Point at Poipu info from the BOD

[Kauai Kid]

For your info:

Sterling



Dear Fellow Poipu Owners,

The Board of Directors would like to provide you with a brief update on the water intrusion project. We are pleased to advise that collections are very strong. As of today's date we have collected 45.3%; $15.2 million, of the total amount billed for the first year's water intrusion assessment. This represents 34.6%; $6.0 million, collected of the amount billed the deeded Point at Poipu owners for 2012 and 56.7%; $9.2 million, of the amount billed the Hawaii Collection members for 2012. Of the $15.2 million collected, $3.2M comes from Diamond Resorts International®. Over the past two weeks we have collected $4,000,000. As a number of owners have inquired; we do want to confirm that these monies are secured in a bank account separate from the day to day operational accounts, and that this account will be audited quarterly along with the building work itself, throughout the duration of the project.

In October, several owner informational meetings were held and we were able to meet with several hundred owners to provide details on the water intrusion project. In addition, the call center has provided individual advice to owners about the project and their payments, and as of today's date they have been in contact with almost half of the owners.

The Team Members at the resort have also been holding update meetings as well as meeting with owners on an individual basis. While there have been understandable concerns about the scale of the work required, the feedback from our ownership is generally very positive, as demonstrated in the number of owners who have already paid the water intrusion assessment.

We are on track to finalize the construction documents over the next few weeks and start the project, as planned, on July 1, 2012. The Board will continue to meet on a regular basis to monitor owner communication, payments, and progress of the project.

We will also continue to update the DiamondResortsHOA.com website with new information, collection rates and schedules. We do strongly suggest that you visit this website if you have not done so already. Included on the site are FAQs, photographs, power point presentation, and a lot more information than we were able to include in the billing statements. Many owners have found it very helpful. We will continue to send update e-mails, but the website will be the Board's primary way of keeping owners informed with more detail as the project progresses.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday Season,

Board of Directors
Association of Apartment Owners of Poipu Point

 

[dougp26364]

Even if the information isn't information you want to hear, at least DRI is keeping owners updated. I have a resort where the developer filed bankruptcy, some of the land that existing buildings sit on was used as security and is involved in the bankruptcy as collarteral and, the developer apparently never registered individual titles for weeks sold with the county, so owners who want out can't even sell their weeks and legally transfer ownership. The only updates we've been given have been semi-annual notices that the bankruptcy is still in court and that the HOA is working to protect the owners. One, maybe two sentances that give the same non-information every six months.

The news might not be great for P@P but, at least owners have some idea of what's being done.

 

[Kauai Kid]

How about letting us know the name of the resort?

Sterling

 

[dougp26364]

How about letting us know the name of the resort?

Sterling

French Quarter Resort in Branson, MO.

There's a few owners talking about the same idea, class action against the current management. It will go nowhere as the current management was hired by the HOA to run the resort once the developer, who was managing the resort, closed his doors. Current management has nothing to do with the bankruptcy or the unregistered title's. Going after a bankrupt developer is only throwing good money after bad. The problem is, if they do find an attorny and do manage to file a lawsuit, it's going to cost all the owners in the form of increased MF's as the HOA will have to hire law firm to defend itself and, the result will be the same. We'll still have to wait to hear what the bankruptcy court decides.

What I fear is that the HOA, which means all the owners at the resort, will have to buy the land from the bankruptcy court, which in turn will mean a big SA. The question is, will this affect all the owners or just those in the buildings sitting on the land used as collarteral? The resort is not collecting any significant amount for cash reserves so I'm reasonably certain there won't be any funds coming from that source.

My big issue is the HOA/BOD are telling owners nothing. We are completely in the dark and have no way to prepare for whatever may happen.

 

[teepeeca]

special assessment---$$$ charged

Is each unit owner being charged the same amount of $$$ for the special assessment ??? It would be nice to know if "deeded owners", "club owners"; or any other "type" of owner, is being charged the same amount.

