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Westgate Change in Policy - Is it Legal?

Jeff B. · 2012-10-09T14:32:55-0700

I have owned a week at Westgate Vacation Villas for quite a number of years that was purchased on the secondary market. I have never actually stayed at the unit. The first few years I would deposit with Interval but then we just started doing an internal exchange for other Westgate Resorts. In general I have been pleased with the process but Westgate has now changed their policy with regard to exchanges. They now charge $450 for an exchange for owners who purchased their unit on the secondary market versus $150 for those who purchased directly. This leads to two questions: 1) I recognize that it is a developer exchange so while I think it is morally wrong to in effect decrease the value of a unit as the exchange was part of the bargain the original owner had (that I purchased) it is not covered by the written contract. Still, it was part of the bargain and it seems like the equivalent of violating the agreement. Does anyone have any suggestions on potential legal claims? 2) In looking at the Westgate Owners Agreement, I see that the right of first refusal was not in the initial agreement and was added later. I know this change was made a number of years ago but did owners sue over this change which had the practical effect of hurting timeshare resales? If some people sued over this change and lost I would think my odds of finding a basis for a claim on the exchange fee change would decline. Anyway, this is somewhat rambling and I hope it makes sense. I am kind of in the mood for a fight over this even if my odds of actually prevailing in court are small.

Tim H. Jul 05, 2016

How did things go at checkin? Im looking at buying a resale myself.

Thanks Tim

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