# UVC Consolidation of contracts



## jmckee99 (Jun 13, 2016)

We are Elite members at Villa del Arco, owned by UVC.  

I am looking at buying another members contract of 1,200 points then consolidating that into my existing contract which is a 5,000 point four star elite contract. 

Does anyone have experience with buying other re-sale contracts for Villa del Arco then working with UVC to consolidate with the existing master contract?

As a side note we stayed at Arco last week and during the members' update I was quoted $127K for 5,000 points to add to my 5,000 points I have now that I paid $50K for

Thank you!


----------



## beach.bar.bob (Jun 14, 2016)

jmckee99 said:


> ...
> 
> I am looking at buying another members contract of 1,200 points then consolidating that into my existing contract which is a 5,000 point four star elite contract.
> ...



I urge you to approach this transaction with extreme caution. UVC is really trying to squelch the resale market for its properties. Based on my understanding, you will not be able to accomplish what you would like to do...unless the membership you are transferring belongs to a close family member  My best suggestion would be to find a Gold resale membership and after you own it - then work with the sales team to upgrade it and add the appropriate points to your elite membership. It'll be cheaper than buying more points direct, but, unfortunately, it won't be as cheap as you hope!  

We have had several back and forth discussions here over the past couple of years on what happens to points memberships when transferred (they will almost always revert to a Premier membership with VDP PV as home resort) and whether or not UVC charges a transfer fee to complete the transaction (for UVC there is a fee - when I did both of mine it was $120). Some have claimed that they will charge a transfer fee of 10% of the original membership purchase price (if it is one of the other three related clubs they very likely will - see below). 

Personally I have attempted three UVC resales/transfers. In 2011, a 2200 point VPA membership which I aborted when UVC said they would revert it to a Premier membership and in 2012 two different resale Gold memberships which transferred without issue with $120 transfer fee each.   

What follows is my best effort to get to the bottom of what the contracts  with UVC allows. Sorry for the length of this message, but there are a lot of moving parts that need to be understood so that a resale purchaser can determine the rules that dictate the membership they are attempting to purchase. I know this message is overkill for responding to your specific question, but I hope to document all of this here so that we can point to it later when the question comes up again. I urge other members with first hand experience to offer comments to clarify or dispute my information. 

What I found is interesting (well to me). First off, our contracts defer to the club bylaws for all the particulars about, well everything, including transfer of memberships. Interestingly, the bylaws can be changed with a simple majority vote of the Board of Directors - which is not surprisingly controlled by the developer. Thus they can change any of this any time they really want to. 

Surprising (to me again) there is not one, but four UVC clubs all with different bylaws: 
Universal Vacation Club (UVC) - Primarily the Premier/Gold memberships (and upgraded to points memberships) purchased in PV/NV/Cabo. 
Villa Preferred Access Club (VPA Club) - Primarily new points memberships purchased in PV/NV/Cabo.
Club Caribe (Cancun) - Memberships purchased in Cancun. 
UVC Resorts (Loreto) - Memberships purchased in Loreto. 

A membership is driven by the bylaws for the club in which the contract/membership belongs based on the first two digits that the membership number begins with. I have memberships that begin with 21 and 27 thus all three of my memberships are driven by the bylaws for UVC. 

The following four sections show each club, their associated contract numbers, a link to the bylaws for each club and some verbiage that I extracted related to resales/transfers for each club - see the bylaws for all the gory details. The biggest differences are between the original UVC club and the three newer clubs. 

================================
*Universal Vacation Club (UVC)*
Account numbers beginning with: 11, 12, 15, 16, 18, 21, 23, 27
http://myuvci.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/UVC-Rules-and-Regulations.pdf 
Transfer info on Pages 18-20 especially section 2.06 (c) 
“_Villa Preferred Access Membership. Notwithstanding any provisions herein otherwise, upon the transfer of a Villa Preferred Access Membership, the Transferor shall forfeit any and all rights to utilize any remaining Club Points associated with that Membership. If the Transferee is an immediate family member of the Transferor (i.e. spouse, sibling or child), then the use rights associated with the Transferred Membership shall remain unchanged and the Transferee shall assume the Transferor’s Club Points remaining as of the date of the Club’s recognition of the Transfer. However, if the Transferee is not an immediate family member of  the Transferor, then the Transferred Membership shall automatically reverts to a Premier Membership without any Club Points._”

Transfer fee = “_A Transfer fee in an amount to be determined by the Club must also be paid to the Club to consummate such a Transfer. _“

========================================
*
Villa Preferred Access Club (VPA Club)*
Account numbers beginning with: 35
http://myuvci.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Rules-and-Regulations-Final-Version-1-26-16.pdf 

Transfer info is in section 2.06 

Process is different! 

Pay special attention to all of Paragraph (a)
“…_Club Points  may be  removed  from  the Transferred  Membership  so  that  it  reverts  to  a  traditional  Membership  based  on weeks;…_”

“…_Furthermore,  Transferor  shall  pay to  the  Club Manager the  following in  amounts  determined  by  the  Club  Manager  (x)  a  Transfer  fee  for  Transfers  to immediate  family  members;  or  (y)  a  percentage  of  the  original  purchase  price  for  the  Transferred Membership  for  any  other  Transfers_.”

