Special Assessment History

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

Does anybody know what Bluegreen's history is on issuing Special Assessments? I was thinking I read somewhere that a rather large S.A. was issued in "05" (before my time).

What's funny is that while at an owner update this past week I mentioned the Assessment for this year and was told that B.G. was not allowed to issue one (against policy). I knew this was wrong so I asked if I could see that in writing and was told, "yes sir". The subject then got changed and I never saw it (never expected to).

It seems that Katrina will be blamed for various price increases for quite some time!!

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

Does anybody know what Bluegreen's history is on issuing Special Assessments? I was thinking I read somewhere that a rather large S.A. was issued in "05" (before my time). .. It seems that Katrina will be blamed for various price increases for quite some time!!

I have owned BG Points since 1998 and a special assessment has never showed up on my bill. Part of our MF is set aside as reserves for updating resorts (new washer/dryer, etc.) and the reserves can also be used for major overhauls like Aruba. However, the cost of Aruba was too much for the reserves to handle.

Regarding Katrina, the insurance companies took a big hit. The only way to stay in business is to up the premiums. So if we want to visit seaside resorts (and I do) we will have to pay seaside insurance. And, since more people want to go to the seaside and we aren't making much more, the value of the land is going up along with taxes. Fact of life.

Charles

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

I have owned BG Points since 1998 and a special assessment has never showed up on my bill. Part of our MF is set aside as reserves for updating resorts (new washer/dryer, etc.) and the reserves can also be used for major overhauls like Aruba. However, the cost of Aruba was too much for the reserves to handle.

Regarding Katrina, the insurance companies took a big hit. The only way to stay in business is to up the premiums. So if we want to visit seaside resorts (and I do) we will have to pay seaside insurance. And, since more people want to go to the seaside and we aren't making much more, the value of the land is going up along with taxes. Fact of life.

Charles

Congratulations Charles on almost 10 years as a Bluegreen owner!

I can’t speak for your bill, but my statement for this year shows an “Assessment” charge. Maybe you don’t have to pay these.

Here is the way my statement is presented. I have blanked out the actual charges except for the Voluntary ARDA.

Name
Address

Owner Summary
Previous Balance: $0.00
Payments: $0.00
Current Charges: $xxx.xx
Late Fees/Finance Charges: $0.00
Adjustments: $0.00
New Balance: $xxx.xx

Account # Date Billed Description Amount Due Date
xx/xxxx 10/07/2007 Maintenance 2008 $xxx.xx 11/15/2007
xx/xxxx 10/07/2007 Assessment $xx.xx 11/15/2007
xx/xxxx 10/07/2007 R. E. Taxes $xx.xx 11/15/2007
xx/xxxx 10/07/2007 Voluntary ARDA $5.00 11/15/2007

How Your Maintenance Fees Are Calculated
E: Annual ownerships are billed at a flat rate of $290 per owner, plus $0.0335 per Point ($0.0244 Maintenance Fee + $0.0091 Real Estate Tax). The Special Assessment is billed at $0.0042 per point.

Biennial (every other year) ownerships are billed at a flat rate of $290, plus $0.01675 per Point ($0.0122 Maintenance Fee + $0.00455 Real Estate Tax). The Special Assessment is billed at $0.0021 per point.

Please note: The flat fee of $290 will only be applied to one account. This applies to both annual and biennial ownerships.


I am well aware of cost increases and the facts of life. IMO insurance companies will never take such a hit as to lose money. I also have had to increase my professional fees this past year or so to cover my cost increases. I guess I could also blame Katrina.

I enjoy seaside resorts as much as anybody, and have been visiting them for quite some time prior to being a timeshare owner. My reason for purchasing a timeshare was to be able to visit resorts of the same level that I was used to while saving money along the way. So far, I feel like I am saving some money (not as much as I hoped), and I must say that I am not as impressed with the accommodations (speaking of B.G. resorts) as I had hoped. I hope that some of these increases (call it whatever you want) will take care of some of the things that have disappointed me.

My point in asking for history on increases with B.G. was so that I could do a better job of budgeting for the next year. It would be easier to get that type of information from experienced owners such as you, rather than to pay for five to ten years to establish a trend. I also think it would be good information for those who are contemplating a purchase.

Thanks for your input Charles.

Todd

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

I got the SA this year too. First time.

Congratulations Charles on almost 10 years as a Bluegreen owner. I can’t speak for your bill, but my statement for this year shows an “Assessment” charge. Maybe you don’t have to pay these.

Todd,

I guess I should have said before this year. I thought you were asking about before this year and my history goes back to 1998. But, I was hit this year with the SA (Special Assessment) also. I guess I am a Type E owner which gets the SA. I still feel that if I wasn't into timeshares, I still could not afford the quality of accommodations that I do now. And I would not vacation as often. If ever.

Charles

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

The way Bluegreen works is that there are individual resort HOAs and there are Bluegreen Vacation Club trust funds which are in essence a collection of intervals all managed together in a single budget.

