EU Implements New Timeshare Laws To Protect Consumers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) February 13, 2010 --

The USA has always been viewed as the World’s leader and from an economic, medical and weaponry standpoint it is. However, the continent from whence America’s forefathers came is ahead of the game when it comes to defrauding the timeshare and vacation ownership industry. The European Union is raising the bar and raising the culpability of timeshare resorts when ensnaring their clients through the notorious timeshare presentation, often thinly disguised as a “Welcome Meeting” or “Information Seminar” and is forcing them to inform purchasers of their new, better preserved rights as consumers.

On October 16, 2008, the European Parliament adopted a new Directive for the timeshare industry. The original Directive was implemented in most of Europe in 1994 and Spain in 1997. However, recent years have uncovered drastic shortcomings and loopholes in the original Directive and have prompted Europe’s leaders to implement heavier regulation, something the USA is in dire need of as well.

The Directive provides security to buyers by enforcing timeshare companies to fully disclose the true intent of a timeshare presentation upon invitation, the intent being the inducement to buy. In addition, “the promotional material and the written contract must be in an EU language of the consumer’s choice” This is an important issue which has been highlighted as a problem in the United States also. Timeshare Mortgage Relief, the USA’s original and most reputable advocacy group for timeshare consumers were told that many of their clients, for whom they are effecting the cancellation of their contract, don’t speak English as their first language and were heavily persuaded to sign a contract they were unable to understand, having reviewed promotional material and sat through a presentation they didn’t understand. The new EU timeshare Directive will prevent such blatant misunderstanding from being possible.

Probably the most notable and effective law of the new Directive relates to the rescission period and payment. It states, “The Directive requires purchasers to be given a 14 calendar day cooling off period (day 1 being the date of signing the contract) during which any payment by the consumer is absolutely banned. The consumer does not have to give a reason for canceling and should not incur any costs as a result of canceling.” The Directive goes on to specify that the information regarding this 14 cancellation period and the forbidding of the consumer to pay anything during that time must be presented and signed separately from the rest of the contract to ensure the consumer has actually read these terms. Contracts in the Americas do have rescission periods which are typically between 5 and 15 days but this information is hidden somewhere in the body of the contract and some sort of payment is always taken at the time of signing making is harder for people to exercise their right to rescind even if they are aware of such right. People are afraid to lose their money.

If a timeshare company were to fail in providing such separate information on the rescission period and payment policy, the Directive dictates that the cancellation period automatically extends to three months and 14 calendar days. European lawmakers are so determined to put an end to the unethical sales tactics currently exhibited in the timeshare industry, that in addition to having the purchaser sign such separate documentation, they must also receive a separate pro-forma notice stating their right to the 14 day rescission period and the absolute ban of any form of payment during that time. If the timeshare company fails to provide the pro-forma notice, the cancellation period extends to one year and 14 calendar days.

If the timeshare is set up in the ever popular Points system, the purchaser benefits even more over the Fixed or Floating Week system. At anytime during the term of the contract, the purchaser has the right to cancel their ownership and all future payments with just 14 days written notice to the company.

The new timeshare Directive was endorsed by the European Council of Ministers on December 12, 2008 and is required to be fully implemented into state law in all 27 EU countries by the end of 2010 with the expectation that many countries will implement the law sooner. Another beneficial aspect of the Directive is that is disallows any amendment to the original wording of the Directive, ensuring the standardization of consumer rights throughout the European Union. This would be an excellent point for the USA to adopt. At present each American state has its own laws regarding the sale of timeshare and vacation ownership and they can vary quite significantly. Timeshare Mortgage Relief employs legal professionals who must specifically research the law in the relevant state when assisting clients with their release from their timeshare contracts.

Although the USA is not currently implementing any new laws to regulate the timeshare industry, some American timeshare purchasers may find the new European timeshare Directive actually helps them. The Directive “applies to contracts where a consumer pays for a service concluded in an EU state OR entered into by a trader who conducts business in an EU states.” So, timeshare companies with resorts in both the United States and Europe should heed Europe’s new Directive, as they may find themselves inadvertently bound to the new regulations and find their American timeshare owners protected by them. Timeshare Mortgage Relief resolutions staff is paying careful attention to Europe’s new laws and addressing how they could be cited to assist their future clients in the termination of their timeshare contracts.

Sunterra is one of those timeshare companies with resorts on both continents and they certainly have plenty of unhappy clients on either side of the Atlantic who will be relieved to learn of the new Directive. It is coming a little too late for one English couple, Allan Thompson, a 57 year old oil rig worker and his wife Christine. In 1999 they were persuaded to buy into Sunterra’s Points program during one of the company’s sales presentations. Mr. Thompson says, “We paid more than £8000.00 after being told a string of lies at one of these sales meetings… we were victims of mis-selling.”

Without the new timeshare Directive in place to protect them, and with Sunterra refusing to release them from their fraudulent contract, the Thompsons took matters into their own hands. They purchased an old ambulance on Ebay and renamed it the Scambulance. They now research Sunterra’s sales tours and park the Scambulance outside. They warn attendees about the company’s sleazy tactics in an attempt to save others from becoming victims of the timeshare industry.

On the other side of the pond, Americans can fight back without the use of a Scambulance. Timeshare Mortgage Relief was founded by a former timeshare sales representative, who became infuriated at the way consumers were treated and how scandalous the sales process truly was. He began advocating for timeshare owners who felt they had been manipulated into buying, through fraud and misrepresentation. His company now stands close to one thousand clients strong and has an undeniable success rate at getting clients released from their timeshare contracts. Though the USA has yet to implement a timeshare Directive as sufficient as Europe’s, TMR is able to utilize knowledge of the timeshare industry’s loopholes to get clients’ contracts cancelled.

The hardworking staff at Timeshare Mortgage Relief hope their work is drawing attention to America’s lack of regulation in the industry and want to be a part of the necessary change to bring America’s timeshare industry up to the standards Europe expects to see by the end of next year and get consumer some Timeshare Relief.
http://www.timesharemortgagerelief.com