Help. How Can I Stop Postcard Scammers?

[Resort Guy]

I know the TUG members to be very knowlegable and creative. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I manage a small resort and our owners are being hounded by these poscard companies offer to "take timeshare weeks off your hands". In the end our owners end up paying large amounts of money to a closing company or LLC who has no intention of every paying maintenance fees. More often than not, these companies end up disolving, going bankrupt or simply disappearing leaving our weeks tied up in a legal nightmare. Our owners suffer in the end because we can't sell the weeks.

We've tried educating our owners about these scams and we allow any owner in good standing to simply give their weeks back to the association for a nominal processing fee, but it hasn't helped.

Does anyone have any experience with this or suggestions as to how to thwart these scams? Thanks TUG members!!

 

[TUGBrian]

a number of resorts have released information that they will be refusing to transfer ownership/deeds to known bogus LLC's or from known 3rd parties.

short of educating the owners, or taking the weeks back yourself for the same or similar fees the PCC's are charging...its a very sad situation for many resorts.

 

[BocaBum99]

Yes, it is very simple. Send out an email and letter to every owner in the resort. Tell them that the HOA is taking deedbacks for any weeks they no longer want. All they need to do is pay the transfer fee and the next 2 year maintenance fees. The HOA will find a new home for the weeks.

Then, it needs to hire a broker to sell the units to current owners.

Then, the resort needs to create a rental program for excess weeks it holds in inventory. If the rent that you can get is lower than the maintenance fees, then you need to cut costs until the rent more than covers the maintenance fees.

If you cannot cut maintenance fees to the point that rents more than covers them, then you need to convene an emergency meeting with the board to recommend to owners that you terminate the timeshare plan, sell off the property and distribute proceeds to owners according to percentage ownership.

If you are on the board and you are not pursuing the above plan, then you should be sued for failing to meet your fiduciary accountabilities as a board member. If you are not on the board, you should respectfully request that the board pursue the above plan of attack. If they don't, have them removed.

If you do pursue the above plan and the owners do not vote to terminate the plan, resign from the board, dump your weeks into a PCC and let the owners maintenance fees rise to cover the costs. If the owners are going to be irrational, they should not be allowed to cost you money.

 

[ronparise]

Yes, it is very simple. Send out an email and letter to every owner in the resort. Tell them that the HOA is taking deedbacks for any weeks they no longer want. All they need to do is pay the transfer fee and the next 2 year maintenance fees. The HOA will find a new home for the weeks.

Then, it needs to hire a broker to sell the units to current owners.

Then, the resort needs to create a rental program for excess weeks it holds in inventory. If the rent that you can get is lower than the maintenance fees, then you need to cut costs until the rent more than covers the maintenance fees.

If you cannot cut maintenance fees to the point that rents more than covers them, then you need to convene an emergency meeting with the board to recommend to owners that you terminate the timeshare plan, sell off the property and distribute proceeds to owners according to percentage ownership.

If you are on the board and you are not pursuing the above plan, then you should be sued for failing to meet your fiduciary accountabilities as a board member. If you are not on the board, you should respectfully request that the board pursue the above plan of attack. If they don't, have them removed.

If you do pursue the above plan and the owners do not vote to terminate the plan, resign from the board, dump your weeks into a PCC and let the owners maintenance fees rise to cover the costs. If the owners are going to be irrational, they should not be allowed to cost you money.

What a plan! imagine..all it takes is a little common sense

And for the intervals already in the hands of the PCCs send them a letter offering to take the weeks as long as they are up to date with their fees. i suggest this because having the ownership with the poa (where it can be rented or sold or given to an existing owner who will pay the fees going forward..is much better than getting no fees and bringing foreclosure