RCI Suspended Eagle Village Tamiment

[mcara00]

I just received an email from RCI stating that my 2023 RCI points for a timeshare I own at Eagle Village Tamiment have been deleted from my account and that my exchange privileges going forward are therefore suspended. (I can use banked points from 2022 and before but when they are gone we are done). RCI said this is due to quality issues at Eagle Village. This is a TS that was very nice in the 1980s when I purchased (nice 18-hole golf course, ski facility, hotel with nightclub and indoor pool.) All has gone downhill since and at my age I was considering just not paying the fees any longer but had decided to wait until after a planned entry into a retirement home in 2024 and perhaps one more try at selling it for $1 to prevent possible hit to credit score. Has anyone had this happen to a resort they owned and is it pretty much a death sentence for the resort and likely bankruptcy and/or perhaps a sale? (The golf course was sold years ago and is now a nice housing development for NYC and NJ commuters who want lower PA housing costs.) Would please me to no end for it to be sold or go under as I can't figure out why any of the owners serving on the board have propped this mess up all these years.

 

[wackymother]

I think it is pretty much a death sentence for the resort. Have they been telling you anything about ongoing problems? Like when you get your annual report from them--if you do--does it show what percentage of owners are not paying fees?

 

[mcara00]

I think it is pretty much a death sentence for the resort. Have they been telling you anything about ongoing problems? Like when you get your annual report from them--if you do--does it show what percentage of owners are not paying fees?

I have not seen anything like that - this hasn't been a very forthcoming organization. We get a budget outline every year showing where the fees go but nothing about who is paying and who is not. Lots of "rah-rah-ing" about how great the place is and how easy it is to get an extra week etc etc. We now live a long ways away from PA and so I have not been there in years. I have tried to communicate with them about selling or giving up my TS and that gets no response at all.
Thanks for the reply.

 

[wackymother]

I have not seen anything like that - this hasn't been a very forthcoming organization. We get a budget outline every year showing where the fees go but nothing about who is paying and who is not. Lots of "rah-rah-ing" about how great the place is and how easy it is to get an extra week etc etc. We now live a long ways away from PA and so I have not been there in years. I have tried to communicate with them about selling or giving up my TS and that gets no response at all.
Thanks for the reply.

We live in NJ and have gone to timeshares in the Poconos many times. Most recently, we've been to Exploria Poconos, which used to be Villas at Fairway and Villas at Tree Tops. I think Exploria is actually making an effort with that resort and it is slowly getting better.

But there are many slowly decaying timeshares there. We used to love Quail Hollow in Drums, now Crown Resorts Poconos, and it was always borderline, but now it's just plain awful. It's too bad because the units are right on a beautiful lake and the setting is lovely. But now some of the buildings are literally condemned and the management has done nothing to improve or fix anything.

At Eagle Village, I suspect the land is worth a good bit because that's an area with more and more homes and development going on. So I'm thinking they will declare bankruptcy and sell the land. Unfortunately the owners will probably not see a dime of the money. But they might need your signature on some paperwork, so keep an eye out for that.

 

[mcara00]

We live in NJ and have gone to timeshares in the Poconos many times. Most recently, we've been to Exploria Poconos, which used to be Villas at Fairway and Villas at Tree Tops. I think Exploria is actually making an effort with that resort and it is slowly getting better.

But there are many slowly decaying timeshares there. We used to love Quail Hollow in Drums, now Crown Resorts Poconos, and it was always borderline, but now it's just plain awful. It's too bad because the units are right on a beautiful lake and the setting is lovely. But now some of the buildings are literally condemned and the management has done nothing to improve or fix anything.

At Eagle Village, I suspect the land is worth a good bit because that's an area with more and more homes and development going on. So I'm thinking they will declare bankruptcy and sell the land. Unfortunately the owners will probably not see a dime of the money. But they might need your signature on some paperwork, so keep an eye out for that.

We have gotten our money's worth out of the initial investment via trades over the years - would be more than happy to just be able to walk away

 

[silentg]

We had a timeshare in Vermont that was dropped by RCI, and II. We had a week scheduled at another resort that RCI wanted to cancel. I escalated to a supervisor, since we had our own account not thru the resort. We were able to use our scheduled exchange. The resort went thru several managerial changes and eventually was reinstated to RCI. Maybe your timeshare will do this? If you had a confirmation exchange talk to RCI and see if you can still use it. It doesn’t hurt to ask. Let us know how things go.

