Sutherland Crossing, Crystal Beach (RCI #0934) --- aftermath of it closing down?

[theo]

I had never been there, but I clearly recall that this timeshare facility "closed its' doors" a very few years ago now. I never heard another word about it thereafter.

Just curious --- any former Sutherland Crosssing owners here on TUG who might be willing to share their first hand knowledge and description of the process and the aftermath (and the personal financial benefit or loss) of this timeshare facility just closing down permanently with relatively little advance notice?

 

[theo]

Bumping up --- no one?

 

[silentg]

I heard it was bought by Church of Scientology. My parents stayed at Sutherland Crossings back in the 90's. It was a unique timeshare, located in a bird sanctuary, each unit was separate up on stilts, parking was under the unit. Retro furnature on a Lake. We visited them there, was not near anything, except I remember a very large bike trail that my daughter and I rode bikes on.
TerryC

 

[buzglyd]

Church of Scientology?

The timeshare buildings are being torn down and private homes are going up. It's an awesome property and had outlived its timeshare life.

 

[theo]

The timeshare buildings are being torn down and private homes are going up. It's an awesome property and had outlived its timeshare life.

No news flash there; this was clearly the fate of the somewhat secluded property after the place folded. My real interest / question was not about that obvious and inevitable fate, but instead how actual timeshare owners there may have fared financially when the place folded. It would seem that any and all owners at the time of dissolution had a financial stake / interest, so I was just curious about direct financial impact on owners who were "in" at the time of dissolution.

 

[b2bailey]

Theo, this is of interest to me because I am an owner at a resort that fell into mismanagement and is now for sale:

http://www.loopnet.com/xNet/MainSite/Listing/Profile/Profile.aspx?LID=18605351

I keep wondering how they will ever sort this all out. BTW, the price for the entire place isn't too bad by California standards. 1.5 million for 12 units.

 

[buzglyd]

No news flash there; this was clearly the fate of the somewhat secluded property after the place folded. My real interest / question was not about that obvious and inevitable fate, but instead how actual timeshare owners there may have fared financially when the place folded. It would seem that any and all owners at the time of dissolution had a financial stake / interest, so I was just curious about direct financial impact on owners who were "in" at the time of dissolution.

I don't know the answer to that one.

And a follow up would be do owners who were years and years past due on maint fees get a piece of the pie when the property sells?

 

[Dori]

When our beloved resort, Harbour Inn, in Ontario sold, each owner received a set amount. This depended on the size of the unit. We owned two weeks and it took about a year before we got our cheque. We were very happy with the amount we received.

Dori

 

[buzglyd]

When our beloved resort, Harbour Inn, in Ontario sold, each owner received a set amount. This depended on the size of the unit. We owned two weeks and it took about a year before we got our cheque. We were very happy with the amount we received.

Dori

The problem with some of these old resorts, the on time owners deserve their check but the guy who hasn't paid an assessment in 10 years wants his cut too.

 

[silentg]

Obviously, non of the timeshare owners at Sutherland are On TUG! The place was abandoned for a while. Then I heard ( on a tug post years ago) that the Church of Scientology had purchased the property. Now you say new homes are being built there? I wonder if it is still a bird sanctuary? Perhaps, a part of it will remain?

 

[theo]

Nope, not so...

Obviously, none of the timeshare owners at Sutherland are on TUG! The place was abandoned for a while. Then I heard (on a tug post years ago) that the Church of Scientology had purchased the property. <snip>

On the contrary, just a very few years ago I communicated directly (via PM) with a TUG member who owned at Sutherland Crossing. We even briefly discussed a rental.
Unfortunately, I did not save the PM exchange (or remember her TUG user name) or I would contact her directly to ask about the post-closing financial aftermath.

I am unaware of the Church of Scientology having ever been in that picture, even conversationally or momentarily. I have no clue where any such odd theory may have even originated.

 

[Nancy]

Sutherland Crossing

I have a friend that owned more than one unit there. I finally saw the friend and asked whether they had gotten anything for their units. As of now, they had not, but friend seemed hopeful that maybe they still might receive something.

Nancy

 

[silentg]

The Odd theory was in the newspaper and I also saw a thread here on TUG.

 

[silentg]

I found this on Sutherland
http://www.tstoday.com/members/magazine/issue129/cover.pdf

 

[sarment]

One of our Mexico Resorts Closed

Our resort in Mexico closed. That was it. It closed and no one has heard anything from them since.
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163207&highlight=cristalmar

 

[Larry M]

Forensics?

On the contrary, just a very few years ago I communicated directly (via PM) with a TUG member who owned at Sutherland Crossing. We even briefly discussed a rental.
Unfortunately, I did not save the PM exchange (or remember her TUG user name) or I would contact her directly to ask about the post-closing financial aftermath.

I am unaware of the Church of Scientology having ever been in that picture, even conversationally or momentarily. I have no clue where any such odd theory may have even originated.

Well, I thought I could resolve this debate by looking up the deed history in the Riverside County Register of Deeds. or looking up the tax bill history in the Riverside County tax records. Here in North Carolina that information is public record, online, for everyone to see. (Send me a PM and I'll send you links to mine.)

But California is still in the Dark Ages. It seems you have to walk/mail to the office and pay a fee to get the records.

 

[Larry M]

Post deleted

Sorry--was intending to post regarding Sutherland Crossing but looked up Azure Sky instead. Disregard this post.

 

[SOU11]

Sutherland Crossing Resolution

Sutherland closed its doors when the dues-paying owners dwindled to about 225 of about 1500 unit weeks. Personally I had owned two units their since the early 1990's. Initially maintenance was about $550 per unit week. But maintenance submissions became spotty. The last assessment was $2500 per unit week and only that residual number was declared in good standing in the spring of 2013. The association had to approach the condominium and timeshare division of the state of Florida and get permission to dissolve. The association had over a million dollars in current liabilities and illiquid assets in the form of fifteen acres of land with infrastructure. The association worked to get releases from all owners of their deeds so that the property could be sold to a home developer.

So with court supervision, the association is winding up its affairs. After paying debts and legal expenses, the association will distribute the residual, of some two to three million dollars, to the members in good standing.

 

[Harpswell]

Sad End to a Wonderful Property

We bought into Sutherland Crossing relatively recently, and enjoyed two wonderful winter visits. The property was exquisite, with ospreys, several gopher tortoises, a great deal of open land between large and nicely made freestanding houses. I don't think there was any timeshare in Florida as nice. However, the organization failed to bridge the turnover from early owners to a new crowd, and many ownerships went unpaid. While I had hopes that we might have been able to interest the community in maintaining it as a park, the need to satisfy existing debts required development. The people organizing the sale have been working hard (existing owners who had not paid their assessments had to have formal foreclosure proceedings begun against them) and they recently announced that a sale had been completed and many debts discharged. A significant distribution accompanied the letter. While changing another piece of open coastal land to housing is not an entirely happy result, it seems likely that there will be a further distribution once issues regarding creditors and ownerships in arrears are fully resolved.
Our happy experience at Sutherland Crossing led us to buy a similar property in Sanibel, where we happily view nature from an elevated house that is ours all year long. No gopher tortoises, however.

 

[WantingToTravel]

We used Sutherland a number of times, really loved it.
Later we sold out as it went downhill.

So we missed out on the turmoil and the benefit of the significant distribution, and are curious what amount are we talking here ? $5,000 or $20,000 or $100,000 ?

We have no claim to any as we sold years ago, but would like to know.

Thanks.......

Sad End to a Wonderful Property

We bought into Sutherland Crossing relatively recently, and enjoyed two wonderful winter visits. The property was exquisite, with ospreys, several gopher tortoises, a great deal of open land between large and nicely made freestanding houses. I don't think there was any timeshare in Florida as nice. However, the organization failed to bridge the turnover from early owners to a new crowd, and many ownerships went unpaid. While I had hopes that we might have been able to interest the community in maintaining it as a park, the need to satisfy existing debts required development. The people organizing the sale have been working hard (existing owners who had not paid their assessments had to have formal foreclosure proceedings begun against them) and they recently announced that a sale had been completed and many debts discharged. A significant distribution accompanied the letter. While changing another piece of open coastal land to housing is not an entirely happy result, it seems likely that there will be a further distribution once issues regarding creditors and ownerships in arrears are fully resolved.
Our happy experience at Sutherland Crossing led us to buy a similar property in Sanibel, where we happily view nature from an elevated house that is ours all year long. No gopher tortoises, however.

 

[SCfromAnnapolis]

We used Sutherland a number of times, really loved it.
Later we sold out as it went downhill.

So we missed out on the turmoil and the benefit of the significant distribution, and are curious what amount are we talking here ? $5,000 or $20,000 or $100,000 ?

We have no claim to any as we sold years ago, but would like to know.

Thanks.......

As an owner at Sutherland Crossing of many years the other was very sad what happened. The financial problems go way back. When SC was being developed the developer had financial issues and only built 20 to 30 of the originally planned 52 units. So right off the bat the number of available units to generate maintenance fees was greatly reduced. I believe the developer went bankrupt and the unsold unit weeks became bank owned. I was told by SC mgt staff that the bank itself experienced issues during the banking crisis in the 1980s (I believe that was the period) and that bank was absorbed by another financial institution. As a result the unsold unit weeks were locked up in a messy legal situation and were not available for the SC association to market in order to be able to sell and expand the ownership base as a means of generating additional maintenance funds. There was a brief period where things were looking positive. After I think it was 30 years, the SC organization was able to get the seeds for the unit weeks that were held by the financial institution. SC tried hard to sell them at a very low price, $400 or $500 for a unit week. That is when I bought a second unit. Things were looking up but unfortunately did not continue.
In the later years of SC two factors led to the negative financial state. First the national financial crisis that led to an increase increase in unemployment resulted in many owner defaulting on paying their maintenance fees. As SC was then over 30 years old, many units were owned by deceased people (no maintenance fees there) and by people who had moved and SC did not have current addresses. As the maintenance fee paying base diminished, fees increased. The rest of the story has been detailed in other postings.

Our family loved SC and spent many weeks there. The staff and mgt was great. It was very safe for children, quite and a strong family atmosphere. We got to know the other owners and there family and watched our children grow up.

It was sad but the positive side is that with the sale and the resolution of all SC debt, each owner week was dispersed $15k. The SC board did a great job in a very difficult situation and they served the SC owners in good standing very well.