Original Message:
Not exactly... (by KC):
I read about (and reported in these RedWeek forums on) the passage of this particular new FL specific legislation some weeks ago. Frankly, I don't believe that the BBB summary quoted is at all an accurate portrayal of that new legislation.
To the best of my knowledge, the legislation (which had an effective date of July 1, 2009) did NOT (and does not now) actually prohibit the EXISTENCE of these upfront fee parasites. On the contrary, it merely imposes some very specific disclosure and reporting requirements on their sales success statistics (meaning, in effect, that they are now essentially required to openly admit and disclose to any potential "customer" that they virtually NEVER actually sell any timeshares).
In short, I'll readily stand to be corrected if mistaken, but I personally believe that the BBB source which you have quoted has materially and quite substantially misstated and misrepresented what this new FL legislation intends, says, and does...
Remember, the BBB is just a commercial "membership" organization --- NOT a governmental entity of ANY sort. I'd be willing to bet that whoever in the BBB prepared this material is not even a FL bar attorney at all in the first place. Accordingly, this layman's "legal interpretation" must certainly be taken with a grain (...or even many grains) of salt.