Glossary |
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| There are 33 entries in the glossary. | |
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| Term | Definition |
| Advance payments | This term is taken from Article 6 of Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament, sanctioned on 26th October, 1994. “The Member States shall make provision in their legislation to prohibit any advance payments by a purchaser before the end of the period during which he may exercise the right of withdrawal (the cooling off period).” |
| Amenities & Facilities | This refers to the facilities other than the accommodation units within the resort that are available to the timeshare owners. Such amenities and facilities will vary from one type pf resort to another. |
| Annual General Meeting (AGM) | This is the annual meeting of members or owners at a particular resort. Such a meeting is usually prescribed within the club constitution, and is usually subject to requisite written notice (anything between 4 and 12 weeks). |
| ARDA | This stands for the American Resort Developers’ Association. This is an established and well supported trade association representing the American Holiday Ownership industry. |
| Biennial | Usually timeshare owners’ rights are annual so that the owners’ use and occupancy rights recur every year. Under a biennial format an owners’ use and occupancy rights recur only every odd year (years ending in odd numbers) or every even year (years ending in even numbers). |
| Button-up Sheet | This is the term used to describe a pro forma usually containing between 10 and 25 specific statements or key representations relating to the specific resort for which the button up sheet is utilised. It is also sometimes referred to as a form of “buyers’ acknowledgement or representations made”. Buyers will be asked to tick specific yes/no boxes to acknowledge that a key point or representation has been properly explained to them. |
| Buy-sells | This is the term used to describe an illicit, practice whereby existing owners are persuaded to purchase additional or more expensive weeks of inventory against the assurance of a guaranteed trade in allowance on the existing week or weeks which they own, usually within the same or a related resort. The value of the week or weeks already owned is inflated as a part exchange allowance against the new week or weeks to be purchased, with an assurance from the seller that the weeks already owned will be sold within a specific time frame. More often than not, the existing weeks owned are not sold, so the purchaser is left with their existing weeks owned plus additional weeks and with a significant additional financial commitment. This practice was prevalent in certain major markets in the early 1990’s, and has received significant coverage in the media with the result that purchasers are now less prone to fall victim to this outlawed practice. |
| Cancellation notice | This is a term used for a prescribed form under the United Kingdom Timeshare Act which promoters are obliged to provide to a customer at the time of sale, so that customers are fully aware of their statutory right to cancel, usually within a specific cooling off period. |
| Cancellations | This is the term used to describe sales made which are subsequently cancelled by purchasers, usually within a specified cooling off period or period of reflection. |
| Check-out/Check-in | Check out will not usually be later than 10.00 a.m. on the day of departure, whilst check-in will usually not be before 4.00 p.m. so as to allow a six hour window in between for the servicing of the accommodation unit. Times vary from resort to resort and are usually detailed in the rules of the Club. |
| Clubs | When you purchase your timeshare you become a member of a club. Clubs can be either incorporated or unincorporated. The expression “club” has been given the slightly different bias in the United States where it is often used in the context of holiday club offerings which are usually multi-site and frequently points based. |
| Commission | A common method of rewarding salespeople is through commission. |
| Committees | These are an important part of the owner democracy function within timesharing resorts. In some cases, developers wish to move on after completing the resort development and sell out cycle and they hand over the ongoing management and head of administration to an executive committee on which the members will usually have a majority. The committees often consist of between five and seven individuals who will usually serve on a rotating basis for a three year term, and who are usually eligible for re-election. Any member committee may have full executive control over the resort, and will dictate the nature of the ongoing relationship with the resort manager. In other cases, some developers prefer to retain a significant level of control and will create either a liaison or advisory committee with only limited powers, with such committees acting as a conduit for the expression of members’ views. |
| Common Areas and Facilities | This is a term used in legal documentation to describe those areas of the club open to all owners or users. Generally, these areas include recreational facilities, roadways, parking areas not separately assigned and so forth. |
