Maintenance Fees Questions

[Disney Fanatic]

Hi

If someone has an Oct UY, they have paid all the year's fees in January 2005, which points did they pay for?

2004/2005 points

or

2005/2006 points?

Thanks

 

[CarolMN]

Technically, they paid for 9 months of 2004 points and 3 months of the 2005 points.

Best wishes -

P.S. Good luck selling that to a typical timeshare broker or owner looking to sell, though, LOL. Most think that if you get the points you pay the fees for the year. Just remember that everything is negotiable when buying resale.

 

[Disney Fanatic]

Technically, they paid for 9 months of 2004 points and 3 months of the 2005 points.

Best wishes -

P.S. Good luck selling that to a typical timeshare broker or owner looking to sell, though, LOL. Most think that if you get the points you pay the fees for the year. Just remember that everything is negotiable when buying resale.

Thanks Carol

Did you mean 3 months of the 2004 points and 9 months of the 2005 points?

I am so confused.

If we are buying with an Oct UY, the next dues we would need to pay are in Janaury 2006.

Are they to cover October-Dec 2005 and the Jan-Sept 2006???

Thanks

 

[JimMIA]

Technically, they paid for 9 months of 2004 points and 3 months of the 2005 points.

Best wishes -

P.S. Good luck selling that to a typical timeshare broker or owner looking to sell, though, LOL. Most think that if you get the points you pay the fees for the year. Just remember that everything is negotiable when buying resale.

Right. Maintenance fees don't really have anything to do with points, except for the fact that the cost is X$ per point.

They are the calendar-year estimate of costs to operate that particular resort - taxes, insurance, maintenance, CM costs, reserves, bus service, etc. They are billed in December and are due in January for the year starting January 1.

 

[CarolMN]

Thanks Carol

Did you mean 3 months of the 2004 points and 9 months of the 2005 points?

No.

I am so confused.

It is confusing. As JimMIA said, dues are for a calendar year. If you pay in a lump sum, you have to pay in January for the calendar year.

If we are buying with an Oct UY, the next dues we would need to pay are in Janaury 2006.

Are they to cover October-Dec 2005 and the Jan-Sept 2006???

No, the dues you pay in January 2006 are for the 2006 calendar year. The 2006 calendar year includes 9 months of your 2005 use year and 3 months of your 2006 use year. So the dues you will pay in January 2006 are for 9 months of your 2005 points (Jan - Sept which are from your 2005 use year) and 3 months of your 2006 points (October - December).

Just to be sure you understand the October use year:

2005 points are good for stays between 10/1/2005 and 9/30/2006
2006 points are good for stays between 10/1/2006 and 9/30/2007
2007 points are good for stays between 10/1/2007 and 9/30/2008
2008 points are good for stays between 10/1/2008 and 9/30/2009
etc.

Use year is not the same as calendar year. This is one of the more confusing things new members have to learn. Lots of us needed help to understand it when we were new.

Best wishes -

 

[JimMIA]

The best way to look at it is to just forget use year -- it has nothing to do with maintenance. The only reason maintenance is billed per point is that your points represent your proportion of ownership...and therefore, your obligation for the maintenance.

 

[RobDoc]

IMO, the only time this maintenance fee discussion is appropriate is when you are selling (or buying) a resale and want some direction about who pays for these fees.

The annual maintenance fees are due in January each year (yes, they may be autodebited in 12 equal monthly payments without any service charges) and are for the entire calendar year - regardless of your Use Year. When purchasing directly from Disney, the fees are pro-rated based on when you purchase (with no regard to the actual Use Year). If you purchased a contract on July 1 - you would only owe 6 months of the 2005 maintenance fees to Disney- even though you would get all of the points in the current Use Year and another allotment on when the next Use Year begins (if you purchased a February Use Year, you would have all points from the 2005 UY and will have your next allotment available to use February 1, 2006 - if you purchased a December Use Year, you would get all of the 2004 UY points and will have another allotment available to use December 1, 2005). With a resale purchase, some sellers may ask to be reimbursed for all fees- just remember that all aspects of the resale are negotiable. (Some sellers also may prorate the fees- just like DVC does.)

Don't get too hung up on what months are covered by the annual fees, as they simply cover January 1 - December 31 of each calendar year. Jim and Carol have done a great job of covering the technical details.

Just pay the fees each year and enjoy the use of your points all year long!

 

[Disney Fanatic]

Thanks for all the guidance.

I just find this so confusing.

It would help if I had a guide or something to read but without that you guys are my last hope!!!

Thanks again and hopefully we will soon be new members.

 

[tazleiten12]

OK, so i bought this year with a August use year. I have been thinking i will be billed anytime for August-December 2005. Then in January be billed for Jan 1st- December 31, 2006. Is this the way it works? If so when will i get the August-December 2005 bill. (I closed in June)? Or will i get billed In January 2006, for the August-December 2005 points. I guess I'm asking are we billed for the previous year, or the coming year? i hope that makes sense!

 

[Cruelladeville]

Did you buy resale? If you did, your dues were/should have been figured in your bill to the resale company. If you bought thru Disney, they will find you, they always do, when dues need to be paid. I think it takes a couple of months--but I have heard that SSR doesn't pay current year dues when buying.

 

[Tamar]

I think what's described above is NOT the way it worked with either of the resales we bought in the last 6 months. Both were December UY, and for both Disney refunded 2005 dues paid to the seller, and we paid for all of 2005 maintenance. Of course we got 2004 and even 2003 points as part of each deal, so we weren't too unhappy. I think one contract closed in March, one in June.