If not, WHY NOT ??? Shouldn't "all" owners be charged the same amount, and not segregated into different classes?

Tony

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Is each unit owner being charged the same amount of $$$ for the special assessment ??? It would be nice to know if "deeded owners", "club owners"; or any other "type" of owner, is being charged the same amount.

If not, WHY NOT ??? Shouldn't "all" owners be charged the same amount, and not segregated into different classes?

Tony

The only segregation into classes is for the size of the unit, with owners of the one-bedroom units paying less and the owner of three-bedroom unit paying more. Each full week owner of the same size unit is being charged the same amount, with owners of every other year units charged one-half the normal amount.

When a particular deed is owned by the Club, then the Club is charged the full amount due for that deed, in exactly the same fashion as any other owner of a similar deeded unit.

 

[dougp26364]

Want to learn more about Diamond Resorts and the American Resort Development Association? Please view this video: http://youtu.be/UgxsuHR0qkM

I think this situation was a wake up call to all the apathetic owners who have simply paid their MF's but put in little effort concerning the management of their resort. The complaints stated in the video aren't really much new to those who read TUG and take an active interest in what they own.

ARDA is for Resort Developers. Even though the name clearly states this is an organization is for Resort Developers, many owners are suprised that it's the Resort Developers interests that ARDA lobbies for and not the owners. While it's true that the Resort Developers interests and owners interests may be similar, ARDA isn't there to back up the owners interests as much as the developers interest. Anyone who takes the time to look at the name should be able to figure this out. If not, anyone who takes the time to look at what ARDA has done will see it clearly. I'm always amazed at the number of timeshare owners who don't have a clue what ARDA is, who it represents or that it's a voluntary contribution.

As to the 90 day notice, that was definately a short notice and it occurs to me that could have been handled better by DRI. Still, I recently had a termite inspection of my home. Had they found termites, I would have had a ZERO day notice and would have paid 100% of the bill despite having homeowners insurance. Termite damage isn't covered under our homeowners.

Of course I could have choosen to ignore the damage and put off paying the bill to repair the damage or even fix the problem and get rid of the termites but, that would have led to further damage and an even bigger bill in the end.

As a homeowner, I enjoy the privledge of putting off bills at my expense. Any timeshare management company won't enjoy the same privledge. If they put off repairing/replacing resort damage, owners of the resort might have legal recourse against them. In this case, the two management companies the appear to have had control prior to DRI are now bankrupt and attempting to hold them responsible is impossible. Again, back to owners who blindly paid MF's and voluntary assessment fee's without understanding what the management companies were, or were not, doing.

The P@P's owners failed to recognize the situtation before it got out of hand. Those to blame are long gone and can no longer be held responsible. Insurance doesn't cover this sort of damage. DRI, as the management company who is now responsible for maintaining the resort, isn't going to put themselves at risk like Sunterra and all previous management companies did and they are going to repair the damage and fix the problem. The owners, who own and pay for the resort and it's maintenance, will pay the bill.

This is a very unfortunate situation and wake up call. But it's not DRI's fault. The blame can be shared by formerly apathetic owners who are now very much aware they own and pay for the resort and former management companies and the original builder who created and allowed the issue to become worse over the years.

It's important to know who's on the HOA/BOD. It's important to know who controls the resort. It's important to know who's on the HOA and how to get elected and be active in your resorts management. Mostly, it's important to know that you OWN the resort and you are responsible for the bills of the resort. It seems to me that the vast majority of timeshare owners don't understand this nor do they understand when something bad happens, it's not someone else who will be paying the bills.

So it's great to be angry but, you also have to be objective and undertand that, at the very base of this issue is a major problem that MUST be fixed. Those who will foot the bill will be the owners. That's every individual deeded week owner at this resort. It matters little who's managing the resort be it DRI, Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, Bluegreen, Disney, Southwind, Grand Vacations, VRI, Festiva, Westgate or any of the other timeshare management companies/developers out there. This problem still exists and it's the owners who pay the bills, not the management company. If you really want to place blame, look at why the HOA/BOD did nothing under Sunterra's watch when they KNEW there was a problem and it was allowed to grow larger rather than be taken care of. But then again, Sunterra would have had to face the angry/mad owners and I guess they thought it was best to ignore the problem and hope it went away. In the end, Sunterra went bankrupt so, for them, I guess the problem did go away.

