Q for BocaBum99 & Carolinian

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

Since Resort Title Agency is a subsidiary of Bluegreen to do their own title work does this trump the caveat of doing a deal for a resort only in the state where the resort property is owned?

Afterall, I and my wife (from Georgia), bought into Bluegreen (Laurel Crest, TN) while on vacation in Charleston, SC. several years back. That transaction seemed pretty darned legal!

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

Ps. forgot to mention I'm going through bgexperts.com per link on BocaBum99's profile. Just trying to make sure that coming out on the other end of this deal I'm not left wondering if something "legal" will come back to haunt me somewhere down the line...

Thanks for any insight provided since I'm no expert on legal, real estate (esp. timeshare and in particular Bluegreen) matters.

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

I do not know about this particular entity. Since Bluegreen has resorts in just certain states, they could well employ qualified deed preparers in each. The deed should say on the face of it who prepared it in most states.

There are two other issues. One is that in a few states, and from memory, South Carolina is not one, where there is no requirement to have a licensed attorney prepare deeds. Second, a party to the deed is always allowed to prepare the deed, whether it be the buyer or seller. Now one twist to that is that in some states, like North Carolina, a corporation cannot be a party that represents itself and so always has to have an attorney when doing something that is regarded as practicing law. That is true even for small corporations with a sole shareholder, sole officer, and sole director. I once had a client in that position who found out the hard way before he hired me that the courts would not allow him to represent his small corporation but he was required to use a lawyer.

Another observation is that every developer I have seen gets their deeds right. They have enough money involved that they get local lawyers to keep everything on the straight and narrow. Now there may be an exception somewhere, but I think it is not highly likely. The main problem comes from the third party multi-state closing companies, the majority of whom are jacklegs and use deed forms from whatever state they are based in but may not be valid to pass title in some other states. I have only seen one multi-state closing company which follows the law and gets qualified local deed preparers and that is PCS Holdings. There may be another one out there, but that is the only one I have seen. The best bet is to use a local lawyer where the timeshare is located who does timeshare closings.

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Bluegreen only does their own title work for new purchases while you are on site making a purchase. All resale transfers are outsourced to title companies who are licensed in other states.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Quick question.. Not intending to derail this- but something that has always tickled my brain..

Since so many Bluegreen conveyances flip the Grantee and Grantor (showing the buyer conveying interest to Vacation Trust Inc), are these even considered to be deeds? I've always considered the vast majority of Bluegreen contracts to be nothing more than perpetual memberships- which is why they have the ability to require all transfers and assignments to go through their own closing company or a specified rep thereof?

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

Are Points a Perpetual Membership?

Since so many Bluegreen conveyances flip the Grantee and Grantor (showing the buyer conveying interest to Vacation Trust Inc), are these even considered to be deeds? I've always considered the vast majority of Bluegreen contracts to be nothing more than perpetual memberships- which is why they have the ability to require all transfers and assignments to go through their own closing company or a specified rep thereof?

There is indeed a deed to the unit/week and it is held in the name of the BGVC Trust. If the BGVC continues forever, the Trust will hold the deed forever. Should the BGVC dissolve or if a resort is removed from the BGVC, then the deeds will go to the holder of the "Owner Beneficiary Rights". As such, your calling the ownership a "perpetual membership" does indeed describe many aspects of BG Points ownership. I would guess that most members of the BGVC think they hold a deed. And since the BGVC Trust holds the deeds, it votes at the HOA meetings.

But there are some twists in that not everyone in the BGVC is the same. Some pay a maintenance fee based simply on the number of points, some pay a fee which includes a base amount plus so much per point, some pay the exact same fee that the resort that backs up their points charges, and some pay a fee which is what the resort charges plus a percentage. When it comes to Special Assessments (SA), some owners pay whatever the resort assesses while others have the SA spread out over a group of owners. It all depends upon when the unit/week was first sold which determines which Trust Fund the contract is in.

Charles`

[BocaBum99 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close BocaBum99]

Quick question.. Not intending to derail this- but something that has always tickled my brain..

Since so many Bluegreen conveyances flip the Grantee and Grantor (showing the buyer conveying interest to Vacation Trust Inc), are these even considered to be deeds? I've always considered the vast majority of Bluegreen contracts to be nothing more than perpetual memberships- which is why they have the ability to require all transfers and assignments to go through their own closing company or a specified rep thereof?

It's a gray area. Most counties don't want to deal with the question since it is so small relative to what they do. I think the general rule is, if you don't record it, I don't know about it. We will have to wait until some county goes after someone for failing to pay for doc stamps or some other tax.

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

An unrecorded deed's legal position varies from state to state. Leaving a deed unrecorded in North Carolina, for example, is a dangerous proposition. North Carolina, in terms of deed priorites, is a ''pure race'' state in that whoever ''wins the race to the courthouse'' and records first has priority over anyone recording a deed to the same property later even if the later recorded deed had actually been executed earlier than the first recorded deed and regardless of what equities may exist between the parties. If a grantor later executes a deed to someone else, and the first grantee has not recorded, it is the second grantee who does record who will be legal owner of the property. The law varies in other states. Some look at various equities between the parties in such a situation.

Also who votes at HOA meetings may be somewhat unclear. While I had always thought the a points trust would have that right, a lawsuit between Outer Banks Beach Club and the Equivest / Peppertree points club had a different result. There the court ruled that it was the underlying owner of the points associated with each week, not the points trust that was entitled to vote the week at the HOA meetings. Given nuances of resort documents, points club documents, and state laws, that result may not be the same in other lawsuits, but I was somewhat surprised that OBBC obtained it, so it could happen with other points clubs as well.