Barrier Island Station - the collapse of a beautiful resort?

[Nolathyme]

I listened to the Barrier Island Station Annual Meeting on Nov 8, 2025.

I couldn't believe what we heard from owners that were present. Here is a small summary:

Here is a link to the meeting:

{OWNER QUESTIONS/ COMPLAINTS start at minute 1:52}

During remodeling of the units, mold was painted over, ceiling fixtures failed.

One owner spoke of issues with the flooring - Flooring material that was used on the stairs, contractor tried to roll the flooring material around the coping of the edge of the stairs, that material is not designed to do that, it’s already cracking, popping up and coming up, a little oversight, anybody that has a little oversight in construction, could tell the contractor that is not something that could be done. Part of our discouragement that there is a lack of oversight on the remodels.

The same owner mentioned that people from outside the resort were coming into the resort and using electric charging stations for free. He mentioned - our money has been going to fill up other people's cars. Talking to the guard shack, it is a policy that we are allowing non-owners and non- guests to come onto the property to use electric, takes 2-3 hours to charge a vehicle, they are coming on property to use facilities min

Other members mentioned - gutters not being finished, water problems, mold problem, problems with payments with vendors. Black mold has been there for years. The 400 building supposedly renovated – water stains in both bathrooms, tub in main bathroom has water running, not a drip, a stream. Owner bathroom door wont close, laminate floor has separated from the locking joint, someone mopping, water going underneath that floor- that will be a future problem.

We were told at a recent annual meeting from the Capital Vacations GM of a very long remediation process. One owner said the “plans are amazing – execution is not there – great plans, no execution not being handled truthfully" People with pet allergies are very angry.

One owner asked the current board to consider not running for re-election.

One owner mentioned - there is an overall lack of confidence in the board.



There was an RFP to look at getting a new management company since owners have been unhappy with the state of the resort.



{THE FOLLOWING STARTS AT MINUTE 2:26}

One Board member of the common area of the resort mentioned - a thorough exhausted plan was undertaken to pick who would be the next management company, clearly a different plan was approved, the factual information that we gathered differed from the answer (the Board did not pick the highest valued bidder).

{THE FOLLOWING STARTS AT MINUTE 2:37}

One Board member said – we did not follow the RFP as designed, it was not fair to the owners – we needed a change with what we have, the way it turned out wasn’t the way it was supposed to, it wasn’t followed by design. You can see that board member shaking his when another board member explained why they picked to continue with the same company that so many wanted removed.


Lastly, the Board is looking at selling one of the resort buildings to raise money. The Board has reached a deal on the sale of the property with the timeshare sales company that sells units at Barrier Island Station. The timeshare sales company has a related company called TOWB that has gotten involved in repurposing timeshares in other areas. It sounds like TOWB and Capital Vacations have partnered with each other in the repurpose of prior timeshare resort sales.
I have asked Board members to show the details of the contract with TOWB, so owners know what they are voting on (whether to sell to TOWB or not). It has been 12 months, and no owners have seen the details of the contract to make an informed decision on the vote.


Here are the rough numbers on the sale of the 100 building:
The numbers for the sale of building 100 do not add up. For a $9 million dollar property, the fees for foreclosure, title, legal, appraiser, and deeds are around $950,000, real estate commission about $450,000 total around $1,400,000. We should be netting around $7,500,000. The current proposal has us getting $1,500,000 and possible more. There is a deficit of $6,000,000 that should be coming to the owners. We have no idea what TOWB is doing for the sale, and no one will tell us.

 

[Carolinian]

I hope this board has a directors liability insurance policy. They have a fiduciary responsibility to members, and this information raises serious questions concerning their exercise of it. Under state law, members have rights to examine all of these financial documents and should demand to see them.

Management has always been a problem at BIS-Duck. The developer kept control of the HOA board for years after the resort was sold out and its attention was always on its newer resort that was still in sales. Even when members finally got real control, there were bad choices made on management companies.

 

[Nolathyme]

A current Board member first learned in 2017 about the possibility of repurposing one of the resort’s timeshare buildings to raise money. This individual was also serving on the Board at that time.


Since then, this Board member—along with other members of the Board—has been working with the management company, Capital Vacations, and the resort’s timeshare sales company, TOWB, regarding the potential sale of the building.


