Interval Membership Privilege Agreement

[holbrook]

We have been trying to sell one of our RCI timeshare weeks for several years with no offers. This year, our resort sent us information on their new Interval Membership Privilege Agreement. In order to participate, we need to "Trade" our "Deeded" ownership for the IMPA (3 year interval term) for a set dollar amount. We would need to sign the agreement as well as executing a Warenty Deed to convey our ownership back to the Owners Association. We can use the week for three years and then it is theirs if we do not want to continue paying the maintenance fee. We are looking for some feedback on this type of program please. Thanks!

 

[theo]

We have been trying to sell one of our RCI timeshare weeks for several years with no offers. This year, our resort sent us information on their new Interval Membership Privilege Agreement. In order to participate, we need to "Trade" our "Deeded" ownership for the IMPA (3 year interval term) for a set dollar amount. We would need to sign the agreement as well as executing a Warranty Deed to convey our ownership back to the Owners Association. We can use the week for three years and then it is theirs if we do not want to continue paying the maintenance fee. We are looking for some feedback on this type of program please. Thanks!

I have not actually heard of such a program before, but it sounds interesting (and potentially like a great cash cow for the unspecified resort).
However, on Planet Timeshare the devil is always lurking somewhere within the details and a few very specific questions come immediately to my mind:

1. What exactly is the unspecified extortion "set dollar amount" to which you vaguely refer that would be required to be paid out of your pocket to seal this "deal"?
Is this a thinly veiled / different flavor of conversion to RCI Points (if so, the "fee" is probably in the +/- $3.5k range), but relinquishing ownership in the process?

1a. As an ancillary aside, since you've indicated having no success in selling the week, have you ever previously asked the HOA specifically if they would simply take your deed back at no cost to you, thereby giving them the week right now and skipping the unspecified out of pocket "deal" cost and three more years of maintenance fees?

2. For the supposed three years of access and use after "trade in", are you guaranteed access to and use of the very same specific week / unit being "traded in" for each one of those three years, or perhaps just access to some unknown, unspecified week there each year, with little (or maybe no) input or choice in unit / week selection?

3. Unless you have a warranty deed now (...you very well might, but maybe not), why would you give the resort a warranty deed which you would essentially be agreeing to defend if it was ever challenged? Why would the resort not just accept a quit claim deed? If you acquired your current ownership via quit claim deed, it frankly seems unwise (to me, anyhow) to now offer the resort a warranty deed. Certainly better for them, potentially not so for you in the event of title problems or challenges.
Then again, if your current deed is a warranty deed anyhow, perhaps it's not that much of an issue or concern.

All the above being said, if what you really want is to just "get out", I'd frankly work harder at just giving it away if it truly has little or no resale value. Have you at least tried offering it to a new recipient via TUG's "Bargain Deals"? If what you really want most is a prompt and permanent exit, paying a ransom (dollar cost unidentified) and then followed by three more obligatory years of maintenance fees is not math that works at all for me. YMMV.