Arizona Considering Cracking Down On Onerous Timeshare Contracts

By Holliday Moore
Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
Published: Tuesday, February 19, 2019 - 4:48pm
Updated: Wednesday, February 20, 2019 - 9:12am

Timeshare owners under unfair contracts are hoping Arizona lawmakers can find a way to legally protect them going forward.

On Monday, the House Committee on Regulatory Affairs listened as timeshare owners shared their cautionary stories.

One woman has paid $1,000 a month since 1980 for an overvalued condo she said is too expensive to hand down to her children.

Many buyers have filed complaints with the Arizona Attorney General's Office of sellers routinely misrepresenting their condos' location.

"They thought they were buying an opportunity to use a beach-front villa," said Amanda Rusing with the AG's office, "and what they end up with is a condo where, if you hang your head out the window on a sunny day you can kind of see the ocean."

Lawmakers are considering expanding the buyer's remorse period from seven to 14 days, and allowing a 90 percent refund when a condo does not represent what was advertised.

The bill, however, may lose its teeth after the committee's chairman announced plans to strip out many of the provisions before it goes to the full House for a vote.

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