Assessments

Maintenance Fees are due November 1 each year. The fiscal year is November 1 through October 31.

Why do I have to pay my assessments?

• Florida Statute 721.15 (2) B (b) No owner of a timeshare interest may be excused from the payment of her or his share of the common expenses unless all owners are likewise excused from payment, except that the developer may be excused from the payment of her or his share of the common expenses which would have been assessed against her or his timeshare interests during a stated period of time during which the developer has guaranteed to each purchaser in the timeshare instrument, or by agreement between the developer and a majority of the owners of timeshare interests other than the developer, that the assessment for common expenses imposed upon the owners would not increase over a stated dollar amount. In the event of such a guarantee, the developer is obligated to pay all common expenses incurred during the guarantee period in excess of the total revenues of the timeshare plan. Notwithstanding this limitation, if a developer-controlled owners’ association has maintained all insurance coverages required by s. 165, the common expenses incurred during the guarantee period resulting from a natural disaster or an act of God, which are not covered by insurance proceeds from the insurance maintained by the owners’ association, may be assessed against all purchasers owning timeshare interests on the date of such natural disaster or act of God, and their successors and assigns, including the developer with respect to timeshare interests owned by the developer. In the event of such an assessment, all timeshare interests shall be assessed in accordance with their ownership interest as required by paragraph (1)(a).

What is the difference between assessments?

• The HOA Fee/Assessment is based on the approved current year budget.
• A “Special Assessment” is for something up and above the budget, e.g.,
  • Piling Assessment was for the work to re-enforce the pilings
  • Rebuild Assessment would be for difference in what it takes to rebuild vs. what the insurance company gave us; this could also be for the deductible.

What happens if I do not pay the assessments?

• The process remains the same as prior to the storm
  • Interest will be charged to the balance on the account
  • Administration charge will be assessed to the account
  • After more than 90 days delinquent, a letter will be sent and the file will be turned over to the attorney.
  • F. S. 718.116 (3) Assessments and installments on assessments which are not paid when due bear interest at the rate provided in the declaration, from the due date until paid. The rate may not exceed the rate allowed by law, and, if no rate is provided in the declaration, interest accrues at the rate of 18 percent per year. If provided by the declaration or bylaws, the association may, in addition to such interest, charge an administrative late fee of up to the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each delinquent installment for which the payment is late. Any payment received by an association must be applied first to any interest accrued by the association, then to any administrative late fee, then to any costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in collection, and then to the delinquent assessment. The foregoing is applicable notwithstanding s. 673.3111, any purported accord and satisfaction, or any restrictive endorsement, designation, or instruction placed on or accompanying a payment. The preceding sentence is intended to clarify existing law. A late fee is not subject to chapter 687 or s. 718.303(4).

Upcoming Special Assessments

The reason for this email is to inquire about the message just received from Kelly.  Her message appears to imply that each timeshare unit/week will be assessed between $7,000 and $9,000 which apparently is the amount necessary to complete funding for the construction project.

• That is correct.  This is based on the quoted costs of the 3 contractors gave and the $15.8M the contractor we selected quoted.  The loan amount would be for ~$13M.  We have the insurance money (per building) invested and collecting interest. 

Wow! I guess with unit weeks going for under $2000 previously, and with our original new owner investment of around $5000 as I recall, we had no idea during all this deliberation and voting that we would be looking at that kind of new investment.

• In the beginning, the architect estimate the rebuild cost at about $12M total based on current costs of construction.  The 3 contractors that responded, their cost roughly ranged from $15.8 – $16.5M.  That is why we now have a much better estimate of the rebuild cost.  I did explain this in my annual meeting letter I sent out in November time frame.

Curiously, I have either overlooked any notice of the projected cost of the project, or it has not been presented. 

• You may have, as I did explain it in my annual letter sent out in November.  If you need an copy of it, ask Kelly and she can forward you the link to download it.

In any event, it is my understanding that the insurance funds available total approximately $3,950,899 (as of 10/31/23). 

• Correct.  As of the end of December it is up to $4.1M.  The amounts from the current assessment were not added in yet.