I would like to know how much money has been spent on remodeling each of the buildings since 2017. Based on what I’ve heard from owners in Building 100—the building being considered for sale—it appears their building has received fewer repairs and renovations. Yet owners in Building 100 pay the same maintenance fees as all other owners in the resort. I hope it is not the case that maintenance on Building 100 was reduced because the Board anticipated putting the building up for sale.

 

[Nolathyme]

I asked ChatGPT if there were any fiduciary issues related to maintenance fee issue I addressed in the above post and this is what came up:

2. Potential Liability for the Situation You Described
Based on what you described, board members could face liability for:
A. Misuse or Misallocation of Maintenance Fees
If all owners pay the same fees but one building is intentionally not maintained, this can be:

• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Violation of NC Planned Community Act (if applicable)
• A form of financial mismanagement
• Board members can be personally liable if the neglect was knowing and intentional.

B. Failure to Maintain Common Elements
Timeshare buildings are almost always considered common elements or shared property.
If the board knowingly fails to maintain one building:

• Owners can sue the board
• Board members may lose indemnification protections (insurance won’t cover them if they intentionally neglected their duties)

C. Self-Dealing or Conflicts of Interest
If the board coordinated with a developer or timeshare salesperson to try to sell a building, and that influenced maintenance decisions, that could be:
A conflict of interest

• A violation of the Duty of Loyalty
• Grounds for personal liability

D. Failure to Disclose Material Information
If owners were not told that a building was being considered for sale and decisions about maintenance were influenced by that plan, that can be:

• A deceptive or unfair practice
• Grounds for action by the NC Attorney General
• Grounds for civil liability

​

 

[Carolinian]

A current Board member first learned in 2017 about the possibility of repurposing one of the resort’s timeshare buildings to raise money. This individual was also serving on the Board at that time.


Since then, this Board member—along with other members of the Board—has been working with the management company, Capital Vacations, and the resort’s timeshare sales company, TOWB, regarding the potential sale of the building.


I would like to know how much money has been spent on remodeling each of the buildings since 2017. Based on what I’ve heard from owners in Building 100—the building being considered for sale—it appears their building has received fewer repairs and renovations. Yet owners in Building 100 pay the same maintenance fees as all other owners in the resort. I hope it is not the case that maintenance on Building 100 was reduced because the Board anticipated putting the building up for sale.

Although I once owned a week there, I have never read the Declaration of Covenants of the resort. Under declarations on a couple of other resorts on the Outer Banks that I have had occaision to read, the Board would not have the power to sell a building, and neither would the members as a whole. If I were you, I would take a look at the Declaration of Covenants of the resort. The book and page number will be recited in your deed, and the records of the Dare County Register of Deeds can be accessed online. You might also have a lawyer look at those covenants. At some resorts, there are different Declarations for different sections of the resort.

BIS always did things in unusual ways. When the developer was still running the show, on their m/f nonpay,emt foreclosures, they always showed the HOA bidding in the developer sales prices. Of course, it is unlikely that money actually chnaged hands. However if an owner who was foreclosed on ever looked at the file, he would have said "wait a minute, where is my money". The HOA was only entitled to outstanding m/f unpaid balance and the owner was entitled to any amount over that. I highly doubt that was collected or paid. That was years ago, so any claims on that would have expired. I think the developer just did not want any sales shown at foreclosure prices.

 

[Carolinian]

Never use AI for medical or legal advice. I read that many people taking medical advice from AI ended up in the Emergency Room as a result. Lawyers trying to use AI to save time by writing their briefs for them have found AI cited made up cases that did not really exist.

The statute mentioned by AI is not correct. North Carolina has two sets of laws applicable to timeshares, the Unit Ownership Act and the Condominiums Act. BIS-Duck is mostly governed by the older of the two, but the later act modified some aspects of the older act, so one must consult both. Surprisingly, however, much of what AI gave you in this case appears to be correct.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

Never use AI for medical or legal advice. I read that many people taking medical advice from AI ended up in the Emergency Room as a result. Lawyers trying to use AI to save time by writing their briefs for them have found AI cited made up cases that did not really exist.

I agree that you need to be cautious when using AI, particularly with free or low-cost options. There are now specialty models for the medical and legal communities, but these come with a price tag to gain access and are designed for law firms and medical practices.

There is some skill required to write a good prompt to elicit the best answer from most AI models.

I am not familiar with this resort, but the situation does not sound good.