[merged] David Walley's Resort - Celebrity Resorts - Trouble

[tarooka]

Last week I received a letter from David Walley's Property Owners Association indicating a special assessment of $964 with no other information. A Special Meeting is scheduled for February 21, 2010 at the property. There is also a "Proxy" form enclosed to sign as well.

After researching a bit, this looks like a conccerted effort accross multiple propertys controlled by Celebrity to wring money out of property owners for dubious reason.

I intend to write a letter to the Nevada Department of Real Estate and Nevada Attorney General.

Any other suggestions or thoughts?

 

[Passepartout]

SA's happen. Sometimes they are necessary to repair unforseen structural problems with the resort. Sometimes it's just a regular part of the maintenance- for instance one 'extra' MF every few years for new furniture. That's what HOA's are supposed to be alert to and protect the associated owners from.

Better would be a letter to the HOA asking what the SA is for, then either attending the HOA meeting or assigning your vote (the proxy) to someone who will attend and vote your wishes. Having been there on one of my ownerships, and carrying a handful of owner's proxys, I can attest it's really hard to buck the will of the board.

A letter to the AG or State R.E. Dept is whistling into the wind.

Best wishes.

Jim Ricks

 

[jlr10]

Last week I received a letter from David Walley's Property Owners Association indicating a special assessment of $964 with no other information. A Special Meeting is scheduled for February 21, 2010 at the property. There is also a "Proxy" form enclosed to sign as well.

After researching a bit, this looks like a conccerted effort accross multiple propertys controlled by Celebrity to wring money out of property owners for dubious reason.

I intend to write a letter to the Nevada Department of Real Estate and Nevada Attorney General.

Any other suggestions or thoughts?

If the proxy is from Celebrity be sure to read it carefully. The ones they sent out for Hanalei Bay were good for 7 years. Also keep an eye on the Board of Directors. Don't be surprised if most, if not all, of the directors are or become Celebrity Employees. Their MO has been to take over the board and then the resort. Dave and Walleys used to have the same ownership as Hanalei Bay. The mangement contract was sold to Celebrity at HBR before the owners united and caused them to agreed to part ways.

 

[dougp26364]

As mentioned above, SA's happen. Polo Towers had one a couple of years ago in excess of $1,000 for two bedroom units for a complete refurbishment. IMHO, the main cause of an SA is mismangement by the BOD and HOA. Essentially they don't plan for necessary refurbishments and, as a result, don't collect adaquate funds for the cash reserves.

In all fairness owners constantly complain about high MF's. The easist place to skimp on MF's is the cash reserve fund. Unfortunately, this only leads to an SA every 15 to 20 years as the timeshares become worn and dated. In order to keep them appealing and maintain exchange value plus keep them fresh looking for owners, an SA becomes necessary if they haven't planned for it by collecting and saving through cash reserves.

It's the same for you own home. You can either save for the inevitable repair or upgrade (painting, new carpet, new appliances et....) or, you can borrow the money. HOA's don't borrow for refurbs. If they haven't saved through cash reserves they hit owners with an SA.

Before sending in any proxy I'd read the proxy very carefully and I'd want to know EXACTLY what the SA was suppose to pay for and, I'd want it in writing. I'm not into giving a management company or HOA a blank check in the form of a proxy to do whatever they think is necessary unless I know and agree with what they believe to be necessary.

 

[SteveChapin]

We were just at David Walley's resort last year on an II exchange. While I have issues with the resort (too far from South Lake Tahoe for me, and the room was just small, plus they didn't provide enough dishes for 4 people), I saw absolutely nothing that would engender a special assessment. Everything looked new and in great condition.

 

[pwrshift]

Last week I received a letter from David Walley's Property Owners Association indicating a special assessment of $964 with no other information.

That is totally unacceptable IMO. Owners are represented by their HOA members and too often they believe no info is better. You have a right to know exactly why and how this happened...and why there wasn't any advance warning. Dump the HOA.

Brian

 

[mjwatts]

That is totally unacceptable IMO. Owners are represented by their HOA members and too often they believe no info is better. You have a right to know exactly why and how this happened...and why there wasn't any advance warning. Dump the HOA.

Brian

i just called Celebrity to find out what was going on ...basically, they gave the story that maintenance had not kept up to pace and hence the extra meeting. they said Quintas were not that good.
Basically, this doesn't sound very promosing for Walley's - if this does not pass, then fee's will jump big time next year...

Also, i want to vote no, regardless - these guys would have known the level of debt and maintenance needs prior to buying it as part of their due dilligence processs - it's now they bought it cheap they want to squeeze owners to pay for their investment to increase in value.

