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Timeshare Legal Services
What is Timeshare? What should Buyers look out for?
Timeshare can be a great product - or a total nightmare. Timeshare has developed into a hugely successful industry. There are over 3000 timeshare resorts world-wide and over 100,000,000 timeshare owners.
Timeshare accommodation is normally built to and maintained at a very high standard - certainly higher than that found in most tourist hotels. The terrible reputation enjoyed by Timeshare, particularly outside the USA, is largely as a result of the sometimes appalling sales methods used to sell the product. In the US and EU there is legislation designed to protect the interests of the buyer. In Europe it is too often ignored.
The reputation is also damaged by the methods used by some of the companies managing timeshare resorts.
At its simplest, Timeshare is a system under which you can own just part of a property. But instead of, say, owning just one floor of a building or one room in a house which you can use all year round, you own the right to use the whole of the property for a certain period of time each year. So, for example, if you have a timeshare where you own week 12 in a 2 bedroom apartment you will be entitled to use the apartment in the 12th week of the year. The owners of the various weeks appoint someone to manage the property any pay their share of the cost of doing so. The owners, collectively, hire and fire the managers and fix the budget. We call this "co-operative Timeshare" because it closely resembles the structure of a co-operative.
Since this straightforward beginning things have got more complicated.
Some places now sell you "floating weeks" - i.e. weeks that do not need to be used at the same time every year. The available accommodation is used on a first come, first served basis where each year you can agree with the people or company managing the property when you will use the property. For some people this can be very convenient. Others prefer the certainty of fixed weeks.
Some places now offer "floating apartments". This means that, instead of always using the same apartment in a resort you can ask for - or be allocated - whatever is available.
In many cases your rights over the property will not last "for ever" but for 99 or 80 or 50 or even 30 years.
More recently still, we have seen the emergence of 'hotel' timeshare. These are timeshare resorts operated by the big hotel chains. Buyers are, essentially, prebooking holidays in these hotels - sometimes with the possibility of using their reserved weeks in other hotels in the group. In these timeshare schemes buyers will seldom have any effective level of control. Whether they are a good buy is often a question of whether you like the company and resort and whether the price at which the weeks are offered makes the holidays cost effective.
Timeshare Cancellation Rights
Sometimes you may buy a timeshare and not want it.
This could be simply because you have changed your mind or because your circumstances have changed. Often it will because you were subjected to pressure salesmanship. The salesman may have lied to you about what was on offer or about something else relevant to your purchase.
European Union law gives you certain basic cancellation rights. The local law of certain European states gives you additional protection. All these rights have time limits attached to them.
If you have been placed under great pressure to buy, or if the salesman has told you lies, you may have other rights to cancel the contract. If you have used a credit card to buy then you may have rights against your credit card company.
If you want to cancel, you need URGENT legal advice.
What do I do next?
If you would like further advice, please telephone, fax or email us. We can then have a brief discussion over the telephone and, if necessary, make an appointment so that we can meet to look at the matter in more detail.
We are used to acting for Clients from all over the world and, generally, find that it is not necessary to meet in order to deal with most cases. If a meeting is necessary and travelling to our offices is inconvenient we can usually offer video-conferencing facilities. Of course, we are delighted to meet to discuss matters personally if that is convenient for you.
Trustee Services
We can offer Trustee services to timeshare clubs.
The main role of the trustee is to protect the legal title to the resort and so the interests of the individual timeshare buyers. As international lawyers we give total protection.
Another important role is the efficient and cost effective transfer of ownership of timeshare weeks. Our heavy investment in IT systems facilitates this. As lawyers, we can also offer the club a full legal advice service.
We believe in a highly personalised service to clients who share our view that timeshare is an industry that will only survive and prosper if it operates to the highest ethical standards.
Services to Timeshare Committees
We can offer a full range of services to timeshare committees.
Committees have special requirements. They are usually made up of unpaid volunteers. The members, whilst they may have experience of business, will probably have no knowledge of European business or law.
They need clear, comprehensive advice that goes beyond mere legal issues and covers practical and operational topics as well. They need that service to be delivered as cost effectively as possible.
We believe in a highly personalised service to committees who share our view that timeshare is an industry that will only survive and prosper if it operates to the highest ethical standards.
We can help in a number of ways.
Many issues are the same as those facing private individuals or companies. In addition, we can:
- advise about your constitution
- advise whether you are authorised to carry out your activities
in your target European country - advise about the cross border tax implications of your proposals
- prepare detailed plans to give effect to your proposals
- attend meetings and explain your plans and the European law issues
that arise from them - act as general counsel to give advice about any area of this complex
business that is causing you concern - advise about management companies and management contracts
- add additional units to your timeshare operation
- deal with any disputes that may arise between the club and its
management company, its members or the outside world - act as trustees
- act as escrow account holders
John Howell & Co is a member of OTE (Organisation for Timeshare in Europe).
Services to Timeshare Developers
We can offer a full range of services to timeshare developers - but only to those who share our view that timeshare is an industry that will only survive and prosper if it operates to the highest ethical standards.
Many of their requirements are similar to those of other business clients. But they need other things as well.
Developers need clear, comprehensive advice that goes beyond mere legal issues and covers practical and operational topics as well. That advice must cover all aspects of the process from finding suitable land to implementing sales policies that will meet stringent European regulations yet permit commercially acceptable sales targets.
We believe in a highly personalised service delivered as cost effectively as possible. |