ARDA and the Timeshare Transfer Industry: United at Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

“In the end, you make your reputation and you have your success based upon credibility and being able to provide people who are really hungry for information with what they want.” – Brit Hume

A Credible Organization

Credibility breeds trust, and trust is the unifying element of any great relationship. Throughout our lives, we strive to build this credibility with friends and family, to build it with our coworkers, and to build it in our business enterprises. Without trust, creating a strong network of communication would be impossible. The key to developing an association based on good faith is taking an honest approach in everything we do. Is it any wonder, then, that trust is so difficult to establish in the timeshare industry, a veritable desert of ethical conduct?

However, there are a few individuals and companies in this seemingly desolate landscape that are working to bring a degree of trust and integrity to the timeshare arena. One such group that has been establishing standards for good business practices for over forty years is the American Resort Development Association (ARDA).

Based in Washington D.C., ARDA is a trade association that seeks to cultivate the progress of the timeshare industry throughout the United States. In short, they work to establish business standards throughout the industry via several different means. They were first established in 1969 as the American Land Development Association, and today they have grown to include nearly 1,000 corporate members. ARDA’s primary purpose, as declared in their mission statement is to “foster and promote the growth of the industry and to serve its members.”

A Necessary Good

A lot of people might read that quote and immediately think that there is some sort of spite between ARDA and the timeshare transfer industry (with ARDA taking the side of the resort developers and the transfer industry taking the side of angry consumers), but this just isn’t the case. Like any competitive industry, there are always going to be multiple layers and multiple perspectives. We live in a world of opposites, and these opposites are in place to maintain a sense of harmony, a sense of balance throughout the universe. Why would the timeshare business be any different?

The fact is, sometimes timeshare owners simply want out of their contracts.  Maybe it’s become too expensive, or maybe the owners just don’t have the time to use it, but either way, they don’t want the property anymore. With the resale market being what it is, being released from a timeshare contract would be nearly impossible if it weren’t for transfer companies. We hope that ARDA continues to help the timeshare business grow and prosper, but for individuals who feel that they’ve erred in purchasing a vacation property, we’re here to help.

Fostering the Industry

ARDA’s mission is accomplished through a number of different avenues. For one, ARDA serves as a highly influential advocate on behalf of resort developments and consumers by engaging in lobbying efforts centered on legislative and regulatory issues such as “unwarranted taxes and excessive regulation.” They also work to enact public policy involving the timeshare industry and timeshare owners.

Further, ARDA seeks to educate its members with timeshare information by conducting industry research, hosting webinars, and by publishing Developments magazine, “the voice of the timeshare industry.” Throughout the year, there are ten issues circulated that are full of informative articles that focus on industry trends concerning both consumers and developers.

Finally, ARDA also offers a major networking opportunity by holding the ARDA Annual Convention and Exposition. The conventions consist of dozens of educational seminars that cover marketing, technology, finance, and design, among many other topics.  Last year, the convention was held in Las Vegas, and this year’s conference will be held in Hollywood, Florida – just north of Fort Lauderdale.

ARDA isn’t only concerned with catering to the corporate side of the industry, however. ARDA-ROC (Resort Owner’s Coalition) works to defend timeshare owners against legislation that could have potentially disastrous consequences. According to their website, through ARDA-ROC, “Owners can be part of an effective grassroots lobbying coalition of timeshare unit owners dedicated to preserving, protecting, and enhancing vacation ownership.” This organization gives owners a significant political voice in an industry where it can sometimes be difficult to be heard.

A Trusted Leader

With all of this in mind, it’s easy to see why ARDA is such a major player in the timeshare industry. They maintain an influential presence in Washington, and they offer a valuable service to their many constituents. They are a trusted leader in the timeshare development arena, and they are fighting to protect the interests of the industry and their members. At the end of the day, their primary goal is a noble one – to enhance the vacation resort development industry – and we applaud them in this endeavor.

At Newton Group Transfers, we have a distinct appreciation and respect for ARDA (although we do not endorse them, nor are we endorsed by them). They attempt to regulate the timeshare industry in a manner that they feel best represents their members’ wishes, and they’ve worked tirelessly to establish a great deal of trust and credibility, which is always an admirable enterprise. In fact, we’ve learned a lot about consumer advocacy from ARDA that we attempt to implement in our own business practices on a daily basis.

We don’t believe that the resort development advocacy that ARDA strives for and the consumer rights that Newton Group Transfers works to protect are mutually exclusive. Although the timeshare transfer business may occasionally be at cross purposes with ARDA, we feel that our two general ethos align pretty closely. In fact, we think that the timeshare transfer business and ARDA balance each other out perfectly, as we are both dedicated to increasing the credibility of the industry. Newton Group Transfers advocates for the group of owners that no long have a need for keeping their timeshares, while ARDA strives to advocate for the entire industry as a whole, which, in some cases may not specifically address the segment of owners who are seeking an exit. We seek to gain our client’s trust through our core values of integrity and transparency, while ARDA seeks to gain the same through similar upstanding ethical conduct.

A Model of Excellence
So, there you have it. ARDA has over 40 years of timeshare-related regulation under their belt. They’ve established themselves as leaders in the timeshare industry, and they’ve built credibility along the way, both in Washington and throughout the country. They stand for something in a business that often shudders when asked to perform with integrity. Although Newton Group Transfers hasn’t been around as long as ARDA, we’re dedicated to doing things the right way, and we plan on using ARDA as an ethical model in our pursuit of excellence as we continue to perform a valuable service on behalf of our customers.

ARDA attempts to maintain and enhance the timeshare experience, while Newton Group Transfers offers assistance to those seeking an exit. We’re both looking out for the best interests of our clients and members, and, at the end of the day, it’s a commitment to remaining true to our core values that really counts.

With nearly a decade of experience, we have accumulated a vast expanse of knowledge on the industry, and, as a result of this experience, we have heard literally thousands of different owner's
stories. Many of these stories detail an ownership experience that was everything the consumer could have asked for and more. This is the type of experience that ARDA has been fighting for throughout their history. Unfortunately, not every story we hear has a happy ending. Sometimes, timeshare owners are desperate to get rid of their properties, and we feel that we give them the best opportunity to do so in an honest and trustworthy fashion.

If you and your family feel like you may have reached this point, please contact us at (877) 354-4321, or visit us online at newtongrouptransfers.com.

Compared to Hotels, Do Timeshares Make Sense?

Timeshares vs. Hotels

If you and your family own a timeshare, can afford the associated fees, and love the destination, then maybe you made the right choice. However, if these fees have become insurmountable and the destination is getting stale, this blog might prove beneficial. I’m going to take a moment to compare the costs and benefits of hotel travel as compared with timeshares.

Timeshares are a luxury item that most people simply can’t afford. Ignoring, for a moment, the staggering special assessments and maintenance fees, even the fundamental cost of buying a timeshare is just too much for the average family to manage. Unfortunately, these fees can’t be ignored, and they often rise to more than $1,000 per year for timeshare owners. So when typical people want to take their family on a vacation, they do it the old fashioned way – by spending their time at a hotel. This method may not have the sexy glitz and glamour of timeshare ownership, but what these trips lack in water cooler status, they make up for in affordability and the freedom to choose a new destination every year.

Destination Freedom

One of the major drawbacks of timeshares is that, by signing a contract locked in to perpetuity (i.e. the contract is eternal and will be passed down to your next of kin), you’re committing to an annual vacation to the same location every year for the rest of your life. In high school, I went to Clearwater Beach, Florida two years in a row for Spring Break. I had a great experience on both occasions, but I soon learned that it’s easy to get bored with a vacation destination. When my sister moved to that area a few years after I graduated, it just wasn’t the same. The beaches were still beautiful, the sun still shined brightly, and the jet skiing was still a riot, but that flair was somehow lacking.

It’s true, there’s nothing quite like the excitement of an entirely new, fresh experience, but, with repeated use that excitement can become ordinary very quickly. However, when you’re able to choose a new vacation destination every year, your trip will always yield new and exhilarating adventures! Most timeshares don’t afford the owner the opportunity to explore different locales, but by visiting hotels, you open up a world of travel possibilities.

Oh, the Financials

It’s time for everyone’s favorite subject: math! I’ll try not to bore you with the figures, but please bear with me for a moment. Let’s remain conservative and say that you purchased your timeshare for $20,000. If you’re planning on using your timeshare for one for the next 30 years, that works out to roughly $670 per year. This works out to be roughly the same amount that most families of four would spend to reserve a mid-range hotel in a trendy vacation spot. But we left out the maintenance fees. Even if we kept these numbers relatively low, most timeshare owners would still have to tack on an extra $500 annually. Put together, these figures work out to $1,170 that would come out of your bank account every year.

For the sake of objective comparison, I did a little travel research on priceline.com. I entered in a six-night stay at the Westin in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for one of the busiest times of year – the end of March, which, traditionally, marks the Spring Break period for students. I found accommodations for $136 per night, which, when multiplied by the six nights that most people would spend during this time, the number comes out to $816; that’s more than $450 less than the annual cost of timeshare ownership!

