Two bills are making their way through Florida state legilature which could have negative long-term effects on many timeshare owners including Disney Vacation Club members.
The Florida House and Senate are both backing Bills which would apply a number of changes to the state's timeshare laws. Supporters of HB 453 and SB 932 claim the changes to Florida's Vacation Plan and Timeshare Act are designed to streamline and modernize the legislation. Opponents claim the potential damage to consumers far outweighs the benefits as the modifications are currently written.
Among the changes is the elimination of a cap which currently limits annual increases in property taxes and certain common area resort expenses to 125% of the prior year's cost.
Critics claim that other provisions give developers greater latitude to defraud consumers during the sales process. The National Timeshare Owners Association--a trade group representing timeshare owners--is among those encouraging opposition to the changes. Association president Gregory Christ is quoted on website Elliott.org as saying “we think consumers will likely be exposed to certain rogue developer practices that we haven’t seen since the ’80s and ’90s.”
In a Change.org petition sponsored by NTOA, the legislation is criticized as "a one-sided effort by the development community to rewrite state law to match their current marketing efforts." Additionally: "the bill allows developers to almost unliaterally decide what constitutes 'compliance' and 'materiality' with regard to mistakes and omissions in contracts."
Of potential interest to Disney Vacation Club members is a provision which outlines the rights of developers to extend or terminate a timeshare plan at any date. Prposed modifications to Section 721.125 of the Florida Statues as stated in HB 453 would read as follows:
721.125 Extension or termination of timeshare plans.—
(1) Unless the timeshare instrument provides otherwise, the term of a timeshare plan may be extended or terminated at any time by a vote or written consent, or combination thereof, of a majority of all of the voting interests in the timeshare plan. If the term of a timeshare plan is extended pursuant to this section, all rights, privileges, duties, and obligations created under applicable law or the timeshare instrument continue in full force and effect to the same extent as if the extended termination date of the timeshare plan had been the original termination date of the timeshare plan. If the term of a timeshare plan is extended and terminated pursuant to this section, the termination has immediate effect pursuant to applicable law and the timeshare instrument has effect as if the effective date of such termination were the original date of termination.
(2) If a termination or extension vote or consent pursuant to subsection (1) is proposed for a component site of a multisite timeshare plan in this state, the proposed termination or extension is effective only if it is approved by the person authorized to make additions or substitutions of accommodations and facilities pursuant to the timeshare instrument.
(3) This section applies only to a timeshare plan that has been in existence for a period of at least 20 years as of the effective date of the termination or extension vote or consent required by subsection (1).
Similar proposed revisions are proposed in SB 932.
Rumors have suggested that Disney Vacation Club may revisit some of its older timehsare properties, adding new units and guest capacity. Disney's Wilderness Lodge is the location most frequently linked to such speculation. With Disney itself holding all voting rights within each Condominium Association, these modifications would clear the path for them to extend resort leases beyond their current expiration dates, presumably to facilitiate additional sales.
Ownership in the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge is currently scheduled to end on January 21, 2042.
Undefined is any allowance for charging current owners for the extension period. Back in 2008, Disney Vacation Club came under fire for the manner in which ownership was extended at Disney's Old Key West Resort (a.k.a. Disney Vacation Club Resort.) The process utilized required owners to either pay additional fees for 15 years of additional ownership or to sign notarized documents which effectively returned the deed to Disney as of the original 2042 ending date.
The bills are sponsored by a number of Florida lawmakers with the backing of the American Resorts Development Association, a timeshare developer industry trade group. The Orlando Sentinel recently identified nearly $500,000 in Florida contributions made by the ARDA during the 2014 election cycle.
Disney representatives told the Sentinel that they support HB 453 and SB 932 but are not actively lobbying for the changes contained within.
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