Types of Deeds

[liskipper Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close liskipper]

I have a question, and think it belongs in this area. I was told that the unit I am thinking of buying at a Wyndham property is an "Interval Interest Program", and that no deed, as such, is recorded. Wyndham could not tell me the differences between this ownership structure and a deed. Does anyone here:
1) know the differences
2) know the pros and cons
Thanks very much.

[ttt Member Find all posts View Profile Close ttt]

I can tell you all about deeds, but never heard of an Interval Ownership interest. Sounds like another term for "Right to Use" property, but I'm not a Wyndham expert or even a fan. I would not buy anything they are selling. I do own a fixed summer week at a Wyndham property in North Myrtle beach & the fees have doubled in the last 5 years....

[liskipper Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close liskipper]

I can tell you all about deeds, but never heard of an Interval Ownership interest. Sounds like another term for "Right to Use" property, but I'm not a Wyndham expert or even a fan.

Can you tell me the difference between a "right to use" and regular deed? I'm getting the feeling that there is a high slime factor associated with timeshare.
Thanks.

[Jya-Ning Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close Jya-Ning]

What you purchased? Sounds like it is from retail? If it is within the rescind period, try to send out the rescind letter asap. Wyndham resale value tanks close to 0. So whatever you paid, it is 0 now.


You are either purchase
1) a deed from a specific resort, in that case, you have a UDI deed. Which does not specific the week and unit of the resort, but each year, it allows you to use x number of points. Depends on local law, some will allow the owner to vote after certain period to determine if they want to continue the timeshare operation. But basically you own it for all the way until everyone agreed to get rid of it.
2) A Wyndham Club Access contract, which is based on a pool of units Wyndham get from their retail saling process. In that case, you don't own a deed, you own a club type of points, but it is backed by a set of deeds. And it so far is not expired.
3) A very old deed backed at Mexico resort, the resort already break up with Wyndham, but you may still find some RTU contract from friends of some owners. The use right will expired in certain time, at that time, the resorts own the right of the condo and all that. But it is very rare now.

Jya-Ning

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

Can you tell me the difference between a "right to use" and regular deed? I'm getting the feeling that there is a high slime factor associated with timeshare.
Thanks.

In some places you buy a "share of the real-estate" and receive a deed for that portion. Like all deeds it is registered at the county court house, and you will be charged real-estate taxes each year. This is real property, becomes part of your estate, and is passed on to your beneficiaries.

In other places you buy "a right to use" the real-estate. Your right to use is expressed in "years of use". Most periods are sold in periods long enough to last a normal life time. When you buy into Disney Vacation Club property, you do not become part owner of the Disney property, You purchase the right to use only.

Some vacation clubs will also market the right to use of a third party, or parties inventory. Again you will not have deeded ownership of the third parties properties, you will have purchased the right to use the property only.

There is debate about purchasing "right to use" from a vacation club as their inventory of third party properties available for your use can be in flux. The properties that were in inventory when you made the purchase may not be available in years to come.

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

Here a rundown of what I think are the most common ownership patterns.

1. Deeded week. This is common when the property is legally set up as condo. The ownership of each condo is divided into 50 or 51 specific weeks and each of those weeks is sold as a piece of real estate. The deed will show a specific condo and week of the year to which the owner has real, actual title. This is real estate.

2. Undivided interest (UDI). Instead of selling individual weeks in condos, Buyers purchase a fractional interest in the resort, and they receive a deed that says they own that percentage of the project. This is also real estate.

3. Right-to-use (RTU). The buyer does not get title to anything. Instead the buyer obtains a right to use the property for a certain number of years. At the end of the time period, the buyers right to use the property simply ends and usage rights revert to whoever is the real owner of the property at that time.

4. Trust interest. A trust is created that holds the title to one or more properties (deeded weeks, undivided interests, RTUs). Buyers purchase a fractional interest in the trust, and they usually receive a piece of paper that describes how big their trust interest is. Note that this very similar to the UDI interest described above, but now the interest is in a trust instead of a piece of property. The trustee is obligated to operate the trust for the benefit of the trust owners. Since a trust is not real property, a trust interest is not real estate.

5. Club membership. An operator develops a portfolio of usage rights (deeds, RTUs) and creates a club structure in which members of the club can exercise the usage rights for the property. The operator continues to own the property; club members simply have the right to use the properties in accordance with club rules. This is not real estate.

There are lots of variations and permutations in the details of various, but for the most part almost all of the arrangements should generally fall into one of these patterns.

[liskipper Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close liskipper]

Thanks to everyone who helped shed some light on this.