December TARDA Newsletter – Timeshare Transparency Act – A Bill Proposed by Utah Senator John Curtis (R) & Senator Adam Schiff (CA) (D) Dueling Capital Resorts Lawsuits
Categories: Monthly NewslettersDecember 22, 2025
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The TIMESHARE TRANSPARENCY ACT has been long-awaited, offering federal oversight and other provisions for the protection of timeshare consumers. We know of no timeshare member or owner who would oppose The Timeshare Transparency Act introduced by Senator John Curtis of Utah (R) and California Senator Adam Schiff (D). It is of note that AARP Supports the Bill, but the timeshare industry lobby, ARDA, opposes a bill that would offer consumer protection. Our 14 board members at TARDA are in full support of any bill that would bring greater accountability and transparency.
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. Albert Einstein
You can “Share Your Opinion” under Contact Us in support of the Timeshare Transparency Act:
CURTIS, SCHIFF INTRODUCE BILL TO PROTECT CONSUMERS FROM PREDATORY TIMESHARE PRACTICES
Senator Adam Schiff
We applaud the efforts of Senators Curtis and Schiff, but based on member reports, feel the 14-day rescission period will have little effect due to the fact that the purchaser typically does not have access to the booking site until after the cancellation period has expired. Claims in regard to over-promised availability, or the ability to rent to offset costs, are not part of the contract documents. The only opportunity to protect the consumer would be if the rescission period began the day when the purchaser obtained access to the booking site. Several developer contracts state that you can rent, but fail to disclose the fees and obstacles that make the strategy unfeasible. No one would attempt to rent during the 14 day rescind period.
The Timeshare Transparency Act requires all timeshare agreements to:
● Include a single document itemizing all acquisition and maintenance costs.
● Mandate disclosure of modifiable fees and the notice requirements for such changes.
● Provide clear, documented options to exit ownership.
● Grant buyers a 14-day penalty-free cancellation period.
● Allow buyers time to privately review the timeshare agreement.
● Empowers the Federal Trade Commission to enforce these rules and issue further regulations.
● Preserves the rights of states to enact stronger consumer protections in regulating the timeshare industry.
In addition to the aforementioned provisions, we have additional concerns:
● Not disclosing the meeting or “update” is a solicitation.
A common comment concerns the branded hotels like Hilton/Marriott soliciting with the caller not disclosing the invitation is about timeshare. Instead, the loyalty member is invited to hear about our “vacation program.” Existing members are often told that what they will be attending is informational or an orientation, when in actuality, it is an attempt to sell more points.
● The recorded closing used as an entrapment.
Diamond Resorts started recording the closing in 2017, after the Arizona Attorney General issued an Assurance of Discontinuance. The purchaser is not allowed to record the sales session. We have received many reports of agents coaching what to say or not say on the recording closing, like, “I used to work in finance/sales/rent and can help you later, but don’t say anything at closing.” So you don’t. The response to your complaint is, “If this was important to you, you should have brought it up on the recorded closing.” If a buyer asks a question, the recording is stopped, the deception confirmed, and the recording device turned back on. The purchaser cannot listen to the recording without a subpoena. If the recorded closing can be used against the purchaser, the purchaser should be allowed to record the sales session.
● A timeshare loan should not be defined as a mortgage
A timeshare loan should be categorized as an installment loan, not a mortgage. One of our greatest concerns is the number of active duty service members who have reported finding their security clearances in jeopardy because of unfair and deceptive timeshare marketing, sales and lending practices. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, in Steines vs Westgate, upheld the lower Florida court ruling that a timeshare loan is not the same as a home mortgage. The Military Lending Act (MLA) exempts home mortgages. FNMA and the NCUA state on their websites that a timeshare loan is not a mortgage loan. In spite of this, developers call a timeshare loan a mortgage. Timeshare contracts are financed at 12% to 19%, with little to no resale value. Commissions are not disclosed. Selling and marketing expenses run as high as 50% or more, including the “free” gifts.
● The oral representation/non-reliance clause does not belong in a timeshare contract.
If it is, it should be disclosed at or prior to the presentation, not buried in volumes of fine print.
Who does the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) Protect?
In 2019, former Rep. Shawnna Bolick sponsored an Arizona Bill that would have allowed a 24-hour cooling off period BEFORE signing a contract. The bill passed the House 100%, but was defeated in the Senate. At the Senate hearing, ARDA lobbyist Don Isaacson argued:
“But the bottom line is that the state should not step in to protect people who didn’t bother to understand the nature of the deal. You are buying real estate, you are buying it as an adult.”
