Thanks for the link. It was interesting reading.
The attorneys for the plaintiffs seem confused. The lawsuit lumps the money collected for the Program Fee and maintenance fees into one "Program Fee". Maintenance Fees for the Club Wyndham Plus (points) Program are collected by Wyndham but are passed on to the HOAs of the individual resorts They are not retained in the Trust.
The attorneys do not understand how an exchange program like RCI or Interval International works. RCI is not part of the Fairshare Trust.
These are a couple of the main points of the lawsuit:
82. As a result of Defendant Trustee, Fairshare Vacation Owners Association’s, violations of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-73-404, 28-73-802 and 28-73-1003, Plaintiffs and members of the putative class have been damaged by paying excessive Program Fees and excessive financing rates and charges. Plaintiffs and members of the putative class have been further damaged by paying membership fees, transfer fees and exchange fees to participate in the RCI exchange program. Finally, Plaintiffs and members of the putative class have been damaged by failing to receive any income or distributions from the Fairshare Trust as a result of revenue generated from the use of Fairshare Trust property in the RCI exchange program. Absent any actual damage, Plaintiffs and members of the putative class are entitled to disgorgement of all excess funds and profits obtained by Defendant Trustee, Fairshare Vacation Owners Association, as a result of its violations of the Arkansas Trust Code as more specifically set out in paragraphs 56 through 81 above.
111. As a result of Defendant RCI’s violations of Ark. Code Ann. §§ 28-73-404, 28-73- 802,and 28-73-1003, Plaintiffs and members of the putative class have been damaged by paying RCI membership fees, exchange fees and transfer fees. Plaintiffs and members of the putative class have been further damaged by failing to receive any income or distributions from the Fairshare Trust as a result of revenue generated from the use of Fairshare Trust property in the RCI exchange program. Absent any actual damage, Plaintiffs and members of the putative class are entitled to disgorgement of all excess funds and profits obtained by Defendant RCI as a result of its violations of the Arkansas Trust Code as more specifically set out in paragraphs 103 through 110 above.
Does any experienced Club Wyndham owner see any basis for these two allegations, or any of the other allegations in the lawsuit? About the only thing I can see is the mandatory RCI membership that is part of the program fee (the handy TUG Timeshare Comparison Chart shows mandatory RCI membership with Hilton and Disney timeshares). If RCI membership becomes optional as a result of this lawsuit, members would likely have to pay the regular membership price to join RCI instead of the discounted price through the current program fees.