The 2 resales were through the 2 biggest Disney resale agencies (1 each) and they both assured me this is how it normally works (unless the seller offers to pay maintenance for the current year or that's part of your offer).

So...we pay our maintenance fees a full 11 months before we get our points for that year.

 

[Disney Fanatic]

I have been also told that the MF's for any current points should be paid by the person using the points.

Of course, everything is negotiable and I would consider with any offer the fact that with DVC direct, you only pay the prorated MF's for the year.

 

[Caskbill]

I think what's described above is NOT the way it worked with either of the resales we bought in the last 6 months. Both were December UY, and for both Disney refunded 2005 dues paid to the seller, and we paid for all of 2005 maintenance. Of course we got 2004 and even 2003 points as part of each deal, so we weren't too unhappy. I think one contract closed in March, one in June.

The 2 resales were through the 2 biggest Disney resale agencies (1 each) and they both assured me this is how it normally works (unless the seller offers to pay maintenance for the current year or that's part of your offer).

So...we pay our maintenance fees a full 11 months before we get our points for that year.

No, the resale agencies have been telling people the wrong thing for years. Saying for example that dues paid in January 2005 are for your 2005 Use Year points. That's absolutely wrong. Some agents even told people that when an owner first bought that Disney waived part of the dues for the year as an incentive. Thus saying if someone purchased in December, they got an 'incentive' of 11 months of free dues. Of course they never explain why Disney never used the term 'waive', or 'incentive', nor explain why Disney would give an 'incentive' of 1-months of free dues for someone purchasing a February Use Year, but give 11-months of free 'incentive' dues to someone who purchased just 2 months earlier.

That is NOT how it worked. Disney prorates dues based on the remainder of the year that occurs within the calendar year you purchase. Dues are strictly accessed on a calendar year, not on a Use Year. Your statement that for a December Use Year that you are paying dues 11 months ahead is absolutely wrong. In January 2005 you paid dues for the calendar year 2005. It has nothing to do with your use year.

ONLY when SELLING a contract does it make any difference as to what Use Year you have, and that's only to determine who should be responsible for which dues. In this case, it makes sense to prorate the portion of the dues to each section of use year that occurs within the particular calendar year. Thus if you are buying a Dec Use Year today which has no 2004 points but all 2005 points, and the seller paid all of calendar year 2005 dues in January, you would be right to reimburse 1/12th of the dues they paid. The part that would apply to the points you will be receiving. Points that are valid for the perior Dec 1, 2005 through Nov 30, 2006. In January 2006 you would be paying the prorated portion of your 2005 Use Year (11-months) and the prorated portion of your 2006 Use Year (1-month).

If the December Use Year contract being purchased had all 2004 points as well as all 2005 points available, then a full reimbursement would be 13/12ths of the annual dues, or 13th months worth.

BTW, for a resale contract, Disney has nothing to do with the deal. They do not reimburse the seller for dues paid. That's part of the negotiation between buyer and seller and the Agent. You're the one reimbursing the seller, not Disney.

 

[Tamar]

Well, I don't know who's right, but here's what the legal contract says:

Buyer is responsible for annual dues on 150 points for the 2005 allocation. Seller to be reimbursed for any prepaid portion.

I was told the reimbursement for the seller would come from Disney, and then the money we provided at closing would be given to Disney.

And then we ended up paying all 2005 MF. The first time this happened I questioned it and was told it was right, so the second time I didn't even question it.

 

[RobDoc]

Well, I don't know who's right, but here's what the legal contract says:

Buyer is responsible for annual dues on 150 points for the 2005 allocation. Seller to be reimbursed for any prepaid portion.

I was told the reimbursement for the seller would come from Disney, and then the money we provided at closing would be given to Disney.

And then we ended up paying all 2005 MF. The first time this happened I questioned it and was told it was right, so the second time I didn't even question it.

You are talking about your specific resale contract and you chose to agree to those terms. That language is NOT part of any DVC contracts. If any of the fees are unpaid, they MUST paid at closing to Disney so the contract is free of any financial obligation. This would occur if the seller was using autodebit to pay the fees- since otherwise the fees are due in January each year. It is still a negotiable point for the buyer and you did not have to agree to that extra expense. Tom Yeary (TTS) has mentioned on this board that many sellers are now prorating the fees themselves with their initial offering. It appears that your seller chose not to do so.

The point here is that DVC always prorates the annual fees based on the remaining time in the calendar year and without regard to the Use Year. Most sellers conveniently "forget" that fact when they sell and ask the buyer to reimburse the entire 12 months. It's not wrong to do so and if the contract is a good deal otherwise, it would not be deal breaker for me either. I have purchase resales both ways- where I reimbursed the seller in one case and didn't in another cases. It's all negotiable. With direct purchases, it's never an issue since DVC always prorates the dues for the current calendar year and in most cases the buyer gets the full compliment of points from the current calendar year- regardless of the Use Year.

Use Year has nothing to do with our annual maintenance fees.

 

[tazleiten12]

Did you buy resale? If you did, your dues were/should have been figured in your bill to the resale company. If you bought thru Disney, they will find you, they always do, when dues need to be paid. I think it takes a couple of months--but I have heard that SSR doesn't pay current year dues when buying.

I didnt buy resale, i bought right through disney. (closed in June) Got my points as of August 2005? So will i be billed anytime now for August-December 2005. Then in January be billed for Jan 1st- December 31, 2006. Or will i get billed In January 2006, for the August-December 2005 points?