 

[LisaC]

Has anyone heard anything? I still have not heard anything and their recording said they were going to let us know by the end of the week.

 

[mcara00]

Has anyone heard anything? I still have not heard anything and their recording said they were going to let us know by the end of the week.

I am traveling overseas for the next few weeks and left an email message (at an old email address that may not work) asking them to email me any news and they have not sent me anything yet. I suspect anything that comes will be by something more official - like old fashion snail mail. I can see the mail I am receiving using a USPS notification I automatically get each day and nothing there either so far. Would be great if someone would post here if they receive any information.

 

[seastraight]

Eagle Village POA has been non-responsive for so many years. I think there must be a small percentage of owners who have been using it, but the rest of us abandoned it years ago when all the amenities went away. There is no news on the website about plans. I do hope if anyone hears what is happening they will post it here. As an aside, our dues come up in January. I cannot see paying maintenance for something that no longer has any value. I wonder what will happen when few checks arrive for maintenance fees?

 

[LisaC]

Eagle Village POA has been non-responsive for so many years. I think there must be a small percentage of owners who have been using it, but the rest of us abandoned it years ago when all the amenities went away. There is no news on the website about plans. I do hope if anyone hears what is happening they will post it here. As an aside, our dues come up in January. I cannot see paying maintenance for something that no longer has any value. I wonder what will happen when few checks arrive for maintenance fees?

Have you heard anything new as of yet? We have not heard anything since that RCI letter went out. Their recording said they were going to let the owners know what is going on but still heard nothing. They now took all our trading away from RCI.

 

[mcara00]

I believe that under normal (prior) circumstances we would have received a 2024 budget and 2024 individual maintenance fee based on that budget - and perhaps also some sort of communication on 2024 board membership. I have not received anything - has anyone else? If you receive an invoice for 2024 fees - are you planning to pay? I am strongly leaning no even though I am not in a position at the present time to weather a challenge to my credit rating. Is there a potential for a class-action lawsuit if Eagle Village goes after the credit of non-payers given the current situation?
I am home from a long trip and my most recent statement from RCI and it looks like RCI left my 2022 points intact but took away 2023 points and shows no future points. Am I reading that correctly?

 

[LisaC]

I believe that under normal (prior) circumstances we would have received a 2024 budget and 2024 individual maintenance fee based on that budget - and perhaps also some sort of communication on 2024 board membership. I have not received anything - has anyone else? If you receive an invoice for 2024 fees - are you planning to pay? I am strongly leaning no even though I am not in a position at the present time to weather a challenge to my credit rating. Is there a potential for a class-action lawsuit if Eagle Village goes after the credit of non-payers given the current situation?
I am home from a long trip and my most recent statement from RCI and it looks like RCI left my 2022 points intact but took away 2023 points and shows no future points. Am I reading that correctly?

We still havent heard anything back either. I did finally get someone to pick up the phone there (after about 100 calls in a month) but she wasn't helpful. She just said someone would be reaching out but had no idea of a timeframe. I don't feel we should pay maintenance fees either. The same happened to us where they took our 2023 points away and any future points. Only left our 2022 points. We are just so aggravated that no one wants to communicate about what is going on. Do you think there is a chance they are going out of business? Would definitely be open to looking into filing a class-action lawsuit. Hopefully, we can get some more owners to respond to gather together.

 

[mcara00]

Still hoping they just turn it over to creditors or sell it to a developer for residential development. It should be quite a desirable location for those who have to commute into eastern NJ or NYC only once or twice a week. It sure isn’t worth a huge investment to make into a desirable TS. If a current EV owner still wants a TS after this experience they can buy a much better and cheaper one on TUG. I am an EV owner who paid on time every year since 1988 - not planning to pay if or when an invoice comes out this year. I wonder if EV even had enough funds to pay property taxes from the annual assessments we paid in 2023 or if they have enough money now to retain the services of the company they use to collect annual fees for 2024.

RIP - Tamiment Eagle Village - once it had a Robert Trent Jones golf course, ski hill, nice resort hotel, night club and even some new TS cabins in 1988. Let it die in peace and become something else.

 

[rickandcindy23]

That is such a shame that the resort has lost its affiliation with RCI. I am always surprised that our resorts in Colorado have stayed in the graces of II and RCI.

