ARDA Working Hard to Mitigate the Effect of Agency Cutbacks on Timeshare

By Jason Gamel, ARDA State Affairs

November 6, 2012 

Timeshare is highly regulated in most states, and is feeling the brunt of recent state agency staff cutbacks. Timeshares usually have to file new projects as well as renew their existing developments every year in order to continue to sell units and vacation packages within that state. For states with many timeshare registrations, this can mean a lot of paperwork. With less government employees fielding this paperwork, backups can occur. In most cases it is against the law for timeshares to sell their product without receiving these reviews and approvals. These backups can be detrimental to the developer, industry, and the economy of tourism. While some states have crafted their own ways to address this issue already, ARDA is stepping in to help do what they can for other states that could be facing this problem now or in the near future.

A handful of states have solved this problem by deregulating. When a state deregulates, it no longer requires the same strict policies of registration, review, and renewals. For example, in 2010, Michigan ruled that timeshare resorts were no longer required to register in the state. This freed up the burden on both timeshare resorts and the state government who had to process each registration.

Arizona also realized it had a problem with managing the filing buildup due to the regulatory requirements. Thus, with ARDA’s help, Arizona legislature passed legislation that included “deemed approved” language, ruling that renewal filings not manually reviewed within 15 days would be automatically accepted in the system. If the state agency finds an error after the filing was accepted, they are authorized to have the developer fix the error.

Nevada retained all current regulation requirements even after experiencing severe cutbacks in staff and budget. Being a popular destination for timeshare sales, and with new projects being completed in Las Vegas, the build-up of un-reviewed timeshare filings began to severely affect the industry. There are initial filings, amendments, and renewals that have been yet to be reviewed dating from six months to two years.

ARDA and its members have been eagerly working with the Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED) and Department of Business and Industry, as well as the Governor and the State Attorney General’s offices, to solve this regulatory dilemma. ARDA plans on working with NRED to introduce legislation that would simplify regulatory procedures and restructure NRED’s budget, allowing for an adequate number of reviewers at all times so that filings will not be delayed in the future.

ARDA is aware of several states that will be experience turnover, staff and budget cutbacks, and trained reviewer retirement. While ARDA has always supported reasonable regulation, the coming years may prove challenging. ARDA is looking into ways to best address these challenges and recreate the balance of good business and consumer protection through sufficient regulation.  

The State of Florida: Working Hard for Timeshare Consumers 

by Jason Gamel, ARDA State Affairs

May 7, 2012 

 What do the Florida Office of the Attorney General, Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) all have in common?

They are all working tirelessly to protect timeshare owners from fraudulent actors in the secondary resale market. In the past six months, the industry has seen the passage of landmark timeshare resales legislation (thank you to Attorney General Bondi and her staff), dozens of investigations and arrests made by DACS related to timeshare resales fraud, and educational efforts spearheaded by DBPR to inform consumers about their rights as timeshare owners. After meeting with representatives from each of these offices this week, I am more convinced than ever that Florida is truly finding ways to help those who take their hard-earned vacations there.

Expect plenty of industry cooperation in the upcoming months to help identify fraudulent businesses (that have targeted timeshare owners as their victims) and to aid in the drafting of future legislation to put more tools in the hands of law enforcement to eradicate fraud in the industry. Along the same lines, expect increased educational efforts to come from the state and the industry that will put consumers in a better position to make good decisions about how they sell their timeshare interests. You can also visit www.arda-roc.org/resales for information related to timeshare resales and other consumer protection issues.

For now, if a consumer wishes to file a formal complaint against a person or company who they suspect may be involved in fraudulent activity, we encourage them to visit the Florida Attorney General’s website, the Florida DBPR website, and the Florida DACS website.

ARDA and ARDA-ROC are very excited about working with these agencies and see great things happening for the industry and consumers in 2012 and beyond.

