[2008] Silver Lakes Vacation Club

I acquired a one week timeshare from my Aunt and Uncle a few years ago. This resort has been sold to a new management company, I am told. I have been exchanging my week with DAE. I recieved info from SLVC that all owners have three options. 1. to switch over to RCI points at a minimum cost of $6000 plus for 34,000 points. 2. Stay with my week at SLVC and pay a $1500 special assessment fee which only non RCI point owners will have to pay plus an increased MF which he told me will continue to increase every year for all non RCI point owners. And they will not let me exchange, week only to be used at SLVC. 3. Sign deed over to SLVC for $4000 plus and they will sell to a broker who will in turn sell to Canadians. I am interested in anyone out there who is being given the same options as I and what they are choosing to do as it seems Silver Lakes is basically forcing everyone to switch over to RCI points at an incredible fee. At this point I will try to give timeshare away either through Ebay or Charity if possible.

Thanks for any advise you can give me.

{{ Edited to add: This thread is about Silver Lakes Vacation Club, old RCI # 1408. AKA : The Mission Villas at Silver Lakes RCI # A710.}}

If it is the Silverlakes in California, we went to a presentation there many years ago and were not impressed. Desert and not even interesting desert, no lake that I could see. I think there was a golf course. I believe it was in Helendale. I would take the $4000 and be glad. They are always available for trade and hard to sell.
Liz

6000 is a lot to pay for RCI points. I paid $300 to convert my three weeks at Wapato Point. They are probably getting the assessment from that $6000.

I think Liz is right. Take the money and run. Then you can go to Holiday group, or redweek and find yourself something you really want.

Just to make clear. They want me to pay the $4000.00 to deed it back to them. I get nothing.

Just ignore them!!!!

They may be able to impose a special assessment if the board of directors approves it along with a quorum of owners (based upon the bylaws of the association)

The sales staff is trying to get you to part with a huge sum of money so they can get a commission, the resort gets part of this, but you don't need to do anything.

Remember, if a timeshare sales persons lips are moving, they are probably lying .

They can't force you to change to RCI points, that can't tell you who you can exchange with.

You own real property, and as such have owners rights.


Just tell them to please send you in writing a letter referring to the section of the bylaws that allows them to usurp your owners rights .

I think you will find this nonsense will come to an abrupt end.

fwiw,

Greg

Couple of alternatives:

1) put it on ebay for $1 and stipulate that the new owner will pay all transfer costs.

and/or

2) put it on the free TUG Bargain Basement Board with the same stipulation.

So one of the 'choices' offered by SLVC is the same pitch you would get from a Post Card Company (PCC). We'll take it off your hands for $4K!

Is there an independent HOA here or is everything developer controlled? The described tactics fit the definition of 'sleazy' ...

cmpawlic,
My wife and I are in the exact same boat as you. We own a 2br with the free golf package and have been getting calls from the resort sales staff giving basically the same options you stated above and saying how great the new units are and it's a great way to get into the RCI points program. I was just curious if you have had any new ideas on the subject other than the charity, selling yourself, or if you have asked Silver Lakes to take it back. I would like to hear from anyone who has other ideas.

I'm with you. I also own the 2 BR with golf. My question is what do the By-Laws or CC&R's say about voting quorums. The lousy timeshare has never provided me with copies. There was not a quorum for the vote that did all this if the standard definition of quorum applies. Do you know? If we can show no quorum, they need a revote or we don't have to do any of this.

Did a search and came up with this pdf file http://www.landauction.com/legaldocs/SilverLakes_SanBernardino_CA.pdf
In the bylaws section it states they need 33 1/3% to have a quorum and in the June news letter it said they had 272 votes for, 35 votes against, and 102 votes abstaining and that totals up to be about 38% total. So they had the quorum if you believe the numbers. In the news letter it states that for $6 sent to P.O. Box 113,Helendale,CA 92342 they will send you a copy of the March meeting minutes. One other note that strike me as funny is in the announcement of the 2008 meeting of the members. It states nothing of the RCI points system and only election of directors and ratification of the actions taken by officers and board of directors since 6-10-02 by adoption of the resolution set forth in item #2 of the accompanying proxy form. I don't have that form in front of me so that could have been the RCI point thing I don't know? But why can't they put this sort of thing out in plain sight unless they are trying to hide something?

