HGVC: Never a special assessment!

[DG001]

Hi,
We attended a sales presentation in HGVC in Orlando and the salesperson told us that no matter what, there will not be any special assessments ever - apparently it is even mentioned in the contract itself (which we were not given to peruse). Even if a hurricane caused major damages and the property needed to be rebuilt, they will never levy a special assessment. Can any existing HGVC owner (in Orlando or elsewhere) please look through your contract and verify (or contradict) this claim? We really like the product and are looking to buy (resale, of course), but just want to know for sure what we are getting into.
Thanks again!
DG

 

[wmmmmm]

here's a summary of the CC&R, Article 22.1 section e for the Tuscany property (it's too long for me to type in).

It states that special assessments may be levied. But it will require approval of the "Total Votes of the association residing in Owners other than declarant unless..." Then it lists four exceptions that I can't figure out (seems that small one time assessments are allowed). But the bottom line seems to be that special assessments are difficult but not impossible.

 

[Ken555]

Hi,
We attended a sales presentation in HGVC in Orlando and the salesperson told us that no matter what, there will not be any special assessments ever - apparently it is even mentioned in the contract itself (which we were not given to peruse). Even if a hurricane caused major damages and the property needed to be rebuilt, they will never levy a special assessment. Can any existing HGVC owner (in Orlando or elsewhere) please look through your contract and verify (or contradict) this claim? We really like the product and are looking to buy (resale, of course), but just want to know for sure what we are getting into.
Thanks again!
DG

I'm not a HGVC owner, but this just made me laugh. You have good instinct to question this one... next time the salesperson says this to you, ask them how they will rebuild/fix without a special assessment in the event of a natural disaster.

 

[jerseygirl]

I just received my special assessment for a HGVC affiliate that was hit hard by the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes. It was only a few hundred dollars, so the management team and board did an excellent job of keeping costs down. It could have been much worse.

 

[dvc_john]

I own several HGVC affiliated resorts that were damaged by Hurricanes Charley and Wilma. They are under the HGVC insurance, which is absolutely excellent! Two neighboring resorts with a total of 100 units share a $100,000 deductible. The deductible came out to about $20 per unit/week, so there was no special assessment for hurricane damage. The insurance paid several million dollars.
At one resort, once the hurricane repairs were under way, they decided to make some non-hurricane related repairs at the same time, and they did have a small special assessment for that.

 

[timeos2]

No one can guarantee fees

Unless there is something in writing that says an outside source such as Corporate HGVC would pay for work required they cannot back up any such statement. Once sales completes the sale of a use period to you they are no longer in the day to day picture. The resort(s) are operated by the owners and any costs have to be picked up by them. No seller is going to guarantee no special assessments as they have no idea what could occur in the future. If the documents are too tight regarding what could be charged as a special assessment the result might not be what you would expect. What if it required a 66% vote of the individual owners to pass? Say the roofs were blown off and the cost was in the millions and for whatever reason even with insurance there is a big SA needed. You have to get a vote of all the owners and have 66% agree. What if 63% agree - what happens to the resort? Is it abondoned? Left to the elements? Sold for redevelopment - whoops, that requires a vote too. What if only 50% want that? Trying to run a resort with owner votes would be almost impossible and its why most give those decision making powers to an elected Board. Except for the biggest decisions like disbanding or changing the use rights there should be no requirement for a general vote of owners for most timeshare resorts.

 

[spike]

Insurance?

ask them how they will rebuild/fix without a special assessment in the event of a natural disaster.

I'm NOT an insurance guru, but it's my understanding it's possable to 100% insure a property. So insurance will pay for the natural disaster and those insurance fees are paid for by current members. I'm assuming that's what they are saying.

 

[Seth Nock]

No one can predict the future. I don't believe there have been any special assessments in the past at that property, and don't expect any in the near future, but cannot guarantee that. Do you know the name of your sales rep? Please email his name (or your info) so I can forward it to Hilton management and they can look into the remark and make sure the sales agents are giving out accurate info. Hilton prides themselves on having agents who give out accurate information and make the experience a positive one. If this was an error, he sould be corrected.

 

[jjking42]

we have a special assessment at surf club Marco island affiliate and i know there has been one at the charter club in the past. but they have primarily to do with complete remodels rather than hurricane damage

 

[DG001]

No one can predict the future. I don't believe there have been any special assessments in the past at that property, and don't expect any in the near future, but cannot guarantee that. Do you know the name of your sales rep? Please email his name (or your info) so I can forward it to Hilton management and they can look into the remark and make sure the sales agents are giving out accurate info. Hilton prides themselves on having agents who give out accurate information and make the experience a positive one. If this was an error, he sould be corrected.

Hi Seth,
That is good advice.. I have contacted the salesrep and informed him of this error. It was an incredible suggestion, really, and that prompted me to ask him to show me the contract so that I can peruse it before considering a purchase... by the time the presentation ended, we were tired, so didn't manage to read the contract after all.
Thanks!
DG