It's a shame that it takes a situation like this for owners to understand just how much responsibility and liability comes with timeshare ownership. This isn't something in which you pay the bills each month and trust nothing bad will ever happen.

 

[artringwald]

I know people are upset with the special assessment, but I really don't think it's part of some evil plot concocted by DRI. Here's what happened to us:

2/15/11 - We made an offer of $12,500 for a fixed unit/fixed week at the Point at Poipu through a resale company.
4/15/11 - After waiting for DRI to turn down their option to match our offer, we received the closing papers. The original listing said the use week was for week 6, but the deed said the use week was for week 16. We asked for documentation that the use week was really week 6, which is what the seller claimed they had been using.
8/1/11 - After the seller battled with DRI to provide proper documentation for the week 6 usage, DRI said that they couldn't change the deed, and instead, they would buy the week from the seller.

DRI spent $12,500 to buy the deed back and now DRI has to pay the special assessment for that week. Do you think they're happy about that? Everyone agrees that they should have given notice sooner, but I'm really glad they're making the effort to maintain the property.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

2/15/11 - We made an offer of $12,500 for a fixed unit/fixed week at the Point at Poipu through a resale company.
4/15/11 - After waiting for DRI to turn down their option to match our offer, we received the closing papers. The original listing said the use week was for week 6, but the deed said the use week was for week 16. We asked for documentation that the use week was really week 6, which is what the seller claimed they had been using.
8/1/11 - After the seller battled with DRI to provide proper documentation for the week 6 usage, DRI said that they couldn't change the deed, and instead, they would buy the week from the seller.

This is a bit of a tangent, but unless you were buying a fixed week that description you provided above doesn't make a bit of sense to me.

The particular week that a deed represents is completely unconnected with usage right except in the case of fixed weeks (of which there are relatively few). The timeshare program documents, which are incorporated by reference into the deed, are crystal clear that for floating usage units the owner does not have any preferential right to use the week and unit shown on the deed.

The only thing that does matter is what category the deed is assigned to (2; 2A; 2B; 2C; or 2D). That category is what determines the usage right, not the week that happens to be attached to the deed. The only exceptions to that are for the 1-bedroom units, the 3-bedroom unit, and a very small number of two-bedroom units that were sold as fixed week units early in the sales program.

 

[artringwald]

This is a bit of a tangent, but unless you were buying a fixed week that description you provided above doesn't make a bit of sense to me.

The deed was indeed for a fixed week/fixed unit, which is why we were willing to pay so much for it. Week 6, ocean front, corner unit used to be easy to get if booked 12 months out. However, the past couple years it's been hard to get any week in February.

The point I was trying to make, and didn't make clearly, is that if DRI's intention was to make a big assessment with short notice, so owners would default, and allow DRI to buy back the weeks at bargin rates, DRI wouldn't have paid $12,500 to buy back a week so soon before the assessment was announced.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

The deed was indeed for a fixed week/fixed unit, which is why we were willing to pay so much for it. Week 6, ocean front, corner unit used to be easy to get if booked 12 months out. However, the past couple years it's been hard to get any week in February.

Ok - that makes perfect sense then. As a fixed week, that would have been one of the two third floor corner units in Building 6, because I believe those were the only units that were sold with any fixed weeks. Those would be the best 2-bedroom units on the property. And of course week 6 is a premium week to boot, which is why someone would have bought that as a fixed week in the first place.

Though it's quite interesting that there could be that type of mismatch between the deed information and the usage right in the system. I wonder if back when the deed was sold, someone screwed up in deed prep and created a deed for week 16 instead of week 6; meanwhile in the inventory system it got entered as week 6. So the owner has been using a week 16 deed for week 6 usage. Then the discrepancy wasn't found until you uncovered it.

