Is there a strategy being developed by the Committee to enable members to exit their lodges due to age , ill health or lack of dependants to pas onto. This is the case for some other Time Share clubs and usually involves paying a fee equivalent to a numbr of years annual charges?
Is this something that members feel the LRHC should have?
Exit strategy
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cliffhunter
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Sat Sep 19, 2020 6:38 pm
Hi,
Yes, this is on the agenda for the committees next meeting on the 7th.
Cliff Hunter
Chair & IT Lead
Yes, this is on the agenda for the committees next meeting on the 7th.
Cliff Hunter
Chair & IT Lead
In the newsletter sent to us in August 2020 there is a seemingly categorical answer to this question showing these options:
>>>>
These are to: -
i) assign your Lodge to a relative, or friend
ii) sell your lodge through the Club, or independently
iii) apply for Voluntary Surrender in the Club Ballot
iv) transfer to a five-year Term plan, during which you pay
five years’ maintenance fees and at the end of which
you exit at no additional cost.
>>>>
I wrote to the General Manager using recorded delivery asking him/her to contact any member of the Committee they felt required, to request to transfer using option (iv) to a 5 year commitment. Though there has been no reply at all the newsletter seems clear that by August 2025 my liability to the Club will end, having paid all service charges up to July 2025.
Am I missing something?
Mrs L Willis
>>>>
These are to: -
i) assign your Lodge to a relative, or friend
ii) sell your lodge through the Club, or independently
iii) apply for Voluntary Surrender in the Club Ballot
iv) transfer to a five-year Term plan, during which you pay
five years’ maintenance fees and at the end of which
you exit at no additional cost.
>>>>
I wrote to the General Manager using recorded delivery asking him/her to contact any member of the Committee they felt required, to request to transfer using option (iv) to a 5 year commitment. Though there has been no reply at all the newsletter seems clear that by August 2025 my liability to the Club will end, having paid all service charges up to July 2025.
Am I missing something?
Mrs L Willis
I think this was the issue I questioned and was told it shouldn't have been included as hadn't yet been properly put into a process.
This was the reply I received when I enquired about taking up the option
Thank you for your email. We hope you are not going to be too disappointed but the 5-year exit plan is not a reality yet, but part of a process we will have to go through with full consultation with all Owners for a proposed Membership & Exit Strategy. The draft document has been approved by the Committee but consultation has yet to start. It is only a draft and will need 75% of the Owners who vote to pass it. We hope to do this during September.
The bare bones of the proposed strategy are that, subject to the prevailing financial circumstances of the Club, if approved it will provide a mechanism for Owners to apply for surrender on a fair basis. It will be more transparent than the current Voluntary Surrender Scheme. At its discretion the Club would be able to take back a number of Holiday Certificates from Owners who have owned their lodges for a minimum number of years and reached a certain age (both subject to the consultation process).
We will keep you all informed and meanwhile it is good to have feedback from all with their thoughts on this subject.
Frances Griffiths
Loch Rannoch Highland Club Committee Member
I pointed out that they would need to be very careful as only offering it to some based on age/length of tenure could be construed as discrimintation and received this in reply
It was issued in error as it is still under consideration. We put our hands up and apologise profusely for this mistake.
Potentially it is an attractive concept which we have loosely adopted from another timeshare resort’s policy and there are of course caveats in the proposals.
Thank you for your valuable advice too about the age issue. I will contact the resort in question and ask them if they are prepared to share how their consultation has gone on this point.
Your contributions when we start the consultation will be most welcome.
So that should have been considered 3 months ago, and members consulted. Judging by the silence it sounds like no movement
This was the reply I received when I enquired about taking up the option
Thank you for your email. We hope you are not going to be too disappointed but the 5-year exit plan is not a reality yet, but part of a process we will have to go through with full consultation with all Owners for a proposed Membership & Exit Strategy. The draft document has been approved by the Committee but consultation has yet to start. It is only a draft and will need 75% of the Owners who vote to pass it. We hope to do this during September.