This really sounds fishy to me. I would file a complaint with the state government agency in California which oversses timeshares. In most states, that would be the Real Estate Commission. I would also file a seperate complaint with the Consumer Protection Division of the state Attorney General's office.

If this meeting was like many timeshare meetings, most of the ''aye'' votes were probably generally proxies assigned to either a director or perhaps even the managment company, and the actual owners who assigned those proxies had no clue how they were going to be used. It sounds like they probably would have violated some notice requirements.

What is the name of the management company? Does it control, directly or indirectly the BOD of the HOA?

I would also send this info to www.streettalkblog.com . They may get to the bottom of it.

They frequently rent weeks for $49 on DAE. Sounds like a dump, unfortunately.

Thanks for all the comments.
First, I also do not have a copy of the proxy. If memory serves me, it was for the annual meeting, election of board and possibly approval of the RCI change. But no details were given. When I saw the work as it progressed on the end units (I have other property in SL), I had no idea what was going on. Because? I had never been given any info.

The timeshare is owned by WDB Marketing and run by William Don Bunch. He is not well regarded in the community. And, yes, they are shady and do not disclose information completely. Thanks, Carolinian, for the suggestions. I plan to follow up. I will also "buy" the complete meeting minutes.

You might also look into the provisions in the bylaws to impeach and remove the BOD and also about special called meetings by the members. HOA's are almost always organized as non-profit corporations, so you may also want to look to California corporate law. Among other things, under corporate law, you will probably be able to obtain a list of names and addressed of all members so you can organize a fight againt these thugs. Some years ago, Dunes South on the Outer Banks had its HOA under the thumb of a managment company that was bad news for the members. A group of members demanded the membership list, citing the relevent NC corporate laws, got it, and organized a concerned owners group that was able to elect one of the board seats up that year and come within a handful of votes of winning the second one. A few years later, owners got the board completely under their control and dumped the management company. The issues there were not quite strong enough for an impeachment of board members whose seats were not up then, but at your resort they sound like they are.

Contact you state DA department of consumer fraud

You are being Blackmailed. Contact as many other owners as you can find(try private emails to the one who posted here)
Get together as a group or do it individually and start contacting people. Try elected officials too. DO NOT PAY THEM ANYTHING!!!

By the way there is no way they can make non points owners pay a special assessment fee and exempt points owners.

Has anyone contacted Flordia State Attorney General Office on this matter?

mamiecarter said:

You are being Blackmailed. Contact as many other owners as you can find(try private emails to the one who posted here)
Get together as a group or do it individually and start contacting people. Try elected officials too. DO NOT PAY THEM ANYTHING!!!

By the way there is no way they can make non points owners pay a special assessment fee and exempt points owners.

Click to expand...

What Mamie said x100. This is borderline illegal and most likely does not follow your resort documents or CA timeshare law.

And all owners - points or not - would have to pay any assessment.

Go get em!

Just wondering if there are any owners out there who have had further communication with anyone on the issues involving Silver Lakes and there act of strong arming owners into paying ridiculous fees.

Regarding what "Tsharestuff" ---post # 10, said. (And a bit of confusion on my part.)

First of all, I can see the 33 1/3% requirement for a "quorum". As stated, if it takes ONLY votes cast to obtain the quorum, then there was a 66.5% vote "FOR" the measure---much more than the 1/3 needed.

BUT---is that a "fact/reality" ??? For there to be a QUORUM, is that of ALL the owners, NOT just the voting owners? That makes more sense, and "that" is probably what it says in the bylaws. I am almost sure that there are probably over 2000 owners, so that would mean that there would have to be over 667 votes to obtain a valid quorum.

Is the name of the new management company "SLEAZE" ???

