Galway Bay Cottages IRE - Help with sudden increase in maintenance fee

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

I own two timeshare weeks. The new owners inherited the management company from their father. They sent out the 2013 annual bill recently and have doubled the maintenance fees to about $900 per week. In the letter they stated that if the fees are not paid they will cease to operate on Jan 1, 2013. The units were sold as deeded weeks. I spoke to one of them and they they received many calls from people saying they will not pay. They said they would refund the 2013 fee if they close. Not sure if they can or would do that or in what timeframe. Any help here on what to do?

Thanks,

SS

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Where is the timeshare located? If you don't want to give the name, narrow it down to the state/region and country it is in.

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

It's outside the USA and the contract, deeds, etc are all under foreign law.

Any advice or ideas?

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Foreign laws can vary a lot, including the legal relationship between management and the members. There is the English trustee system, the shareblock system common in Australia and South Africa, cooperative ownership, deeded systems, and various others. It would be very helpful to know the country involved if not the resort. Does your resort have a governing board to which the management answers? Who controls it? We need more information to offer any suggestions.

If it is in Europe, the Timeshare Consumers Association may be able to offer some advice or it might be good to additionally post at www.timesharetalk.co.uk where you would get more European readers.

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

The country is Ireland. I too emailed the new management and stated that for $919 per year I could own in a Sheraton, Hilton or Hyatt...I could also own at Fitzpatrick Castle for that amount. I have yet to hear back.

Joy

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

Sounds like an ideal time to decide whether or not you want to continue your ownership. Some of that decision should be based on who is running the resort and why the fees increased. Also, you should look into what the laws are and what the contract to buy states.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

I own two timeshare weeks. The new owners inherited the management company from their father. They sent out the 2013 annual bill recently and have doubled the maintenance fees to about $900 per week. In the letter they stated that if the fees are not paid they will cease to operate on Jan 1, 2013. The units were sold as deeded weeks. I spoke to one of them and they they received many calls from people saying they will not pay. They said they would refund the 2013 fee if they close. Not sure if they can or would do that or in what timeframe. Any help here on what to do?

Thanks,

SS

The country is Ireland. I too emailed the new management and stated that for $919 per year I could own in a Sheraton, Hilton or Hyatt...I could also own at Fitzpatrick Castle for that amount. I have yet to hear back.

Joy

That is a BIG jump for such a little resort...I hope it works out.

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

The country is Ireland. I too emailed the new management and stated that for $919 per year I could own in a Sheraton, Hilton or Hyatt...I could also own at Fitzpatrick Castle for that amount. I have yet to hear back.

Joy

How did you know all that?

Do you own there, too?

[catwgirl Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close catwgirl]

I think they are hoping everyone will default and then they will own it outright and be able to sell it. ??

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

I think they are hoping everyone will default and then they will own it outright and be able to sell it. ??

That is a very likely possibility.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

You really need to look into the governance of the resort. I have never really looked at ownership in Ireland, but I suspect it is similar to the British model, where title is held by a trustee on behalf of the timeshare owners, and management is by contract with the trustee or resort governing committee. Structures and powers of resort governing committees can vary considerably. Trustees often in reality are under the thumb of the developer. Management is often but not always an outgrowth of the developer. Still, it is important to know all of those specifics to know how to handle this.

Forcing owners out to sell the property has happened in Europe, particularly the Canary Islands, where the British trustee model is prevalent.

I would strongly suggest your raising this issue with the Timeshare Consumers Association in the UK, which will be more knowledgable on these issues, and also raising the question on TimeshareTalk, a European oriented board. There is a discussion going on at TST presently about some management shananigans at Moness Country Club in Scotland.

It is within the rules here to mention the name of the resort, and it would be highly appropriate for one of you who knows to do so.

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

Galway Bay Cottages is the resort under discussion.

Joy

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

The person most knowledgable about consumer protestion in timeshares in the British Isles and other places in Europe is Sandy Grey of the Timeshare Consumers Association, based in the UK. I think he is a member here, but I don'think he posts much. I would try to contact him through the TCA website. http://www.timeshare.org.uk/contact.html

You really need to find out what your real options are as members, and then organize to try to accomplish them. You need to get the Constitution of the resort association and other governing instruments, a list of members of the governing board with contact info, minutes of meetings of that board or committee, and copies of the accounts of the association. If the resort is on the trustee system as many in that part of the world are, you need the name and address of the trustee. You should demand this info from management.

To most effectively organize, a membership list is essential, but the wacky Data Protection Laws, mandated by the Eurocrats in Brussels, may make getting that difficult. I would guess that most members of this resort live in Europe and probably in Ireland, so you need to reach out to them. I have taken the liberty of posting info on this issue on the main European timeshare board, www.timesharetalk.co.uk , so hopefully it will get some attention there.

Once you get a group together, you will need a place to strategize where management cannot read what you are doing. I suspect that Frank may be able to help you set up a private forum page on TS4MS for that purpose, so it is worth asking.

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

Re the owners, strangely enough I believe the majority of them are from MASS. The timeshare is small and was sold locally from a very nice, reputable local businessman who has since passed. As stated elsewhere, the drastic and sudden increase in fees by the management company (now run by his heirs) may be a strategy to close and sell the resort.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

Re the owners, strangely enough I believe the majority of them are from MASS. The timeshare is small and was sold locally from a very nice, reputable local businessman who has since passed. As stated elsewhere, the drastic and sudden increase in fees by the management company (now run by his heirs) may be a strategy to close and sell the resort.

That is an interesting twist. With mony owners in the US, provisions of annual meetings may call for them to be in the US (I have known of one Bahamian timeshare that had its annual meeting in the US). Depending on exactly how it is organized, you may also be able to apply Massachusetts law to getting the membership list (offhand, I do not know if it is like most US states and allows members to have a copy). Obviously, Irish law would apply to most aspects, but you would need to look at your documents. If you don't have copies, you need to demand copies from management. And, by all means, ask the TCA for help.