Gregory Crist the CEO of the NTOA (National Timeshare Owners Association), will be making a presentation at the TBMA (Timeshare Board Members Association) in Tucson AZ, on 16 to 18 October.
The presentation will be about Combating Fraud in the Changing Timeshare Environment, this is an area which affects timeshare owners worldwide, from dubious resale companies to false claims and law firms. In the USA there is a very severe problem of as he puts it “bad actors” who are taking advantage of owners and severely damaging the reputation of the entire secondary market (resale).
He states that these fraudulent companies who operate what is commonly called the “Viking Ship” programme, cause considerable harm to owners and resort associations alike. Regulators have been attempting to close down fraudulent transfer and resale companies who use unfair and deceptive trade practises, but Greg believes there is a great need for owner education and consumer protection.
On another matter, Greg also informed Inside Timeshare of a Senator who managed to block a bill which would have restricted owners access to HOA (Home Owners Association) rosters. These are the list of all members who own timeshare and are members of the association.
The bill would have made it impossible for the HOA to be able to communicate with other members, which would have had a considerable effect on informing them of board policies and HOA issues.
The bill was sponsored by ARDA (American Resort Development Association), and was a means of protecting owner confidentiality. In other words stopping a legitimate use of these lists thereby controlling any form of owners coming together for the common good.
According to ARDA this bill was to protect owners from predatory rogue transfer and resale companies. It transpires that ARDA did not even show any evidence that these rosters had ever been sold or misused.
Again this is a blatant abuse by the industry to prevent any dissemination of information which would be of use to owners. This is not just a problem in the US, we also have the same problem in Europe, whereby information is hidden or denied. Only recently we have found that one resort, Anfi, is contacting owners and denying any buyout of the Lyng family shares by IFA Lopesan and also denying any legal action being taken against them. All this even though it has been widely circulated in the European press. (Search Anfi for previous posts).
For the full articles see the PDF below.
more-from-greg-crist-at-the-ntoa
Once again a very big thank you to Greg and Irene for all the information they pass on, it is through collaboration that we all can find out what is going on. Without this we will be kept in the dark, it also helps to see what “scams” and other “schemes” may just be lying in wait, after all what happens here may happen there next year and vise versa.
The post More from across the Pond: Information from the NTOA. appeared first on Inside Timeshare.