The number of timeshare units, I believe, is 816 units, and using the $7000 as a possible assessment per unit week owned, it would amount to $5,712,000.

• That is correct.  We are bookkeeping per building.  The cost of the common ground (pool/spa/pool deck, etc.) is being split to the standard 60/40% and added into the owner week.

Did the insurance company live up to their responsibility to provide the coverage that we were paying for?  What are the facts?

• Yes, that paid limits to the amounts/building we were insured for.  I am currently working with the Wind carrier, as they have to make up the difference of all added costs to build the complex up to current codes, i.e., increased amount of concrete for 16’ pilings and footers to support that, concrete building, new fire sprinklers in all units, new electric/fire codes, etc..

Were we that grossly underinsured?

• The insurance company estimated a cost to repair, not replace and that value is what we were insured for.  Now that is a lesson learned for us when we get our new policy and being a fully replacement policy will raise our insurance cost by $10s of thousands of dollars/year compared to what we were paying yearly.  This will increase our annual budget/HOA fees.

Will it take over 7 million plus insurance to get us back to par? 

• We don’t know what our new policy will cost until we ask them to write it for us.  They did say some categories will be less, since it is being built on current code and other categories will be greatly increased just to the amount of damage Ian caused.

1. The price of the unit would be between 7 and 9 thousand dollars each.  Is this the price they will go for just for original owners or is this the price even a new owner would pay?
   1. This is price is per owner week and based on the price the contractor gave us.  Once the final invoice is issued, we will have to make up another costs associated with the rebuild.  All owners will have to pay this amount per week owned, timeshare as well as whole owners.
2. The maintenance fees this year were high in my opinion considering we got nothing for that money not even using rci.  What type of maintenance fees are we looking at for each unit?
   1. The budget was built on what is referred to as a “non-operating” budget, just covering the basic costs to keep the lights on, e.g., liability insurance only, architect, lawyer, office expenses, etc..  We did build in $450/owner week to start supplementing the rebuild pool, which we will all have to cover in the end.
   2. We have no control over what RCI does.  They have suspended our trading privileges since there is no complex to trade into.  RCI works on a “give and take” basis, you offer your week to be able to trade into another complex.
3. Looking at the rendering of the building where is the elevator?
   1. The elevator is not shown, it is located on the road end of the building in the general location of where the office used to be.  You will be able to get in at ground level, ride up to the office, now on the 4^th floor (for the office and storage area only) and then down to your floor.
4. Where is the parking for the timeshare parking?
   1. The majority of all parking will be underneath the 3 buildings with some overflow along the road side.  The new building height will now allow for adequate parking underneath.

Rebuilding

Now that the vote has taken place, what is next?

• We are working with the architect to finalize the 50% drawings.  Once completed, we will send them to contractors to get a quote for the cost of rebuilding.
• Ramaker will work with us on selecting a contractor.
• Once contractor is selected, Ramaker will work with them on the details needed to complete drawings to send to the city for our building permit.

What if the whole owners decide to take their insurance money and not rebuild?

• The entire association has voted to rebuild, including all the whole owners.
• The individual whole insurance policy only covers their contents.  The association insurance policy covers the building and the association is responsible for rebuilding all 3 buildings.

Would it be possible to just rebuild the t/s units?

• No, according to the association documents, the entire complex has to be rebuilt.

How would it work if some t/s or w/o want to rebuild and other don’t?

• 75% of the returned votes have to vote no in order for nothing to be rebuilt.  We had 78% vote to REBUILD.
• If a t/s owner doesn’t want to rebuild, they may sell their week(s).  Let Kelly know your desire AND you have to be current on all assessments to be included on the For Sale list. 
• If you would like to list your unit for sale, please use this form to provide the information.

If they (w/o) decide not re re-build, could you place the t/s building on the property, so that all units face the beach?

• No, according to the Fort Myers Beach “build back clause”, the property has to be built as it was before Hurricane Ian destroyed it.

