European Timeshare Laws

When buying timeshares located in countries other than the United States, the laws that govern the timeshare are those of the country where the property is located. These laws can more stringent if the timeshare is purchased in a country other than that of the property. European timeshare sales and rentals have traditionally lagged behind those of the United States due to a lack of regulation and inherent fear of the investor. The European Union has acknowledged the issue and has been taking action to rectify the lack of regulation to protect consumers.

History

Although timeshares gained their notoriety primarily in the United States and Caribbean, the idea of timeshares originated in Europe during the 1960s. In the 1960s, the ski resort developer Hapimag marketed a resort in the French Alps by offering to clients the ability to buy a share of the hotel. As a result of his success, the timeshare notion spread worldwide as a marketing approach with varying degrees of regulation.

Significance

The significance of the changing EU rules governing European timeshares is intended to standardize the rights of use that consumers have become accustomed to in the rest of the world, particularly the U.S. market. In markets with standardized regulations, timeshare owners can generally do the following with their usage time: (1) use the time, (2) rent their owned usage time, (3) give the time away as a gift, (4) exchange the time within the same resort, resort group or family of resorts, (5) exchange the time externally with other resorts and (6) sell the time through advertising or an online broker. In recent times, marketers have adopted point systems that allow the timeshare owners to conduct the following actions: (1) assign the time to the point system, which can be used in exchange for other goods such as plane tickets and hotel vouchers, (2) rent a portion of the allotted time and use the rest as points, (3) buy additional points from the company to get more time, a better unit or different location and (4) save points and time from year to year.

Types

In the European Union, the term "timeshare" actually refers to two types of organizations: timeshares and travel clubs. When purchasing a timeshare, the consumer buys the right of use of the holiday accommodations for a certain amount of time each year or an equivalent number of points in a point-based system. Timeshares in the EU are covered by law as long as the contractual agreement contains the following information: (1) lasts for 3 years or longer in length, (2) allows the owner to stay in a specific location or caravan for a set amount of time each year, (3) was created in an European Economic Area (EEA) country and (4) was not made with an individual not acting on a company's behalf.
Travel clubs are the second type of timeshare equivalent in the EU. When buying shares or a membership in a club, there is normally a joining fee along with an annual subscription for the membership. Because travel clubs do not guarantee the right to stay in a set property for a defined period of time per year, they have not been covered by current EU laws governing timeshares but are included in the current legislation. Consumers are recommended to confirm that the new EU rules apply to a travel club purchase before finalizing new deals.

Geography

There are 30 countries defined as being located in the European Economic Area as it relates to timeshare law applicability: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. If a timeshare agreement is not made in one of these countries, then it remains uncovered by EU rules governing timeshares, though it might be able to be canceled based on the terms-of-use agreed to in the original contract.

Considerations

When purchasing a new timeshare in the European Union, familiarize yourself with the new regulations put into place to ensure that the highest level of protection is in place to cover consumers. The new rules entail the following new regulations: (1) cover all vacation ownership properties to include travel clubs, (2) provide comprehensive precontractual information before making choices, (3) cover movable property such as canal boats, caravans and others such as point options, (4) bans advance payments of any time and (5) creates a unified 14-day cooling off period where a consumer can withdraw from a contract from any reason.

Resources

• Comprehensive review of timeshares by Wikipedia
• Summary of new timeshare rules for the European Union