Welcome to the start of another week with Inside Timeshare, although it will be a short week and looking forward to a welcome break over the Christmas and New Year Period. We begin this week with news which came in late on Friday with another defeat for Anfi at the High Court. We also ask the question of why is the RDO (Resorts Development Organisation) not even acknowledging that their own members are losing in the courts for not abiding by the law let alone the organisation’s code of conduct and ethics?

As we have been seeing time and time again, Anfi is doing their utmost to delay proceedings with their constant appeals to the High Court, causing not just stress for the clients but also creating a huge backlog of cases to be heard by this particular court.
The Court of First Instance of San Bartelomé de Tirajana Number 3, declared the Anfi contract null and void in accordance with all cases they have tried, this is also in accordance with the rulings, of which there are now 131, by the Supreme Court in Madrid. This is Spain’s Highest Court and once they have ruled there is no going back as this is the last port of call for any appeal.

Court of First Instance of San Bartelomé de Tirajana
The original sentence issued by the Court of First Instance as well as declaring the contract null and void also ordered Anfi to repay 61,166€ plus Legal Interest. The award was also calculated to include the repayment of double the amounts the client paid within the statutory cooling-off period.
As expected, Anfi once again appealed the ruling to the High Court of Las Palmas. The Judges once again in accordance with past practice and the Supreme Court rulings rejected and dismissed the appeal. They confirmed the original sentence and returned it to the original court for execution of sentence.
No doubt the Lawyers at Canarian Legal Alliance had already placed a “provisional execution of sentence order”, even before the announcement of the appeal. We have come to expect this in every single case.
In this case, the Norwegian client’s case was prepared and presented by Eva Gutierrez with Claims Consultant Michael Gadman assisting the client throughout the procedure.

We now have to ask the question, “Why does the RDO not sanction Anfi and other timeshare operators who are their members, such as Diamond Resorts and Club la Costa?”
Well, the simple answer is the RDO policy of not getting involved in any dispute between their members and timeshare owners. Yet they will pull out all the stops if a non-RDO member does anything remotely wrong.
Is this practice fair for consumers, Inside Timeshare and others think not!

In fact, all the cases we are seeing and also highlighting on these pages are members of the RDO, they also have one thing in common, they are all in breach of one of the main points of the RDO “Code of Conduct and Ethics”.
Part I, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3.5 actually states:
“To comply with all laws, which apply to Member’s, business in the jurisdiction in which the Member operates.”
Now, considering that the Laws of Spain have been ignored by virtually all timeshare resorts and companies since the Law 42/98 came into force on 5 January 1999, surely this is a blatant breach of their rules?
This is not the only breach of the RDO “Code”, Part II of the code, which covers “Principles”, is also being blatantly breached. This covers the way in which timeshare should be sold and relates to the information consumers must receive. It also covers the point that consumers should be given the facts in order that they are able to make “informed purchase decisions when contracting with an RDO Member”.
In Part II of the Code, it is also clearly stated:
2. Sales and Marketing Principles
2.1 RDO Members will in no case mislead a consumer into believing that a product or service has other features and/or benefits than those laid down in the contract.
2.2 RDO Members will in particular ensure:
2.2.1 Appropriate marketing techniques that make it clear what the object of the approach to the consumer is;
2.2.2 Appropriate selling methods that treat the consumer with respect and allow the consumer choice between purchasing and reflection; and
2.2.3. The provision of any necessary assistance to consumers to enable them to make an informed decision.

As we have seen over the years, these principles have been ignored by all the major timeshare resorts and operators. The very worst was by one of the RDO’s former largest contributors, Silverpoint, whose CEO Mark Cushway was also a Director of the RDO!
Silverpoint withdrew from the RDO with Cushway resigning as a Director a few years ago, since then have filed for liquidation following major defeats in the courts regarding the sale of their product “Investment Packs”.

These were groups of weeks and apartments sold with the promise of a rental income and a profit when the weeks were to be put up for resale after 2 years. As we know none of these ever materialised with Silverpoint losing in all cases along with around 50 rulings against them in the Supreme Court.
This particular scheme has been dubbed as one of the biggest frauds in timeshare history, yet what did the RDO say or do about it?
Well, you guessed it, absolutely nothing, even when these consumers made complaints to the RDO their response was what we have come to expect, the RDO does not mediate in any dispute between a member and a consumer. The consumer must take up any complaint directly with the timeshare operator. Hence the proliferation in litigation which the timeshare industry is losing.
Below is a PDF copy of the RDO Code of Conduct, once you begin to read it you will see many other infractions of this code by RDO members. Just remember what the sales reps told you when you first attended a presentation or even the constant attempts to “upgrade” you by the in-house reps. This will certainly open your eyes to what this industry and the so-called “Trade Body” are actually all about, we call it “protecting the old boy’s network”.
So, who can you go to when you have a dispute, the Kwikchex “helpline”, which is just another company funded by the RDO designed to protect their own members. The choice is very limited, timeshare owners are basically left on their own and at the mercy of some very dubious “exit & claims” companies. For those whose purchases were made in Spain, at least they are able to use the laws in place and use the legal system to gain redress, as we have constantly shown on our pages.
To end today’s article, if you purchased in Spain after 5 January 1999, with a contract with either no end date (perpetuity) or over the permitted 50 years duration, you have floating weeks or points systems, which also include fractional, paid any amount within the statutory cooling-off period. Then you may have a case under the Spanish legal system against your timeshare company for breaches of Timeshare Laws 42/98 & 4/12.
If you would like more information on this subject please use our contact page and Inside Timeshare will get back to you.