Rebuild Questions

1. Size of pool and hot tub
   • The pool is roughly Z x Y, TBD sq ft larger than the original and spa is Z x Y, TBD sq ft larger than original.
2. Is there plans for a community room in new building?
   • No, we look at that and would have had to add an additional room on the 4^th floor and the city didn’t like that idea. They were fine with putting the office and our storage area on the 4^th floor. Also, it would have increased the cost.
3. Would like to see luggage carts on each floor to be kept by elevator.
   • We can purchase luggage carts, similar to what you see in hotels.
4. Would like to see patio heaters or small fire pit areas, similar to what they have at Margaritaville.
   • We will add that to our list of items we have to purchase for the common ground.
5. good lighting by grill area
   • We have to adhere to the turtle lighting requirements and will do our best to maximize the lighting.
6. Artificial turf area, less maintenance and have cornhole set up on it. (similar to what Margaritaville)
   • At this time, the common area, behind the pool, close to the roadside will be pavers and the games will be portable to be brought out and set up. They will be stored under the timeshare building. The only permanent game will be the shuffleboard court which will be under the timeshare building.
7. Upon getting furniture for timeshare. Cloth furniture does not hold up . A pleather type couch would be better.
   • We are currently pricing all that out and do what to keep our “refresh” time to a max and do understand cloth furniture doesn’t hold up as well as pleather in terms of staining. We are looking at the least expensive option and keeping in mind durability.
8. Recliner chair in each timeshare
   • From layout and dimensions of the living room, to maximize available space, it may not be feasible to put in recliner chairs.
9. All main rooms to have king beds in timeshare.
   • Due to the fire code, King size beds won’t fit within the available space and still meet the code.
10. Donations and discounts, get an idea from what owners would have access to or discounts on any furniture, beach items, any items that would help bring the cost down.
    • Excellent idea! I will add that to my letter asking.

We may have some owners who have resources or connections to getting items needed at a discounted price.

11. Fundraising ideas. See if people might want to donate a bench, chair umbrella etc. in someone’s name. The Helman/ Meinzer family would love to donate a Bench in their son’s name who passed away. There might be others who would like to do the same thing.
    • Excellent idea! We will add that to our options. I would like to do that for my folks, since we are original owners. Donations would be monetary, and a space blank can be placed on it to identify who donated, etc…
12. Would like to see all monthly meetings recorded for review. As there are lots of questions and answers that are talked about after meeting when it’s open to ask questions. Those questions and answers are not in the monthly minutes.
    • We have discussed this. All meetings are open, and all minutes are published and made available for all to download.

President Response to Owners questions

Owners,

I am including the full board as I always do when corresponding with the owners to make sure we are all on the same page and informed.

I have received numerous emails about the letter the board just sent out so I am going to address you all at the same time.  I will repeat your question and then provide a response.  I will not include who sent which question, I believe you all will know what your question(s) is/are.

1. Question:

1. Good morning. I have a few questions regarding the email. You said that the price will depend on some factors. Is the price going to depend on the number of bedrooms or location of the unit. Another question is the amount of yearly fees. Last year they were over 700.00 which was a big increase from previous years. What are we looking at for fees. Considering everything will be new, there should not be many repairs. Also, when purchasing the indoor furniture instead of buying cheap furniture that does not last long, buy a commercial grade furniture like what they put in hotels and even though the cost is more initially in the long run it will be less since it will last longer.

• Response:

1. The final price per owner week will depend on the building rebuild cost and for the timeshare, all the furnishings, which include the furniture; bedroom linens; bathroom towels; kitchen small appliances & dishes & utensils, etc.. 
   1. We are looking at durable furnishings, one to minimize replenishment maintenance costs; wear & tear, etc..
   1. The rebuild was first estimated by the architectural firm with a “stick built frame”, not concrete or cider block, which is a lower cost.  After consideration with our insurance company and the architect and contractor, it was realized that our overall down the road cost due to insurance, scheduled maintenance, etc., would be lower with a concrete construction – as we have learned that the majority of all the new construction on the island is.
2. Question:

1. Good morning George, Thank you for this summary and thank you for your, and the Board’s, hard work on our behalf. One item I wanted to comment on is the initial estimate given for the timeshare unit weeks. Andy confirmed a few meetings ago that the initial estimated amount was about 5,000 per unit week at the high end. That is the amount that was presented to the owners for the vote.  You may have some owners who will comment more on this.

