# diamond resorts



## rickbardsley (Nov 12, 2009)

hi,you`ll have to excuse me because i`m a forum virgin and am not really sure if i`m doing this right.
i have been a member for years,i joined a co called LSI which went to gvc-suntera and now diamond resorts.i have points with the company but can nolonger afford the managment fees which have gone up 100`s of %.i owe last years fees and this years are due at the end of the year making a total of £1434.i phoned up to see if i can give the points back and not pay the fees but was told this was not possible.
i would be grateful if anyone could let me know how i can rid myself of this ever spiralling managment fee burden.
heres hoping.thanks,
rick


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## dougp26364 (Nov 12, 2009)

Unless they foreclose, I'm afraid your stuck with them. I don't see anyone wanting to pay two years worth of fee's, even if you gave your ownership away.


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## AwayWeGo (Nov 12, 2009)

*In A Tough Spot For Sure.*




dougp26364 said:


> Unless they foreclose, I'm afraid your stuck with them. I don't see anyone wanting to pay two years worth of fee's, even if you gave your ownership away.


If they do foreclose, you're apt to be stuck with extra court costs, attorney fees, & I don't know what-all on top of whatever you already owe. 

Best (i.e., least bad) option might be to swallow hard & pay up & then see if you can give away the unwanted timeshare, or offer it on eBay for £1 (no reserve). 

Good luck. 

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​


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## Don1 (Nov 17, 2009)

rickbardsley said:


> hi,you`ll have to excuse me because i`m a forum virgin and am not really sure if i`m doing this right.
> i have been a member for years,i joined a co called LSI which went to gvc-suntera and now diamond resorts.i have points with the company but can nolonger afford the managment fees which have gone up 100`s of %.i owe last years fees and this years are due at the end of the year making a total of £1434.i phoned up to see if i can give the points back and not pay the fees but was told this was not possible.
> i would be grateful if anyone could let me know how i can rid myself of this ever spiralling managment fee burden.
> heres hoping.thanks,
> rick



Rick

People are giving away their points ( if they can!) in order to release themselves from the long term, on going, year by year, committment to paying what have been steadily increasing management charges.

In some instances it may be due to changes in circumstances or it may be that they are just fed up!

You cannot however just "simply hand back the points" as you have been told by DRI.

You entered into an agreement with DRI / GVC / Sunterra for a set period ( possibly up to about 2054 or thereabouts ) and you are committed to pay all maintenance charges until that time.

The only way at present to avoid this is to either sell or give your points to another member who agrees to take on the responsibility for them ( In some cases by offering to pay the transfer charges as a sweetener ) or convert to fixed weeks and try to sell on the open market.

DRI can suspend your membership due to non payment of fees and you will be unable to use your points. You will however still be responsible for the outstanding charges and any future charges as and when they become due.

Owning points is a large commitment and responsibility. If you don't pay you are in breach of the contract you signed and therefore Diamond are entitled to persue you for payment by whatever legal means they choose. They are also at liberty to charge interest on overdue amounts.

You can try to go down the swap for fixed week route but I think you will find that the weeks you will be offered by DRI will not be good weeks for resale. Don't forget that you will still be responsible for the maintenance of the fixed week you swap to and you will be trying to sell something with less flexibility. Although you will not be limited to selling only to members as is the case with points.

Diamond do have the right to take back your points if they wish to but it is totally at their discretion and they will only do so in certain specific circumstances.

A couple of years ago they announced an offer to members to return points during a set period, and a number of members did so at that time, but I don't expect that to happen again in the near future if at all.

I hope that this in some way answers your original question regarding your options to relinquish your points burden.

Sorry if the information is not of your liking but it is better that you are fully informed.

Regards

Don


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## dougp26364 (Nov 17, 2009)

Don1 said:


> Rick
> 
> .......You cannot however just "simply hand back the points" as you have been told by DRI........
> 
> ...



DRI has......or at least had.......an option on the table for European owners feeling the pinch of increase MF's whereby they could, if all fee's were paid up to date including the current year and, if they hadn't used any of their points, pay a fee and turn them back into DRI.

For a time DRI had a buy back program for U.S. owners where you could offer them your deeded weeks and DRI would offer to buy them back from you, less some rather high closing cost/transfer fee's. I missed out on that program by a few weeks. It ended when the lending markets collapsed. The offer on my two Polo Towers weeks was $8,500 minus aournd $850 per week closing costs.


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## bcthn (Nov 25, 2009)

Don1 said:


> The only way at present to avoid this is to either sell or give your points to another member who agrees to take on the responsibility for them ( In some cases by offering to pay the transfer charges as a sweetener ) or convert to fixed weeks and try to sell on the open market.
> 
> DRI can suspend your membership due to non payment of fees and you will be unable to use your points. You will however still be responsible for the outstanding charges and any future charges as and when they become due.
> 
> ...



I don't think points are transferable.  My understanding is that the only way out of our timeshare is to get out of The Club and switch back to 1 week per year and then sell or donate that week.  

If I could turn back time...


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Nov 25, 2009)

bcthn said:


> Don1 said:
> 
> 
> > The only way at present to avoid this is to either sell or give your points to another member who agrees to take on the responsibility for them ( In some cases by offering to pay the transfer charges as a sweetener ) or convert to fixed weeks and try to sell on the open market.
> ...



Don1's quote is accurate for the European Club. bcthn's statement is correct as to the North American club.


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## Bill4728 (Nov 25, 2009)

bcthn said:


> I don't think points are transferable.  My understanding is that the only way out of our timeshare is to get out of The Club and switch back to 1 week per year and then sell or donate that week.



IN THE US  
There are two kinds of owners which are in "the Club" , owners who own the underlining week at the resort and owners who own points in the "trusts" (AKA collections)

When you sell a DRI TS you can sell only the underlying TS ( the week or the points in the trust) The new owner will not be allowed to use points in the "club" because to be in the club you must buy direct from DRI. 

So Club points are not transferable* But *"trust points" are transferable with a resale.


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## RIMike (Dec 7, 2009)

*DRI Owner...*



Bill4728 said:


> IN THE US
> There are two kinds of owners which are in "the Club" , owners who own the underlining week at the resort and owners who own points in the "trusts" (AKA collections)
> 
> When you sell a DRI TS you can sell only the underlying TS ( the week or the points in the trust) The new owner will not be allowed to use points in the "club" because to be in the club you must buy direct from DRI.
> ...



What a messed up system...I will, unfortunately have to keep what I have with them...but never again!!!!!


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