To keep pace with the changes in how vacation ownership products are structured, marketed and sold, Alberta provincial government has adopted Regulation 105/2010, also known as the “Time Share and Points-Based Contracts and Business Regulation”, to replace the “Time Share Contracts Regulation” as of November 1, 2010.The new Regulation broadens the scope of sales regulation. It defines “points-based contracts” as an agreement in which a consumer acquires points, credits or similar equivalencies along with the right or option to exchange those points for a right to use, occupy or possess real or personal property as part of a time share plan, whether or not the consumer receives any other interest, right, privilege or benefit under that agreement. The definitions of “time share business,” “time share interest,” “time share plan,” and “time share property” include the activities, rights and interests acquired pursuant to a points-based contract.The new Regulation further more incorporates a set of “unfair practices”, cancellation rights and a mandatory trust deposit of all funds received from a consumer.A failure to comply with any of these obligations on and after November 1 is regarded an offense under the Fair Trading Act.The full text of the new regulation is avialable here>>.
