Closure of Timeshare Resorts
The declining popularity of timeshare in Europe means that an increasing
number of timeshare resorts are being closed and sold for re-development.
Developers, having exhausted the profit potential from timeshare, are now
looking to make a further profit from the re-development of the site.
How can you recognise a resort targeted for closure.
With difficulty. The closure plan will have been carefully orchestrated
by the developer over a number of years, probably in collusion with the
trustee and exchange company. If any or all of the following is evident
at your resort then the resort is probably heading for closure.
-
Standards at the resort declining year on year with no effort by the developer
to rectify the problem
-
The exchange company threaten to withdraw exchange facilities.
-
The annual fees (management, levy etc.) have increased by more than 10%
each year over the last few years.
-
There has been a very active campaign to persuade owners to join another
club in exchange for membership of their timeshare
What can you do about it
Not very much. An individual owner has little hope of influencing a developer
intent on closure. Even acting as a group, owners are toothless in the
face of a well planned closure campaign supported by trustee and exchange
company.
If you want to make contact with other owners at your resort firstly
check whether the resort has a website - see here
- or put a message on the TCA Forum (see menu above)
What are my choices when the closure eventually happens.
In most cases the developer will make some form of offer(s) to owners to
encourage the final few to leave. You will need to decide on which offer
best suits your future holiday requirements bearing in mind that most of
the offers will fall far short of the original benefits when you first
bought.
In addition, if you paid more than œ100 by credit card (or borrowed
to finance the original purchase), you may have the right to claim back
ALL that you paid under the Consumer Credit Act 1974 - see
here
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