Board of Directors

Since no one seems interested in our comments I have sent you an e-mail with what I found out.

My assessment is $11k for a four week every other year deaded ownership. My maint fees have doubled since I bought these units and I've found that the resale value is about zip.

I wonder if we can't force a complete liquidation of the property. Let someone else tear the buildings down and rebuild and we walk away with whatever 1/ 10,000th of the selling price is.

Diamond says the renovations will cost $65 million. I'm thinking if the property was sold we'd each get something....let someone else deal with it.

If we could reach ALL of the owners we could simply choose a new management company. That's all DRI is, a management company. However, they get people elected to the board of directors that either work for DRI or are related to DRI employees and then renew the management contract and approve whatever fees they wish. They refuse to allow us access to the owner's list despite the fact that it is a requirement in the association bylaws.

Can you address the new assessment we are being asked to pay for 65m worth of renovations. I dont believe we were ever told the buildings were falling apart and had to virtually be rebuilt. The assessment fees + maintenance fees x 5yrs. Where will this end?

laurieb214 wrote:

Yes, I received it yesterday Oct.5th. I have spent most of the day making calls and researching ways to walk away. Tomorrow, I will call Diamond Resort Intern'l Corp. ask for the Loss Mitigations Dept, file a Mutual Release & Termination of Vacation Ownership Agreement, pay transfee fee $250 per contract which we own 2. Hopefully, based on the research I have done this will be the way we can cut our losses. If Diamond does not comply we will have to hirer an Attorney at $300 hr. but it beats paying $7000 in maintance fees for 2012 which will continue for the next 5 years. Thank you for responding.

I spoke to DRI yesterday and was told "I'm not threatening you, but...." they intend to sue us if we default on the special assessment. They also say that you cannot transfer your title until the SA is paid.

They say it will take $65 million to repair the damage, but they also intend to replace the roof on every building and all of the doors and windows. If someone can tell me how the "water intrusion" problem affected the roof, I'd appreciate it.

They have given us no details on the project, just the schedule. They haven't told us who is doing the construction or what the costs will be per building.

As far as I know this is a way for them to charge us a fortune to manage the project.

They might own the construction company.

My fees increased like yours for Poipu. I came across the diamondresortshoa.com for Poipu that they explain the extra charges. The extra charges will be for the next 3 years, same charge again next year than it drops on 3rd year and it is for the water inclusion project that is to take care of leaks and rust problems. They are shutting down 2 buildings a year for repair. They have photos also. I'm not happy about it but if I sell it will be a loss. Let me know if anything comes up with a class action lawsuit.

I just found diamondresortshoa.com for The Point at Poipu that explained the Water Inclusion Project. It explains the increase is for 3 years, the same increase this year will be same next year than it drops third year. It shows photos of leaks and rust problem that they are repairing. Two buildings are closed per year for repair. I'm not happy for the increase but the detailed explanation is better than I anticipated. Selling for a loss is not what I want to deal with at this time. Let me know if you find a way around it.

Consider this; How many people have reservations for 2012? Your reservation will only be honored if you pay your asessment by Jan 1; eventhough your maintenance fees are up to date. When they start this construction Diamond said there would be limited occupancy for 5yrs. Whos to say you will be able to reserve your weeks when you want during this time. For 5yrs its possible you would be paying maintenance fees + assessments and not have the use of your weeks at Poipu Point. How many members of Redweek & TUG are owners? Haven't heard from many or the 500 that are members of Poipu Point Owners Association. If are By-Laws are a legal entity (Submitting Owners List) why wasnt a court order submitted to release these documents? While we consider footing the bill for the benefit of the developers they are probably laughing at us as they pull this off. News of this should be published in areas that the 10,000 owners will take notice. We must have owners that are smart and conscerned enough to question the legality of what is going on. Maybe Im posting this on the wrong forum; any suggestions

This topic is also being discussed on the Timeshare Companies Forum. Click on Diamond Resorts Reduces Owners Benefits again.

I have had ENOUGH! I had no idea the level of corruption with DRI unti I began researching after our recent assessment statement. They are holding guns to our heads and threatening to damage us all financially if we do not pay! I am outraged that I have been given no notice and did not find out about the assessement until I received my statement. Since my annual fees are paid in advance, I was positive they had made a mistake. NOPE! I owe $2,000 in 90 Days!!!!!! Are they hoping we all walk away???? I don't see these actions as positive or encouraging a future relationship with owners.

