Eeekk Dvc Paperwork!

[NemoMOm]

I was so excited when FEDEX arrived w/my Disney box today. Until, I opened it There must be a 1000 pages! I am a person whom likes to read the fine print. I read everything before signing. How am I going to read all of this? : Now I assuming that there are some things that are really between Disney and FL and Disney is just obligated to send me some of the paperwork.

My question is what do I need to read before I sign my closing papers?

Anything else important?

I started reading alot but sheesh there wasn't this much paperwork when I bought and sold my first house.

Thank you for your help! From a very busy (and scared I mean that is alot of legal pages ) mom!

 

[OKW Lover]

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer - nor do I play one on TV.

YES. You do need to read before you sign. By signing you are committing yourself to a lot of money and to abiding by a lot of rules. You need to know all of that before you can make an informed decision.

Having said all that, I'm continually amazed by the number of people who obviously haven't read all the material they signed. You can often see them asking questions here about why something works the way it does. The answer is usually in those documents.

 

[Chuck S]

Those documents, for the most part, explain the inner workings of your DVC membership in detail. Banking, borrowing, the right of the owners, the rights of Disney operating companies, how point charts can be changed, etc. As the previous poster said, many of the questions posted on these boards are answered in those documents.

At least skim through them, there are some parts you can probably skip over in a hurry, like the building layout for your resort, the easements on the property, etc. as they are unlikely to have much of an impact on your DVC usage.

 

[Starr W.]

Read them all! I have been through private bond financing, M&A and estate planning, DVC docs are very straight forward and really concise. And trust me it's not that much, I have had bond closing documents, nicely bound up that were jokingly refered to as "door stops" or the bricks. I paid cash, so that probably cut down on the amount of paper work.

 

[deedeetoo]

This is interesting. We bought resale and never received anything close to 1000 pages of documents. I'd guess it was closer to 10 pages and most of it was really basic sales stuff - P&S, broker disclosure etc. There was nothing explaining how dvc works. I've gathered all my knowledge from this board. Do people who buy direct actually recieve official documents explaining this stuff. I've seen people here refer to something called a pos which we don't have. Is that something you also get when buying direct?

 

[Chuck S]

This is interesting. We bought resale and never received anything close to 1000 pages of documents. I'd guess it was closer to 10 pages and most of it was really basic sales stuff - P&S, broker disclosure etc. There was nothing explaining how dvc works. I've gathered all my knowledge from this board. Do people who buy direct actually recieve official documents explaining this stuff. I've seen people here refer to something called a pos which we don't have. Is that something you also get when buying direct?

POS is Public Offering Statement. When we purchased in 1992, it was a paperback book 81/2"x11" roughly 200+ pages. I contains the insurance statement, property rights, waivers, right of ways and easements, use restrictions, budget, original points chart, etc. of OKW (then called Disney Vacation Club Resort). Yes, you receive it when you buy direct.

 

[Granny]

I started reading alot but sheesh there wasn't this much paperwork when I bought and sold my first house.

My guess is that there is a lot of paperwork that you received driven by two factors;

- timeshares are a heavily regulated industry, especially in Florida. My guess is that much of what is in the packet is driven by state requirements and other disclosure requirements

- Disney is a large corporation. Large corporations have large legal staffs. Large legal staffs sit around all day dreaming of how to protect their company from liability and future lawsuits. End result....lots of stuff to read!

As others have said, you really need to understand the important aspects of ownership. What your rights are, what you are committing for, etc.

For instance, many express amazement when told that Disney could decide to close the doors on a DVC resort after a disaster. It is unlikely, but it's in there.

The other thing that is important is that many of the sales pitch benefits mentioned by your Sales Guide may in fact be current perks of DVC rather than legal entitlements. It is important to know especially if those perks are a critical part of your decision. In general, most of the DVC perks are not guaranteed (ie. AP discount, pool hopping, free valet parking, even reserving at other DVC resorts). Most of the entitlements you have as an owner are regarding the reservation of rooms, home resort booking advantage and protection against "point inflation".

So yes, pour a tall cup of coffee or tea and start reading! And don't be afraid to ask questions. But don't count on being able to change one word of the language of the contracts either.

Good luck!

