special assessment fees

I am wondering if anyone has been able to fight this assessment fee and still be able to use their timeshare.I was not notified of the fee until June 07 and did not know that the resort had a website until that time. I have been trying to get some legal advice about it but have not had any luck. I have owned this timeshare for almost 7 years and have never been able to book a stay there. I have deposited it a few times but they always deposit it as a 1 or 2 bedroom and I have a grand villa which is 4 bedrooms. Does anyone else have similar problems with this resort?

elizabethj39 I've owned for 20 years and only stayed there once because of bookings. I cant see a way of legally fighting the assessment. But then again with all the name changes and other events i.m not sure if Arnie is still the owner or what is happening, Joe B.

Regarding your info on Arne - he was murdered at Taino in (I believe) 2002/2003 which was our last stay at Taino. I have owned a time share since 1991, have also had problems with getting booked. I have not been there since 2003 because of the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. I believe they are tearing down the old Taino in order to build new. I do not know what you mean by assessment fees as I only pay maintenance - is this what you mean - if so I was not informed of the increases until the new loaning company took over the control. Lorraine

Basically the timeshare ownership here was stolen from all the former Taino Beach Resort owners who didn't agree to pay a skyrocketed new "assessment" fee and new annual maintenance fees. All these fees skyrocketed after 2004 hurricane, which was the year after Arne Peterson, the original initiator/owner of RCI, was murdered. Our contract said fees could only go up 10% /year. A number of us owners tried to work together and sue, only to find that we had no standing whatsoever in US courts and were instead subject to Bahamian law. So essentially, you are on your own if the new mgmt" wants to raise the mgmt fees to $1000 a year. You have to pay it, or your ownership title will be taken away. So you might as well just skip the timeshare idea, and pay the best hotel rates you can uncover with a little diligent internet research. Since your timeshare, if you pay $7,000 for it, is like throwing away 2, 3 or 4 years of your future vacation money. If you paid $10,000 for it, throw away 5 years of future vacations. You get the idea: don't buy timeshares at all. Bargain hotels are always to be had, here and everywhere else in the world. You have only to look at the resale price of timeshares to see what a rip-off it is. You might ask $2,500 for a 4bdrm huge unit you paid $20,000 for up front.

elizabethj39 wrote:

I am wondering if anyone has been able to fight this assessment fee and still be able to use their timeshare.I was not notified of the fee until June 07 and did not know that the resort had a website until that time. I have been trying to get some legal advice about it but have not had any luck. I have owned this timeshare for almost 7 years and have never been able to book a stay there. I have deposited it a few times but they always deposit it as a 1 or 2 bedroom and I have a grand villa which is 4 bedrooms. Does anyone else have similar problems with this resort?

I am also in the same boat. I have not been able to reserve my week with Taino since 2003, so I use RCI. I have also been trying to contact Taino with regard to buying my Timeshare back as what I paid - no go. I have also go on their FB site and advertise for sale, only to find the message is gone. So we are stuck with the high fees, and whatever else they throw our way. I am so tired of being pushed around, if only we were able to do something beside writing; if only we could get governments (Canada, USA, etc) from selling Timeshares. If you or anyone else knows how we can get rid of these things, let me know!