Paragraph (d) 
_“ Right to First Refusal: …Member shall first deliver …written notice of that proposed Transfer along with the price and all other terms  and  conditions…Within the first 30 days … Seller shall have an exclusive 
right  of  first  refusal  to  purchase  that  Membership … on  the  same  price,  terms  and conditions …” _

==========================================
*Club Caribe (Cancun)*
Account numbers beginning with: 26
http://myuvci.villagroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cancun-rules-and-regulations-2013.pdf 

Transfer info is in section 2.06 - Page 13-14
There are nuanced differences, but key components are the same as for VPA Club above. 
==============================================
*UVC Resorts (Loreto)*
Account numbers beginning with: 25
http://myuvci.villagroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Loreto-Rules-and-Regulations.pdf

Transfer info is in section 2.06 - Page 13-14
Again, there are nuanced differences, but key components are the same as for VPA Club above.
==============================================

Bottom line to me - for resales/transfers to non-family members:
- Transferred points memberships across all four clubs are subject to conversion to week-based memberships. 
- Resales/transfers in the three newer clubs are subject to a transfer fee of a percentage of the original purchase fee...we've most often heard 10%. 
- Resales/transfers in the three newer clubs are subject to a first right of refusal (which was news to me) that doesn't exist in the original UVC club. 

FWIW 

bbb


----------



## jmckee99 (Jun 14, 2016)

Thank you very much for the detailed response and advice.   I didn't realize UVC was that complicated but now I am better informed.   We have an account starting with 27 so I'll look for Gold contracts (fixed and floating weeks) within the UVC club then purchase then work with UVC to pay a conversion fee to points to add to our existing contract.
We have also stayed at their Loreto and Cancun properties but they didn't get into details on their contracts or clubs that are different between the resorts.   Villa Group are opening up 3 more properties so sounds like they will create even more clubs.  

Thank you again for your help!


----------



## beach.bar.bob (Jun 14, 2016)

I've got a 10,000 point elite membership (actually two memberships but considered as one for elite purposes) and a Gold membership I acquired resale. I've looked a couple of times at trying to convert it to points under my elite membership. It's still a bit pricey. 

It's a two bedroom winter week which converts to 2900 points. In March 2015 they wanted $33,800 (about $11.65 per point) which we negotiated down to $17,900 (6.15 per point) which wasn't such a bad deal, but I couldn't see spending $18,000 just for a gold to points conversion...just couldn't see the value...so I didn't pull the trigger. Just last week I got an unsolicited email from our sales guy offering the same conversion ... this time for $22,700 (7.80 per point). Not sure why he thinks I'd spend more now for the same deal!? 

Just a couple of data points for you to work with when meeting with them should you find something. Sure beats the pricing they gave you last week of $25 per point! You must not have gotten too serious or I'm sure the pricing would have gotten more realistic. 

Good luck. 

bbb


----------



## timesharejunkie4 (Jun 14, 2016)

jmckee99 said:


> Thank you very much for the detailed response and advice.   I didn't realize UVC was that complicated but now I am better informed.   We have an account starting with 27 so I'll look for Gold contracts (fixed and floating weeks) within the UVC club then purchase then work with UVC to pay a conversion fee to points to add to our existing contract.
> We have also stayed at their Loreto and Cancun properties but they didn't get into details on their contracts or clubs that are different between the resorts.   Villa Group are opening up 3 more properties so sounds like they will create even more clubs.
> 
> Thank you again for your help!



There are also the Garza Blanca resorts. I don't know which club they are a part of. We were told that most, if not all, new resorts will be Garza Blanca.


----------



## beach.bar.bob (Jun 15, 2016)

timesharejunkie4 said:


> There are also the Garza Blanca resorts. I don't know which club they are a part of. We were told that most, if not all, new resorts will be Garza Blanca.



Two things:

1) The existing Garza Blanca (in PV) is only referenced in the bylaws and introduction materials on the website for Club Caribe. I know it is not available to me - although I have met Garza Blanca owners that have rights to use Villa del Arco (and likely other UVC resorts).  

2) Last time we were in Cabo (Jan) the word was that one of the new Cabo resorts would be called Villa la Valencia and be included in the UVC clubs and the second resort would be a Garza Blanca - but the developers were still trying to determine the future of if/how the Garza Blanca(s) would work with/relate to the UVC clubs. Apparently there was a spat between the developers when the first Garza Blanca was built that left it out of the other clubs. Others have said they were told the Garza Blanca(s) would be opened up only to Elite members. Who knows? These are only the words of the sales teams. UVC has not published any information about any new resorts yet...Perhaps someone has a more recent update. 

FWIW

bbb


----------



## T-Dot-Traveller (Jun 15, 2016)

*Garza Blanca PV*

Hi Bob , Thank you for your info - as a non owner who reads the TUG Mexican forum it helps to know what else is around.

The thread : Garza Puerto Vallarta owners need feedback
started by funtimes - June 14 2016 

has some additional Garza Blanca PV info .

You may wish to add or link .


----------



## timesharejunkie4 (Jun 15, 2016)

beach.bar.bob said:


> Two things:
> 
> 1) The existing Garza Blanca (in PV) is only referenced in the bylaws and introduction materials on the website for Club Caribe. I know it is not available to me - although I have met Garza Blanca owners that have rights to use Villa del Arco (and likely other UVC resorts).
> 
> ...



Yes, I too, was told that at least one of the new Cabo properties would be a Garza Blanca as well as one of the future Cancun properties. The other Cancun property is supposed to be a family Villa del Palmar. When that opens the existing VdP Cancun will become adults only. In March in Cancun, I got the impression that whatever the new membership they are selling will include Garza Blanca I didn't really pay attention to the name of the membership since I really had no intent on upgrading.


----------



## beach.bar.bob (Jun 16, 2016)

Interesting what you can find if you use that google thing...

Garza Blanca Riviera Maya website up and running: 
http://rivieramaya.garzablancaresort.com/explore-the-resort 

Garza Blanca Los Cabos concept:
http://cabo.garzablancaresort.com/

2014 news releases regarding Villa la Valencia:
http://www.travelweekly.com/Mexico-Travel/Villa-Group-plans-new-property-in-Los-Cabos
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/10/prweb12259258.htm

FWIW

bbb


----------

