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0 Votes I was just as angry as everyone on this board when I received my "special assessment". I wrote twice to the address on the letter and received form letter replies. I would prefer not to pay the assessment as all of you would but I fear that is never going to happen. I filed my complaint with the FTC. I filed with the Houston BBB. Their response says they send a letter and if Raintree is not a member (which it is not) they cannot do anything but compile the list of complaints. While this will not do Raintree any good, I doubt it will hurt them that much either. A class action lawsuit is a viable option but while it is going on, which can take years, and your maintenance fees are not paid, I doubt you would be able to use the resort or exchange. I am not an apologist for Raintree. I don't like this any more than the next person, and if there is a way to get the fees rescinded, go for it. So what I did was send an email to Doug Bech. It was kind of a proposed compromise. He answered me almost immediately and has followed up several times since I sent it yesterday. Assuming they will not rescind, I wanted to be sure that it will not happen regularly, nor would they be able to raise the regular maintenance fees beyond reason. Here is the note I wrote Doug and his response this morning. I know it is not what you all want, but it is a compromise. As I said, if you can do better, go for it! Please read the thread of messages from the bottom and see what you think. From: Bech, Doug [mailto:dybech@raintreeresorts.com] Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 10:51 AM To: Joel J Smiler DVM Cc: Berger, John; Deuschle, Christy; Flory, Mike; Pollard, Cheryn; Stamm, Garry; Thomas, Myron; Tucker, Brian; Walters, Kristin Subject: FW: RVC Special Assessment Joel, Thank you again for making a constructive proposal. RVC will agree and take steps to formalize an agreement with RVC members that there will be no additional Special Assessment for 10 years and, thereafter, no more often than five years, with the sole exception for force majeur, such as a catastrophe or other natural disaster, and then solely for that purpose. No Special Assessment will exceed 50% of the annual Maintenance Fees then in effect. Annual Maintenance Fees will not be increased more than the amount set forth in the RVC Members' Contracts. Over the 12 years that Raintree has owned Club Regina and started Raintree Vacation Club, prior to this Special Assessment, there has only been one special Assessment in 2002 for the beach recovery in Puerto Vallarta as a result of a hurricane in 2001. After Hurrican Wilma in 2005, which substantially destroyed Cancun, RVC used insurance and reserve funds to rebuild Club Regina. We will agree to a six month payment plan for you and we will commit to work with members who may require a longer payment plan. We would appreciate you posting this on the various web-sites or otherwise circulating this e-mail in order to get this agreement to as many members as quickly as possible . We will send another letter out within a few days. One letter with additional information is already in process so the letter agreeing to the foregoing will be the third letter and will go as soon as we can process this. Thank you, Joel and please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Best regards, Doug ________________________________ From: Bech, Doug Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 12:52 PM To: Bech, Doug; 'Joel J Smiler DVM' Joel, Let me add that I very much appreciate your constructive approach. Generally, this approach seems workable but I do want to let the team debate any area of possible concern. The one area that comes to mind is the possiblity of a catastrophe---hurricane or fire where insurance is insufficient or wasn't available, particularly in Mexico. Over the 12 years we have been in this business, we have had a number of hurricanes with some damge---the loss of the beach at Puerto Vallarta was one where we had a small assessment; and then Hurrican Wilma which was covered out of the reserves but did deplete a substantial portion of those reserves. So, if we limited Special Assessments as you propose and for these "Acts of God" this should be fine--again, I would like our team to discuss. In this market, gettting financing for a catastrophe would be very difficult but we all hope that we won't see this type of recession again. Thank you again, Doug ________________________________ From: Bech, Doug Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 12:39 PM To: Joel J Smiler DVM Cc: Berger, John; Tucker, Brian; Stamm, Garry; Thomas, Myron; Flory, Mike; Pollard, Cheryn; Deuschle, Christy; Walters, Kristin Subject: RE: Re[4]: Member ID 1-145362 Thank Joel----I will discuss the merits of your proposal with our Team and determine if these are guidelines or rules that are appropriate, prudent, and desirable. Our goal is to provide an opportunity for our members