How much time do I have to rescind a trial membership on a timeshare?
Full Question:
Answer:
A timeshare purchaser may cancel within seven calendar days after the execution of the contract to purchase an interest in a time share plan, or within seven calendar days after the purchaser's receipt of a disclosure statement required by this chapter, whichever occurs later. Either party may cancel the contract without penalty by mailing or delivering a notice of cancellation to the
other party at an address specified on the contract. There is no exclusion in the statute for not counting holiday days. A contract for a timeshare which violates the requirements of the timeshare statutes (see below) is voidable by the purchaser beyond this time.
The following are HI statutes:
§ 514E-8. Mutual right to cancel.
Within seven calendar days after the execution of the contract to
purchase an interest in a time share plan, or within seven calendar days
after the purchaser's receipt of a disclosure statement required by this
chapter, whichever occurs later, either party may cancel the contract
without penalty by mailing or delivering a notice of cancellation to the
other party at an address specified on the contract. The notice of
cancellation shall be effective upon mailing or delivery to the other
party at the address specified on the contract.
§ 514E-11.1. Deceptive trade practices.
It shall constitute an unfair or deceptive practice, within the meaning
of chapter 480, for any developer, acquisition agent, or sales agent of
time share units or plans to:
(1) Use any promotional device, including but not limited to
entertainment, prizes, gifts, food and drinks, games, or other
inducements without fully disclosing that the device is being used for
the purpose of soliciting sales of time share interests;
(2) Offer a prospective purchaser a prize or gift, in writing, as
part of any time share advertising or sales promotion plan, if to claim the
prize or gift, the prospective purchaser must attend a sales
presentation, unless the written disclosure described in
section 514E-11(3) is furnished to the prospective purchaser at the time the
prospective purchaser is notified of the prize or gift; provided that the
written disclosure is written or printed in a size equal to at least
ten-point bold type;
(3) Fail to inform each purchaser orally and in writing, at the time
the purchaser signs the contract, of the purchaser's seven-day right to
cancel or void the contract to purchase a time share interest in a time
share plan or unit;
(4) Misrepresent in any manner the purchaser's right to cancel or void
any contract to purchase a time share interest in a time share plan or
unit;
(5) Include in any contract or document provisions purporting to waive
any right or benefit to which the purchaser is entitled under this
chapter;
(6) Fail or refuse to honor any valid notice of cancellation of the
contract by the purchaser and, within fifteen business days after receipt
of such notice, fail or refuse to refund all payments made under the
contract or sale; or fail or refuse to cancel and return any negotiable
instrument executed by the purchaser in connection with the contract or
sale and take any appropriate action to terminate promptly any mortgage,
lien, or other security interest created in connection with the
transaction;
(7) Fail to include above the signature line of any sales contract or,
if no sales contract is used, above the signature line of any agreement
with the purchaser, in conspicuous bold type and capital letters, the
following: "Any purchaser has, under the law, a seven-day right of
rescission of any time sharing sales contract";
(8) Misrepresent the amount of time or period of time the time share
unit will be available to any purchaser;
(9) Misrepresent or deceptively represent the location or locations of
the offered time share unit;
(10) Misrepresent the size, nature, extent, qualities, or
characteristics of the offered time share units;
(11) Misrepresent the nature or extent of any services incident to the
time share unit;
(12) Misrepresent the conditions under which a purchaser may exchange
the purchaser's occupancy rights to a time share unit in one location for
occupancy rights to a time share unit in another location;
(13) Fail to orally disclose during the initial oral contact with a
prospective purchaser that any promised entertainment, prizes, gifts, food
and drinks, games, or other inducements are being offered for the purpose
of soliciting sales of time share interests in time share units or
plans; or
(14) Fail to include in promotional literature and other printed or
written material a disclosure that the product or activity involves time
share. The director may by rule prescribe the nature of the disclosure.
This paragraph shall not apply to a sign or banner, except as provided in
section 514E-11(11).
§ 514E-11. Prohibited practices.
