Assessment by Fairfield's Sea Oaks Resort, Edisto Island

Recently I received a letter dated 11/6/06 from the Sea Oaks Board of Directors advising all owners that the Board had voted unanimously to assess each owner $1,000 per week owned in order to "create a special budget of $734,907" to cover the cost of correcting certain structural issues with the 25 year-old Sea Oaks buildings. This special assessment, which must be paid in full by 1/31/07, is apparently the result of the Board's review of an "in-depth evaluation" performed by a licensed professional hired by the Board. I'm concerned about this special assessment as the letter is not specific as to what actual work will be performed nor does it identify what company has been awarded the work. Does anybody have any information about the situation at Sea Oaks or assessments of this type in general? Thanks.

I don't know about the special assessment at Sea Oaks, but I do know that special assessments are one of the major downfalls of owning a timeshare week. People think once they buy a week and pay yearly maintenance fees (that keep rising) that that's all they are responsible for, then up pops special assessments that the owner's are responsible for paying.

To pauls272 and jayjay: We have the same problem at The Ritz Beach in Freeport, Bahamas. Do the owners of timeshare have No Input as to the remodeling of these places?? We need to organize a group to control the "management " of the companies who "manage" our timeshare resorts.

Once HOA board members are elected by owners they have the authority to do what they wish. That's why it's so important to return your ballots after researching all members running for the board at your resort. In my opinion each owner should be able to vote on special assessments, but that's not the way it goes.

If Fairfield is the management and there's no HOA board then Fairfield has the authority to establish special assessments.

hight wrote:

To pauls272 and jayjay: We have the same problem at The Ritz Beach in Freeport, Bahamas. Do the owners of timeshare have No Input as to the remodeling of these places?? We need to organize a group to control the "management " of the companies who "manage" our timeshare resorts.

It all comes down to GREED. There is NO Excuse for these 'Special Assessments'. We, as timeshare owners, pay PLENTY of money on a yearly basis through our Maintenance Fees to manage the resorts, and all that is necassary, AND have PLENTY of money left over to put into a fund for future repairs/replacements. The average Maintenance Fee for a WEEK in a Resort unit is $500 - $1000. If you multiply that by only 50 weeks per year, on the LOW side that is $25,000 PER UNIT PER YEAR! Now, multiply $25,000 times the number of units your resort has, and you see the MILLIONS of dollars they are making EVERY YEAR on the maintenance fees. Yes, they have to pay the staff for cleaning, reservations, amenities, etc... but there is NO EXCUSE for not taking at least $100 per year of the Maintenance fees and placing in a 'Special' Repair/Replacement fund for the Resorts' future repairs.

This is the first I have heard of a Fairfield Resort doing this! I have both Fairfield AND other resorts. One of my other resorts charged a $1000+ 'Special Assessment' in 2006, and I was LIVID!, BUT that resort had a Lower than average Maintenance fee each and every year. Fairfield on the other hand has a MUCH higher Maintenance fee than ANY of my other fixed weeks properties. Your notification of a FAIRFIELD resort starting these 'Special Assessments' REALLY CONCERNS ME since I already pay RIDULOUSLY high fees for the weeks I own at Fairfield. We, as Fairfield Owners, need to band together and get to the bottom of these special assessments. Are there ANY OTHER Fairfield Owners that have had to pay any Special Assessments in the past? If so, please let us know the following: What year you were assessed?, What location you own?, and How much was the 'Special Assessment'? Thanks! Let's get to the bottom of this and see if there is anything we can do about this! Joe

Are there ANY OTHER Fairfield Owners that have had to pay any Special Assessments in the past? If so, please let us know the following: What year you were assessed?, 2006, 2007, will be one more in 2008

What location you own? Fairfield KingsGate, Williamsburg VA

How much was the 'Special Assessment'?

$338.00 each year for 3 years Thanks!