RTU vs Deed

what is the difference between RTU and deed

RTU, means your in the pool with everyone else when it comes to using you TS. You have a right to use a unit Size dependent on how many points you have, yearly(if you bought yearly), basically when ever you can score the week you want. Deeded, on the hand guarantees a specific unit, on the given week, yearly or bi.yearly which ever one you bought.

A few minor corrections may be in order in regard to williamp511's above response.

RTU (right to use) contracts involve no ownership of anything, but do not necessarily involve "points". It's maybe easier to think of RTU as just a "membership", with no actual ownership of anything --- just a contractual right to access a property, along with other RTU contract holders or "members". In Mexico, virtually ALL timeshares are (no points involved) RTU "memberships". In the U.S., RTU "memberships" are less common but they certainly exist, usually in some form of "Vacation Club".

In regard to deeded ownership, in addition to the deeded "fixed" week situation William described above, there are also "floating" week deeded ownerships. In a deeded "floating" week ownership, you do NOT necessarily get the same week OR the same unit from one year to the next. Also, in "floating" week deeded ownerships, the owner (unlike in "fixed" week deeded ownerships) has to overtly and actively reserve a week each and every "use year"; an inconvenient exercise that requires "early bird" focus and effort in order to reserve any of the "best" weeks.

There is often a specific, limited range of weeks in which reservations can be made in "floating" week ownerships (for example, weeks 1-5, or weeks 15-26, etc.). In a "floating" week ownership which has these limited reservation ranges (most, but not all, "floating" week deeded ownerships do in fact have these "range" constraints), the owner can ONLY reserve weeks within that very specific and limited "range" of weeks. You may actually never be in the same unit (or the same week) more than once in a deeded "floating" week ownership.

Some people like the fact that "floating" week deeded ownerships do not restrict you to being in the very same unit for the very same week every year. Other people don't like "floating" week ownerships at all, wanting no part of the reservation uncertainty or having to spend time on the phone trying (with no guarantees) to reserve a desirable week, despite having a deeded ownership. Personally, I prefer the certainty and guarantee (with NO phone reservation gyrations required) of deeded "fixed" week ownership but, as always, to each their own personal preference.

This very same RTU vs. Deed question was asked and answered in this very same thread just three days ago --- and MANY times before in these RedWeek discussion forums. The "search forums" function (see upper right on this page) is your friend, people.

Thanks for the reminder Ken. I had forgotten about floating........I've always thought of RTU and floating as a last ditch effort by the sales weasels to get you to buy in.

Does Deeded ownership put you at more risks for Special Assessments for Vistana/Starwood properites. Should deeded owners purchase insurance for this purpose.

Special assessments are part of the package . As older resorts age or get hit by storms they need to assess the owners . Whether it's points or deeded the owners are going to pay . RTU is different but you have to read your contract to see if they can assess the owners .

stephenk101 wrote:

Does Deeded ownership put you at more risks for Special Assessments for Vistana/Starwood properites. Should deeded owners purchase insurance for this purpose.

In my own several decades of timeshare ownership experience, I have never heard of insurance being available to insure / protect against (completely unpredictable) special assessments. I am strongly inclined to doubt that any such thing actually exists.