So really, at that point, DRI really didn't have any choice but to take the deed back, since legally they probably couldn't continue to perpetuate the error.

The point I was trying to make, and didn't make clearly, is that if DRI's intention was to make a big assessment with short notice, so owners would default, and allow DRI to buy back the weeks at bargin rates, DRI wouldn't have paid $12,500 to buy back a week so soon before the assessment was announced.

I understood the point clearly. That's why I flagged that my comment was tangential.

 

[MichaelColey]

Before our trip there last month, I got a call from DRI asking if I was an owner because if I was they would like to meet with me to answer any questions I had. I had the feeling that this was a legitimate offer of a real update rather than the typical "owners update" offered by timeshare weasels.

 

[artringwald]

It was for 6-303, the unit just below the sales room. We stayed in that unit in 2008, and the view was awesome. We never did find out exactly what was messed up with the deed vs usage, but you could be correct.

 

[Kauai Kid]

Before our trip there last month, I got a call from DRI asking if I was an owner because if I was they would like to meet with me to answer any questions I had. I had the feeling that this was a legitimate offer of a real update rather than the typical "owners update" offered by timeshare weasels.

Did you attend? If so was it legitimate? I don't believe anything DRI says so I didn't go to the water intrusion, especially since they wanted to charge my credit card $25, to be refunded after the presentation.

In walking around the buildings while we were there I only saw evidence of water intrusion in one spot. One owner said the problem came from the original Japanese developer going bankrupt and leaving the structure uncovered for some time.

The folks at the front desk never seem to get info as to who are owners and who are exchangers as they always charge me for every single call on island. I caught it this time, and all the charges were deducted from the final bill.

Sterling

 

[MichaelColey]

I didn't attend, nor was I asked asked about it again.

I didn't see any evidence of water damage/intrusion anywhere, either. The building we were in (including the unit we were in) had an entire floor below grade at the front, though, so I could see how it could happen pretty easily.

 

[artringwald]

The folks at the front desk never seem to get info as to who are owners and who are exchangers as they always charge me for every single call on island. I caught it this time, and all the charges were deducted from the final bill.

I get charged for phone calls too. It always causes delays at checkout while they verify that I am indeed an owner, reverse the charges, and print up a new invoice. Unfortunately, the delay has never caused me to miss my flight home.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I get charged for phone calls too. It always causes delays at checkout while they verify that I am indeed an owner, reverse the charges, and print up a new invoice. Unfortunately, the delay has never caused me to miss my flight home.

That seems to generally be the way the billing system works - all chargeable items are accrued during the week, then as appropriate they are (supposed to be) removed at checkout. We noticed that with internet charges when we were there in August.

 

[dougp26364]

P@P must have an internet provider different than Wayport. With our stays in Branson, MO and Santa Fe, NM we were given a code to enter for internet service. Otherwise we would be charged directly by Wayport, bypassing having the charges added to our bill at the resort.

My guess is the wifi provider set up doesn't allow for accounts to be distinguished between owners and exchangers, forcing the resort to bill everyone and sort it out upon check out.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

P@P must have an internet provider different than Wayport. With our stays in Branson, MO and Santa Fe, NM we were given a code to enter for internet service. Otherwise we would be charged directly by Wayport, bypassing having the charges added to our bill at the resort.

My guess is the wifi provider set up doesn't allow for accounts to be distinguished between owners and exchangers, forcing the resort to bill everyone and sort it out upon check out.

P@P has Oceanic Cable in the rooms - high speed cable. The connection needs to be renewed every 24 hours.

I like the hard wired setup. We often have family with us when we travel, so it's common to have three or four laptops/netbooks/tablets + more smart phones as well. I bring along a spare wireless router and set up our own wireless network.

 

[ouaifer]

The Garden Island take

The local paper now has it.