Received certified letter on payment of assessment fees

[Lady-L]

Hello,
I stopped paying anything on my timeshare for 2 years now. Recently I received a certified letter from Diamond requesting the past due assessment fees totaling $26,000. It states in the letter that they may send the account to an attorney, a collection agency, and recover the points and terminate membership. What do you think they will really do if I don't pay? They are giving me 30 days to pay the money that I don't have. I purchased in Virginia but live in Maryland.

 

[geist1223]

They will cancel your Membership and reclaim your Points. They will probably sell your debt to a Collection Agency at a Discount. TThat may or may not take you to Court.

 

[chapjim]

This is not good. You will be pestered six ways from Sunday by a collection agency or law firm. You may be taken to court and assuming a judgment is entered against you, your wages could be garnished.

 

[RX8]

$26,000 for assessment fees? That is way too high for just annual fees. Is this a typo or do you have a mortgage balance that they have accelerated to be due immediately?

 

[Mongoose]

If they write it off eventually you could be issued a 1099R and have to pay taxes on it.

 

[dioxide45]

I m not an attorney and this is of course worth what you paid for it

I suspect this is the first step of their foreclosure process. Based on the amount it sounds like this is for a timeshare loan and not just maintenance fees? RIght now this is their cheapest remedy. Send you a letter asking you to pay. If you pay, great! Problem solved for just a few bucks in USPS delivery fees. If you don't, they will file foreclosure action. From what I understand from this thread is that Maryland is a non-judicial foreclosure state but perhaps they have recourse for unpaid debt that remains after the foreclosure sale. That said, they are unlikely to turn your debt over to collection before foreclosure. They will foreclose and take back the points. They will then either sell the debt they have recourse on or simply write it off. Chances are they won't bother with it because in reality the money for the loan was never provided by an actual financial institution. It was a seller financed loan. With a decent attorney on your side, it is highly doubtful they could attempt get a court to enforce their recourse on the outstanding loan in court. On day one when you bought the timeshare there was no one there handing Diamond a bunch of money to fund the loan that now wants it back.

 

[dioxide45]

If they write it off eventually you could be issued a 1099R and have to pay taxes on it.

I think you mean a 1099-C

 

[Lady-L]

$26,000 for assessment fees? That is way too high for just annual fees. Is this a typo or do you have a mortgage balance that they have accelerated to be due immediately?

No, the letter says assessment fees.

 

[Lady-L]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. Hopefully they will just right it off and take the points back.

 

[Ty1on]

$26,000 for assessment fees? That is way too high for just annual fees. Is this a typo or do you have a mortgage balance that they have accelerated to be due immediately?

Late Fees and Collection Fees would be heaped on top of maintenance fees.

 

[dioxide45]

Late Fees and Collection Fees would be heaped on top of maintenance fees.

But they have only stopped paying for two years. Perhaps three years past due. Say that is about $6000 in actual past due fees. I wouldn't think late fees and collection fees would add another $20K

 

[Ty1on]

But they have only stopped paying for two years. Perhaps three years past due. Say that is about $6000 in actual past due fees. I wouldn't think late fees and collection fees would add another $20K

I don't have any experience with DRI, but my first thought when I was composing my response was, "Well, it's DRI, would I put usurious fees past them?" But I do agree it seems high.

 

[youppi]

This is the late fee in the DRI Hawaii Collection but the late fee should be similar for the DRI US Collection (the OP purchased points in Virginia).

LATE FEE ASSESSMENT AND SUSPENSION
If your assessment is not paid in full by the 1st day of the month following the payment due date, the account becomes delinquent
and the following charges will be added to all the delinquent accounts:
a. A one-time late charge equal to 5% of the past due amount
b. An interest charge at the rate of 12% per annum from the due date

The OP didn't say how many points she owned.
The annual MF can be very high if the member owns a lot of points in the US Collection. See the following spreadsheet for the MF from 1000 pts to 100,000 pts per step of 500 pts

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQOluS3vEx9nH-oWM-WU4ksSwqPM0_8E1Vt6v3stURSTggLY8OmN_RZYkF3DQuCNECelW-F6FGo3Wej/pubhtml#

 

[Mongoose]

I dumped DRI several years ago because its clear they could care less about their owners And want to squeeze every penny they can. Their MF are ridiculous.

 

[dioxide45]

I dumped DRI several years ago because its clear they could care less about their owners And want to squeeze every penny they can. Their MF are ridiculous.

Do the resorts match the maintenance fees? I heard that they would buy up a resort property and jack up rates. DId they also do heavy renovations to bring it up to a certain level?

 

[Kozman]

Do the resorts match the maintenance fees? I heard that they would buy up a resort property and jack up rates. DId they also do heavy renovations to bring it up to a certain level?

DRI is a predatory company who comes in and buys out HOA units and then uses their proxy vote to vote their employees onto the board. Once installed they are free to hike up rates and management fees.

 

[dioxide45]

DRI is a predatory company who comes in and buys out HOA units and then uses their proxy vote to vote their employees onto the board. Once installed they are free to hike up rates and management fees.

But when they hike the fees, where does the money go. From what I understand their management fees are in the 15% range? If they are increasing fees significantly, the rest of the money needs to be going back into the resort somewhere?

