# Anybody else getting screwed by SA special levies?



## thecypher (Nov 13, 2007)

Or is it just me?   I own 2 3BR weeks at Falcon Glen. What started off as about $400 USD MF for the 2 weeks a couple of years back is now close to $850 for the 2 weeks with the dollar falling and the resort bumping up the MF enormously. And to top that they have been shafting owners starting last year with special levies that are EQUAL to the MF for 3 consecutive years 2007-2009. So last year I paid close to $1700 USD and my MF/Special Levy bill again for 2008 is over $1700 USD. I am wondering if I should just cut my losses and not pay the MF this year and just let them do whatever? (I doubt I can sell these for any reasonable amount of money). Or should I just pay the big amount in 2008 and 2009 and hope that will be the end of the special levies?? Is this common with all SA resorts? Do they all screw owners with their exhorbitant special levies?? 

I use these weeks to deposit them into the RCI Points program for 53,500 points per week. So I get a total of 107,000 points for these 2 weeks.


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## Htoo0 (Nov 14, 2007)

I don't know if I would say *all* but before I purchased mine I heard you NEVER want to own where there can be SA's. (Which I guess means you can't own a TS these days :ignore Anyway, I was wrongfully assured mine didn't and we've been hit with SA's and MF's which have increased greatly within the last few years. Your situation sounds worse than ours (Morritts) however so I feel for you. I' m not sure what we should do either. Some are bailing and practically giving their units away. It's too bad because it really is a nice place to visit.


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## Sue B (Nov 14, 2007)

I own at Sudwala Lodge (bought about four years ago) and we have never been hit with additional levies.

The annual maintenance fees have gone up every year but by a reasonable amount.  They are doing a lot of refurbishment there but have enough money to cover this without having to ask for extra via levies. 

I also know that the resort is well run and managed.  They also have a lot of US owners who pay their maintenance on time and also in advance in order to spacebank their weeks.  I don't think they have many owners defaulting.  Is that the difference?

Sue


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## thecypher (Nov 14, 2007)

I don't know what the deal is. I suspect a lot of owners have already dumped their weeks last year and more will dump their weeks this year if they haven't already. This is going to be bad for the resort in the long run if owners start running away. I still fail to understand how they can charge special levies for 3 straight years which are equal to the annual MF. Could be an intentional ploy to get owners to default.


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## shorts (Nov 15, 2007)

*Dead Beats!*

We don't have any South Africa weeks, but so far for 2008, we have 3 special assessments.  Haven't heard yet from 3 other resorts.

One thing I have noticed....resorts that have SA or large increase in MFs attribute a big part of it to "bad debt."  1 resort even stated that was the main reason for the SA.  Owners of low season weeks are not paying their MFs leaving all the other paying owners to shoulder the dead beats!  

What happened to people that honor their obligations?    We would never just stop paying the MFs.


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## Carolinian (Nov 16, 2007)

shorts said:


> We don't have any South Africa weeks, but so far for 2008, we have 3 special assessments.  Haven't heard yet from 3 other resorts.
> 
> One thing I have noticed....resorts that have SA or large increase in MFs attribute a big part of it to "bad debt."  1 resort even stated that was the main reason for the SA.  Owners of low season weeks are not paying their MFs leaving all the other paying owners to shoulder the dead beats!
> 
> What happened to people that honor their obligations?    We would never just stop paying the MFs.



This is exactly what I have been predicting for years would result from RCI's new policies that let the Points members compete for 45-day Weeks inventory, which used to be one of the main appeals of those offseason weeks, and also getting into rentals to the general public which also depletes the exchange pool.  Owner bailout is a direct result of the malpractrices of RCI.

Smart resorts need to do two things to counteract this.  One is to advice their members on the ability to use independent exchange companies, and the other is to identiry non-exchanger markets for those off-season weeks they get back.   RCI is kicking the financial props out from under the ownership/exchange model of timesharing, and can no longer be relied upon as a magnet to attract owners.  Resorts need to get into the post-RCI mode.


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## Carolinian (Nov 16, 2007)

SA means two things on these boards - special assessment and South Africa, and this thread deals with both, so using that abbreviation gets confusing.

