In response to growing concerns about scams and frauds in the timeshare resale market, ARDA (American Resort Development Association) has proposed a Model Resale Act to protect consumers from such predatory practices. What are Model Acts? Model Acts are proposed laws developed by interest groups and designed to be adopted into law by state or local governments. The Act seeks to require resale companies to provide consumers with certain information prior to purchasing or paying any fees in order for the consumers to make informed decisions.
A lot of people in the timeshare industry and more particularly those involved in timeshare resales, are talking about the proposed ARDA Model Resale Act. Syed Sarmad, owner of Advantage Vacation, has these comments about the Model Resale Act: “First of all, ARDA doesn’t have any authority to enforce the act. There are two questions to be asked: If the goal of the Act is to get resale companies to comply with the proposed regulation, the unethical companies that are currently defrauding people will just continue. More than likely those companies are not ARDA members in the first place and do not have to comply. Secondly, if the goal is to get government agencies to adopt the Act into law, there are already laws on the books governing such practices. The government agencies simply do not have the staff or money to enforce yet another law. In a nutshell, more regulations are not the answer and will not fix the problem!”