 

[Ty1on]

But when they hike the fees, where does the money go. From what I understand their management fees are in the 15% range? If they are increasing fees significantly, the rest of the money needs to be going back into the resort somewhere?

Every dollar they increase operating expenses is 15 cents directly to them.

 

[dioxide45]

Every dollar they increase operating expenses is 15 cents directly to them.

I get it, but the other $85 cents has to be going somewhere else.

 

[Ty1on]

I get it, but the other $85 cents has to be going somewhere else.

An unscrupulous manager would skirt their fiduciary duty to find the most cost-effective supplies, contracts and labor, knowing they get a 15% kickback on every dollar they overspend.

 

[T-Dot-Traveller]

I dumped DRI several years ago because its clear they could care less about their owners And want to squeeze every penny they can. Their MF are ridiculous.

DRI is a predatory company who comes in and buys out HOA units and then uses their proxy vote to vote their employees onto the board. Once installed they are free to hike up rates and management fees.

But when they hike the fees, where does the money go. From what I understand their management fees are in the 15% range? If they are increasing fees significantly, the rest of the money needs to be going back into the resort somewhere?

Based on TUG reading -
DRI grew through acquisition and not by building.

1) DRI has done upgrades at resorts they bought that were in need.
2 Raised MF as @Mongoose noted
3) has sometimes done a "stealth version" acquisition - as @Kozman noted.
4) Aggressively attempted to sell points programs to fixed week ownerships - using all the traditional
methods of half truths / lies and fear.
5 ) The 2015~ish acquisition of Gold Key Resorts in Virginia Beach fits the above pattern.

That said - there are knowledgable TUG members who are DRI owners and know how to use their ownerships.
@youppi - who posted above is an example.

 

[dougp26364]

I would send a letter to cease and desist all collection letters and calls per the fair credit collection act (I think I have this right. Google it to make sure). That will at least stop them fro pestering you. It might be worth it to pay a few hundred dollars to get the opinion of an attorney skilled in collections to make a decision wether or not council is worth the cost in your situation.

What will they do? Hard to say. Maybe just turn it over to collections. Maybe they’ll actually attempt to get a judgement and force payment. Maybe they’ll foreclose and I’ve on. At a minimum I’m pretty certain you’ll have to endure various collection agencies for the several years. At worst you might have a judgement against in which case you’ll have to consider paying the judgement vs filing bankruptcy.

 

[Arusso]

Hello,
I stopped paying anything on my timeshare for 2 years now. Recently I received a certified letter from Diamond requesting the past due assessment fees totaling $26,000. It states in the letter that they may send the account to an attorney, a collection agency, and recover the points and terminate membership. What do you think they will really do if I don't pay? They are giving me 30 days to pay the money that I don't have. I purchased in Virginia but live in Maryland.

I learned long ago that virtually everything in life is negotiable. The exception, of course, is health. Also, for a particular problem there may be more than one option available to yield the desired solution. Because of the COVID pandemic, these past two years have been difficult for many people. While I am not an attorney nor can I give you legal advice, I was an employer and have some experience in the small business world. In all likelihood your situation is not unique but you need to fully comprehend the consequences of any decision you make. IMO, it's never a good idea to make a bad situation worse.

To protect your interest I would advise seeking out an attorney familiar with negotiation (TS contracts would be a bonus) who would negotiate on your behalf and get you out of your contractual obligations (MFs, assessment, late fees, loan - if any, etc) DRI has a program called Transitions that is intended to extricate an owner from a contract. There will be a cost involved. In the end you will have no further obligation and not have any lingering threat of legal action against you which could be very costly. Good luck

 

[theo]

<snip> DRI has a program called Transitions that is intended to extricate an owner from a contract. There will be a cost involved. In the end you will have no further obligation and not have any lingering threat of legal action against you which could be very costly. <snip>

Transitions is only an available option if / when there are no unpaid fees or loan balances outstanding and the account is completely current.

OP indicated receiving a $26k demand from DRI. Reportedly, with only 2 years of unpaid mf's, this amount suggests the existence of an outstanding loan balance. I am not offering legal advice or any input intended in any way as a substitute for obtaining legal advice, but I will nonetheless point out that walking away is also an option, paying DRI not another cent.

Fwiw, I've not previously heard of DRI taking anyone to court over unpaid fees and / or unpaid loan debt. Yes, it could happen, but it's a bit hard to imagine over $26K.

 

[Arusso]

Transitions is only an available option if / when there are no unpaid fees or loan balances outstanding and the account is completely current.

OP indicated receiving a $26k demand from DRI. Reportedly, with only 2 years of unpaid mf's, this amount suggests the existence of an outstanding loan balance. I am not offering legal advice or any input intended in any way as a substitute for obtaining legal advice, but I will nonetheless point out that walking away is also an option, paying DRI not another cent.

Fwiw, I've not previously heard of DRI taking anyone to court over unpaid fees and / or unpaid loan debt. Yes, it could happen, but it's a bit hard to imagine over $26K.

Correct on the Transitions options may not be available to the OP based on the what the situation is. We do not know the details so speculation is not an option. There is risk by just walking away from contractual debt and the OP should be completely informed.