Each and every year, at least ONE resort has a special assessment. But, not very many owners are aware of it unless they read the underlying resort HOA minutes.

The way it works is each trust has a set of underlying units across the resorts. It collects maintenance fees and sets a formula for paying those fees. Trust Fund E, which Charles mentions, is just the most recently created Trust.

It is true that there are reserve funds for most trusts. However, some dont' have them (e.g. Trust Fund B). Therefore, if there is a special assessment at a given resort, it is possible for an individual owner to get hit with a special assessment. This happens just about every year. Most owners don't own these units and therefore don't know about them. But they do happen. It justs matters whether or not the Trust Fund has a sufficient reserve fund like Charles mentions.

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

The way Bluegreen works is that there are individual resort HOAs and there are Bluegreen Vacation Club trust funds which are in essence a collection of intervals all managed together in a single budget.

Each and every year, at least ONE resort has a special assessment. But, not very many owners are aware of it unless they read the underlying resort HOA minutes.

This makes sense but what I'm still wondering is how many times in let's say the last five years other owners have been charged above and beyond their typical maintenance fee as well as seeing an increase in the MF?

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

but what I'm still wondering is how many times in let's say the last five years other owners ... as well as seeing an increase in the MF?

For me in Trust Fund E, $0.00 in SA in the last 9 years. I haven't done the calculation on increase in MF because in 2003 I combined a collection of properties to get one Anniversary Date and probably moved into Trust Fund E.
Charles

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

Okay, I have to ask, can someone either explain or point me to information on what Fund E is?

Don

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

Okay, I have to ask, can someone either explain or point me to information on what Fund E is?

Don

Don,

There are several Trust Fund Budgets within the Bluegreen Vacation Club. Each fund (or budget) has a different way of calculating maintenance fees. What fund you are included in depends on the original purchase date of the points if I understand correctly. Trust Fund E is one of those budget funds.

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

For me in Trust Fund E, $0.00 in SA in the last 9 years. I haven't done the calculation on increase in MF because in 2003 I combined a collection of properties to get one Anniversary Date and probably moved into Trust Fund E.
Charles

Thanks Charles. I am hopeful that MF increases are not typical for what we are seeing this year. I was expecting to see increases in the 4% to 5% range annually. I hope I'm not way off base there.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

For those here that have gotten SAs, were you aware in advance that the fee was coming or did it just show up in your yearly statement ?
Was there any owner input as to how much money was needed and the costs? Payment plans ?

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

OK...here is what I come up with (for Fund E). In looking at the original contract for my points which was in dated 2003, I see that the calculation for maintenance fees was a base amount of $250 + .02/pnt. For 2007 the calc was $290 + .027/pnt.

This averages out to be roughly a 5.5% increase per year (for me) assuming that there haven't been any special assessments. It's a tiny bit higher than I had hoped, but I can live with it . It seems that some years they play around with the base amount and other years the cost/point. For this coming year the increase was more than double that (even without the SA) . I'm hoping that it will average out over a period of time or just be an isolated instance.

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

For those here that have gotten SAs, were you aware in advance that the fee was coming or did it just show up in your yearly statement ?
Was there any owner input as to how much money was needed and the costs? Payment plans ?

Those of us who post here were aware of it thanks to those who attended the annual meeting. I'm not sure about any owner input, I know I no opportunity, but a budget is a budget. Sometimes you are under and sometimes over. For me (and others may differ) there would be no reason for a payment plan because my SA was under $50.

The question I would have is if we were to come in under budget for any given year or if insurance rates taper off and/or go down due to mild hurricane seasons, would fees go down? I doubt it.

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

Redman,

Bluegreen told us in the annual meeting what caused the large increase for this year. I have not yet audited the budget, so I have no yet verified what they said at the meeting.

What Bluegreen said was that the increases in the budget were driven by 1) an increase in the Bluegreen management fee for the Club which hasn't been increased in many years, 2) Insurance and tax increases in Florida.

I have a house in Florida and I can affirm that my homeowners insurance went from $4900 to $11,900 per year. They went down by about $1000 this year, but still well over double. It appears that this increase had a delayed impact on the Club since the fiscal year hits on Nov 1.

From 2006 and 2007. The rate for Trust Fund E, which cover more than 75% of all Bluegreen Vacation Club deeds at this point in time, had a modest increase from 2006-2007. 2005-2006 was larger than average as well due mostly to the funding of a large reserve fund.

Bluegreen has a risk management organization that is actively seeking to reduce all insurance costs for the Club. If the rates go down, owners benefit from those decreases. It's Club budget, so if the rates go down, the budget goes down.

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

I have a house in Florida and I can affirm that my homeowners insurance went from $4900 to $11,900 per year. They went down by about $1000 this year, but still well over double.

OUCH!!! Sorry to hear that Boca.

I have a customer (a residential builder) who told me a while back that we are getting flooded in this area with "halfbacks". This term apparently refers to many retirees who moved to Florida from up north, and after all these types of increases, moved half way back to the north.