RDO turns up the heat on Resale and Holiday Club Fraudsters
Brussels 29th March 2010 - As part on an ongoing campaign to help stamp out fraudulent practices targeted at timeshare owners, RDO (Resort Development Organisation), the trade body for timeshare and fractional ownership, is calling for consumers to come forward with their complaints. Of particular interest are complaints from people who have been invited to a presentation either to discuss ways in which to dispose of their timeshare or to join a class action scheme, but are then persuaded to sign up to membership of a holiday club of which they had no former knowledge. A deposit is frequently taken and...
Fractionals in Europe – Crisis, what Crisis?
I came away from the annual Fractional Life Summit in London last week both encouraged and depressed. The former, because at this the third I think of these events, we actually had timeshare developers on a panel informing the summit how they had successfully upgraded their timeshare owners into fractionals - not that revolutionary you may feel, but a big step forward for the summit, which had at its previous 2 gatherings studiously avoided any reference to timeshare or the new legislation now in force in the last 7 days, which applies equally to most fractionals as it does to...
UK Tourism Strategy
The UK government has launched a tourism strategy to help generate 4 million additional overseas visitors over the next 4 years, bringing in £2 billion worth of extra spend to the UK and creating 50,000 new jobs across the country. It has joined forces with the private sector to create a marketing fund of more than £100 million to promote tourism abroad and is exploring ways in which to overcome issues that currently challenge the industry such as red tape on business, visa applications, airport queuing times, planning and infrastructure. The government's goals are to: Fund a marketing...
The world in turmoil
These last few weeks we have seen floods and fires in Australia, earthquake in New Zealand, the old regimes in Tunisia and Egypt falling to popular uprisings, problems in other North African States, the Gulf States and Saudia Arabia and of course what looks set to be a very nasty Civil War in Libya. On top of this we have just had the news of the severe earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It was pointed out to me recently by Dimitris Manikis of RCI, that European timeshare owners were the fortunate ones, compared to package holiday-makers or second home owners in...
RDO Enforcement in Action
On 5th January 2011, the Advertising Standards Authority in London issued what they call an "Assessment" but which we lawyers would call a" judgment", in that its publication has consequences with which the parties must comply. Let us wind back 7 months...
Arrests of Suspected Fraudsters in Tenerife
On 1st December 1st 2010, the Spanish National Police arrested 25 people who were behind 10 fraudulent timeshare resale companies operating from Tenerife. Most of the arrested people are Germans and their victims, timeshare owners, share the same nationality. It is reported that when contacting timeshare owners, the gang claimed to work in conjunction with notaries and even adopted the names of existing public notaries – but with subtle changes - using this as a hook to persuade their victims to part with money. The Spanish National Police conducted searches at six different locations, finding over 100,000 personal details of European timeshare...
Selling Timeshare Safely
When it comes to selling your timeshare, unless you do your homework properly you can end up losing money to unscrupulous companies, so our advice is well worth following. And in the meantime, don’t be rushed into making any decisions you will later regret – a cold call could leave you significantly out of pocket! Your first step should be to check to see if your resort or developer offers a resale service or uses a recommended resale agent. If it does not, you have a number of options available, including selling your timeshare privately or using a resale company to sell...
Consumer alert – EquitySecure.co.uk
We have been made aware that timeshare owners are making complaints that they are receiving unsolicited phone calls from Equity Secure, a company that operates using a website but does not appear to have office in the UK. This firm purports to secure ‘equity release from your timeshare commitments' and owners are informed that the law is to change in January next year, which will result in a doubling of their maintenance fees. There is no truth whatsoever in this statement and owners should be on their guard about this claim, scare tactics to persuade people to pay a fee to sign...
Help & Advice
The Resort Development Organisation AISBL (RDO) can accept no responsibility for the information it has provided, although it has used its best endeavors to supply factually accurate advice and guidance. This information is not a substitute for taking professional legal advice to cover your particular situation. Please note that the RDO Consumer Services only deal with enquiries/complaints about RDO members in writing via email on info@rdo.org or by regular mail at:- Resort Development Organisation aisbl Consumer Service Department PO Box 2481 London, WC1N 3XX TATOC (The Timeshare Association of Timeshare Owners Committees), who represent the interests of timeshare owners and their elected committees, provide information and...
Applicability of new Timeshare Directive to Fractional Ownership
Guidance Note issued by FSOTA - August 2010 Introduction The new ‘Directive’ (2008/122/EC) hereinafter referred to as the 2nd Directive is planned for final implementation across the EU by 23 February 2011. Some countries have implemented the Directive already, notably France, others like the UK have recently issued draft proposals for new laws, and several are consulting interested parties. Once the Directive is implemented in individual Member States where a fractional developer is operating and/or marketing, FSOTA believes it is likely the developer will have to comply with the new law. This Paper aims to clarify how the new Timeshare Directive will be...