Anfi Court Ruling Opens Compensation Floodgates
Amid Spain’s hot summer sun, timeshare developer Anfi braces for rough weather ahead.
One of Europe’s most luxurious resorts faces a torrential wave of timeshare compensation claims, following a recent court decision that calls for double payment for illegal contracts dating back to 1996.
In a ruling handed down by Spain’s Magistrate D. Juan Carlos Socorro Marrero, it was deemed illegal for Anfi Sales SL, part of the Anfi Del Mar Group, to collect advance installments for a resort in Gran Canaria. The fees go against article 11 of state statute 42/1998, and permits the acquirer to claim double the collected amount at any time.
Sources close to the case believe that up to 400,000 contracts were made illegally after 1996. With such a staggering number, the group is in for a rainy payment season to the tune of €2 billion (over $2.4 billion).
Currently, there are over 200 live claims for timeshare miss-selling against Anfi Del Mar stacked up in the Spanish judiciary. Prior to the decision, local courts registered up to 10 new claims per week, and the number is expected to skyrocket once news of the ruling becomes widespread.
Under Spanish law, even if a property is sold, all debts and encumbrances are passed on to the new owners. The same applies to timeshare properties, so that the new owners will still be liable for incoming compensation claims.
With the landmark case, insiders say that up to 200 developers in Spain, the Canaries and the Balearics are already moving to dispose of timeshare resorts facing potential lawsuits.
Claims Directive, a legal advisor specializing in timeshare cases, believes that this new ruling gives power back to individual timeshare owners facing the goliath of large corporate developers . As the decision applies retroactively, it allows owners to file for compensation for illegal contracts entered into as far back as 1996.
Five out of the top 10 timeshare developers in Europe, including established brands, are alleged to have taken illegal deposits during the cooling off period as late as 2009. According to Claims Directive, one developer based in Mallorca continues to take illegal deposits even after the EU’s 1994 directive.
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The Resort Development Organisation has posted a response to this article as of June 15, 2010 on their website at http://www.rdo.org/. Their response should be reported.
In light of the Anfi case, would timeshare owners who paid deposits to Sunterra in Uk\Europe from 1996 direct to Sunterra themselves and through franchises like LCI qualify for refunds via Diamond who purchased Sunterra in 2008?
First off, my credentials. I have functioned in management roles on 3 continents in the resort industry, and timeshare often had a presence on those resorts, for 15 years.
I am not a disgruntled employee of any company, and in many respects, appreciate the value timeshare has for the right situation.
What I find so astonishing is the ongoing gullibility of the public.
I visited the RDO response above and then their website, and lo and behold the PDF containing the names of the board members not only contains representation from Anfi, but from the other developers/marketing companies which would be at risk here as well. Link below.
The RDO is another quasi-self regulating ‘oversight’ body, once called the Organization of Timeshares in Europe (OTE), and is likened to the American Resort Developers Association in North America. All are NOT governmental bodies, but have managed to portray themselves in that role. Just because the EU enacts legislation to regulate an industry, does not mean that the industry will not attempt to portray themselves as best they can…becoming a quasi-legislative body adds perceived credibility to their efforts that the public cannot see their way through at times.
How is it that anyone could expect folowing the history of problems in the timeshare industry, that we can rely on this or any other industry centric body to responsibly oversee their activities, nor responsibly comment on the actions of one or more of their board members directly, or indirectly.
The RDO website reads like a press release website in support of the timeshare industry.
It is my earnest wish that this would settle in favor of the purchasers, however, in reading the RDO site, it is apparent that this apparently is already a lost cause…if the information there is correct, or the information is just there to have us perceive that it is correct is what is worth questioning.
For fun, download the PDF, search the people and companies they are connected to for complaints and you will appreciate my concerns noted here.
Regards,
David Sampson
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