The bare bones of the proposed strategy are that, subject to the prevailing financial circumstances of the Club, if approved it will provide a mechanism for Owners to apply for surrender on a fair basis. It will be more transparent than the current Voluntary Surrender Scheme. At its discretion the Club would be able to take back a number of Holiday Certificates from Owners who have owned their lodges for a minimum number of years and reached a certain age (both subject to the consultation process).
We will keep you all informed and meanwhile it is good to have feedback from all with their thoughts on this subject.
Frances Griffiths
Loch Rannoch Highland Club Committee Member
I pointed out that they would need to be very careful as only offering it to some based on age/length of tenure could be construed as discrimintation and received this in reply
It was issued in error as it is still under consideration. We put our hands up and apologise profusely for this mistake.
Potentially it is an attractive concept which we have loosely adopted from another timeshare resort’s policy and there are of course caveats in the proposals.
Thank you for your valuable advice too about the age issue. I will contact the resort in question and ask them if they are prepared to share how their consultation has gone on this point.
Your contributions when we start the consultation will be most welcome.
So that should have been considered 3 months ago, and members consulted. Judging by the silence it sounds like no movement
Hello folks,
We used to own two weeks in Marbella in perpetuity up to a couple of years ago. We had tried to sell them through various agencies with no luck and our extended family didn't want it. Eventually, we decided to hand it back and cut our losses. This entailed paying a years management fee, which we did over 11 months, following the club constitution.You actually have more options with LRHC than we had in Marbella.
We hadn't holidayed in Spain for many years and had loads of banked weeks on the exchange system, that's how we discovered the delights of Loch Rannoch!
When they ran out, we decided to join, but on a lease basis so that we didn't fall into the perpetuity trap again.
Five years seems to be a bit long if you want to leave though.
Erik Jensen
We used to own two weeks in Marbella in perpetuity up to a couple of years ago. We had tried to sell them through various agencies with no luck and our extended family didn't want it. Eventually, we decided to hand it back and cut our losses. This entailed paying a years management fee, which we did over 11 months, following the club constitution.You actually have more options with LRHC than we had in Marbella.
We hadn't holidayed in Spain for many years and had loads of banked weeks on the exchange system, that's how we discovered the delights of Loch Rannoch!
When they ran out, we decided to join, but on a lease basis so that we didn't fall into the perpetuity trap again.
Five years seems to be a bit long if you want to leave though.
Erik Jensen
I think there is strong agreement that exiting is growing in importance.
It is clear that nobody can sell a week in Rannoch and whatever the reason, this either has to be remedied within the next year or so, or the 5 year conversion to a specified time of liability needs to be made a formal way out. In my opinion paying 1 more year and handing the metaphorical keys back should be totally acceptable. When you dislike the Timeshare because it has faded away from the wonderful place it was then that should be enough.
We know that Ann from UKRE has a marketing plan and that Mr Pattie from the Hotel sees a rejuvenated resort, but I don't buy into it. Throwing good money after bad is like Einstein's definition of madness, that is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
Surely the real test of the Clubs ongoing viability is whether there is a resale market. There isn't so the Club is all but worthless without our forced and continuing payments. Madness.
It is clear that nobody can sell a week in Rannoch and whatever the reason, this either has to be remedied within the next year or so, or the 5 year conversion to a specified time of liability needs to be made a formal way out. In my opinion paying 1 more year and handing the metaphorical keys back should be totally acceptable. When you dislike the Timeshare because it has faded away from the wonderful place it was then that should be enough.
We know that Ann from UKRE has a marketing plan and that Mr Pattie from the Hotel sees a rejuvenated resort, but I don't buy into it. Throwing good money after bad is like Einstein's definition of madness, that is doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
Surely the real test of the Clubs ongoing viability is whether there is a resale market. There isn't so the Club is all but worthless without our forced and continuing payments. Madness.
A thought has come to mind as to why committees over the last decade [perhaps longer] have not been willing to delete/revise or even discuss the “in perpetuity” clause in the Constitution.