It is a violation of this chapter for any sales agent or acquisition
agent of time share units or plans to:
(1) Fail to comply with the disclosure requirements set forth in
section 514E-9 or any rule adopted pursuant thereto;
(2) Use any promotional device, including but not limited to
entertainment, prizes, gifts, food and drinks, games, transportation,
luaus, ocean recreational activities, land recreational activities,
aerial recreational activities, or tours, or other inducements, or make
any offer thereof, without fully disclosing orally and as provided in
paragraph (3) that the device is being used or offered for the purpose of
soliciting sales of time share units or interests;
(3) Offer a prospective purchaser a prize or gift as part of any time
share advertising or sales promotion plan, if in order to claim the
prize, the prospective purchaser must attend and complete a sales
presentation, unless written disclosure is furnished to the prospective
purchaser at the time the prospective purchaser is notified of the prize
or gift; provided that the written disclosure is written or printed in a
size equal to at least ten-point bold type and contains all of the
following:
(A) A full description of the exact prize or gift won by the
prospective purchaser including its cash value;
(B) All material terms and conditions attached to the prize or gift;
(C) A statement that the consumer must attend and complete a sales
presentation; and
(D) An identification of the time share project to be offered for
sale, including type of ownership and price ranges of the time share
interests in that project;
(4) Misrepresent or deceptively represent any material fact concerning
the time share plan or time share unit;
(5) Make any representation that a time share interest is an
investment, including but not limited to the value of the interest at
resale;
(6) Fail to honor and comply with all provisions of a contract or
reservation agreement with the purchaser;
(7) Include, in any contract or reservation agreement, provisions
purporting to waive any right or benefit provided for purchasers pursuant
to this chapter;
(8) Receive from any prospective purchaser any money, property
(including but not limited to a credit card), or other valuable
consideration prior to signing a contract or reservation agreement for
the purchase of a time share plan or unit; provided that this
paragraph shall not apply to sums paid by a purchaser or prospective purchaser for
a tourist activity or for any other product or service offered to induce
attendance at a time share sales presentation;
(9) Make any agreement or contract with a purchaser before delivering,
furnishing, or tendering to that prospective purchaser any promised
promotional device or other instrument;
(10) Distribute any promotional or disclosure material separately if
the material was filed in a consolidated form;
(11) Use any unregistered time share booth, or fail to display at all
times a conspicuous, clear, and unobstructed sign of a permanent nature:
(A) That contains the words "time share" or "time sharing" in letters
at least three inches tall and in a color that distinctively contrasts
with the background on which the words appear;
(B) With minimum dimensions of nine inches by twenty-four inches,
excluding any frame;
(C) Posted on or in the booth in an upright position, perpendicular
to the ground, and in a location that is easily visible to passersby; and
(D) Consistent with such rules as the director may adopt pursuant to
this chapter and consistent also with county ordinances.
No person shall post anything upon or adjacent to the sign, or
include anything in the sign, which indicates that the booth is not being
used for time share solicitation purposes. As used in this paragraph,
"sign of a permanent nature" specifically excludes banners, grease
boards, marker boards, handwritten signs, or signs constructed of
temporary materials such as paper, poster board, or cardboard. The
signage requirements of this paragraph shall not apply to a booth located
within a project subject to a time share plan;
(12) Misrepresent the amount of fees to be charged, including
management fees, or the structure for future fee increase; or
(13) Sell, offer for sale, or advertise for sale, by any person,
partnership, firm, corporation, joint stock company, or other association
engaged in marketing time share plans within the State, any tourist
activity, including but not limited to land, aerial, or water
recreational activities, at less than the actual cost of the activity
paid for by the licensee thereof to such vendor or give, offer to give, or
advertise with the intent to give away any such tourist activity with the
purpose or effect of inducing the prospective purchaser to purchase a time
share plan or to attend a time share marketing event.
Any violation of this section shall also constitute an unlawful or
deceptive practice within the meaning of section 480-2; provided that in
addition violations of section 514E-31 or of paragraph (11) shall result
in a fine of not less than $50 for each separate offense for a maximum
aggregate amount of $500.
[§ 514E-11.3]. Remedies; sales voidable; when and by whom.
Every sale or transfer made in violation of this chapter shall be
voidable at the election of the purchaser. Without limiting any other
remedy of the purchaser, the person making the sale or transfer and every
director, officer, or agent of or for the seller, if the director,
officer, or agent has personally participated or aided in any way in
making the sale, transfer, or solicitation, shall be jointly and
severally liable to the purchaser in any action at law in any court of
competent jurisdiction upon tender of the time share interest sold, or of
the contract made, for the full amount paid by the purchaser, with
interest at the rate of ten per cent a year from the date of payment by
the purchaser, together with all taxable court costs and reasonable
attorney's fees, less a pro rata portion of the amount paid representing
the portion of any benefits the purchaser actually received or had the
right to receive during the time preceding tender.
Please see the information at the following links:
http://definitions.uslegal.com/c/contracts-recission/
http://lawdigest.uslegal.com/consumer-issues/purchases-and-returns/
http://definitions.uslegal.com/t/time-share/
Please see the forms at the following links:
http://www.uslegalforms.com/us/US-00547BG.htm
http://www.uslegalforms.com/us/US-00641BG.htm
http://www.uslegalforms.com/us/US-01268BG.htm
http://www.uslegalforms.com/us/US-0300LTR.htm