful Mashpee just two miles from South Cape Beach and Mashpee Commons. All cottages sleep 6 with 2 seperate bedrooms and pull out sofabed, two full baths (master with whirlpool tub), fully equipped kitchen, large living room area, den, central AC and private deck/patio with charcoal grill. Resort offers indoor pool, tennis court, half basketball court, putting green, shuffleboard, childrens play area. Resort is currently renovating all units which includes the addition of washer/dryers. Resort is auctioning off 24 red weeks, many of which are PRIME SUMMER! BIDS CAN START AS LOW AS $1.00!!! Auction will be held on site. Interested parties please email for more exact location, day/time and additional information.

PostingID: 2434462958

Sou13 · Jul 6, 2011

Cape Cod Holiday Estates

I emailed the above for info about the upcoming auction. It is to be held at Cape Cod Holiday Estates on Saturday, July 16 at 10 a.m. There are 26 weeks to be auctioned, starting bids to be announced at the auction.

No mention of certified checks required in order to attend.

Sou13 · Aug 13, 2011

2011 owners' meeting minutes

The minutes of the May 2011 owners' meeting arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I knew that I had to request them, which is why I received a copy.

If you are a Southcape Resort interval owner who has yet to request a copy, call 508-477-4700 to request not only a copy of the minutes but a copy of the 2010 financial report as well. I have posted prior years' reports here on TUG, and the link to the Southcape Archives in my signature below will direct you to some of those posts. I am no longer posting to TUG now that we have our own publicly-accessible links as one of the many benefits of forming a southcapeowners Yahoogroup.

Sou13 · Nov 30, 2011

Sou13 said:
The minutes of the May 2011 owners' meeting arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I knew that I had to request them, which is why I received a copy.

If you are a Southcape Resort interval owner who has yet to request a copy, call 508-477-4700 to request not only a copy of the minutes but a copy of the 2010 financial report as well. I have posted prior years' reports here on TUG, and the link to the Southcape Archives in my signature below will direct you to some of those posts. I am no longer posting to TUG now that we have our own publicly-accessible links as one of the many benefits of forming a southcapeowners Yahoogroup.

"I am no longer posting to TUG now that we have our own publicly-accessible links as one of the many benefits of forming a southcapeowners Yahoogroup" should have read "I am no longer posting minutes to TUG now that we have our own publicly-accessible links as one of the many benefits of forming a southcapeowners Yahoogroup"

!