• Response:

1. Please see response to question 1, it should answer that for you.
   1. I don’t believe Andy confirmed the $5,000/unit week.  I reviewed the minutes and the board was having a discussion and Andy acknowledged the $5,000, he didn’t confirm it.
2. Question:

1. George,  From what I am reading below I am led to believe that the property may have been substantially underinsured.  Can you touch on this some?

• Response:

1. You are not the first person to ask this.  Our insurance is renewed each year and each year the insurance company performs an inspection of the property and provided us an “appraisal”.  They completed that in early spring of 2022 and insured us for the appraised value.  We weren’t given the option of a “replacement cost rider”, only insured for the appraised value.  The paid out “Limits” to the appraised value minus depreciation and detectable.
2. Question:

1. I have a question if half of the timeshare units decide to not participate will that make the other timeshare week owners have to pay more?

• Response:

1. First – if ½ the timeshare owners decide not to participate in the rebuild, we will be forced to sell the property and divide the proceeds between all the owners.
   1. Second – we have talked with our attorney and are working out the best approach how to recover that cost.  If we have a small amount that decide not to rebuild, we will use some of our insurance proceeds to cover that assessment and when the unit sells, repay the association.  This is all uncertain yet and will be dependent on the lender terms.
2. Question:

1. Good evening George,  After reading your letter regarding the financing on this project I feel like you may be getting the run around on this loan. From the get  go having 20 years experience in lending, this project seemed almost impossible to finance do to the time share aspect. Sometimes brokers will make you offers that maybe unobtainable hopping something will stick. I would try to get this to an underwriter as soon as possible. You are putting in alot of effort but I really think you may be spinning your wheels.  I appreciate the effort your putting in but,  think about getting every time share owner to signa deed. Please check with a title company to determine the logistics and cost.  Many thanks,

• Response:

1. You are correct, due to the timeshare aspect of the property, lenders have backed away from the get go.  We are now working with a local lender that does lend to HOAs/timeshare buildings.  We have already had 3 meetings with them and are told we will be getting a LOI next week.  If you have any lenders for us to contact, please forward me their contact info and I will reach out.  In parallel I am working with another broker that has lenders that are interested as well and will hear more back from them on that next week.
2. Question:

1. George,  Thanks for the update. Have we been able to secure insurance for the new complex?   Keep up the good work. 

• Response:

1. We have been told by our overall carrier and the Wind/Hazard carrier that they will reinsurance us.  The Wind carrier has already said they want to record every step of the reconstruction to see exactly how it’s done to assure we get the proper coverage.
2. Question:

1. Hi George,  I am sure you get asked this a lot, but my question is, I understand that every person that owns a week must pay their share.  The units that Royal Beach Club own that are for sale, is Royal Beach Club paying for their share of those?  Since you are the owner and you get the proceeds of that sale?  Or is this all divided among the people that actually are keeping theirs and the vacant ones don’t count?  Thank you for your help,

• Response:

1. Just to make sure you and everyone else understands, as a whole owner, I only own my unit.  As a board member, we don’t own anything or receive any sort of monetary compensation, only serve as a member of the board at the owners request.
   1. if RBC owns a timeshare week(s) already, those are listed for sale and the proceeds go directly into the HOA bank account.
   1. if we foreclose on a timeshare owner, that/those week(s) proceeds go directly into the HOA bank account to recover the cost of that assessment.
2. Question:

1. The rebuild amount of approximately a minimum $7500 is up quite significantly to when all owners voted on rebuild or not.  We had originally been thrown a number somewhere around $4500 or so right before the owners call to discuss the vote. 

