Timeshare Transparency Act 3502 S and 9255 H.R. – Nine Members of Congress Support -July Newsletter
Categories: Monthly NewslettersJuly 29, 2026
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The TIMESHARE TRANSPARENCY ACT offers federal oversight and other provisions for the protection of timeshare consumers. The bipartisan Senate bill was introduced by Senator John Curtis (UT) and Senator Adam Schiff (CA). Congressman Glenn Thompson (PA) and Congresswoman Kathy Castor (FL) introduced a House companion bill.
At The Hive: TARDA co-founder Irene Parker, Don Parker, Utah Senator John Curtis (R), TARDA co-founder and President Sheilah Brust, and Kimberly Calhoun, PodTV Executive Producer of Timeshare Solution or Surrender
Four reasons why additional regulation is needed:
Family 1: Tom served 23 years with the Baltimore County Police Department. A Wyndham owner for over 20 years, Tom reported that all his Wyndham sales agents over the years advised him to buy more points to rent to offset costs, not disclosing that Wyndham keeps 40% of the rental income. The strategy didn’t work. At a subsequent meeting, Tom was advised to rent through an agency outside of Wyndham. It did work, but resulted in a cease-and-desist letter accusing Tom of commercial activity. He had no choice but to default on a loan, and has been struggling to pay off over $30,000 in high-interest credit card debt charged to three Wyndham credit cards. Tom shares his experience on PodTV Episode 110, July 27.
All shows can be accessed from the bottom of the homepage by clicking Live Update. https://podtv.tv/
Family 2: A senior whose only income is Social Security was advised to rent. She lives in Section 8 subsidized housing and relies on food stamps. She is in default reporting that Westgate Resort sales agents told her she could cover her loan payments by renting.
Reading the contract and the contract rescission period does not protect the buyer because the contract states you can rent, but does not disclose the fees and obstacles that make the strategy unfeasible. This has been, industry-wide, the most common reason for default. A Westgate Florida public records request produced 585 complaints, of which nearly half mentioned being assured of the ability to cover costs and earn income.
Family 3: An Army veteran with advanced Parkinson’s is being hounded for past-due maintenance fees by Blackwell Recovery, in partnership with the timeshare industry lobby ARDA. He has five deeds. Maintenance fees for 2026 were over $17,000. Marriott/Sheraton’s Harborside Resort does not allow a deed back under any circumstance. Marriott is prominently displayed on ARDAs Responsible Exit website. The Chairman of ARDA-ROC is Scott Weisz, also VP of Business Operations at Marriott Vacation Clubs.
https://ardaresortbuyersmarketplace.com/
“Nobody is in this business for debt collection, and no one is in this business for the arbitrage on the loan,” Nusbaum says. “We are resort developers.” Mr. Nusbaum is the former chairman of ARDA.
ARDA awards Concord Servicing Corporation, affiliated with Blackwell, their Award of Innovation
Founded in 1988, Concord, a two-time winner of the American Resort Development Association’s (ARDA) ACE Innovator Award, services consumer loans with a strong emphasis on leveraging technology to obtain efficiency, accuracy, and flexibility to respond to client needs. We bring our creative solutions to more than 2,020 projects and 610,000 consumer obligations with a portfolio size of $3 billion.
Club Exploria has also retained Blackwell Recovery. They offer no responsible exit.
Family 4: Corky, a 22 ½ year Army veteran, down to 15% lung capacity, is in default on his Club Wyndham points. He has no loan. The points are tied to a Fairfield Resort. Wyndham is in bankruptcy proceedings on 15 resorts. Corky’s resort is not in the bankruptcy pool, but likely close to it. Despite his medical condition, Corky took the time to write 10 pages he wants submitted to members of Congress detailing lobbyist hypocrisy, as described below. He also took the time to reach out to his Congressman. Corky, TARDA volunteers and others met with his Congressman’s District Director. Now Wyndham’s debt collector is demanding payment.
Three of the lawmakers we met with, after reviewing our data, asked, “How is this legal?”
One of Tom’s sales agents was fired by Wyndham around 2015, according to a Wyndham sales agent, then worked at Diamond Resort for about 10 years. (We have five of his pencil pitches fabricating a maintenance fee elimination program). He has been rehired by Wyndham. There has been a recent report submitted about this agent. The buyer was able to resolve their dispute after providing our reports.
These and thousands of other reports received by TARDA and law firms across the country counter ARDA’s claim that additional regulation is not needed, or that it is not difficult, time-consuming, or expensive to exit a timeshare.
The Senate bill had a 5% chance of making it through committee, but those odds increased to 26% with a second co-sponsor, Senator Marsha Blackburn (TN). Additional House cosponsors include Congressman Paul Tonko (NY), Congresswoman Janelle Bynum (OR), and Congressman John Rose (TN). Over 200 families have reached out to their members of Congress to share their timeshare experiences and to ask them to cosponsor the bill. A ninth member of Congress, after reviewing a Harborside report, responded that he would support the bill and will reach out to the sponsors to strengthen the bill. AARP supports the bill.