Why should they? Assuming there is a minimum of 2,000 owners and even 10% want to surrender ownership and “hand back the keys”. That could be a decrease in annual income of approximately £80,000 - a lot of money! BUT, and a BIG BUT, the committees had/have NO Sale and Marketing programme nor any member of committee responsible for such a scheme, so why introduce it and forego all this income - a no brainer! Without a Sale & Marketing scheme, the Club is all but worthless and these continuing payments help to keep the Club afloat. Members, therefore, were/are tied to paying an annual fee even if they are no longer using their LRHC lodge.
I, like many owners, have been an owner for nigh on 40 years - family is all grown up and not interested and I’m getting a bit long in the tooth and soon may not be able to enjoy my time at my dearly beloved Club but until a reasonable/acceptable ‘escape route’ is presented by committee and the “in perpetuity” clause removed from the Constitution, I, and more importantly, my family and all the members in a similar predicament as me, will be burdened with ever escalating annual fees.
With the hope of a new committee in sight, this will be one of the many priorities that have to be addressed sooner rather that later.
Why should they? Assuming there is a minimum of 2,000 owners and even 10% want to surrender ownership and “hand back the keys”. That could be a decrease in annual income of approximately £80,000 - a lot of money! BUT, and a BIG BUT, the committees had/have NO Sale and Marketing programme nor any member of committee responsible for such a scheme, so why introduce it and forego all this income - a no brainer! Without a Sale & Marketing scheme, the Club is all but worthless and these continuing payments help to keep the Club afloat. Members, therefore, were/are tied to paying an annual fee even if they are no longer using their LRHC lodge.
I, like many owners, have been an owner for nigh on 40 years - family is all grown up and not interested and I’m getting a bit long in the tooth and soon may not be able to enjoy my time at my dearly beloved Club but until a reasonable/acceptable ‘escape route’ is presented by committee and the “in perpetuity” clause removed from the Constitution, I, and more importantly, my family and all the members in a similar predicament as me, will be burdened with ever escalating annual fees.
With the hope of a new committee in sight, this will be one of the many priorities that have to be addressed sooner rather that later.
Absolutely. Your figures sound right and to be clear this is exactly the wonder of timeshare and why it is now reviled almost worldwide.
It was, in the words of Lord Thomson, a licence to print money. He saw the bottom drop out of independent TV and now it is time to shut the taps on this stream too. The challenge which our new committee has accepted, is to make this club work and let everyone who wants to leave have a way to do that.
The clock started with the "5 year offer" in the newsletter. A mistake? Too bad - it is a very long time and collectively a lot of money which at least 10% of us don't want to see increase.
I hope that the latest bad publicity has been noticed by the Scottish Parliament which will act to make these contracts illegal and unenforceable. If any Scottish timeshare has an exit route - which I think we have heard they do, then just get on with it.
It was, in the words of Lord Thomson, a licence to print money. He saw the bottom drop out of independent TV and now it is time to shut the taps on this stream too. The challenge which our new committee has accepted, is to make this club work and let everyone who wants to leave have a way to do that.
The clock started with the "5 year offer" in the newsletter. A mistake? Too bad - it is a very long time and collectively a lot of money which at least 10% of us don't want to see increase.
I hope that the latest bad publicity has been noticed by the Scottish Parliament which will act to make these contracts illegal and unenforceable. If any Scottish timeshare has an exit route - which I think we have heard they do, then just get on with it.
Well firstly, I am experiencing problems attempting to post. I spend time writing a post for it to either turn bright red or disappear entirely when submitted! I shall have yet another attempt:
The Perpetuity Question must be one of the first things on the new Committee
I personally think until this HUGE dark cloud hanging over the club is finally resolved, there will be limited sales at LRHC no matter how much amenities improve at Rannoch, as new Owners will frightened off by all the negative publicity about Elderly Owners being sued!
