Companies in all industries have become extremely concerned with their future considering the current economic state, for this reason many of them have resorted to extreme measures to entice consumers to purchase their products. One such measure that I have heard about recently pertains to the auto industry, many dealers are stating that if you purchase a car from them and then lose your job they will either make payments for you for a specified amount of time or allow you to return the automobile and completely void your contract. I thought this was a really interesting concept; however I had not made the connection between this assurance plan and the timeshare industry until earlier this week when the Orlando Sentinel reported legislation was in the process of being passed that would allow the timeshare industry to offer these plans to potential buyers.

It appears there is currently a bill before the House that will allow timeshare groups to sell “assurance plans” to people who purchase a timeshare at their resort. Under this plan if the new buyer loses their job the resort would forgive the debt incurred when the contract was signed. Some of the main proponents of this bill are notable timeshare companies Disney Vacation Club and Westgate Resorts. This bill also contains legislation concerning the payment of taxes when timeshares are rented through exchange companies such as RCI and Interval International. Under this bill when a timeshare is rented through an exchange company no taxes would have to be paid.

Although I was very intrigued when I heard about this bill it all amounts to bells and whistles in my mind. Timeshares on the secondary market can go for pennies on the dollar when compared to the purchase price directly from the resort, for the price of a down payment on a timeshare purchase from the developer you might be able to purchase two to three weeks using timeshare resales at the same resort. Since the timeshare will already be paid in full there would be no need for their “assurance plan”.

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