Anyone interested in a timeshare?


As it stands for the proxy - the only way to vote is to send in your form, which will be applied to the majority vote - so if the majority approve the charge you are obliged to pay.

 

[DWOwner]

David Walley's Special Assessment

After reading the FAQ's regarding the DW's special assessment on the Celebrity website, I just emailed this comment to Celebrity Resorts through their website:

Unless you offer owners major compensation for this huge extra assessment, I see only a downward spiral with more owners refusing to pay their maintenance fees, let alone the special assessment. How about giving an incentive to owners who pay this special assessment by April 30 (or other date as appropriate) an additional two owner weeks in the building in which they have ownership to be used any time in the next two years? I think this would be a win-win for all concerned, making the special assessment more palatable, without overtaxing DW's resort, which must have a lot of vacancies in this economy!

This special assessment is probably inevitable so the least we can do is get some sort of compensation! Is there anyone attending the meeting who could promote or support this proposal? Is there anyone who would be willing to email Celebrity supporting this proposal? Time is now of the essence since the meeting is next Sunday!

 

[rickandcindy23]

Celebrity is a terrible management company that loves to assess, and when all is said and done, there are almost no improvements to the property after the assessment. GEESH! I cannot believe Celebrity keeps getting control of these otherwise great resorts. Doesn't the developer even care who they put in charge of their resorts? Who is looking out for the owners, and why does a former management company/ developer get to choose the new company, anyway? It's criminal, in my opinion.

 

[ccpanel]

help with David Walleys voting sunday

I can not attend the voters meeting tomorrow(sunday) at david walleys resort near carson city and tahoe.

If you will be attending the 10am meeting-please email me and either send me your phone number or check your email for my phone number which i will send to you.

I would need to fax you my proxy papers and talk to you about how i want to vote.

Please contact me.
I will be up till 11-midnight and up again around 9am.

 

[truckee1981]

Rickandcindy23
I agree with your view of the current DWalley's management. I have requested minutes from previous meetings and recieved no response. I was hoping to attend the meeting today about a proposed special assessment which was not explained in the notification but there was a serious snow storm that made the trip too dangerous. I doubt the management co. had a quorum to conduct business. I think the dues for a two bedroom for 1 week should be no more than $400. At $761 it makes more sense to use a hotel!!
It looks like the management company might have a strategy to foreclose their way to total ownership. It might be time to seek legal advice regarding a class action approach.

 

[linzy]

Get in the Lawsuit Line

Attended the HOA meeting on 2/21. It was a zoo, and no decisions were made. However the owners in attendance overwhelmingly supported a No vote to asses the $900+ without further information. Also found out that Celebrity has pending lawsuits up the wazoo. So it looks like we aren't alone in utter dissatisfaction with this outfit. Mostly they seem to have these special assessments and don't do the work, but somehow do keep the funds. Also found out by going on line that they may be owned in part by an offshore firm. Not really sure who we are dealing with here. So, if any of you Wally's owners read this send your vote back as a NO! Also mark on it that you are not giving your proxy to the management. We have a lot of issues that put too many of the corporate representatives on the HOA board and find the actual owners have no leverage. It is up to the management company to deal with the people not paying their annual HOA fees. If folks have not been paying their HOA dues it makes it harder for all of us. They (the non payers) should be penalized even if it means taking them to court. But again, that is what the management company is supposed to do. Even tho' we have a "HOA" hands are tied because so many corporate people sit o n the board.

 

[pianodinosaur]

This is a fascinating thread that concerns all TS owners. We are all vulnerable to unexpected fees and increases in MFs. I suggest that we move this thread to "All Other Timeshare Systems" because I think it will get more publicity in that location.

 

[tarooka]

DW Owner's advocate

I can not attend the voters meeting tomorrow(sunday) at david walleys resort near carson city and tahoe.

If you will be attending the 10am meeting-please email me and either send me your phone number or check your email for my phone number which i will send to you.

I would need to fax you my proxy papers and talk to you about how i want to vote.

Please contact me.
I will be up till 11-midnight and up again around 9am.

Immediately send a note with contact information to davidwalleys@yahoo.com. This person will send you a proxy to vote against Celebrity at a meeting tentatively scheduled for the 27th.

