No Deeds if you live in NY?

[mousie206]

We are considering buying Marriott St. Kitts and the salesperson just told us that we have to use a relative's address that lives in New Jersey to put on the deed. He said they currently can't sell deeds to residents of New York.

1.This sounds very strange to me.

2. I am not comfortable with using another person's address

Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[craftemp]

I could be wrong- someone correct me if I am..
My belief is that they can SELL to anyone - they cannot SOLICIT in some states.. NY might be one of them
Judy

 

[Dave M]

It sounds as though that Marriott salesperson is trying to circumvent NY's timeshare sales registration laws, perhaps illegally.

Many states require a timeshare developer to file extensive registration info about a timeshare project before being approved to market timeshares to residents located in that state. NY has such a law. Even if you contacted Marriott first on this possible purchase, the law would likely still apply.

Thus, it appears that Marriott (or at least this salesperson) is willing to have you lie about where you live so as to flaunt the NY law. I don't know that you could get in trouble for doing so, but Marriott sure could.

NY also has a law that (as I recall) prohibits the developer from closing the sale until it can provide occupancy to you. Thus, if your purchase would be for part of the project that is still under construction, the salesperson might be trying to get around that law, again, perhaps illegally.

I don't believe Marriott condones such actions.

Incidentally, those registration laws don't apply if you are on site in St. Kitts making the purchase.

 

[mousie206]

FYI

The salesperson returned my call and said using NJ just for preliminary purposes would be a 'timesaver' and the NY address would be on the final deed.....

 

[Dave M]

You have essentially confirmed my concern....

 

[m61376]

I would want to clarify where that would leave you wrt making final payment. As Dave pointed out, under NY law if you are buying pre-construction for 2009 or 2010 occupancy, then you would not have to leave more than a deposit until that time. Using a NJ address for the "initial" paperwork might be their way of circumventing this rule. I am only venturing a guess here, but it is at least possible that the salesperson doesn't receive his/her commission until closing, and would prefer you to close sooner rather than when occupancy is available. Of course, Marriott would prefer to get its money up-front, but actually that's a benefit to NY residents. If you purchase pre-construction in NYS, by the time you close the units probably have gone up quite a bit, but you locked in the lower price at the time of sale, yet Marriott doesn't have use of the money until they can convey occupancy.

 

[mousie206]

The resort is already open for occupancy. Does that make a difference?

 

[Dave M]

Not all units are ready for occupancy yet. I have no idea what the details of your offer are, but if the offer includes first occupancy next year or in 2010, then the deposit issues raised above apply. Even if they don't, it's possible that the registration issues apply.

Marriott - someone other than this salesperson - would have to give me a darned good reason for lying about my address for me to proceed.

On another issue, have you considered saving megabucks (many, many thousands) by buying resale rather than from Marriott? The product you get is exactly the same. The difference is that you don't get the front-end incentive points and can't exchange your week for points, a dubious benefit at best, considering the huge difference in prices.

 

[mousie206]

Dave,

I did look into resale...for a platinum week we would save about 5k. But then we would have to sell our current week on our own rather than give it back to Marriott. So we're basically buying convenience.

Thanks for all the advice.

Marie

 

[Dave M]

My guess is that you would likely save a lot more than $5k. Most Marriott resales go for somewhere in the range of 50%-65% of Marriott's established prices, often even less with patience and great negotiation or on ebay. The key to a good resale transaction is that asking prices are just that - merely asking prices - and are almost always negotiable, often significantly. Find a motivated seller and you'll find the makings of a great deal.

If you found a St. Kitts resale week with an asking price of only $5k less than what Marriott is asking, that seller is either not motivated or doesn't understand resale pricing.

Don't get me wrong. Buying directly from Marriott can sometimes be the right thing to do. I have done it three times. But if you buy from Marriott, do it with knowledge, not with lack of it!

 

[jimf41]

Florida and Carribean

We bought at Ocean Pointe twice ant also bought St Thomas while at Ocean Pointe all from the same sales rep. Both Florida transactions had to wait for closing until the property was ready to be occupied IAW NY law. The St Thomas property evidently doesn't come under that law because we had to close within a month or so. I bought another week at St Thomas straight from corporate and again I had to close within a month or so. I've never researched the NY law but apparently it doesn't apply to properties outside CONUS.

 

[m61376]

Jim- I know it applied to the purchases in Aruba, since I have friends who bought early on and didn't pay or close for 2-3 years.