There is no way Club Exploria buyers, 20 or 30 years after purchase, would know that there would be no exit under any circumstance. Or a widow told the fee to exit is $26,000 because of Hilton adopting Bluegreen’s policy of 18 months of maintenance fees. And Timeshare non-deeded points are a right-to-use product bearing no resemblance to real estate, similar to joining a country club or gym.
The American Resort Development Association (ARDA). is the timeshare industry’s Washington-based trade association and a major lobbying force on Capital Hill and in Tallahassee. ARDA-ROC is a Political Action Committee. ROC stands for “Resort Owners Coalition.” Collectively, ARDA-ROC raises approximately $5 million a year promising to lobby to protect timeshare members. The Chairman of ARDA ROC is Kenneth McKelvey, a Capital Resorts executive.
Most timeshare Developers automatically invoice timeshare members’ maintenance fee invoices an opt-out ARDA-ROC “donation” of $5 to $10. Opting out of the donation is not always easy. A few resorts, like Marriott, are opt-in. At least opt-in donors may take the time to learn about the organization. Not one of over 3,000 timeshare members our volunteers have asked, have been able to answer the question, “What is ARDA?”
Why the switch to “opt-out” ARDA-ROC contributions?
As reported by the Broward Bulldog (renamed Florida Bulldog)
The American Resort Development Association — Resort Owners Coalition PAC will also pay a $300,000 civil penalty. It is the largest fine imposed by the FEC (Federal Election Commission) since 2007. The charges, most $3 to $5, were billed to individual timeshare owners along with tax and maintenance charges. The small donations, not itemized by the PAC, totaled $8.4 million between 2003 and 2007, records show. Political contributions are voluntary, and federal law requires solicitations to make that clear. Federal records show that since 2006, ARDA has spent more than $1.1 million on Washington lobbyists to oppose such things as mortgage reform legislation, including the expansion of truth-in-lending requirements to timeshare buyers.
Broward Bulldog is a not-for-profit online only newspaper created to provide local reporting in the public interest.
Florida Timeshare Owners Group, reported by RedWeek
A former pro-industry group, Florida Timeshare Owners Group, questioned the ARDA-ROC donation after ARDA lobbied to pass a law in Florida in 2015 making it more difficult to be released from a timeshare contract due to “non-material errors.”
“Any timeshare owner who donated $5 to ARDA and ARDA-ROC has financially supported the developers’ interests over the interests of their own, fellow timeshare owners, and all future purchasers,”
Debar said in an online posting on TUG (Timeshare Users Group). “Simply put, ARDA and ARDA-ROC do not represent the interests of the timeshare owner public, and it’s about time that this be totally recognized.”
https://www.redweek.com/resources/ask-redweek/arda-roc-donation-in-maintenance-bill
https://www.redweek.com/blog/2019/12/02/arda-roc-maintenance-fees
Legislative Hypocrisy: According to ARDA-ROC’s 2019 website for timeshare members:
ARDA-ROC is working on legislative issues in 14 states. There are four core state issues (including): Non-Judicial Foreclosure (2019)
Judicial Foreclosure – a legal proceeding that is lengthy, lender can recover losses
Nonjudicial Foreclosure – 1) Notice of Delinquency 2) Notice of Default 3) Notice of Lien 4) Notice of Sale
Support non-judicial foreclosure laws which provide strong consumer protection provisions.
https://www.redweek.com/blog/2019/12/02/arda-roc-maintenance-fees
ARDA’s message to industry peers delivered by ARDA-ROC Chairman Kenneth McKelvey, as stated in letterhead minutes of the April 10, 2019 ARDA-ROC meeting at ARDA’s World conference:
“The best thing we can do with exit (is) judicial foreclosure, ruin the credit and enforce the contract,” McKelvey said.
ARDA-ROC’s mission: Working on every regulatory and legislative level, ARDA-ROC engages in key issues affecting timeshare owners, such as consumer protections against scams, accountability for fraudulent timeshare exit companies, taxes on owners, non-judicial
foreclosure, and timeshare owner privacy laws.
There is no true voice of the consumer in Washington D.C. ARDA-ROC Board of Directors (2019):
Travis Bary, RRP, Capital Vacations Janice Feirstein RRP, Daily Management, Inc.
Jon Fredericks, RRP, Welk Resorts Jason Gamel, ARDA
Ada Grzywna, Bluegreen Vacations Don Harrill, RRP, Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Neil Hutchinson, RRP, Hilton Grand Vacations Robert Miller, RRP, Global Alliance for Timeshare Excellence
Richard Muller, RRP, VRI Americas Thomas Nelson, Holiday Inn Club Vacations
Geoff Richards, Wyndham Destinations Lisa Siegert-Free, RRP, Christie Lodge
Robert Spottswood, Spottswood Companies, Inc.
