GEORGE B. PARKS, President, Consumer Timeshare Owners Foundation
Recent regulatory actions against Glen Ivy Financial Group, the nation’s largest time-share company, have caused concern among many vacationers. The Corona firm has settled civil charges that it misled customers--without admitting wrongdoing--but some of its executives are facing a criminal inquiry. Consumer Timeshare Owners Foundation in Tustin held a forum last month to reassure some of its 40,000 members. President George B. Parks, a real estate attorney, spoke recently with staff writer Greg Crouch.
What is a time share?
Time share, simply broken down, is a condominium divided into 51 owners. So each person purchases a one-51st interest in a unit.
Do you own a time share?
I own a time share in San Diego. It’s just like a hotel. My son, Billy, and I went down just before Christmas. We bought all the grub a 14-year-old wants, and we played golf and then we’d go in and eat. I was down there for six nights. If I paid $100 a night at a hotel, I would have spent $600. With my time share, which I bought in 1979 for $6,000, I didn’t pay anything. It’s an inexpensive lifetime vacation.
How did you get interested in time shares?
I came to California to teach at Glendale University School of Law after receiving law degrees from Howard University and George Washington University. Eventually, I became a member of the real estate commission’s educational advancement advisory committee. Time sharing fascinated me, and I wrote a course about it and then started teaching at seminars around the state.
Besides being president of the Consumer Timeshare Owners Foundation, how else are you involved now in the business?
I am president of the homeowners association at my resort.
Do time-share consumers get any kind of proof of ownership?
A time-share owner receives a title and deed to his property. The title is insured by a title company, and the owner receives a tax bill on his interest in the property. Make sure your deed is recorded with the local government office. In the Glen Ivy situation, there is an indication that some deeds were not recorded.
Because you have a trust deed to your time share, does that mean it cannot be seized if the developer files for bankruptcy or is closed by regulators?
Depends if you’ve gotten an honest deal. If by chance you and 10 other people have the same recorded deed to the same piece of property, it’s going to be terribly expensive to find out which one of you is entitled to ownership. Those left out in the cold have to go back to the developer. If he is bankrupt, then you are at the mercy of the bankruptcy court.
What if there hasn’t been any overselling or other improprieties? Do owners still need to be concerned in the event of a developer’s bankruptcy?
The property should basically be virtually free and clear when you purchase it. Your deed of purchase is recorded as a first deed of trust.
Some developers have had blanket deeds of trust on an entire building, which would mean you have to get in line in the event of a bankruptcy. Stay away from those deals. Generally, the California Real Estate Commissioner’s office would not allow a developer to market a building with a blanket deed of trust.
Should consumers check the background of time-share developers before buying?
Yes. The first worry an owner has is the credibility of the developer who sells the property because some companies have oversold resorts. Overselling is like overbooking an airplane. It can be deliberate or it can be a legitimate mistake.
In the Glen Ivy situation, the Riverside (County) district attorney seems to feel there was a deliberate oversale (Glen Ivy denies these suspicions). When the developer has sold all of the units, the homeowners association takes over. Sometimes, the homeowners association is left with the morass of an oversale.
Should you visit the time-share resort before purchasing?
By all means. First of all, you can see the physical condition of the resort. And you can ask questions of owners. You want to make sure what the salesperson says and what’s actually true are one and the same.
The company that develops a time-share resort isn’t always the company that manages it, correct?
Right. The management company has to be separate and apart from the developer because it manages the finances of the homeowners association--dues and disbursements. Problems can develop if the management company is in any way related to the developer. For instance, there could be commingling of funds. Every homeowners association account has to be clearly segregated, and disbursements have to be approved by the board of directors. (Glen Ivy manages some of its resorts through a completely independent subsidiary.)
Do you have to vacation only at a particular resort?
The time-share industry has an exchange program. Right now, I have four weeks in San Diego. If my son wants to spend three days skiing at Big Bear and they have space available, I just exchange three days of my time under the exchange system.
Haven’t some consumers complained that exchange companies don’t always deliver what they promise?
Yes. Some people have paid a fee to an exchange company, and that company is unable to get them a desired unit. That is a problem we are constantly working on.
There are times when I would like to book myself in Washington, D.C., for some event, and there is nothing available. Exchange programs are still trying to work out the bugs.
