Realtors Study Timeshare Issue

The South Carolina Association of Realtors is examining ways to beef up the state's timeshare laws, citing a recent series of articles by The Post and Courier that detailed a rash of complaints and lawsuits from buyers of the vacation properties.

South Carolina has more timeshare resorts than every state but Florida. It also has 32 pages of laws concerning the industry. But as business surged and a wave of new units went up from the Grand Strand to Beaufort, the state cut funding for oversight.

"We're very concerned about the apparent lack of investigatory ability," said Nick Kremydas, chief executive of the association, which is made up of about 20,000 real estate agents. "And we want to make sure our laws are as consumer-friendly as they can be, balanced with the interests of the industry."

The Columbia-based trade group plans to compare South Carolina's regulations to those in other states over the next few weeks. Kremydas said researchers may draft stronger measures for the General Assembly to consider when the legislative session starts in January.

"Maybe it's time to look at some additional changes," he said. "That's the good thing about our statutes and code of laws - as an industry changes, we have the power to change the rules to better fit it. ... I can tell you that the legislature would be very concerned about issues like the ones you all raised in the paper."

Ken Kitts, timeshare coordinator at the state Real Estate Commission, is now the only state employee keeping an eye on the industry, which in South Carolina comprises 14 developers and 130 resorts.

Two-thirds of the state's timeshare investigative staff has been laid off or reassigned since the late 1990s, meaning the commission no longer has enough workers on payroll to anonymously screen sales pitches.

The Post and Courier published a series of articles earlier this month detailing mounting complaints and lawsuits connected to the timeshare industry.

The reports pointed out that would-be timeshare sales representatives are no longer required to pass a 50-question test on how well they know South Carolina's timeshare laws. The state stopped those screenings in 2003.

Also, the series noted that South Carolina gives consumers five days to cancel timeshare contracts, a shorter period than other states allow.

Buyers in Florida, the nation's timeshare mecca, have 10 days to cancel a signed contract.

Arizona and Hawaii both give consumers a week to rescind. And the United Kingdom requires that timeshare sellers honor a 14-day cancellation period.

James Teodosio, a 77-year-old Charleston resident, was one of the aggrieved buyers who called the newspaper and the state Real Estate Commission this week in response to the stories. Teodosio spent almost $15,000 on a Myrtle Beach timeshare resort in 2002. He said he has never been able to make a reservation, and that each time he called he was told he was a little too late.

Although the developer is selling those same units for almost $22,000 today, Teodosio has had no luck in reselling his. "I'm an engineer," he said. "I should have some brains in my head. But I swear ... I don't know what to do with that thing."