South Africa is like anywhere else; you have to pay attention to who runs the resort.  Is it really member controlled?  If so, you are probably okay.  The two resorts I have owned at in SA are, and I never had a special assessment there.  The worst scenario is where the Club Leisure Group of ''Bullfrog'' Lamont has its hooks deeply into the resort, especially where the board consists of Lamont and other Club Leisure employees and his management company, First Resorts, is managing the place.  I would run, not walk, away from any such resort.  Their tricks to crash resorts, making the underlying property valuable for resale, include large SA's and ditching RCI affiliation.


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## timeos2 (Nov 16, 2007)

*SA or SA - both can be good or bad*

Special Assessments are far from unique to South African timeshares but are possible at any timeshare. Far too many owners simply let management, often not the most reliable or capable group, handle everything at their timeshare resort(s). Big mistake.  I know you only own a week or two and that it isn't usually the biggest thing in your life but, as shown here, ignoring it or making assumptions about someone else handling things can turn out to be very costly to you (and every other owner) in the long run. 

As part of any timeshare ownership you shold find out who actually controls the resort - owners or developer/management, what condition the resort is in and the financial situation.  If it's a developer/management control, an aging resort, reserves/operation budgets are borderline or worse and maybe collections poor you are almost guaranteed to be looking at special assessment(s) down the line. It is much better if the resort has direct owner control - usually through an elected owners Board of Directors - and if they are properly funding both operations and reserves through realistic annual fees. Not a guarantee of no special assessment s but the likelihood is greatly  reduced or at least they will be reasonable.  If the resort is someplace you cab get to easily (one of the critical features IMO) then consider volunteering your time to help run the place as a Board member or other position. 

The idea of buying cheap, looking for low annual fees or cashing in on a temporary trade value boost such as what happened with South Africa units is at best a short term play.  If you don't get in and out quickly you will most likely end up paying far more than anticipated for that time.


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## SteveH (Nov 24, 2007)

I had two weeks at Falcon Glen; a 3BR and a 1BR and they were both pretty good traders (peak weeks), once upon a time.  I sold my 3BR several years ago as the trading power started to drop precipitously - seemed to be in direct proportion to the increase in MFs.  I was left with the 1BR and when I received the SA, well that was the straw that broke my back.  I also read some rather unsavory reports regarding the Beekman bros who manage/own this TS.  So I ended up giving the week away to one of South Africa brokers and I'm quite happy to now have shed all my SA weeks.
Since points for deposit is your primary motivation why not consider putting the SA monies into one of these point lease programs out of California where you can receive about the same number of points.  If you're unhappy in 3 years then you can just walk away.
Steve


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## Sandy (Nov 25, 2007)

The increase in MF coupled with the special assessments is what has many of the Seapointer (SA) owners dumping and running. I know, I am one of them. 

I have owned Seapointer since it was touted on this board 4-5 years ago. It is by far my absolute best trader.  I have thought long and hard about whether to walk away or to pay a special assessment that was more than I paid for the weeks themselves!  I have chosen to give up my Seapointer (trying to sell it right them now) ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY WERE DISAFFILIATED WITH RCI!

That was the icing on the cake.  Not being able to trade through RCI was a real problem for me, considering the many great trades I got with Seapointer. 
You can read more about the current Seapointer special assessments and dilemmas elsewhere here on this board.


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## e.bram (Nov 25, 2007)

You buy a TS where you have no intention of visiting and the people who live there and use it want to fix it and you are getting screwed? I do not understand it.


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## Sandy (Dec 2, 2007)

e.bram said:


> You buy a TS where you have no intention of visiting and the people who live there and use it want to fix it and you are getting screwed? I do not understand it.



Not sure if you were referring to me or not, but I have visited Capetown twice. I bought Seapointer for trading and visiting.  One of the selling points every timeshare sales pitch contains is the possibility of trading the unit for a vacation elsewhere.  So that is what RCI, II, DAE, Trading places and the other trading companies espouse, and what they make their money on. 

Hang around here a little bit longer and you may learn much more about good value for your trading dollar, great sales pricing, good exchanges, and great places to visit using timeshares!


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## Sandy (Dec 3, 2007)

Sorry - 

I see that e.bram was referring to the caption on the top of the post.


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## grest (Dec 8, 2007)

Just got a letter from The Place on the Bay saying to expect a special assessment...dang!  It may be time to get rid of that one too...
Connie


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## Rmelnyk (Dec 14, 2007)

I own a 2 bedroom at Castleburn-Peak(5 yrs)...No SA., and  great yearly fees.  I don't know where some of you are coming from?  I've most always had good exchanges, and responses to any inquiries.


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