Dear Governor Rick Scott,

On behalf of all Florida timeshare owners, and future buyers, we respectfully urge you to veto HB453/SB932, a developer-sponsored bill that was drafted without input from owners and consumer protection groups. 
While perhaps well intentioned, the bill contains many flaws that erode owner legal rights and, worst of all, includes and expands vague language that will simply have to be litigated down the line.  The bill, in short, needs to be amended to provide clarity and equity for both owners and developers on several key issues: public disclosure, contract litigation, timeshare trusts, legacy resorts and maintenance fees.   As it stands, the bill before you is a one-sided effort by the development community to rewrite state law to match their current marketing efforts.  Example: The bill allows developers to almost unilaterally decide what constitutes “compliance” and “materiality” with regard to mistakes and omissions in contracts. The bill also restricts owners’ ability to challenge the legality of their contract after the 10-day rescission period required by current law.  As you know, developers already hold all of the cards in timeshare transactions;  Potential buyers are subjected to verbal high-pressure sales tactics that, under current law, are not actionable. Developers provide buyers with long and complicated contracts that are very difficult to read much less understand, and which are written to protect the developer.  Beyond that, most timeshare developers don’t even offer, to this day, programs that will allow longtime Florida owners with medical or financial hardship to get OUT of their timeshare contracts while their mandatory maintenance fees continue to increase. 

HB453/SB932, if enacted, would give developers even more leverage over the owner community --- and the fact is, they don’t need it.  There is no emergency that requires passage of this bill.  Action: Please send it back to the Legislature with a veto message that says, “Give me a fair and straightforward bill that balances the needs of owners and developers.”

Signed: 

-FLORIDA TIMESHARE OWNERS GROUP
-TIMESHARE USERS GROUP
-REDWEEK OWNER COMMUNITY
-NATIONAL TIMESHARE OWNERS ASSOCIATION
-VILLAGES TIMESHARE VACATION CLUB

-ALL SEASONS RESORT
-NAUTICAL WATCH BEACH CLUB
-VOYAGER BEACH CLUB
-CAMELOT BY THE SEA
-OCEANWALK OWNERS ASSOCIATION
-MAGIC TREE COA, KISSIMMMEE, FL
-OUTRIGGER BEACH CLUB OWNERS ASSOC.
-OCEANEAST OWNERS ASSOCIATION
-ISLAND CONSULTING REALTY
-LIBERTE MANAGEMENT
-ALL ISLAND TIMESHARE RESALES
-RESORT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT