We receive lots of questions from our Clients regarding the legal terms in their timeshare contract and that are sometimes referenced in our blog. In order to clarify the meaning of these terms so that people can understand them we have provided a glossary of terms below:
- Accrued Weeks/Points – Any amount of unused weeks/Points that have been banked to be available for use for the current calendar year.
- APR – Annual Percentage rate is the annual interest rate you pay on your timeshare loan.
- Assessment Fee – Fees that are separate from your maintenance fees that are used for major repairs and refurbishment of the resort that are split amongst the owners.
- Assessment Lien – A lien placed upon the timeshare owners interest in the property for failure to pay an assessment and is potentially the start of the foreclosure proceeding.
- Assignment – The ability of the timeshare developer to transfer the mortgage debt owed on a timeshare to another company to collect. The owner does not have to be late on their payments for this to occur.
- Bank – The depositing of a week/points within a resort in exchange for time/points at another resort or to use for the next calendar year.
- Bonus Week/Points – Additional points given to a timeshare purchaser by the resort as an incentive for purchasing more weeks/points. It generally must be used in a specific time period from the date of the purchase.
- Consolidation – The combining of two or more timeshare mortgages into one loan.
- HOA/POA – Homeowner Association. The Homeowners Association is generally responsible for mortgage and maintenance decisions at the resort.
- Judicial Foreclosure – This is a litigation proceeding initiated by the resort to recover the property and the outstanding debt when an owner fails to pay the mortgage, maintenance fees or assessments.
- Maintenance Fee – Fees assessed to the owners for the upkeep of the property. These fees cover taxes, insurance and maintenance such as landscaping, pool maintenance, etc.
- Non-Judicial Foreclosure – A foreclosure proceeding not initiated in court to recover interest in a timeshare for the owner’s failure to pay the mortgage, maintenance fees or assessment. This is often followed by a lawsuit to recover the outstanding debt.
- Ownership Interest – the portion of the weeks/points and owner has in a specific resort property.
- Rescission Period – The time period in the contract in which the owner can rescind the contract and get a refund. This period is generally set forth by state law and is sometimes referred to as a “cooling off period”.
- Rescind – The right to cancel a contract and receive a refund of any amount paid for the timeshare.
- Resale – A timeshare that is resold by either an owner or third-party entity after it was originally purchased from a resort.
- Special Assessment – A fee issued by a resort for repairs or refurbishment of the resort. This generally follows major damage to the resort as the result of water damage or a natural disaster.
- Up Front Fee – A fee which is charged upfront before starting the process of listing a timeshare for resale.
- WRAP Fee – Wrap fees are the schedule of bundled rates that are charged to an investor. Instead of charging a separate fee for each service that is extended to the client, a brokerage or other type of financial service will provide the investor with a blanket charge for all services that are included in the program.
We hope that these definitions will help you better understand some of the terms in your contract and the timeshare industry in general.