2011 Harborside II Maintenance Fees - OVERBOARD

I only called the sales office, and they told me to sell it on by myself

Any info on a resolution would be appreciated

our fees are covering the ones that havent been paid for by delinquent owners. its a catch 22 situation. they have to do something.

UPDATE! If you really want to get the hair up on the back of your neck and raise your blood pressure even higher over Harborside, consider the latest tax related measures that SVO is manipulating.

The Bahamian Government is issuing a VAT tax for 2015. That tax is applicable of all Goods and Services related to the operation and maintenance of our Time Share Poverty....ooops -I meant Property!

There are very specific taxation rules and policies as to what is taxable and what is not.

Review this link for all relevant polices reading Bahamian VAT: http://goo.gl/xtNn7i

Now - Take a look at your current assessment.. There are many categories of "expenses" by which the Bahamian Government does require a VAT Tax. Here are some notes made on my own assessment document: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s21/sh/90ee68bb-42b3-465b-b2c5-4e0bc8dd2be8/abd2624ec09b216cda9332efcffcf79e

One does not have to speculate as to why every homeowner is being assessed a VAT tax on many of the line items that are not VAT taxable, and the final disposition of those Funds.

Thoughts/Ideas?

Henry Siegel

How do we sell?? Own a SVO in Hawaii

Kay@kbeveridgeod.com

Went to harborside last month. Great place but need to get rid of my TS and can't give it away. Sales people at harborside were no help. Said that they would only buy back if they were completely sold out. Offered to take mine as a trade in for one with a lower MF but it would have cost me $$$ to actually down grade

We finally are getting out. No more money goes to Starwood, Yeah.

Richard -

This video may be helpful (please click on the link to view): Selling My Timeshare

If you need further information, please Contact Us.

Phyllis

I (already) had a very serious conversation w/a class action specialists and he reviewed all of the paperwork and declared that Starwood really covered their butt well. He didn't think there was a hope of winning.

Mr. Siegel,

Hi. I have previously communicated with you sometime back (at least 2-3 years) about the outrageous maintenance fees we pay at Harborside. I have been relentless with trying to find a way to get out of this situation. I did actually find a legit attorney in Florida who specializes in timeshares. I had the attorney I work for contact him as well. Although I love it at Harborside, I cannot stand by an be raked through the coals year after year and watch them increase our maintenance fees. Are you still an owner or have you walked away? I would like to discuss maybe the possibility of a class action suit.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Anitra DiMascia

henrys50 wrote:

I am a Harborside at Atlantis Phase 2 Owner. Since 2004 our MF have risen from $1800 (I own a three bedroom lock off) to $3150. It is clear that the Directors of our Association are doing what is good for Starwood and Kerzner (developer). One director works for SW and the other works for Kerzner.

The following are several issues worth considering:

My view (after 8 years of ownership) is that the fractional ownerships are not what SVN is really selling...what they are selling is an HOA "trap"...they make a lot more money on HOA fees than selling TS.

Once someone is locked into a TS contract they'll use if for a few years and them try to sell...many did and the economy suffered in 2008-09. Concurrently the HOA fees rise to the point that the rental value is the same as the HOA fees, thus there is no equity in the unit...but the fractional owner can't "get out" unless they "sell"...consequently the owner is held hostage to an ownership, that if foreclosed upon, will drag their credit rating down.

The collective management fees for Harborside II now exceed $3.2 million a year. The total HOA fees are close to $20 million a year...$20 million a year to maintain a large apartment complex with people coming and going on a weekly basis. It is clearly outrageous.

As an example of the sheer audacity of these guys... the fees paid to Paradise Island Tourism Development Association at $52,475 are for a website owned by a third party marketing company. It does nothing except promote all Atlantis/Kerzner related properties and take reservations. Harborside is promoted among the other Atlantis properties, say 12% of the site. ...the company has no google ads (no costs), does not purchase any keywords.

So ...Who benefits by this gargantuan yearly fee for a simple website?

