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RESORTDEVELOPER.COM
vacation industry review
JANUARY – MARCH 2015
24
INSIGHT
In terms of what laws are or are not passed,
what sort of impact might the lack of
understanding have on the outcome?
By now you know my favorite answer: It depends.
It depends on the issue. Unfortunately, there are many examples of
elected officials representing key timeshare states who understand the
economic value of timeshare and propose legislation that would tax the
visitor, not the voter. Why? Because it is politically rewarding.
Fortunately, ARDA and ARDA-ROC’s government affairs team has
had success working with elected officials in states that have the dubi-
ous reputation of being anti-business, where there are few — if any —
timeshare resorts.
I’ll give you a couple of examples: Last year, the state affairs team
received a call from a legislator about a resident who was experiencing
problems with a timeshare in another state. We worked with the legis-
lator to better understand the complaint and steer the constituent in the
right direction to solve the problem. In this case, the elected official was
simply trying to help a constituent, not trying to punish the industry or
introduce broad-reaching consumer protection legislation.
In another state, a legislator introduced take-back legislation to
help a constituent get out of their timeshare week. In short order, we
worked with the bill sponsor to educate him about the unintended con-
sequences of such a law. Eventually, the legislator pulled the bill and
we were able to work with the constituent to find an agreeable solution
to the problem.
ARDA and ARDA-ROC, working in conjunction with ARDA state
committees, were proactively and/or defensively involved in 14 states
and territories and three sovereign Caribbean jurisdictions this year,
each involving different issues and different strategies.
But the risk, uncertainty, and intellectual rigor is what makes being
a lobbyist fun and interesting. We enjoy finding opportunities in a
climate of never-ending change.
What’s been most surprising to you in terms
of the understanding of timesharing
among elected officials?
What surprises me are the policy proposals that some elected officials
support that are harmful to the hospitality industry, particularly where
hospitality is a large contributor to their local economy.
For example, in one particular jurisdiction, legislators talk publicly
and passionately about how they support spending hundreds of mil-
lions of tax dollars on new tourism facilities and infrastructure to grow
group and incentive travel business. The problem is that group and
incentive travel is highly influenced by market volatility following the
Great Recession.
In stark contrast, the timeshare industry is flourishing, producing
jobs and taxes, and bringing in visitors that come back year after year
and stay well above the average comparable leisure stay. In my opin-
ion, bringing back repeat guests year after year
is
group business!
How about specific examples of how
legislative understanding has worked out
into a positive outcome?
ARDA and ARDA-ROC’s 2014 legislative results provide many exam-
ples. Here are a few:
Massachusetts passed resale and transfer legislation that pro-
vides the attorney general, owner, and HOA new tools to combat
fraudulent resale and transfer activity; and amended proposed tourist
occupancy tax legislation that would have captured a vacation
exchange as a taxable event.
Hawaii passed two state-level bills that provide efficiencies for
developers, HOAs, and owners; and we successfully opposed several
county property tax bills there.
We worked with the Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED), the attor-
ney general, and the state legislative counsel bureau to reconcile
SB 383 and AB 404, two bills passed by ARDA and ARDA-ROC last year,
and amend the POS form contained in the statement of record, working
to ensure NRED complies with new laws and operates efficiently.
In Colorado, we worked to modernize timeshare regulations. In
Vermont, our efforts helped pass a law that would provide HOAs the
power to lock out owners who are delinquent paying maintenance fees.
Three bills passed in Virginia; the most notable prevents the charging
of a per-site registration fee, saving multistate developers a half-million per
year in fees.
We worked with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company (PRTC), which is
proposing comprehensive amendments to Puerto Rico’s timeshare laws.