Yes they are hoping we all walk away and give them the resort for as cheap as possible and they will continue making money off selling points around the world. There are only two ways to stop these thugs: Class action suit filed in Hawaii or a change in Hawaiian Legislation.

I just spoke with the Attorney in the State of Hawaii Attorney General's Office that deals with real estate licenses. The issue was the part of the State Code that requires that Timeshare Associations release the membership lists to a member who requests it for Association business or for election issues. What he told me is that even though the law requires the release, the State does nothing to enforce that provision, not even placing the Real Estate License at risk.

In summary, they will do nothing to help us. Our only recourse is to hire an attorney at our expense or somehow get enough upset owners to actually elect a Board that isn't in a conflict of interest relationship with DRI. I plan on running again this year. Hopefully it will be more successful.

We should also start a letter writing campaign detailing the amount of money spent during your trips to the island. Explain that since the AG of Hawaii acknowledges the violations and also admits that they will not act on our behalf, we are looking to the people that deal with the number one industry in Hawaii, tourism, to offer assistance to we, the tourists! The ongoing abuses could lead to Hawaii becoming as unpalatable to tourists as Aruba is becoming because of the "disappearing women syndrome" it is currently dealing with. Emails and snail mail, the more the better. Tourism is the BIGGEST industry the islands have. Follow the money! kauai@hvcb.org AND info@hvcb.org

If someone is willing to draft this letter, I would be happy to sign it. I am going to pay the bill and cancel my vacations for the next 3 years to pay the assessment. My credit standing is too important and unfortunately, they have all the control in this situation.

It would be more effective if EVERYBODY drafted and sent a letter. If we wallpaper their offices it would have a far greater effect.

Thanks to all for the information. Wish more would post, if nothing else to know that more are aware. I have not received notice of the increase. Wonder why....

We just got our billing for the Water Intrusion Asssessment. Even though the project will go over five years they are asking for all the money up front... not over a 5 year period. Are they going to collect from all of us and they walk or run off with the money. How can they be trusted when they have not properly maintained the project with good property management for years. What have they done with the reserves...?

Like probably most of you this is out of sight and mind for us until we want to use our every other year week.

How does on protect their credit rating... and costs in this scam...

The last time we stayed at Poipu Point it was obvious it was being mismanaged. The managing company is scamming everyone... they cannot lose especially if the State of Hawaii is looking the other way... They rake off fees... if one lets them have all the ownership they own the project for new sales to unsuspecting innocent buyers. Since this is beyond state lines... could this be dealt with as a Federal Matter, especially, if the State of Hawaii is part of the fraud...?

How can we as people of "good faith" make a possitive change... salvage something out of our investment?

Is it possible to get enough owners together to vote them out? It appears they have control of enough units and with them with holding the list of owners... we can not work together to vote them out... Ideas Please

If possible, we will be happy to work with the group to make changes.

We are trying to get enough owners but DRI will not release the owner's list. They are in violation of Hawaii state law but the AG will not intervene

My husband and I are deeded owners since 2003 and are outraged, to say the least, about this additional assessment, which seems more like extortion. The mortgage is paid, but we are weighing our options now. We own 2 weeks, every year, and have a reservation to return this spring 2012, which I understand will not be honored unless we pay the first installment, even though we already paid the regular 2012 maintenance fees last spring. We just received the letter yesterday, and we spent a couple of hours on the phone with different people after we read their correspondence. We, too, can't in all good conscience, see how they can get away with this. When Diamond first took over the property, they sent an extremely rude and aggressive representative to Poipu to talk to the owners. We met with him, and he pressured us to pay a fee and join the "point system". We told him we didn't want to do this because we had no interest in trading because we come back to Kauai every year. When we flatly refused, he got noticeably angry with us for not succumbing. He kept asking us, "Why, why, why" we didn't want to. Then, I told him because, "Simply, we don't want to throw our ownership into the pot." With that, he left. From that moment on, we knew that something wasn't quite right with this new ownership. Our Water Intrusion fee totals $11,786.64, with $3,545.99 as the initial payment due on January 1. We would unwillingly pay this initial installment (only to be able to keep our spring vacation intact ), but what is the guarantee that we will not be extorted and tapped for more money at their whim. I was searching the web trying to find owners names or board members names, and I came across this site and your discussions. My husband and I will work along with any other members if there is anything we can do to stop this. The more I read, the more I believe a class action suit is our only hope. Is there an owner who is a lawyer?