to have memorable vacation experiences and have quality resort properties as part of their membgership. Your ideas are much appreciated and we will be back in touch very soon. Thank you, Doug ________________________________ From: Joel J Smiler DVM [mailto:jsmiler@together.net] Sent: Sunday, June 21, 2009 1:35 PM OK Doug, If you will allow me to pay the assessment over a six month period, issue a document that the annual maintenance fee will not increase more than 10% per year, and also issue a document that there will be no more “supplemental” maintenance fees any more often than every five years and then no more than half the normal maintenance fee, I will be happy to pay the fee and post on all the complaint boards and timeshare bulletin boards where this is being discussed the contents of this communication. I am sure you are aware of the organization of a class action suit, threats to cause disruptions at your resort sales offices, and complaints being lodged with various Profeco and US government and private agencies. I actually have never had bad experiences either in the ability to make reservations, trade, or at the resorts. I have real fear that whether I personally pay the fee or not that this is going to somehow end badly for the company, resulting in the end of Raintree. I really don’t care about my original or upgrade investments. These are long ago and forgotten. I have real concern about throwing “good money after bad” and future constant requests for money, since I am sure your ongoing sales and upgrades are suffering from the economy. . You need to do something to address these complaints that are multiplying online, and soon, before it is really out of control. . I’ll bet you hate the internet. Thanks for responding so quickly, Joel Joel J Smiler, DVM Lakeville, MI or Marana, AZ “Strive to be the person your dog thinks you are” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ From: Bech, Doug [mailto:dybech@raintreeresorts.com] Joel, Thank you for your e-mail. We do appreciate hearing from our members and we do realize that we made a mistake by not providing more notice and some additional information. Also, we will reserve a decision as to what action we should take with respect to those who do not pay. In the meantime, I will address a couple of points briefly. The RVC properties are subject to the full use by all of its members and the members would be entitled to all sale proceeds if the various trusts in which all the properties are placed were to be terminated. This means that the Members have the beneficial ownership of these properties subject to the rules of usage and Raintree's responsibility for managing and operating these properties and maintaining them. This expense, however, is the expense of the beneficial owners---the RVC members, including Club Regina members. The annual fees cover the operating and normal maintenance expense, insurance, energy costs and taxes and typically a reserve for capital expenditures. These costs have risen over the years and the properties require scheduled maintenance as well as upgrades from time to time. We spent approximately $6 million of the reserve funds in 2007 and 2008 on the three Club Regina properties in Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos and incurred signicant expenditures to rebuild Club Regina in Cancun after Hurrican Wilma a couple of years ago. In 2002 we had a special assessment for beach recovery in Puerto Vallarta following a hurricane there. The three Club Reginas, which are the three major properties, were built in the early 1990's and still need significant capital replacements, refurbishments and renovvations as well as certain of the other properties. The numbber of complaints had risen significantly but the annual fees were insufficient for both annual operations and these capital expenditures. It is the mandate of RVC to maintain all the resort properties for all the members and this special assessment is for that purpose. We are willing to discuss with you a longer payment term and otherwise demonstrate that RVC properties will be of the quality that its beneficial owners desire. Best regards, Doug ________________________________ -----Original Message----- From: Joel J Smiler DVM jsmiler@together.net Dear Raintree Vacation Club, I would suggest that the ”administrator of Raintree Vacation Club” do some serious re-thinking of this action. From everything I have read there are complaints to the FTC, TX AG, BBB, threats to begin a class action lawsuit, threats to protest or hand out information cards at your resort sales offices, and endless litigation. I see this as the beginning of the end of your company. This is really a shame, as unlike some, I have had nothing but positive experiences at the resorts. Even if I wanted to pay the assessment or my maintenance fee, I would fear doing so now until these rumblings have ended. I would feel that if you are headed for bankruptcy, I should cut my losses. Best of luck, J Smiler