Resale points that will expire before closing

[achinforsomebacon]

We're looking at some contracts with points that will be expiring prior to being able to close and have the points loaded. I was wondering if anyone has successfully negotiated having the points transferred to their account prior to sending to ROFR? If the points are listed, it would seem like the sellers weren't going to be using them and once it's sent to ROFR, they couldn't use them or rent them out.

I think the risk for the seller would be if the buyer backs out. In this market, finding a new buyer shouldn't be that difficult and if the points were going to expire anyway, it probably wouldn't matter for the new sale. There could be a bigger non-refundable deposit to discourage a buyer backing out. And the points could be transferred after the 10 day review period.

The 1 transfer per year limit could also be problematic. If the seller hasn't transferred yet, they shouldn't care about doing a transfer. If the sale falls through and the points have been transferred, that would prevent them from doing future transfers.

In the end, it a lot of things would have to align for this to work (not transferring yet, being able to use the transferred points based on availability/time to expiration, etc). I would just hate to see the points just expire when they still have some value. Even getting them to rent would be nice way to bring down the price per point. And the other benefit is that the ROFR monster wouldn't be able to gobble them up.

 

[CarolMN]

My guess is that the points that are "expiring soon" are either banked or otherwise ineligible to be transferred. (Only current use year points can be transferred). The reputable brokers are well aware of this rule and would have so advised the seller. Some would even help the seller rent the points (for a fee) if the seller were interested.

Also, any transfers would need to be completed prior to sending a contract to ROFR. Making a transfer a part of the contract would complicate the process and be an issue with estoppel as well.

If I were a seller, I'd just let the expiring points go and get my sale done sooner without that hassle if I didn't want to bother renting & delaying the sale.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Agree that they are probably banked and banked points can't be transferred. If they will expire before closing and you are otherwise interested in the contract just consider them as non-existent in any offer.

 

[achinforsomebacon]

I forgot about banked not being able to be transferred, but I was thinking more along the lines of someone having a trip planned that ended up having to be canceled past the banking deadline.

If I were selling, I would probably try renting first but then you have the issue of having to wait for the reservations to pass before sending to ROFR. That would delay things more than just transferring points (never done it but I thought it was a quick, if not instantaneous turnaround, well if you can get through to MS).

This might also have to be a separate agreement to prevent creating issues with ROFR or estoppel. Probably not worth the effort involved from a sellers standpoint but hey, if someone wanted to throw bonus points my way, I wouldn't complain!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I forgot about banked not being able to be transferred, but I was thinking more along the lines of someone having a trip planned that ended up having to be canceled past the banking deadline.

If I were selling, I would probably try renting first but then you have the issue of having to wait for the reservations to pass before sending to ROFR. That would delay things more than just transferring points (never done it but I thought it was a quick, if not instantaneous turnaround, well if you can get through to MS).

This might also have to be a separate agreement to prevent creating issues with ROFR or estoppel. Probably not worth the effort involved from a sellers standpoint but hey, if someone wanted to throw bonus points my way, I wouldn't complain!

Also, if the dues are in arrears the owner would not be able to transfer. They likely couldn't book a reservation either.