RTU and Deed

What is the difference betwen RTU and Deed membership.? I am interesting to buy a resale membership for Marriotts Phutket Beach ' Club. Do I enjoy the same benefits as members who buy directly from Marriotts?

Mrs. Chong

RTU means Right to Use .... in other words if you buy into a RTU resort, you have the right to use that unit/week until a certain date in the future listed in your contract. In Mexico RTU is the only way to acquire a week of timeshare.

what is deed ownership

terrif8 wrote:

what is deed ownership

A deed is a legal document which is officially recorded in government file records (usually, but not always, at the County level here in the USA). A deed publicly and formally states, validates and acknowledges the ownership of real property (hence, "deeded ownership"). Deeded timeshare ownership is (...just as a house is) "real property" ownership --- but you own only "a very small piece of the overall property" in the case of deeded timeshare ownership.

RTU (right to use) has no deed, because there simply is no actual "ownership" involved in the first place. RTU is really more of a "membership", in which you own absolutely NOTHING, but whereby you have ACCESS to a property (or to several properties) by means of a contractually granted "right to use" of specifically defined duration (often, but certainly not always, 20 years). You may sell those membership rights to someone else, but there is no actual underlying "ownership" to sell, since there is no real property "owned" by a RTU contract participant in the first place. Hence, there is no "deed" in a RTU contract.

Vacation clubs with contractual RTU membership rights, for example, generally utilize their own internal membership contract forms and paperwork. RTU contract paperwork is NOT a "deed" (...again, because you don't actually OWN anything in RTU).

I apologize for being long-winded in this explanation, but I hope that it clearly explains the differences in a manner which is helpful.

RTU has a ending date, in Mexico it is 25 or 30 years. At the end of the time period you do not own the timeshare anymore. Which means you can get out of the timeshare at that time. Deeded property means you own it forever. You have to pay maint. fees forever. Your kids or your estates could be paying the maint. fees. When you are old and can't use it anymore you still have to pay maint. fees so be careful when you buy deeded property..

If you purchase RTU points from an existing owner, does the timeshare property owner have to honor the transfer of points or RTU? What are the drawbacks from purchasing points from existing owner of RTU points? Thanks, Larry Eckert

larrye120 wrote:

If you purchase RTU points from an existing owner, does the timeshare property owner have to honor the transfer of points or RTU? What are the drawbacks from purchasing points from existing owner of RTU points? Thanks, Larry Eckert

Just my opinion .... if you purchase RTU points from an existing owner using a reputable timeshare closing company then you should be okay, and yes, the RTU years will remain the same as the previous owner.

If I have floating red season weeks and can use multiple weeks at a time to upgrade or vacation with friends, what happens when you run out of weeks before the RTU expires? Is my membership just over then?

lancer47 wrote:

If I have floating red season weeks and can use multiple weeks at a time to upgrade or vacation with friends, what happens when you run out of weeks before the RTU expires? Is my membership just over then?

It depends on what your contract says. In general I would think your contract would end when it the RTU ends. You just might not have any weeks that you can use. If there are any annual fees not associated with using your week you still may be subject to them until the membership is over.

Just purchased a timeshare in Maine, week 31 I have a deed. The owner wants to give me the deposited transfer request which she already paid for year 2014 and 2015. International Interval is playing games, what is the legal aspect? Thanks

Generally when a unit is sold and old weeks have been banked with II and the new owner wants to transfer them to the new owner, II will deposit a replacement week in the new owners account that has similar trading power to the deposited ones. In order to add the new unit onto an II account the new owner would either have to pay a $39 fee or pay to extend the II membership by one year or more.

Hi All, I was just wondering how these two ways to own differ from something called "perpetual ownership" I would appreciate your input. LoisC

"Perpetual ownership" simply means that there is no date-specific end or expiration associated with a particular deeded ownership. That being said however, it is worthy of note that some timeshare properties have "sunset clauses" written right into their CC&R's (the underlying condo declaration documents filed and recorded when the place was first built). This "sunset" date is commonly 40 years after initial construction in some Florida properties, for example. When that "sunset" date comes along, a supermajority of owners may have to agree to continue on as a timeshare property, if that is what the CC&R's indicate.

RTU contracts, on the other hand, are only for property access and use, with no "ownership" of anything at at all --- and generally not "perpetual". Like most contracts, RTU "memberships" generally contain a very specific expiration date (commonly 20 or 30 years in many Mexican RTU contracts, just for one example).

I hope this helps you to better understand the distinctions detailed above.

loisa wrote:

Hi All, I was just wondering how these two ways to own differ from something called "perpetual ownership" I would appreciate your input. LoisC

Can a lendor foreclose on a "right to use" timeshare?

karenl1026 wrote:

Can a lendor foreclose on a "right to use" timeshare?

No one can foreclose on a Right-to-Use (RTU) because it's not deeded property. It's just a membership. The resort or membership club might terminate the membership. The lender will probably send collection calls after the borrower.

If I purchase a RTU at the Royal Sands in Cancun Mexico. Would I then be considered a owner? Because Non owners are required to pay a daily All Inclusive fee per day in some cases.

What are the pros and cons for RTU and a deed?

A deeded week means you can go to your resort every year . You own it and are committed to pay maintenance fees and assessments until you get the title out of your name . A Right to Use you own nothing and will be bound by the contract you sign with the resort .

I still own a deeded week on the Las Vegas strip right next to Bellagio . I love it and I go there almost every year . I keep a week banked in case I want to spend more than one week there any given year . My week is also a floating week so I can use it anytime they have availability . I usually go off season in the fall and have never had a problem booking my week . They treat owners like royalty there . It's funny because every time I go to register at the desk they know me by name and always have my room already reserved for me . I guess it pays to be a regular guest and I always take care of the staff when I go there .

Make sure you do your homework before you sign any paperwork . There are still a lot of good independent resorts . Never buy points . You will be at the mercy of the resort to get a reservation and if you read through the forum you will see many instances of people not getting the resort or the week they want .

shaunl25 wrote:

What are the pros and cons for RTU and a deed?

This question has been asked and answered in detail many times in this discussion forum over the years, so I won't beat that dead horse. Note however that that many (but not all) RTU contracts have a specific "end date", providing an "exit" avenue guaranteed to be available at some pre-identified future date.

Deeds are generally "in perpetuity", making you solely responsible for achieving a lawful transfer of ownership if / when you want "out". Most deeds identify annual use, but some are for biennial use (one week every other year) or triennial use (one week every three years).

Maybe I should clarify. I know what the two are, but from hearing from many people I can't really get a sense of which is better. That's why I was asking about the pros and cons of each rather than a definition.