New Timeshare Law in Florida
July 1st, 2012 a new law goes into effect in Florida that aims to put an end to the immense amount of fraud involved in the timeshare resale industry. As a leader in the timeshare industry, Florida is taking its first steps to protect timeshare owners against fraudulent timeshare resale advertising firms with new legislation, and Timesharemarketplace.com is sharing this new law and showing consumers alternate ways to rent, buy, or sell timeshare for free.
Every year thousands of timeshare owners fall victim to companies who promise they have a buyer waiting, and all the owner has to do is pay an upfront fee in order to sell their timeshare immediately. However, after the owner pays the “fee” – which can be in the thousands - the company disappears, along with the money, or tells the consumer that the buyer chose another property and to wait for the next one, which never comes along. This frustrating aspect of the timeshare resale industry has left owners angry and confused for years. Thankfully, Florida legislature and companies like TimeshareMarketplace.com are fighting back against timeshare fraud.
The new law effective July 1st, 2012 protects timeshare owners in numerous ways against fraudulent companies. First and foremost, it will now be illegal for timeshare companies to charge an upfront fee greater than $75 within a twelve-month period without a signed agreement. In addition, once a person signs an agreement, they will have 10 days to cancel the agreement, no questions asked. This new law will prevent fraudulent firms from stating they have a “buyer waiting” and all the consumer has to do is send money to close that day. It also binds Florida firms to abide by this provision of the law by issuing a refund within 5 days if the customer paid electronically, and 10 days if the consumer paid by check. The penalties for violating this new law are steep and can be up to $15,000 per occurrence, which should put the fraudulent companies out of business.
Florida Legislature is not the only entity fighting for honest treatment of timeshare owners. An innovative new website called TimeshareMarketplace.com allows timeshare owners to post their timeshare properties for sale or rent for free. After a property is uploaded, it can be accessed by millions of people across the Internet – for no charge to sellers, buyers, or renters.
TimeshareMarketplace.com will never ask for any fees or monetary commitment from their users in order to access their service, which makes it unique to other websites. Instead, TimeshareMarketplace.com strives to connect buyers, sellers and renters with properties listed at a fraction of the cost of retail value. TimeshareMarketplace.com has also dedicated a section of their website to an area where timeshare owners can post about their experiences with fraudulent timeshare resale firms and timeshare fraud. If a company calls a timeshare owner, and the owner think might be a scam, then they can search for the company on TimeshareMarketplace.com and see if other timeshare owners have interacted with them. Alternately, if a consumer has been a victim of a timeshare scam, they can report it through the website and share their experiences with other users.
The new Florida legislation coupled with TimeshareMarketplace.com’s free property marketing website and fraud reporting system, makes for a good combination in the fight against timeshare resale fraud. For more information on the steps being taken to end timeshare fraud, visit TimeshareMarketplace.com’s blog.