One in particular should probably just close as a timeshare and sell the units as wholly owned. We would all be better off for that decision. The underlying value of the real estate is pretty huge, but they chose to sell a large portion of the weeks to Sapphire Resorts, and that was not a good decision because they will vote against sunsetting the resort, when the time comes (if it hasn't already come and gone).

 

[Carolinian]

There was a resort on the OBX suspended by RCI years ago, and RCI worked cooperatively with the HOA to get them reinstated. It can be done with an HOA board and membership willing to pitch in. To the best of my recollection, I think the special assessment in that case for improvements was even under $100. But in that case, there was a well attended special HOA membership meeting to address the situation.

As to impact on the resort's stability, this will largely depend on the extent to which members exchange. What I have seen with resorts on the OBX is that the percentage of members who use exchange companies tends to decline over time, for a variety of reasons. I was somewhat surprised, however, at how low it can be these days. The management company at one of the OBX resorts we own at was going over statistics at rhis year's HOA annual meeeting, and mentioned that only 4% of weeks are now deposited with exchange companies at that resort, and that included all exchange companies, RCI and the independents together.

I would suspect that the value of the resort would be substantially more than any debts, so if the resort is about ready to wind up, that is not necessarily a good time to bail out. You might want to look at the ownership structure on what your week might be worth if it is wound up. Weeks owned by the HOA and the value received for them would have to go to charity, but an HOA that is winding up should allow members to buy those weeks on some formula so that members can get that value out of them. I owned at a resort in Europe that wound up by membership vote because no one wanted to serve on its board, and got a wire transfer of over 3,000 euros for my week.

 

[LisaC]

Still no response from them!

 

[LisaC]

Has anyone heard anything lately from Eagle Village?

 

[pedro47]

There was a resort on the OBX suspended by RCI years ago, and RCI worked cooperatively with the HOA to get them reinstated. It can be done with an HOA board and membership willing to pitch in. To the best of my recollection, I think the special assessment in that case for improvements was even under $100. But in that case, there was a well attended special HOA membership meeting to address the situation.

As to impact on the resort's stability, this will largely depend on the extent to which members exchange. What I have seen with resorts on the OBX is that the percentage of members who use exchange companies tends to decline over time, for a variety of reasons. I was somewhat surprised, however, at how low it can be these days. The management company at one of the OBX resorts we own at was going over statistics at rhis year's HOA annual meeeting, and mentioned that only 4% of weeks are now deposited with exchange companies at that resort, and that included all exchange companies, RCI and the independents together.

I would suspect that the value of the resort would be substantially more than any debts, so if the resort is about ready to wind up, that is not necessarily a good time to bail out. You might want to look at the ownership structure on what your week might be worth if it is wound up. Weeks owned by the HOA and the value received for them would have to go to charity, but an HOA that is winding up should allow members to buy those weeks on some formula so that members can get that value out of them. I owned at a resort in Europe that wound up by membership vote because no one wanted to serve on its board, and got a wire transfer of over 3,000 euros for my week.

3,000 euros is $3238.90 in U S Dollars.

 

[tnecniv]

40 years ago all the resorts in the Poconos. were great well maintained that wayback in1980s everyone did vacation there ts there buy land there build homes there EVEN THOSE A FRAME HOMES the ts took a big hit the land is. VERY VERY. VALUABLE TODAY an we all know what that means

 

[tnecniv]

it would take huge assessments to bring those resorts to. todays standards maybe it is a BLESSING IN DISGUISE maybe

 

[nellevad]

Yes, I agree. I have been an owner since 2002. Saw promise in this resort because of the location. But unfortunately, the Tamiment Resort was razed, the Mountain Laurel Center (next door) could not make a go of it because of the local politics back then. I have hung on to it and have been able to swap or rent over the years. But the condition has been deteriorating. Every few years we go to check it out. We were there in 2020. The roof on all the buildings need replacing. Some have so much moss on them that the roofs have got to be totally torn off to fix. Staining of the exterior of the buildings only take place on the road side. Inside has not been painted, major flaws not fixed. Big expenditures that I am sure the resort cannot afford. I have written many times asking why the annual reports do not state how many units are in default, resales, rental income etc. No response. The office is poorly staffed, with the personel dissaearing into the back if they see you coming. I think MF just go to pay the staff and keep the pool open, which was dirty the last time we were there. You can't use the boats anymore and the dock is in disrepair. Next door, that used to be the Mountain Laurel Center, has been bought by a group that has renamed it the Poconos Park. They had a coulple of music venues there this year, along with a Christmas light show that is currnetly very popular. Their plan is to make it a camping/RV destination with music venues throughout the season. I can foresee them or some other group, buying up the old Tamiment property and Eagle Village and adding to the recreation value of the area. I am hoping for them to declare bankruptcy, or a vote to dissolve and sell the property to get out of this situation. It's very unfortunate because I really liked going to it.