All the uncollected HOA fees, which are about $1 million, are charged back to us fractional owners. If a unit is foreclosed upon, when is the unit actually sold? No accounting for this...

but ...if a foreclosed unit is sold, are some of the proceeds used to make the HOA whole again for that fractional share's unpaid fees ..I think NOT. No accounting for any of this.

I'll bet SVN holds these foreclosed units in some sort of abeyance so the developer does not have to pay the pro-rata sure of the HOA on them. SVN simply passes on the unpaid HOA fees to the remaining owners, still generating their same outrageous management fees and kickbacks. There is no incentive to sell these foreclosed units, as their marketing department can continue selling "new" unsold fractional shares, pulling new owners into the abyss.

Any inquiry as to the nature of MF costs, if services are being bid out, or inquiries about what is actually delivered is met with stonewalling or deflections.

I receive unsolicited crap from TS resellers all the time. I ask how they found me and have been told that my ownership is public record. What needs to be done is to find out who the actual fractional owners are and recruit them the vote in a new board, who can then install a new management company.

So there's a lot of due diligence and stealth discovery that needs to occur. I believe this is the tip of a huge iceberg...with 20 properties, SVO is making 100's of millions of dollars by self dealing, kickbacks, etc.

If you are interested in protecting your interests, please send me:

A. Your name, phone and email B. Contract number C. What you own

I will start creating a database of owners that have an interest in correcting this nefarious arrangement and righting the wrong.

Am speaking with a few lawyers about a class action suit against the Association as they have breached their fiduciary duty to the fractional owners. I would say HR 1 could benefit by coming on board.

I am a pit bull on a piece of raw liver when it comes to abuses like this....people who do bad things?...bad things happen to them....

As well, feel free to call and discuss.

Henry Siegel 323.680.5411

Do you mind if I ask you how you are getting out? Were you successful?

Anitra D.

I think we're stuck, frankly. I had an attorney look at the agreement and it's apparently air tight and we're screwed and no one bought us dinner!

I certainly wouldn't go into a deal with Starwood or the Marriott (now owners) again based on this experience.

No one will purchase these worthless timeshares we own at the Harborside because of the fees.

What we ALL need to do is get together as a group and REFUSE to pay the fees and see what they do about it. But, if we aren't a serious group, we'll get nothing but our property attached. I suspect we're too disbursed to join up as one with a good lawyer! I'm willing to try if anyone feels we can put this together.

Owner of a 3-bedroom Phase 2 lock-off

I am definitely in favor of a class action suit against the association. I'm just not sure what we would have to do. Ann VanWagenen

If something is done as a group I am in.

We’re interested in anything that will bring our maintenance fees down. Count us in any class action suit.

Has anyone talked to Marriott on how it will be treated when it comes to point value. I was told from one person that points are based on maintenance Fees. If this is true I should acquire a lot but if its not true I also need to get out.

I am going to contact the attorney I reached out to in Florida and see what he suggests as far as a class action suit. I will let you all know.

Anitra D.

We have 22K views on this crucial topic. Obviously Vistana will do nothing unless they are backed up against a wall, either legally or financially.

At this point in time, legal recourse is in murky waters because of how the contracts are written up and the legal entities that hold them not being US companies.

However, on the financial side there is leverage BUT ONLY if the homeowners are a unified body that exert control over the actual Maintenance Fees being disbursed to Vistana.

How might that occur?

1. Search for and interview a law firm that capable of dealing with Vistana and is willing to take a fee based upon the amounts put into escrow and effectiveness of outcome.

2. Have all Maint Fee placed into an Escrow account by those HOA Members will to go to battle - the more the better and the bigger the fund!

3. As Mutiny on the Bounty starts to starve HOA Management, our requirement of full disclosure on how Maint Fees are actually collected, spend, VAT tax issues, etc - Negotiations are now on a flat playing field.

4. If you are an Owner, fill out the following form and send it to any other owner you may know. If we can't generate enough interest we all know the consequence...more of same.

https://form.jotform.com/90085642237154

Henry Siegel

Is there anyway we can get a list of other owners?

If someone would put in the effort, I am confident there's an owners list since every "We'll buy your timeshare" company out there seems to reach each one of us.