Absolutely Not !
... but if Members can rent their Weeks then RCI can rent their Weeks also. ...
I cannot disagree more strongly without resorting to harsh language.
I, as the owner of a timeshared property, that purchased such property with my own funds, and whose ownership of that property has usage rights to a week at the property, and because of said ownership pays maintenance fees as levied by the property, and periodically will pay assessments that may be levied by the association managing the property,
can do damn near anything I want with my week of usage in that property. And for good reason, I own the right to use. I may have a deed, I may not. I may own a fixed week and unit, I may own just the right to be issued one upon request. But I own it.
One of the things I may choose to do is trade with someone that owns a different week of usage, perhaps even at a different property. That gets real cumbersome to try to do one-on-one even today, but imagine what it was like in the days before the internet. So along comes RCI who offers me membership in a club that facilitates that exchange with other club members. I don't have to know the other people, I don't have to confirm their assurances, I just let the man in the middle handle all that. What a deal, and for only $89 per year. Of course I have to pay for the exchange because they have to collect some revenue to support the exchange system, after all it's probably on some big mainframe computer someplace (at least it was in the beginning).
But I don't have to exchange it. I can use my week myself. After all, that's what I bought it for, right? It's a neat place, on the beach, and I can bring my kids to the same place year after year, but only have to pay for the 1/52 share in it. The true basis of "time share".
Or I can let a friend use it. I better call management so they will let them in the door, because they're expecting to see my ugly mug at the door at 4PM on Saturday. But they'll do it because they know me and trust me to say "my buddy Bob will be using it, treat him as well as you treat me please."
Or, I can rent it to someone I don't know. I'll have to deal with making sure the check doesn't bounce, and that they won't let their kid rip the towel bars off the wall, and I still have to call the resort to tell them to let a guy named Joe use the place.
I can do all of these things with
MY timeshare week because
I own the week. I know I own the week because the property association sends
me the bill for my share of operational expenses on an annual basis (the process known as the
Maintenance Fee). And my name is on a deed somewhere so if the place gets hit by an insurable occurrence, I'll get my 1/52 share of my unit. Why?
Because I own it.
Should I desire to exchange the week I own with the owner of a different week, maybe even a week at a different property, I'll call those guys that I pay an annual fee to belong to their club. What was the name again, oh yeah RCI. Since I joined their club they will take my week on deposit, give me a credit with which I can look over the existing inventory of deposits and make a selection. If I don't see anything I like I can wait around until someone drops in something I do like, though they cap it at a reasonable couple of years I can do that to prevent massive imbalances, and I find that acceptable. And they'll do their best to make sure I'll get something of similar value to what I deposited, and I find that acceptable. And they will handle all the details of my trade with the other members in exchange for my membership fee, plus an additional fee payable when I make my withdrawal from the "space bank".
Nowhere in all of that is there any sort of agreement, written, implied, or otherwise, that says I'll deposit my week with them and they can do what they want with it, even if it significantly diminishes the inventory from which I get to make my withdrawal. If they have some legaleze somewhere that says they can, it ain't what they told me they would do, and it
dang sure ain't what I signed up for. And apparently a whole lot of other people agree with me because a court has declared us a class as we hash this out with RCI.
If that is what RCI wants to operate, they must be explicit in their sales literature so I and all other timeshare owners can determine if it's a good value or not and make our membership decisions accordingly. It's a free country, and they can offer whatever service they want. Of course, I for one wouldn't join up for that program, and I think RCI knew that. So they told us one thing, got us to sign up, then did something completely different than they promised. Hence the lawsuit.
So no, Stephen, just because I, the owner of a share of time in a property, can rent it out,
does not in any way mean that RCI, the operator of a voluntary, membership-based exchange service for owners of timeshares, can rent out what has been deposited with them for the current or future use of the collective of members of the exchange service.
I'm kind of lost in who is who in some of this right now, but if you don't get this concept I hope you aren't offering to represent the opposition to the offered settlement. You would be poorly equipped to argue on their behalf.
Maybe a real world example would help get across the problem with them renting out deposits.
One hundred hunters bring their freshly harvested deer to a processing plant that offers locker service. The service will store the meat in their great big freezer on behalf of the hunter, who can stop by anytime and get a roast or sausage or whatever for the weekend. If the locker service sells the meat on the side, eventually some hunter is going to show up for his monthly withdrawal and find out there isn't anything left, or what is left sure isn't the good stuff he brought into the place. And he's rightfully going to be ticked off, because that was HIS kids' dinner the locker operator stole, sold off, and bought a new truck with the cash.
If a stock brokerage tried to operate the same way with their deposits as RCI does, the SEC would shut them down. If it was a bank the FDIC would shutter the doors. If its a meat locker the local ranchers and hunters that came to get their rations and found the freezer empty would tar and feather the guy, or worse.
Whether it's dollars deposited into a bank or timeshare weeks deposited with RCI, only the original owner of the deposit should benefit from the withdrawal. Period.
Hmmm, maybe the closest analogy is RCI is like a Ponzi scheme. Those that make early withdrawals get better returns, and in the end have the best chance of even getting a return at all, whereas those that trust the operator get stiffed in the end. So RCI should suffer the same fate as Bernie Madoff?
I think the priority for deposits to remain in the exchange pool should extend a minimum to 11 months in advance if not 10 months.