 

[seastraight]

1) I just checked the Concord accounts website and my account shows $0 due for maintenance fees, so the POA is not actively collecting.
2) I wrote a letter to the POA office asking for information that was delivered, according to USPS, but of course I have heard nothing.
3) I have done some searching on the internet and have found a few tidbits but nothing revealing real information. Linked In lists 4 names associated with Eagle Village POA including an owner but it is not clear if the information is current or not. ZoomInfo, a business database, shows action on the part of EV POA in Nov and Dec 2023 but one has to have a business account to get data access. The Pike County land records are not much help, they show a lot of entries covering many different assortments of names including the words Eagle Village, Tamiment, Wayne Newton, Resort. Lastly, the PA Pike County property tax records are not available to the public.

My conclusion is there is not much to be gained by searching the internet. If there are no maintenance fees, they will default on property taxes, which leads to a long term legal mess that will take years. So maybe it is a blessing that they are not charging fees and owners can let Eagle Village RIP.

 

[LisaC]

1) I just checked the Concord accounts website and my account shows $0 due for maintenance fees, so the POA is not actively collecting.
2) I wrote a letter to the POA office asking for information that was delivered, according to USPS, but of course I have heard nothing.
3) I have done some searching on the internet and have found a few tidbits but nothing revealing real information. Linked In lists 4 names associated with Eagle Village POA including an owner but it is not clear if the information is current or not. ZoomInfo, a business database, shows action on the part of EV POA in Nov and Dec 2023 but one has to have a business account to get data access. The Pike County land records are not much help, they show a lot of entries covering many different assortments of names including the words Eagle Village, Tamiment, Wayne Newton, Resort. Lastly, the PA Pike County property tax records are not available to the public.

My conclusion is there is not much to be gained by searching the internet. If there are no maintenance fees, they will default on property taxes, which leads to a long term legal mess that will take years. So maybe it is a blessing that they are not charging fees and owners can let Eagle Village RIP.

So do you think they are just going brankrupt and we are just not going to have to pay maintenance fees? I thought if we can't exchange with RCI, we definitely shouldn't be responsible to pay maintenance fees. I guess we will just have access to RCI for extra vacations and last calls but no more trading power? Just can't believe they can't do some kind of communcation with their owners.

 

[nellevad]

I have already paid my maintenance fees for 2023 and 2024. I don't know if I will get them back.

 

[nellevad]

I have been thinking there are 2 possibilites. Firstly, they may be planning on a special assessment. Secondly, they are filing for bankruptcy and making an offer to Highland LLC to buy the property. Regarding the first possibility: The POA has not been honest about the Reserve (if any) they have and the number of actual owners in their annual reports for years. I don't think there are enough owners anymore and a special assessment would be outrageously expensive. It would result in mass forfeiture of units by owners. I was there in 2021 and the buildings all need new roofs, exterior work and inteior make-overs. Regarding the second possibiity: Highland LLC owns everything that used to be owned by the old Tamiment Hotel, and more, including the old Mountain Laurel Center that is now Poconos Park, land across Bushkill Falls Rd., and even both lakes. I read "From the Roots" supposedly bought the old MLC, but I do not see a deed for that on file. You can read about it here: https://www.tnonline.com/20220615/developer-to-revitalize-former-mountain-laurel-site/ . The ski slope and golf course are still there, just badly overgrown. The adjacent residential development to the north, The Glen at Tamiment HOA, never finished developing what they own, and the last phase is overgrown and vacant. But that is not part of Highland LLC. So you can see that Eagle Village at Tamiment and Eagle Village Point (on Condor Dr.), which is that small development of townhouses just to the south of Eagle Village at Tamiment are in the way. Like I said, Highland owns both lakes. So EVT is a sitting duck.