Original Message:
Re: Omega Marketing Solutions & other "up front money" companies (by Mary D.):
When these companies ask for money "up front" to advertise and (hopefully) sell a timeshare, they say when asked that in Florida is is illegal for non-real estate agents to collect a portion of the sale price and therefore they have to recover their costs up front with a flat fee. Can any of you who live in Florida confirm or deny this claim? Is there such a regulation? Perhaps either a lawyer or a real estate agent there could answer this question.
I know that in the past some of the timeshare companies themselves offered a rental program for owners. The ones I know kept 35% of the rental fee. My few attempts to utilize this option did not turn out successfully. Bluegreen has dropped its rental program. Not sure whether it was too much muss and bother or because owners who didn't understand the source of these rental weeks gave them grief. Probably both. MD