The Perpetuity Question must be one of the first things on the new Committee
s Agenda, no more brushing it under the carpet as has happened for decades. Given the age demographic of many of the original owners and the reluctance of the next generation to accept a Time Share Albatross around their neck, either the Committee comes up with a fair exit strategy, and I dont mean Reach 100 and get a Free Leave Card or the Club face ever increasing negative Media Headlines - "LRHC takes very elderly Owners to court for Non-payment of Maintenance Fees for Timeshare Holiday Accommodation they can no longer access!" or perhaps worse still "LRHC sues Deceased Owners Estates for Non-Payment of Maintenance Fees!" Either way it is going to reflect badly on LRHC and stop in its tracks any hope of attracting new owners. Some sort of end date for an Owner must be reached, perhaps 10 years after the State Retirement Age, at which point owners could pay 3 Years Maintenance in Advance to buy themselves out of the Contract, after all they have more than paid their fair due to the club over the previous decades, seeing much of it wasted on Committee Vanity Projects and Litigation against the Club. It should also end on Death of an Owner unless the deceaseds family wishes to take over ownership on say a 5 year contract basis. Apparently many Time Share Resorts in Scotland have amended their Perpetuity Contracts to enable Owners to leave without it being on aLottery` style basis as we have, in order to attract new Owners. If it is to be believed, even McDonalds Hotels Time Share in Scotland, not known for its generosity towards Owners, amended their Perpetuity Contract!I personally think until this HUGE dark cloud hanging over the club is finally resolved, there will be limited sales at LRHC no matter how much amenities improve at Rannoch, as new Owners will frightened off by all the negative publicity about Elderly Owners being sued!
Though Ann Blyth may well have sold some weeks, the AGM clearly resulted in a resolution to allow reversion of weeks. We were told that a register of those who would pay to give up their weeks would be opened and that the cost would be 3 years service charges.
If Ann has sold weeks - may we know how many and how much the owners made or lost?
When will the Club implement the resolution? There is no choice but to follow a legally assembled AGM resolution.
As you can tell, I have asked every year to hand back my weeks, but have not been drawn to be allowed to do so. With 300 votes at the AGM and 20 per year being drawn perhaps I might begin to wonder why after all these years there are people who do not vote still being drawn.
Let me be clear - this is a racket with no value at all to me and I am prepared to either pay to hand the weeks back or to start saving for the court appearance in 2025 when the Club will have had the 5 years notice of my intention to stop paying. That nobody from the Club has ever replied to my registered letter cuts no ice.
If Ann has sold weeks - may we know how many and how much the owners made or lost?
When will the Club implement the resolution? There is no choice but to follow a legally assembled AGM resolution.
As you can tell, I have asked every year to hand back my weeks, but have not been drawn to be allowed to do so. With 300 votes at the AGM and 20 per year being drawn perhaps I might begin to wonder why after all these years there are people who do not vote still being drawn.
Let me be clear - this is a racket with no value at all to me and I am prepared to either pay to hand the weeks back or to start saving for the court appearance in 2025 when the Club will have had the 5 years notice of my intention to stop paying. That nobody from the Club has ever replied to my registered letter cuts no ice.
Thanks Willis. I requested more detail on this and got the following information from the club:
“The payment is 3 years Maintenance fees plus £225.00 towards the Assignation fee. The fees are to be paid up front and that will be handing the lodge straight back to the Club.
To apply for the exit strategy, Please apply in writing and head your letter for the Attention of the Committee. Add as much information as possible why you can no longer can carry on with the Ownership of your lodge.
For example, If you can no longer afford the upkeep of your lodge, no family to pass your lodge onto and any reasons you can no longer come to your lodge.
The committee will assess each application.”
I hope this is useful info for some.
“The payment is 3 years Maintenance fees plus £225.00 towards the Assignation fee. The fees are to be paid up front and that will be handing the lodge straight back to the Club.
To apply for the exit strategy, Please apply in writing and head your letter for the Attention of the Committee. Add as much information as possible why you can no longer can carry on with the Ownership of your lodge.
For example, If you can no longer afford the upkeep of your lodge, no family to pass your lodge onto and any reasons you can no longer come to your lodge.
The committee will assess each application.”
I hope this is useful info for some.