| Community of owners | This is usually established under the Spanish law of horizontal property. An individual apartment complex is capable of existing as a community in its own right under the Spanish law. Their responsibilities are to oversee the management and administration of the community or complex for all occupants who may not all be timeshare owners. |
| Constitution | This is the set of rules that govern the club, which can not usually be changed unless there is a significant majority in favor of instigating a change in the clubs rules. |
| Cooling-off Period | Refers to the timeframe immediately following the closing of a sale whereby the buyer has a right to a period of reflection or cooling-off during which the buyer can cancel the contract, usually without penalty. Cooling-off periods differ in length according to legal jurisdiction in the country you purchase. |
| Decree laws | This describes the series of timeshare decrees enacted by the Portuguese Government since the early 1980’s. Portugal was the first European jurisdiction to enact specific timeshare legislation. |
| Deed of Trust | This is the document between a resort developer and a specialist independent trustee company. The Deed of Trust sets out the Trustee’s duties and responsibilities and usually includes certain exemption clauses seeking to restrict or limit the Trustee’s liabilities. |
| Disclosure | In order for a prospective purchaser to be able to make a clear and informed decision, it is necessary for them to be given full, detailed and accurate information about the resort itself and/or the product on offer. |
| Escritura | A Spanish term used to describe a document, usually a public deed, which is a duly notarised document often relating to property transfers, mortgages and such like, and protected by registration in a local land registry. |
| Escrow | Within the timeshare or holiday ownership industry, the term “escrow” is often used to cover situations where funds, usually timeshare sales proceeds, are held by trustees in a blocked account to become releasable upon the satisfaction of pre-determined conditions. |
| EU Timeshare Directive | This refers to directive No. 94/47/EC of the European Parliament, passed on 26th October, 1994 for the protection of purchasers. The directive contains thirteen articles and one annex and prescribes minimum standards of legislation which were to be implemented by EU member states by not later than 29th April, 1997. |
| Exchange | Term used to describe the process whereby a timeshare owner can exchange their ownership through an exchange company to enjoy holidays at other resorts. |
| Fixed Time | This is where each interval of time, usually a week, is clearly defined during each calendar year. |
| Floating time | In this case the owner of a floating time interval is not automatically entitled to use the accommodations of any specific unit during any particular period of the year. Instead, a purchaser of the floating time interval is required to make a reservation in advance for the use of a particular unit type, for a particular period of time. Floating time arrangements provide greater flexibility and variety for the developers, resort managers and timeshare owners. An almost endless number of variations to this system can be created by the use of reservation rules and priority systems. |
| Fractional interest | This is not the same as owning the whole interest in the accommodation. It is usually greater than one fifteenth, but probably no more than a one quarter interest in the accommodation. This is where a number of owners club together to purchase a timeshare interest and use it on a rotating basis. |
| Holiday certificates | These are traditionally pieces of paper enabling the recipients to enjoy a free or reduced-rate stay at a particular resort. The resort may or may not be affiliated with the developer offering the certificates. |
| Mini-holiday programmes | A means of bringing prospective buyers to resorts by offering a free or reduced cost stay at the resort. Sometime during the mini-holiday, attendance at a sales presentation is mandatory. Many holidays can be offered through direct mail and telemarketing. |
| Mixed use development | This is a development in one or several buildings that combines at least three significant revenue producing uses that are physically and functionally integrated and developed in conformance with a coherent plan. A mixed use development might include, for example, a resort hotel catering for transient guest flow, plus a dedicated purpose built timeshare component each built alongside a central facilities block. |
| Points | Currency (often called by other names) in Points-based Programmes acquired by a Consumer which can be exchanged for periods of accommodation at timeshare holiday resorts, which periods are given a currency value. |
| Trial membership programmes | This is a reduced cost temporary membership at the resort in order to persuade you to make a commitment to the resort. Like mini-holidays, when using the trial membership, you will be asked to attend a sales presentation. |
| Use periods | Typically, each owner is entitled to seven days of annual usage for each timeshare interval owned. |
| Glossary V2.0 | |