Tony

There are 33 timeshare units, according the the website http://www.theinnatsilverlakes.com/

That translates to 1650 shares if 2 weeks are reserved for maintenance. That means that Quorum, at 33-1/3% would be 550. However, the PDF above is the legal docs for the whole development, not the timeshare association. Their quorum may be a smaller number.

Even so, both being familiar with California law regarding timeshares, I would still think a number of their actions are illegal:

1) If the HOA is insisting that you must pay THEM $4000 to take the deed back and resell it, they are admitting that it has NO value. In doing so, they are admitting that they have failed their fiduciary responsibility by allowing your property to lose all of its value. As Carolinian has hinted, that may be grounds for impeachment of your board.

2) The HOA has no rights to restrict you from exchanging your timeshare week. They can negotiate a contract with RCI to only accept weeks through their points program, but I doubt RCI would do that. While RCI would like us all to join the points program, they don't really get much out of it - the $6000 goes to the resort, not RCI. They have absolutely no control over exchanging through any of the independant companies, particularly if you own a fixed week.

3) They cannot assess only those who do not convert. The SA may be included in the conversion fee for those who do convert, so don't dwell on that - they can either claim it as such, or that the point program will pay the fee for the points owners. Either way it's the same thing, though they could get into legal trouble with the state if they continue to claim it is not being paid for those owners.

4) If the annual fee increases for Non-RCI Points owners, it must increase for ALL owners. Those points owners still have an underlying deed, and the maintenance fee is still due for those weeks.

Contact the office of the Attorney General in CA, they should be interested in this, or can probably refer you to a lawyer who can help.

The Silverlakes Vacation Club is different from the Inn at SilverLakes. The owners at Silverlakes Vacation Club are able to use the golf course. There are only 10 condos (4-1Bedroom & 6-2Bedroom) I think this may change the numbers around a little for the quorum calculation. Other owners may chime in here if the number of units is not correct as I have only stayed there once.

I am also an owner at Silver Lakes in California. There are more that 10 units, probably 30 units. I still have my proxy vote for the meeting in March, 2008. the only items to vote on were the board members. I also did not get copies of the by-laws when I purchased there in 2001. I traded in a unit in Florida- it was a big mistake.

When I called about the points conversion they told me that I would not be able to trade anywhere without it. DAE is not taking deposits from them anymore. They did not offer me the $4000 to take it back. I wonder if that number is negotiable. It might be cheaper than attorneys fees.

I don't think the assessment was properly voted on.

I am sorry, but there are actually 2 silver lakes......Silver Lake adjacent to Disney in Orlando, AND Silver Lakes Inn California. In Orlando, I may possibly help.

My in-laws are owners of a Silver Lakes timeshare. They are 87 and 83 years old on a fixed income. They have tried to sell their vacation club membership but have had no success. (One of the problems with selling is that Silver Lakes has to approve, and charges ridiculous fees for someone to buy the timeshare. Even having a son or daughter take it over costs thousands of dollars.) Every year the maintenance fee is raised. Many years there are expensive mandatory special fees. This has been a big money drain for this senior couple. This year Silver Lakes is charging them a mandatory $1500.00 special assessment as well as the annual maintenance fee. The Silver Lakes staff has told them there is nothing they can do to help them, that they signed the contract and will have to pay the fees or have their credit ruined.

One of the frustrating things is when they originally signed on they could trade with RCI. Because Silver Lakes Vacation club did not keep the properties up properly they lost the privelege to work with RCI, now they are trying to charge extra money for RCI when it was in the original agreement.

liz25 said:

My in-laws are owners of a Silver Lakes timeshare. They are 87 and 83 years old on a fixed income. ... that they signed the contract and will have to pay the fees or have their credit ruined.

One of the frustrating things is when they originally signed on they could trade with RCI. ... now they are trying to charge extra money for RCI when it was in the original agreement.

Click to expand...

They need to talk to someone pratice law. But at 87 and 83 I am not sure what is the reason to care about their credit. Sounds like they are honest folks, I think they should talk to someone that pratice laws in that state to see if they can return that back to the resort, or AG of the state that club is registered to see since the contract has breached by the club, is there any reason they need continue to be bonded.

Jya-Ning