• Response:

1. See my response from question 1.
2. Question:

1. Hi George, will our time share leases be extended to reflect our reinvestment into the rebuild?  If so, what is the new timeframe of ownership for the timeshare?  Thank you,

• Response:

1. At this point no.  When the timeshare contract expires in 2030, a vote will have to be taken to see if the owners want to extend or terminate the timeshare aspect.  This will not affect the whole owners at all, as they own their units out right.
2. Question:

1. Thank you for your comprehensive advice.

• Response:

1. Your welcome.  We have thought long and hard on this as well as discussed it with the association attorney.
2. Question:

1. Will there be another vote to rebuild or sell? When the original vote was taken, most timeshare owners did not have all the information needed to make an informed decision. It seems only right that owners should be given another opportunity to vote.  Thank you.

• Response:

1. The information we had at the time was based on the Architects estimate of projects they were currently involved in on the beach at the time.  The contractor quoted a larger amount and will be breaking that cost up per building and common area, which will gives us a more realistic estimate/owner week.
   1. Per our attorney, we don’t need to take another vote.  That being said, the board has discussed this and if the cost is truly per the higher amount, the board will discuss on taking another vote.
2. Question:

1. Mr. Andrew, thank you so very much for all of your hard work, as well as the Board in outlining the costs to rebuild our Royal Beach Club.  When we bought Unit 15, Week 8, on 9/14/81 we paid cash and have always paid our maintenance fees and taxes on time.  We have seen a lot of improvements over the years, especially adding the condos opposite the time share apartments.  In fact, I believe the Royal Beach Club is the only time share left standing, which is a testament to how well the management takes care of our property.
   1. That being said, at this point in our lives, we simply cannot afford the roughly $7500 the time share owners have to pay that is necessary to defray the cost to rebuild.  Since we do not have a mortgage, what are our options if we do not pay the assessment.  We don’t have the time or energy with trying to sell our unit either.   We have thoroughly enjoyed our week at the Royal Beach Club, and for the last 10 years, have exchanged to other locations, so we really have not even used our week in Ft. Myers.  Also, due to our health issues, we are not traveling as much as we have in the past.  We can cut our losses and forfeit our unit if we have to.  Please advise what we need to do, if anything.
   1. We thank you for your consideration and await your reply. Please feel free to forward this email to the rest of the Board members.
   1. Response:

1. At this point, if you would like to sell, please give Kelly your info and she will add It to the list we have.  As I mentioned in our letter, we will not broker your sale, only add it to our list.  If you have a buyer, as I stated in our letter, contact the title company to complete the transaction.
2. Question:

1. Thank you for the detailed and understandable letter. I have only one question….for those timeshare owners who default and will not pay the rebuild fees, and these shares go into foreclosure THEN……

• “association will use their funds to cover that cost and once the week(s) is/are sold, we will reimburse the association.  This will be used on weeks that the owner has defaulted on only,”

• The major worry here is the folks who are part of rebuild and paying our fees will have to shoulder more money to cover the  foreclosures who are not paying. The above quote indicates that the association will be ale to cover fees for the forecloses, RIGHT????   Thanks of all you do. I can only imagine what effort this takes……XX and XX appreciate it. 

• Response:

1. Please understand that this is an option we have discussed with our attorney, to prevent the other owners from have to “shoulder” the difference.  If we did it that way, we would have to adjust the assessment to add it (I’m sure no one likes that idea) and when the unit sold, reimburse all the remaining owners for that adjusted amount.  This is a HUGE bookkeeping exercise for Kelly and we don’t want to have to run it this way.
   1. All that being said, we would use the insurance money to offset any unpaid balance on the foreclosed week(s) and then pay the association back.
   1. The statement is correct in this only applies to Foreclosed properties, which will result in it being reported to your credit report.

Thank you all for your questions.  We hope they have been answered and please let me know if you have any further questions.

Regards,

George

Insurance

What is the status of the insurance claims?

Flood insurance:

• Policy has paid limits on the 8 unit Whole Owner building of $1.246M, 
• Policy has paid limits on the Timeshare building of $1.86M and $100K Office contents
• Policy has paid limits on the 3 unit Whole Owner building of $750K and $30K RBC Inventory

Wind insurance:

• Policy has made an advance payment of $500k

Board Meetings

Florida Statutes 718.112(2)(c)

(c) Board of administration meetings.—Meetings of the board of administration at which a quorum of the members is present are open to all unit owners. Members of the board of administration may use e-mail as a means of communication but may not cast a vote on an association matter via e-mail. A unit owner may tape record or videotape the meetings. The right to attend such meetings includes the right to speak at such meetings with reference to all designated agenda items. The division shall adopt reasonable rules governing the tape recording and videotaping of the meeting. The association may adopt written reasonable rules governing the frequency, duration, and manner of unit owner statements.