H. B. 9255, introduced by Congressman Glenn Thompson (PA) and Congresswoman Kathy Castor (FL).
The Morale and Readiness of our Military troops
A major concern is the number of active duty service members with security clearances in jeopardy because of timeshare practices. Several developers have been sued, accused of violating the Military Lending Act. The Middle District of Florida Court in Steines vs Westgate Resorts CERTIFIED the following liability-only class: All active-duty service members or their dependents who financed the purchase of one or more timeshare interests via an extension of credit from Westgate Palace, LLC., made between February 2, 2017, and February 28, 2025 (“the Class Period”), who paid interest and who did not sign an MLA waiver form in the form of Exhibit I, 2025 MLA Disclosure.
The Timeshare Transparency Act & the Federal Trade Commission – https://www.ftc.gov/media/71268
If you feel you experienced unfair and/or deceptive practices, file a complaint with the FTC. Few think to file with the FTC, based on interactions with those who have reached out to TARDA, so we believe the number of complaints the FTC receives through their Consumer Sentinel portal is small compared to the actual number of complaints. Senator Curtis questioned Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson about timeshare at the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee this past April.
Track the Bill and Find Your Local Members of Congress. A sample letter is provided:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/119/s3502
The Senate bill includes a letter of support from AARP:
CURTIS, SCHIFF INTRODUCE BILL TO PROTECT CONSUMERS FROM PREDATORY TIMESHARE PRACTICES
What’s not in the bill
- A 14-day rescission period will help to standardize the confusing 3- to 10-day periods that vary by state, but will have little effect on those over-promised availability, because the purchaser typically does not have access to the booking site until after the cancellation period has passed. The only opportunity to truly protect the consumer would be if the rescission period began the day the purchaser obtained access to the booking site.
- Disclosure that banks don’t refinance timeshare. This also drives thousands of families into default.
Not disclosing the meeting or “update” is a solicitation
- Branded hotels like Hilton/Marriott/Holiday Inn solicit without disclosing that the invitation is about timeshare. 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 it is an attempt to sell more points.
The recorded closing is being 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. There are many reports of agents coaching on what to say or not say on the recording closing. 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
- Timeshare contracts are financed at 12% to 19%, with little to no resale value. A timeshare with an outstanding loan is impossible to sell on the open market. Commissions are not disclosed. Selling and marketing expenses run as high as 50% or more, including the “free” gifts. There is little to no equity despite the word bandied about. The Eleventh Circuit Court in Steins vs Westgate Resorts ruled a timeshare loan is not a mortgage loan. FNMA, and the NCUA state on their websites that a timeshare loan is not a mortgage loan.
The oral representation/non-reliance clause should not be in a unilateral timeshare contract
- If it is, it should be disclosed at or before the presentation, not buried in volumes of fine print.
Who does the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) protect?
ARDA opposes the Act, stating that current regulations are adequate. The National Association of Attorneys General disagrees:
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
ARDA is the timeshare industry’s Washington-based trade association. ARDA-ROC, Resort Owners Coalition, raises approximately $5 million a year in opt-out donations, invoiced on maintenance fees. Only a few timeshare members have been able to answer the question, “What is ARDA?”
Why the switch to opt-out?
Resort Owners Coalition PAC will pay a $300,000 civil penalty. It is the largest fine imposed by the 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. Reported by the Broward Bulldog (renamed Florida Bulldog)
A Timeshare Users Group (TUG) post: [2017]: Got my maintenance fee statement. 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. There was no mention of the extra $7 for ARDA. I changed the amount at the bottom to reflect what was actually stated. Just be aware.
A YouTube video, concerning ARDA-ROC recommending listing companies that charge an upfront fee to list a timeshare, including Timeshares Only, owned by a former ARDA chairman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPhsKp09vg
In 2019, former Arizona Representative Shawnna Bolick, sponsored a 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.”
The timeshare industry’s top lobbyist told ConsumerAffairs, “Their value comes from using it,” Nusbaum says. “When they [consumers] are done using it, all they want to do is quit paying the maintenance fees.”
Legislative Hypocrisy: According to ARDA-ROC’s 2019 website for timeshare members:
ARDA-ROC is working on four core state issues in 14 states (including) Non-Judicial Foreclosure:
Support non-judicial foreclosure laws that provide strong consumer protection provisions.
https://www.redweek.com/blog/2019/12/02/arda-roc-maintenance-fees
Former ARDA-ROC Chairman Kenneth McKelvey stated in minutes of the April 10, 2019, at ARDA’s World conference:
“The best thing we can do with exit (is) judicial foreclosure, ruin the credit, and enforce the contract.”
Self-help social media groups include Club Exploria Hostages, Vacation Village Unfortunate Owners https://www.facebook.com/groups/1309724916165817, Westgate Resorts Hostages, Bluegreen Hostages, https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiamondResortsOwnersAdvocacy,
Our PodTV show, Timeshare Solution or Surrender, has had over 200 guests share their experience. The show airs live from 1 to 1:25 Eastern time, with a prerecorded 35-minute Timeshare Resource segment provided by industry experts. At minute 45, volunteers explain the critical need for federal oversight. All shows can be accessed from the Showcase at the bottom of the PodTV homepage. https://podtv.tv/
Let’s hope TARDA becomes obsolete because of reaching our goal of greater honesty and transparency.
TARDA would not exist without your support. Let us hear from you if you wish to join our efforts or can donate to the cause.
https://tarda.org/get-involved/