To be fair, the average hotel room can’t compete with the fancy amenities that many timeshares offer, but for the family that prefers to spend their vacation actually enjoying the sites and activities of a new place, the money saved could easily be used for several big-ticket activities such as ski-lift tickets or a trip to an amusement park. Not only that, but there would probably still be money left over for a nice meal.

In the end, vacation options will vary from person to person. The most important thing is getting the most enjoyment out of your trip for the least amount of money. Some people feel this is achieved by visiting their timeshare, while others prefer to scope out new places every year and stay in a hotel. If you already own a timeshare, but would rather save money and travel to new destinations every year, perhaps it’s time that you transfer your timeshare contract.

Newton Group Transfers

Newton Group Transfers is a timeshare disposal company with an excellent reputation for quickly and seamlessly removing families from their timeshare obligations. We have a fantastic track record within the industry and we have built our name by sticking to our core values of accountability and transparency. Constructing a culture of good faith between ourselves and our clients based on our 100% Money Back Guarantee and an A- rating from the Better Business Bureau is our ultimate goal. We are fully equipped to remove you from your timeshare obligation, so please contact us today at 1-877-354-4321 or visit our website at newtongrouptransfers.com for immediate relief from timeshare stress.

Special Assessment Watch: The Truth in Real Time

Maintenance fees and special assessments are no joke. They add up… fast! These fees increase annually whether you use your timeshare or not, and they have become so expensive that many people are now reconsidering their timeshare ownership. While some owners only pay a couple hundred dollars per year, some families have reported paying as much as $1500 dollars or more for the supposed “upkeep” of their property!

These are the kind of financial figures that scare most people away from entering a timeshare contract, but people are usually unaware of just how ridiculous these fees can get until it’s too late. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to wade through the copious piles of manure in a timeshare sales pitch to determine just exactly what your annual costs will look like… until now.

Special Assessment Watch

In 2011, a new independent website was created to help track the total dollar amount of maintenance fees and special assessments collected in the United States annually. The site is called the Timeshare Special Assessment Alert Network and can be accessed at specialassessmentnetwork.com. The proposed mission statement of the site is to “notify timeshare owners of special assessments and maintenance fees in real time as we receive them.”

As of today, December 11^th, the website’s “Year to Date Total Fees Collected” meter (which is continually rolling upward like an odometer) reads $46,500,000 with three weeks left to go in the year. This is a figure made all the more shocking by the fact that only a small percentage of timeshare owners have actually reported their fees to the site. The total numbers are estimated to be well over $1 billion. To put that figure in perspective, the gross domestic product of Liberia barely topped the billion dollar mark last year!

Site Features

Below the staggering national collection meter, visitors can view the most recently posted maintenance fees and special assessments for various resorts, along with where they are located. These figures are submitted by objective, unsolicited timeshare owners who are trying to spread awareness relating to the timeshare crisis. In fact, Special Assessment Watch validates the neutrality of their mission by including flattering photos of the resorts and a brief write-up describing some of the perks of each development.

The site is extremely user-friendly and offers interactive menus to help you determine what resorts are charging what fees. At the top of the page, you can scroll through a comprehensive list (there are literally hundreds!) of timeshare developments to find the resort that you’re looking for. Once you’ve discovered the resort you’re curious about, you can examine the most recent maintenance fees, special assessments, or both. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like many owners have been contributing their special assessment figures yet, but the site is still new and many people focus solely on their exorbitant maintenance fees.

Below this list, the visitor has the opportunity to share their annual fees with the site and a curious public. To do so, simply enter the name of your timeshare resort, and the name of the city and the state in which the resort is located. Below these informational boxes, there’s a drop-down box for you to choose whether you want to submit information regarding your maintenance fees or your special assessment fees, the amount, and the date you submitted the information.

Finally, near the bottom right corner of the homepage, visitors can quickly access the most expensive resorts in terms of special assessments and maintenance fees. Unsurprisingly, Marriot and Wyndham developments dominate the top of this list. Granted, these resorts are absolutely beautiful and are located in prime vacation locales, but the fees reported are jaw-dropping.

Finally!

From what I can tell, this is the first third-party site of its kind. Special Assessment Watch maintains an honest, objective approach to one of the more critical issues in the timeshare industry today. They do so in the hopes that the site will, “Help educate helpless” and “prevent someone from making an uneducated decision.”

Special Assessment Watch is doing potential and current timeshare owners a valuable service by making them fully aware of the current fees at hundreds of different resorts. If only the rest of the timeshare industry would follow their lead by operating with more straight-forward transparency, perhaps the current timeshare crisis wouldn’t exist. At Newton Group Transfers, we applaud their efforts to educate potential timeshare owners, and we intend to continue to follow our own core values of leadership, honesty, and integrity to inform everyone of potential alternative options.