1. Adequate notice of all board meetings, which must specifically identify all agenda items, must be posted conspicuously on the condominium property at least 48 continuous hours before the meeting except in an emergency. If 20 percent of the voting interests petition the board to address an item of business, the board, within 60 days after receipt of the petition, shall place the item on the agenda at its next regular board meeting or at a special meeting called for that purpose. An item not included on the notice may be taken up on an emergency basis by a vote of at least a majority plus one of the board members. Such emergency action must be noticed and ratified at the next regular board meeting. Written notice of a meeting at which a nonemergency special assessment or an amendment to rules regarding unit use will be considered must be mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted to the unit owners and posted conspicuously on the condominium property at least 14 days before the meeting. Evidence of compliance with this 14-day notice requirement must be made by an affidavit executed by the person providing the notice and filed with the official records of the association. Notice of any meeting in which regular or special assessments against unit owners are to be considered must specifically state that assessments will be considered and provide the estimated cost and description of the purposes for such assessments. Upon notice to the unit owners, the board shall, by duly adopted rule, designate a specific location on the condominium property where all notices of board meetings must be posted. If there is no condominium property where notices can be posted, notices shall be mailed, delivered, or electronically transmitted to each unit owner at least 14 days before the meeting. In lieu of or in addition to the physical posting of the notice on the condominium property, the association may, by reasonable rule, adopt a procedure for conspicuously posting and repeatedly broadcasting the notice and the agenda on a closed-circuit cable television system serving the condominium association. However, if broadcast notice is used in lieu of a notice physically posted on condominium property, the notice and agenda must be broadcast at least four times every broadcast hour of each day that a posted notice is otherwise required under this section. If broadcast notice is provided, the notice and agenda must be broadcast in a manner and for a sufficient continuous length of time so as to allow an average reader to observe the notice and read and comprehend the entire content of the notice and the agenda. In addition to any of the authorized means of providing notice of a meeting of the board, the association may, by rule, adopt a procedure for conspicuously posting the meeting notice and the agenda on a website serving the condominium association for at least the minimum period of time for which a notice of a meeting is also required to be physically posted on the condominium property. Any rule adopted shall, in addition to other matters, include a requirement that the association send an electronic notice in the same manner as a notice for a meeting of the members, which must include a hyperlink to the website where the notice is posted, to unit owners whose e-mail addresses are included in the association’s official records.

2. Meetings of a committee to take final action on behalf of the board or make recommendations to the board regarding the association budget are subject to this paragraph. Meetings of a committee that does not take final action on behalf of the board or make recommendations to the board regarding the association budget are subject to this section, unless those meetings are exempted from this section by the bylaws of the association.

3. Notwithstanding any other law, the requirement that board meetings and committee meetings be open to the unit owners does not apply to:

a. Meetings between the board or a committee and the association’s attorney, with respect to proposed or pending litigation, if the meeting is held for the purpose of seeking or rendering legal advice; or

b. Board meetings held for the purpose of discussing personnel matters.

RCI

Current Status

• They cannot accept future deposits from our owners until we have a reopen date.

Rentals

If I am a renter, when will I get my refund?

• All refunds have been sent out.

Refund Checks

• If a check has an incorrect address and it is due to the renter not updating the information, the renter is responsible for the stop payment fee.
• If it has been less than 60 days since the check was mailed, and the information is correct, the renter will be responsible for the stop payment fee.
• At 45 days from date of mailing, RBC will reach out to renter regarding status of check, whether it was received or not and verify information.
• If it has been 60 days since the check was mailed, and the information is correct, RBC will cover stop payment and reissue.
• If it has been 90 days since the check was mailed and it is still not cashed, the check will be considered void and need to be reissued.