# Not paying their MF's



## jercal10 (May 22, 2008)

Seeking input from those of you who may be  HOA board members (and others) about % of people not paying their MF's in older fixed week resorts.

Is 10% or so of the people perpetually not paying normal? What to do about it??


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## UWSurfer (May 22, 2008)

I just came back from the owners meeting at SCI last Saturday and I belive they said their number was closer to 14% (if I recall correctly).

Someone asked what the economy was doing to that rate & the VRI manager noted that across the board, VRI is noting a 3-4% uptick in deliquent MF's throughout the properties they manage.

The HOA refers these to a collections firm.   I of course am not on a HOA board, but I suspect they plan their budgets with that rate in mind.    I do know that the replacement fund is underfunded, presently at about 34% of target.


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## rickandcindy23 (May 22, 2008)

At Twin Rivers, Fraser, CO, an older resort, the delinquency rate is less than 5%.  An active board, a determined attorney and communication keep that number low.  

I think a lot of owners just want out.  Any HOA that doesn't allow deedbacks is nuts because the attorney costs are very high to get weeks back forcibly.  The one thing I wanted to do on the board at Twin Rivers was make sure people have a way out, if they want it.  But first they need to ask.  We cannot take back anything if we don't know what the problem is.   I cannot believe people would just stop paying and not just ask the question: "will you take the week back?"


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## jercal10 (May 22, 2008)

What do you do with the weeks you take back??


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## rickandcindy23 (May 22, 2008)

I announced a giveaway on TUG a few weeks ago.  

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70212&highlight=twin+rivers

We are having a difficult time giving away the off-season weeks.  Trade power is down from years before, so that is disappointing, but we are trying to improve the unit quality, and we hope to raise our trading power dramatically over the next year or two.  Bathrooms are first, and I hope we can get those done by next May, before the summer rush.  

When exchangers stay in 3 bedroom units, it seems they are most pleased with those experiences, and they rate the resort accordingly with II.  The two-bedroom units are much smaller, and therefore, we get more criticism.  Space really matters for exchangers.  

We have so many improvements to do and have limited income to accomplish them.  If it weren't for money, it would be done by now.    We are doing this slowly, but it will be done because the board is ready to make sure it happens.


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## jercal10 (May 22, 2008)

Thanks for the responses. Does your HOA have a way to rent out the units that are unsold, should anybody want to??


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## UWSurfer (May 22, 2008)

SCI appears to the non-timesharing world to be a mini-suites resort type of place.  

They rent out time by the night...both HOA owned units and owners who wish to put their week into the rental inventory.

The HOA presently owns approximately 100 weeks (out of roughly 5000).


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## jercal10 (May 22, 2008)

Yes and how do they do this rental??


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## rickandcindy23 (May 22, 2008)

We talked to an exchange company about renting our inventory.  I cannot divulge the name of the exchange company, because that is not allowed right now, but this exchange company told us they would be happy to rent any weeks we have.  

I am personally considering a different management company that looks after the interests of the timeshare operation of our resort.  There are whole owners that seem to get preference over timeshares for rentals.  Many of the management companies have rental programs that are very successful.  The problem with changing management companies is that we set up our check-in operation off-site a long time ago.  We used to have it at the resort.


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## UWSurfer (May 22, 2008)

jercal10 said:


> Yes and how do they do this rental??



SCI...from the front desk...just like any other hotel.  Basically the are doing nightly rates.

Oh, as I think of it...they also have an option to rent via their website.


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## jercal10 (May 22, 2008)

Yes , but how do people find you to rent??Do you hook up with Travelocity or something like that??

Does it the income really offset the added expense??


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## UWSurfer (May 22, 2008)

Honestly I don't know.   The general location probably helps quite a bit.

There is a LARGE sign adjacent to I-5.  The off ramp which most take for the state park empty's right in front of the resort.  It's near the beach and adjacent to the state park.

Additionally there is a popular "local's" restaurant on site that likely brings in other hungry travelers & law enforcement.

A quick check of Trip Advisor for San Clemente Hotels has it appear as # 8 on it's list.   People also exchange into it via RCI & II and some who have young kids like it as it tends to be family friendly.  It's also in VRI's properties book for both exchange and rental.

As far as finding someone to rent it to as an owner...I can either do the canvassing or I can let the resort rent it out based on demand.   I vacated for a couple days when my week was the same week as the San Diego fires and I got a check for two nights rental through the resort managment (VRI) which paid for about half of our maintenance fees.


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