Article states ARDA fined for illegal political donations..

[rod Member Find all posts View Profile Close rod]

ARDA's core customers are the resort developers, not the individual timeshare owners. ARDA is the abbreviation for American Resort Developers Association. Remember this when they come asking for that $3 or $5 at maintenance fee time.

When ARDA sponsors or opposes a piece of legislation, they do so for the developers' benefit, not for the benefit of individual timeshare owners. Sometimes the interests of the developers and individual are the same; this is typically the case when the legislation or rule concerns taxes. Sometimes the interests of the developers and individual are the opposite. Do you think ARDA fought for the more liberal "right of rescission" laws in the various states, or do you think ARDA fought against them?

In Rhode Island the rescission period used to be 3 days. In 2005, bills were submitted to the state legislature to increase the rescission period to 10 days (House Bill 5503, Senate Bill 483). ARDA successfully lobbied to have the bills amended to a rescission period of 5 days before they were passed and became law. This information came from ARDA, provided to the developers, and is an example of how ARDA looks out for the interests of timeshare buyers - remember this when you include your contribution, or not, to ARDA when you pay your annual maintenance fee.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

no matter what the facts are - the point is that people are being forced to pay this fee. That is the gripe, not whether or not we benefit from the "donation."

People really aren't being forced to pay the fee. It's supposedly voluntary, though many resorts add it to annual dues in a way that makes it seem mandatory.

To me, the really significant is that the money is being collected under false pretenses. The contributions are being used for political purposes with zero notice to people of that purpose.

I can't help but think that's deliberate. If the fee statements had a line item that said, "voluntary contribution to support developer lobbying activities", I'm sure the collection rate would drop significantly.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

People really aren't being forced to pay the fee. It's supposedly voluntary, though many resorts add it to annual dues in a way that makes it seem mandatory.

To me, the really significant is that the money is being collected under false pretenses. The contributions are being used for political purposes with zero notice to people of that purpose.

I can't help but think that's deliberate. If the fee statements had a line item that said, "voluntary contribution to support developer lobbying activities", I'm sure the collection rate would drop significantly.

Most of our ownerships are voluntary and, it's easy to remove the charge. DRI has been the lone exception lately. If you don't pay the fee, it's been reported more than once that it shows up as a late payment due. I believe I've read posts where it no longer affects the owners ability to reserve or exchange but, there appears to still be a glitch in the system.

As it is, DRI doesn't make it easy to remove that fee like every other ownership I have. Under our other ownerships, I simply uncheck the box (note that I have to physically opt out rather than opt in, which is another annoyance to me). The last couple of years I have found no easy way to uncheck any box and remove the fee before making my final MF payment. This is the ONE remaining issue I have with DRI and something I hope will have been corrected when it's time to settle any fee's I have at the end of the year.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Let's not forget that the political contribution made was illegal and now some of the contributions will be going to pay a fine.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

This is the ONE remaining issue I have with DRI and something I hope will have been corrected when it's time to settle any fee's I have at the end of the year.

The only way that I have been able to get it removed as past due is by talking on the phone with one of the DRI guides. It has not affected my ability to make reservations.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

The only way that I have been able to get it removed as past due is by talking on the phone with one of the DRI guides. It has not affected my ability to make reservations.

I'm sort of a simplistic sort of owner. I don't need the agrivation of calling a rep. over $10 ($5 x 2 deeds) so I just let it go. I suspect the majority of owners are the same way.

[T. R. Oglodyte Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close T. R. Oglodyte]

I'm sort of a simplistic sort of owner. I don't need the agrivation of calling a rep. over $10 ($5 x 2 deeds) so I just let it go. I suspect the majority of owners are the same way.

I didn't call in just clear the account. I was dealing with a rep while making a Club Select deposit. He asked if there was anything else that he could help with, and I said "sure".

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I didn't call in just clear the account. I was dealing with a rep while making a Club Select deposit. He asked if there was anything else that he could help with, and I said "sure".

I wonder how many of those voluntary contributions through DRI are there because owners just don't want to make the effort over $5 unless there's something else they need to call about? I wonder how many owners call in because they're upset with a late amount showing up that's not really late?

[longtimer Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close longtimer]

Most of our ownerships are voluntary and, it's easy to remove the charge. DRI has been the lone exception lately. If you don't pay the fee, it's been reported more than once that it shows up as a late payment due. I believe I've read posts where it no longer affects the owners ability to reserve or exchange but, there appears to still be a glitch in the system.

As it is, DRI doesn't make it easy to remove that fee like every other ownership I have. Under our other ownerships, I simply uncheck the box (note that I have to physically opt out rather than opt in, which is another annoyance to me). The last couple of years I have found no easy way to uncheck any box and remove the fee before making my final MF payment. This is the ONE remaining issue I have with DRI and something I hope will have been corrected when it's time to settle any fee's I have at the end of the year.

Good luck with that - As I said in a previous post, when I didn't pay the $5.00 fee, even after several verbal and written promises to have it removed from my account, it kept showing up as an unpaid balance. The next year, it was simply added into the total amount due, then another $5.00 "fee" was added for that year. So there really is no way to opt out.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

Good luck with that - As I said in a previous post, when I didn't pay the $5.00 fee, even after several verbal and written promises to have it removed from my account, it kept showing up as an unpaid balance. The next year, it was simply added into the total amount due, then another $5.00 "fee" was added for that year. So there really is no way to opt out.

As I said, it's not worth the effort to fight over but, it annoys me that I can't easily remove it from my bill. Sort of takes the voluntary out of voluntary when you have to work to get it off your bill.

DRI has made a lot of improvements over the last couple of years. Maybe this year there will be a check box where owners can easily opt out of the voluntary ARDA fee.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

There is a reason why authorities are reluctant to take on the timeshare industry. The classaction suit declined to address the consumer fraud aspects of the way the industry operates, but do you see anyone taking up the slack?