Owner Representative: Sverre Thomassen,
Previous President for Desert Springs Villas II Timeshare Association
Kimberly Tramontana, RRP, Breckenridge Grand Vacations
Chris Van Ruiten, RRP, Comerica Securities, Inc.
Mark Wang, Hilton Grand Vacations Robert Webb Esq., RRP, Baker & Hostetler
Owner Representative: Sverre Thomassen, Previous President for Desert Springs Villas II Timeshare Association
Scott Weisz, Marriott Vacations Worldwide Stephen Weisz, RRP, Marriott Vacations Worldwide
In 2019, five timeshare members, who resolved our disputes, formed Timeshare and Resort Developer Accountability Inc., a 501c4. (TARDA). https://tarda.org/
Talk back to X
X posters posted several posts belittling the proposed bill and Senator Curtis, dismissing the importance or the relevance. The fact that even Mexican cartels are cashing in on those desperate for release from their timeshare, is evidence enough that treating the symptoms of the problem – exit companies and numerous law firms practicing timeshare law – does not solve the root of the problem – unfair and deceptive practices, especially the oral representation or non-reliance clause, dubbed the license to lie clause.
Legal Updates: Capital Resorts Lawsuits
Capital Resorts Group v. Stonegate Firm and Stonegate Law, et. al., was filed October 24, 2025, in the US District Court for the District of South Carolina, Beaufort Division. Civil Action No: 9:25-cv-13124-BHH
Master Sergeant Julio Pacheco and Technical Sergeant Slone Pacheco v. Capital Resorts Group, LLC and Capital Resorts Club, Inc. was filed December 12, 2025, with the US District Court for the District of South Carolina, Florence Division, (case No. not yet assigned)
We have just started following the Capital Resorts lawsuits.
A Happy Holiday Season from Your TARDA Team to all our Supporters and Volunteers! We could not exist without your support. Let’s hope TARDA becomes obsolete because of reaching our goal of better honesty, transparency and accountability in timeshare marketing, sales and lending practices.
Let us hear from you if you wish to join our efforts to make a difference or donate to the cause.
https://tarda.org/get-involved/
More about ARDA Updated April 23, 2025
ARDA’s Other Anti-timeshare Consumer Legislation
An ARDA board member applauded North Carolina for not requiring timeshare sales agents to hold a real estate license. In partnership with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission, Diamond Resorts advocated for the new real estate licensing law for timeshare sales. Under the new law, timeshare sales executives who are working for a developer, or an affiliate of the developer, and selling developer-owned inventory no longer need to be licensed.
In July of 2022 HB 575 was signed into law allowing all documents to be provided electronically. While electronic signing is appropriate for home and auto contracts, timeshare buyers have reported being provided a flash drive that does not contain the documents, or the
buyer is provided a cheap tablet that often does not work. While on vacation, it would be a feat to order a hard copy and receive it during the contract rescission period. The purchaser manner of delivery form must disclose the system requirements necessary to view the approved public offering statement electronically and advise the purchaser to not select an alternative method of receiving the approved public offering statement unless he or she is able to review the approved public offering statement before the expiration of the 10-day
cancellation period under s. 721.10.106
Resorts that allow no responsible exit:
“Their value comes from using it,” the timeshare industry’s top lobbyist told ConsumerAffairs in January, admitting that points have no resale value, while claiming that consumers don’t mind this because the value comes from the experience.
Other Group Observations
Industry lobbying efforts take place well beyond the eyes of the timeshare consumer. According to the National Association of Attorneys General:
Unfortunately, the current landscape of the timeshare industry has exposed significant inadequacies in protection for those seeking to purchase, lease, or exit their timeshare contracts.
https://www.naag.org/attorney-general-journal/timeshare-obligations-regulations-and-challenges
Timeshare Users Group (TUG): [2017]
Got my maintenance fee statement from Diamond. There was no mention of ARDA fees, BUT when I compared the DUES part with the lower total fees section, there was a $7 difference. I looked again and there was no mention of the extra $7 being for ARDA. So I changed the amount at the bottom to reflect what was actually stated of the $904. Just be aware.
What consumer groups say about ARDA
Timeshare Users Group (TUG):
Timeshare Users Group (TUG) YouTube video, concerning ARDA-ROC recommending companies that charge upfront fees to list a timeshare, in addition to questioning the voluntary donation. ARDA’s voluntary contribution that does not meet the definition of voluntary, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPhsKp09vg
The Timeshare Board Members Association (TBMA) met on October 24, 2022. According to a conference attendee, an ARDA spokesperson stated that they did not know if any of the resale companies that appear on ARDA’s resource list charge an upfront fee. They do. He added that it’s up to ARDA’s resale department to vet the providers