 

[carson resident]

walley's special assessment

On day following special assessment meeting I emailed the timeshare dept of the Nevada Real Estate Division. For your information, e-mail address is realest@red.state.nv.us.
While the e-mail I sent is too long to include herein, the gist of it was as follows.
1. Celebrity assumed management responsibility third quarter 2008 and report on their website that in fourth quarter 2008 they sensed a problem. (Due diligence??)
2. Quintus employed CPA to audit up through year 2007. Celebrity terminated and did not employ a CPA therafter.
3. BOD of POA controlled by both Quintus and Celebrity up until mgt meeting in November 2009 through their employees being assigned to officer positions, i.e., president and secretary.
4. Recently secy whose name is Craig Lewis left employment at Celebrity. I don't know why. He is however still the secy of the WPOA.
5. Most important!! Suggested to timeshare dept that if any special assessment is approved that funds be monitored or controlled under the auspices of a state court to ensure that funds are dispensed properly.
Suggest that other members objecting to special assessment also e-mail their comments to the timeshare department at e-mail address above. Disposition of funds is shown on Celebrity's Web site. In my opinion management fees following 2010 and assuming approval of assessment will increase by as much as 50% per annum. I did not attend the Feb 21 meeting because of inclement weather in this area and I do not know whether special assessment was approved. If anyone knows for certain one way or the other this info would be extremely helpful.

 

[TUGBrian]

article on this very subject

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20100224/NEWS/100229907/1062&ParentProfile=1049

 

[ricoba]

article on this very subject

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20100224/NEWS/100229907/1062&ParentProfile=1049

40% of unpaid Maintenance Fee's is a pretty big chunk of change.

This article is pretty frightening news, especially for owners of stand alone resorts. While the major players are probably experiencing much of the same problem, they would in my view have more assets to weather a storm like this.

As we are probably all aware, leisure expenses like timeshares are often probably the first to go in an economic downturn.

 

[dougp26364]

It's sort of interesting that, while the existing timeshare units are on the brink of going out of business, the developer is laying plans to build more timeshares on the site. It seems to me that, if the developer believes they'll be able to sell additional inventory they might want to take a look at foreclosing or taking deed backs to salvage the existing property first. My thought is that it's going to be very hard to sell timeshares next to a failed timeshare project due to lack of funds from MF collections.

This is a clear example of what others have said before. Developers should give consideration to some type of deed back program. It would work both as a way to help their customers out in hard time AND to save the industry in which they earn their living. Having several failed resorts around the country will destory faith in the industry and make buyers skitsh of plunking down tens or thousand of dollars to purchase into an industry that might not be financially sound.

If I were an owner at this resort and, if I believed that the management company was only going to hit me up for more money rather than correct the underlying problem, I'd be voting to close the resort down. It appears that it could be fast on it's way to becoming a money pit.

 

[rhonda]

Follow-up article posted today
Timeshare Fight may Close Walley's

article on this very subject

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20100224/NEWS/100229907/1062&ParentProfile=1049

 

[ricoba]

Follow-up article posted today
Timeshare Fight may Close Walley's

Man, after reading that, I am of the view, let em close the joint down.

From what I could see in the article it looks like Celebrity is blackmailing the owners into paying the special assessment in order to pay for those who have bailed on their MF's.

I'd vote no, and let Celebrity get stuck with the bill. This just does not seem to be right.

Doug is right, this is a perfect opportunity for Celebrity to allow current owners to deed back and walk away. This is as he points out a win-win situation, if they would do it.

 

[ace2000]

I'd vote no, and let Celebrity get stuck with the bill. This just does not seem to be right.

Doug is right, this is a perfect opportunity for Celebrity to allow current owners to deed back and walk away. This is as he points out a win-win situation, if they would do it.

Hope you're not advising others to walk away... We've had that discussion on TUG before. This scenario is exactly what's going to happen across the whole industry, in the future . Of course, everyone around here is going to advise you to keep paying your fees, no matter how bad they get.

 

[ricoba]

Hope you're not advising others to walk away... We've had that discussion on TUG before. This scenario is exactly what's going to happen across the whole industry, in the future . Of course, everyone around here is going to advise you to keep paying your fees, no matter how bad they get.

I didn't advise walking away, my advice was to vote no.

But I would be tempted to walk away if they tried to stiff me with a $900+ special assessment if all it was for was to pay for all the other stiffs who walked away.

 

[ace2000]

But I would be tempted to walk away if they tried to stiff me with a $900+ special assessment if all it was for was to pay for all the other stiffs who walked away.

Folks, let the 'shaming' begin...

psst... don't tell anyone else, and just between you and me... i'm in full agreement with you.

 

[ricoba]

Folks, let the 'shaming' begin...

psst... don't tell anyone else, and just between you and me... i'm in full agreement with you.

They can only shame me if I choose to participate in the argument, which I would choose not to do.

I don't get involved in those tiffs on other threads and I won't get involved with it here.

 

[TUGBrian]

please note the HUGE difference between a legitimate deed back of your timeshare to the resort...

and simply ceasing to pay for your timeshare.