California Business and Professions Code 11235 – (a) A person who has entered into a contract to purchase a …
(a) A person who has entered into a contract to purchase a short-term product shall have the right to rescind the contract until midnight of the seventh calendar day, or a later time as provided in the contract, following the day on which the contract is first made, in which event the purchaser shall be entitled to a refund of 100 percent of the consideration paid under the contract, without deduction.
(b) The developer or other person who offers a short-term product shall clearly and conspicuously disclose, in writing, to all purchasers of a short-term product, all of the following:
Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 11235
- Accommodation: means any apartment, condominium or cooperative unit, cabin, lodge, hotel or motel room, or other private or commercial structure containing toilet facilities therein that is designed and available, pursuant to applicable law, for use and occupancy as a residence by one or more individuals, or any unit or berth on a commercial passenger ship, which is included in the offering of a time-share plan. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Association: means the organized body consisting of the purchasers of time-share interests in a time-share plan. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Commissioner: means the Real Estate Commissioner. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Developer: means and includes any person who creates a time-share plan or is in the business of selling time-share interests, other than those employees or agents of the developer who sell time-share interests on the developer's behalf, or retains agents to do the same, or any person who succeeds to the interest of a developer by sale, lease, assignment, mortgage, or other transfer, but the term includes only those persons who offer time-share interests for disposition in the ordinary course of business. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: means a natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, association, estate, trust, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or other legal entity, or any combination thereof. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Public report: means a preliminary public report, conditional public report, final public report, or other such disclosure document authorized for use in connection with the offering of time-share interests pursuant to this chapter. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Purchaser: means any person, other than a developer, who by means of a voluntary transfer for consideration acquires a legal or equitable interest in a time-share plan other than as security for an obligation. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Rescission: The cancellation of budget authority previously provided by Congress. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974 specifies that the President may propose to Congress that funds be rescinded. If both Houses have not approved a rescission proposal (by passing legislation) within 45 days of continuous session, any funds being withheld must be made available for obligation.
- Right of rescission: Right to cancel, within three business days, a contract that uses the home of a person as collateral, except in the case of a first mortgage loan. There is no fee to the borrower, who receives a full refund of all fees paid. The right of rescission is guaranteed by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Source: OCC
- Short-term product: means the right to use accommodations on a one-time or recurring basis for a period or periods not to exceed 30 days per stay and for a term of three years or less, and that includes an agreement that all or a portion of the consideration paid by a person for the short-term product will be applied to or credited against the price of a future purchase of a time-share interest or that the cost of a future purchase of a time-share interest will be fixed or locked-in at a specified price. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
- Time-share interest: means and includes either of the following:
California Business and Professions Code 11212
- Time-share plan: means any arrangement, plan, scheme, or similar device, other than an exchange program, whether by membership agreement, sale, lease, deed, license, right to use agreement, or by any other means, whereby a purchaser, in exchange for consideration, receives ownership rights in or the right to use accommodations for a period of time less than a full year during any given year, on a recurring basis for more than one year, but not necessarily for consecutive years. See California Business and Professions Code 11212
(1) The right of rescission provided for in subdivision (a).
(2) That reservations for accommodations under the contract are subject to availability and that there is no guarantee that a purchaser will be able to obtain specific accommodations during a specific time period, if applicable.
(3) Specific blackout dates, if applicable.
(4) That the earlier the purchaser requests a reservation, the greater the opportunity to received a confirmed reservation.
(5) That, if the purchaser later purchases a time-share interest, the developer shall provide the purchaser with the then-current public report for the time-share plan being purchased and that the purchaser shall have until midnight of the seventh calendar day following receipt of the public report to cancel the purchase of the time-share interest.
(c) If a purchaser is unable to obtain a confirmed reservation for a specific accommodation and time period requested, the developer or other person who offers the short-term product shall attempt to provide the purchaser with a substantially similar alternative to the reservation requested. If the developer or other person who offers the short-term product is unable to provide the reservation requested or an acceptable alternative during the initial term of the contract, the purchaser may request and be granted an extension of the contract for a period of 12 months.
(d) The contract for the purchase of a short-term product shall include the date of the contract and shall contain, in immediate proximity to the space reserved for the signature of the purchaser, a conspicuous statement as follows:
“YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO CANCEL THIS CONTRACT AT ANY TIME PRIOR TO MIDNIGHT OF THE SEVENTH (7TH) [or later] CALENDAR DAY AFTER THE DATE OF THIS CONTRACT AND RECEIVE A FULL REFUND. YOU MAY EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO CANCEL BY SENDING A FACSIMILE, OR BY DEPOSIT, FIRST-CLASS POSTAGE PREPAID, INTO THE UNITED STATES MAIL TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS: (SPECIFIC CONTACT INFORMATION)”
(e) A purchaser of a short-term product may exercise the right of rescission by giving written notice to the owner of the short-term product as specified in subdivision (b), using a preprinted form provided by the developer. The developer or other person who offers the short-term product shall cause any deposit given by a purchaser who has exercised the right to rescind described in subdivision (a) to be returned to the purchaser not later than the last to occur of 10 business days following receipt of the purchaser’s written notice of rescission, or 10 business days following the date upon which any deposit becomes good and immediately available funds.
(f) A developer or other person who offers a short-term product shall do one of the following:
(1) Place any purchase money funds received from the purchaser of a short-term product into an independent escrow depository until the seven-day period for rescission described in subdivision (a) has expired.
(2) Post a bond to secure the return of a purchaser’s purchase money funds in a form and in an amount prescribed by the commissioner.
(3) Make alternative arrangements satisfactory to the commissioner to secure the owner’s obligation to return the purchase money funds.
(g) If applicable, the developer shall disclose to the purchaser the type of alternative arrangement to be used and, in the event of a claim, to whom the purchaser should apply for payment under the alternative arrangement.
(h) The developer shall compensate the association for any services acquired from the association or for any of the association’s property used when fulfilling a short-term product in excess of services or use of property provided to other owners.
(i) If the contract for a short-term product is negotiated primarily in Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, or Korean, orally or in writing, the developer shall provide to the prospective purchaser prior to the commencement of the rescission period an unexecuted translation of the contract in the language in which the contract was negotiated. The terms of the short-term contract that is executed in the English language shall determine the rights and obligations of the parties.
(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 697, Sec. 14. Effective January 1, 2005. Section operative July 1, 2005, pursuant to Section 11288.)