PHILIPSBURG--Timeshare Owners at Caravanserai Association (TOCA) is now allowing new members to join the group, which is taking legal action against Alegría Real Estate B.V. in the wake of Alegría’s takeover of Caravanserai Beach Resort.
The Court of First Instance gave a favourable preliminary ruling for the group, along with 10 individual owners of timeshare units, on Friday, August 21.
Popular online tourism newsletter St. Maarten/St. Martin Weekly News shared the development with readers in its latest edition on Tuesday, pointing it out as one that could help the other “long-suffering owners.”
TOCA President Carol Anne Lee-Desmarais told The Daily Herald the group would accept new members until October 15 and that prospective members “must not have signed Alegria's letter and will be expected to match what current members have paid to date.”
Stress was put on the prerequisite of not having signed the letter e-mailed early October 2014 to most, but not all, of the estimated 2,200 timeshare owners affected by the takeover, informing them that their rights were being annulled.
This newspaper learned since that the incomplete contact database available also had hindered the timeshare owners’ efforts to organise a group. Following the takeover, people scrambled to decide on how to move forward, but had no organised way of contacting each other. Many resorted to forums such as Traveltalkonline or a designated FaceBook community page to share information.
Lee-Desmarais added in a brief statement that the fee would be divulged for serious enquiries.
TOCA represents 62 people who together claim to have lost US $1.5 million in advance rent payments.
The Court ordered Alegría in August to allow timeshare owners access to their properties within five days, providing they paid the required maintenance fees. In case of non-compliance, Alegría would have to pay a daily fine of $1,000 per TOCA member, to a maximum of $25,000 per member.
Alegría was ordered further to pay the 10 individual owners an amount of $27,589 in total, with interest, for damages incurred until the date the petition was filed. Alegría also will have to pay the cost of the legal proceedings.
Attorney-at-law Martyn Schellekens and his Lexwell Attorneys-at-Law colleague Mark Kortenoever argued successfully that rental laws applied to the timeshare owners’ agreements.
This was a preliminary ruling, Schellekens explained, and a ruling in the proceedings on the merits may take another eight months to a year. In the meantime, the preliminary ruling in favour of the timeshare owners defines what Alegría has to abide by.
The proceedings on the merits will continue with written procedures: Alegría will submit a written defence, followed by a statement of reply on behalf of the timeshare owners and, finally, another statement of rejoinder. The final ruling is expected at that time.
The same group had lost a previous injunction in November 2014, but filed a new case in June 2015.
Alegría acquired the property for $14 million through a Scotiabank public auction in August 2014.