Hawaii Update  

by Jason Gamel, ARDA State Affairs 

April 30, 2012 

On Friday, April 20, several timeshare industry representatives testified in front of the Maui County Council to oppose Mayor Alan Arakawa’s proposed increase in the timeshare property tax rate from $15.00 to $16.15 per $1,000 of assessed value. While we remain positive about preventing an increase, the County also became aware that its prior property tax revenue assumptions were overstated, meaning the Mayor will have to revise his budget to include $6 million in revenue increases. At this time there is no indication that Maui County would be interested in cutting spending vs. raising more revenue, explaining the proposed increase in the timeshare property tax rate. Click here to view the testimony submitted by ARDA, ARDA-Hawaii, and ARDA-ROC. We’d like to thank the representatives from Starwood Vacation Ownership, Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Diamond Resorts International, Sands of Kahana Resort, ARDA, ARDA-ROC (Resort Owners’ Coalition), and the law firm of Imanaka, Kudo and Fujimoto for their presence at the hearing on April 20 as well as the owners and developers who submitted testimony. 

On May 3rd, the Maui County Council will have another public hearing to take testimony on the proposed property tax rates, including the timeshare rate. Even though the industry has made its position clear to the council over the past two years, ARDA and ARDA-ROC will continue to express its concerns about any increase to the timeshare tax rate.  

We need your help. Please share your concerns with the County Council Members. For contact information or to review talking points on this subject, visit the Maui County Tax Center on the ARDA-ROC website. 

Unfortunately, this will not be the last time that ARDA, ARDA-ROC, and the timeshare industry will be doing battle with the Maui County Council on property tax issues. Rest assured that we are continuing to look at ways that the industry can convince the council that taxing the timeshare industry is not a long term solution for the county’s budget issues.  Please check back with us in the next few weeks for more information.

Caribbean Waves in as the Most Travel-Intensive Region in the World 

February 16, 2012 

The good news is that the Caribbean region continues to be the most travel and tourism intensive region in the world, according to the 2011 Caribbean Travel and Tourism Economic Impact Study, sponsored by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).   

However, the Caribbean was also fraught with severe economic distress due to the global recession and now faces more potential legislative challenges as Caribbean governments face funding struggles in their recovery process. What that means for our industry is that we need to be prepared to fend off such legislative proposals that would negatively impact the timeshare industry (both developers and owners) and the entire Caribbean travel and tourism industry. Fortunately, ARDA-Caribbean is proactively addressing these challenges. One example of this can be found in the U.S. Virgin Islands where ARDA-Caribbean is actively involved in the strategic planning discussions with the US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism and the Office of the Governor in their 5-year Tourism Development plan to chart a sustainable future for tourism in the territory.  Look for more legislative updates in the ARDA-Caribbean section of the website. 

ARDA-ROC Introduces the Government Affairs Insider to Keep You Informed 

February 14, 2012 

The ARDA and ARDA-ROC government affairs team recently launched the Government Affairs Insider, a bi-weekly digital publication designed to keep you up-to-date on legislative issues and activities affecting the timeshare industry. 

This week’s Insider reports on ARDA-supported timeshare legislation in Florida, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. These bills, some including legislation regarding timeshare resale companies, have received positive responses from state legislatures and are moving through House and Senate committees quickly.  

ARDA-ROC has also begun working with the Virginia Resort Development Association (VRDA) on lobbying efforts for two bills that have been introduced in the Virginia House. 

For more information on these news items in this week’s Insider, as well as access to previous editions of the Insider, click here.  

Florida Timeshare Resale Accountability Act Inches Closer to Passage 

February 8, 2012

In January, Florida State Senator Andy Gardiner and Florida State Representative Eric Eisnaugle, with the support of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, introduced the Timeshare Resale Accountability Act of 2012. The motivation behind the Act was to protect Florida consumers and help put an end to deceptive marketing practices conducted by fraudulent timeshare resale companies that have been targeting consumers under the guise of offering a service to help sell their timeshare product.

Under the new law, timeshare owners would be given more information about resale companies and the ability to rescind a sales contract, helping to protect them from bad actors. The House bill was passed unanimously out of House Judiciary Committee and will make its next and final stop in the House Economic Affairs Committee. Its companion bill in the Senate will be heard in the Senate Budget Committee, also its final stop. Similar legislation has been introduced in Colorado and will begin to move through legislative process shortly.