Timeshare laws - Information

Updated - June 18th, 2007
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Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 October 1994 on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis
Under : Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive:
Contract relating directly or indirectly to the purchase of the right to use one or more immovable properties on a timeshare basis. Hereinafter referred to as 'contract. shall mean any contract or group of contracts concluded for at least three years under which, directly or indirectly, on payment of a certain global price, a real property right or any other right relating to the use of one or more immovable properties for a specified or specifiable period of the year, which may not be less than one week, is established or is the subject of a transfer or an undertaking to transfer.
'immovable property` shall mean any building or part of a building for use as accommodation to which the right which is the subject of the contract relates, 'vendor` shall mean any natural or legal person who, acting in transactions covered by this Directive and in his professional capacity, establishes, transfers or undertakes to transfer the right which is the subject of the contract,

- 'purchaser` shall mean any natural person who, acting in transactions covered by this Directive, for purposes which may be regarded as being out with his professional capacity, has the right which is the subject of the contract transferred to him or for whom the right which is the subject of the contract is established.

http://www.ote-info.com/

NETHERLANDS: Contacts
Consumentenbond /Translate to:
consumer association Enthovenplein
1 Postbus 1000 2500 BA Den Haag Nederland Tel. (31-70) 445 45 45 Fax (31-70) 445 45 96 1e) Koos Peters,
kpeters@consumentenbond.nl 2e) Wibo Koole, wkoole@consumentenbond.nl Website: www.consumentenbond.nl


http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

ACT:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu

http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l32016.htm

Directive 94/47/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 26 October 1994 on the protection of purchasers in respect of certain aspects of contracts relating to the purchase of the right to use immovable properties on a timeshare basis.

If you believe you were misled:

http://www.ote-info.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=4

If your complaint concerns a non OTE member timeshare seller in the UK and you are outside the 14-day cooling-off period before you discover that you have been misled. You can take up the matter with your local Trading Standards Office, which will handle the matter as a free service. In addition to the Timeshare Regulations of 1997, there is also a considerable amount of consumer legislation in this country which is designed to outlaw misrepresentation. The Trading Standards Officer will take up your complaint direct with the trader and his recommendation could be that you receive a full refund.

You also have additional rights of redress if you paid the seller by credit card (see additional rights of redress if you paid by credit card).

The national European timeshare industry associations grouped together within the European Timeshare Federation and spearheaded by the UK Timeshare Council, lobbied actively for the concept of a Directive which held a fair balance between the supply side on the one hand and the consumer on the other. They proposed detailed changes to the draft to achieve this throughout the period up to the final signing of the Directive in October 1994.



Organization for Timeshare in Europe:
http://www.ote-info.com/

We are founding members of the Organization for Timeshare in Europe which is the European self-regulating trade body for vacation ownership companies. As a member, we are obligated to comply with all laws as well.

For general information on the ECC-Net see:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/consumers/redress/ecc_network/index_en.htm

The European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net)is an EU-wide network to promote consumer confidence by advising citizens on their rights as consumers in the EU and helping them to solve disputes.
These Centers can advise you about your rights when you shop across borders and help you seek redress if you have a dispute with a trader in another EU country.

Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the EU.Freephone number throughout the EU:00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11
You can find online information about the EU in 20 European languages at:

http://www.europa.eu.int

Information about your rights in the EU is also available in 20 European languages at:

http://ec.europa.eu/geninfo/query/search_en.html
Advanced search:
http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/rech_avancee.cfm?CL=en

Official Journal of the European Union

http://europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexapi!prod!CELEXnumdoc&lg=EN&numdoc=52003PC0241&model=guichett

http://europa.eu.int/youreurope/index_en.html

U.S.A. - Federal trade commission - FTC:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/icpw/lookingahead/lookingahead.htm


The Directive on Injunctions: An "injunction" is an order granted by a court whereby someone is required to do or to refrain from doing a specified act. The Injunctions Directive 98/27/EC establishes a common procedure to allow a qualified body from one country to seek an injunction in another. It aims to control traders that undertake activities in one Member State, which harm the collective interests of consumers in another Member State

http://www.ote-info.com/dmdocuments/OTeNews%20Pdf%20Files%20for%20Website/2004/issue04.pdf


The judiciary system in the Netherlands:
http://www.rechtspraak.nl/information+in+english

Alliance of Timeshare Consumers in Europe - “ATCE”
http://www.apaf-vtp.com

http://www.timeshare.org.uk

New legislation came into force throughout Europe on 29th April 1997 which will help timeshare buyers avoid some of the scams in the industry. The UK legislation is tougher than that of some of the popular holiday resort countries in southern Europe. The full text of the Timeshare Directive 1997 (the implementation of the European Directive on Timeshare in the UK) is on page: www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1997/97108101.htm . For those not of a legal mind there is a good explanation at the bottom of that page. Or the consolidated version of the Timeshare Act 1992 is available from HMSO bookshops - (ISBN 0115154353)

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/em2006/uksiem_20063363_en.pdf
EU Consumer Protection:
5. The UK is signatory to multilateral and bilateral consumer protection co-operation agreements. In 2003, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) agreed a set of Guidelines designed to improve co-operation between its members, including information sharing and co-operation on cases of cross-border fraud.
The DTI and OFT are also signatory to co-operation agreements with the United States Federal Trade Commission and Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

A study prepared for the Commission suggests that up to 80 million European consumers might buy more cross-border if they were confident about making purchases from shops or sellers located in another EU country.

THE ASSOCIATION OF TIMESHARE OWNERS COMMITTEES LIMITED
http://www.tatoc.co.uk/