 

[DVCLiz]

Or, you could just read the one word "signature" like I did, sign it all, and then ask your questions on this board. That assumes you're a pretty smart cookie, and have done your research in advance and understand exactly what you are and are not getting with your purchase.

I would never read all that stuff in a million years....

 

[MommaX03]

Read it all! It is a big investment, and you need to know what it is all about. You do not want to make an expensive mistake if you could have read it all before signing by the dotted palm tree!

 

[Boston5602]

I read all of it too. I also learned alot from the patient wonderful people on these boards.

 

[paeskie]

As a resale buyer I was never able to get all the documents. I got the resort specific disclosure booklet (had to read it and return in to the Timeshare Store), but no-one was able to provide me with the document that shows all the banking-borrowing-transferring rules. I was told to try to get it from Disney after I closed. So... This board was crucial to me in learning and understanding all the rules. I definitely made sure all my questions were answered before I signed on the dotted line, but I probably spent a lot more time reading the boards than I would have spent reading the missing critical documents

 

[NemoMOm]

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the response! Okay, so here is the paperwork I am refering to:

Amendments to NY-Vacation Ownership Site Offering Plan -30 pages

Contracts to purchse Ownership Interest-35 pages

Amendments to NY Restates and Amended Vacation Ownership Offering Plan-50 pages

Contracts to Purchase ownership interest -105 pages

Amendments to NY -pages 5

Amendments to NY Book -pages 200

This is aside from all of the member guides and responsibility and contracts that need to be signed. The above is for my files.

 

[Chuck S]

Wow, 285 pages just for NY state regulations? I can't answer the question about whether you should read those. I think we eed to wait for another New Yorker to answer that.

 

[NemoMOm]

I know that's why I was in a panic. Thanks, Chuck. I'm so grateful for all of your responses. Everyone on the Dis has really helped us out.

 

[MommaX03]

I am a New Yorker who also received all those extra papers. I was told by my guide that NY has extra regulations, etc. as to timeshares. I am not sure if we should thank our new governor (and former consumer-rights- advocate-minded Attorney General) for that one. I looked them over. I rather know more than be in the dark on stuff.

 

[alldiz]

I am a New Yorker who also received all those extra papers. I was told by my guide that NY has extra regulations, etc. as to timeshares. I am not sure if we should thank our new governor (and former consumer-rights- advocate-minded Attorney General) for that one. I looked them over. I rather know more than be in the dark on stuff.

After lookin them over....was there anything of interest

anything different for ny.
thanks
kerri

 

[MommaX03]

After lookin them over....was there anything of interest

anything different for ny.
thanks
kerri

Kerri-
Unfortunately, I do not recall specifically if there were any distinctions between NY and the standard forms because I read the documents a couple of months ago. Additionally, I gained knowledge from researching these boards and going on the tour that I am not sure that the OP may or may not have. So for me, I may have said when reading a particular point, "Oh, yeah, that's right", but it may be a new aspect for a newbie who did not research these boards or take the tour.

I think though, as this is a major financial commitment, that buyers should read the documents before they sign them. Not everyone reads these boards or takes the tour to have knowledge separate from these documents. Most importantly, what is legally binding to a buyer is contained in those documents. And as one person who purchased resale on these boards noted in a thread a few months back, he was glad that he read his contract because basic information like the number of points he was going to buy was wrong on certain pages.

 

[pickles]

I bought resale this past year. I think there was like 10 pages total to read..I did. That said, if they had sent me 300 pages like you, I doubt I woud have read it all..least not right then.
I did read the boards and was familar with what was going on and that worked great for me.
Boils down to, you sign it, you bought it for better or worse..if nothing else (like if something happens you can't resell it or something) be content to have spent that money on it.
I dont regret our buy for a second and we are not as full in the check book as some folks may be.

 

[NemoMOm]

OKay, So I have looked at some of the papers. So far, it seems like alot legal jargon that NY made DVC change. But I'm still working on it. I should mention that these are not the papers I have to sign. Those I have definetly read.

I'm not regretting our decision, trust me Still doing the dance.

It was just startling and I wanted to know if anyone else had read them and what they got out of it and should I?

But I should mention that these are books! Three are not even stapled they are bound

Thanks for all your help guys.