When a resort is sold out or approaching sell out its ownership is generally turned over to an HOA or POA consisting of the timeshare owners of the resort, with an elected board to administer the rules and regulations. Sometimes a sold out resort will hire an outside management company to operate the resort, collect maintenance fees, etc.; sometimes the developer maintains management rights.

Holiday Club / Vacation Club

A "club" which provides a number of weeks holiday, usually in timeshare apartments. These Clubs are generally not covered by the laws regulating the sale of timeshare and are often not able to fulfill their promises.

Holiday Ownership

Another term for Timeshare.

II (Interval International)

The second largest exchange company in the world.

In-House Reps

Sales staff employed to sell to existing owners who are staying at the resort. See IPCIPC.

IPC (Internal Personal Contacts)

Sales staff employed to sell to existing owners who are staying at the resort. See In-House.

IVA

Abbreviation for Spanish Value Added Tax.

Interval

An assigned period of time. Based on the interval calendar wherein the fifty-two weeks of the year are numbered sequentially Week 01 through Week 52 or Week 53. A specific interval week is a seven-day period encompassing one of those fifty-two weeks.

Interval Calendar

An annual calendar depicting the fifty-two or fifty-three weeks of each calendar year showing starting days of Friday to Friday, Saturday to Saturday, and Sunday to Sunday, check in dates. Lease/Leasehold Some states and some foreign countries do not allow deeded ownership of timeshares. Alternatively, a lease ownership or Right-To-Use (RTU) ownership grants the leasor the right to use the property for a specified period of time; usually from 20 to 99 years. Ownership of the physical property is held by the resort developer or management company. Most properties in Hawaii, for instance, are leasehold properties. The same is true in Mexico.

Levy

In a points club, the annual charge to members to pay for administration of the club in addition to any management charge or supplementary management charge made for actual use of a week. Also a one-time charge made to owners by an Owners Club or Management Company to pay for major or unexpected costs. See Special Assessment

Linked Agreement

In the UK and Europe this is method of getting around the law banning the taking of deposits. The Timeshare Purchase Agreement, in which no deposit is shown, is linked with another (which might be a holiday voucher [aka a "cert"] or some other holiday scheme) which is, in reality, the deposit. The two agreements appear to be separate, but in reality they are linked.

Lock-out / Lock-off Unit

Typically, a unit which has the capability of being divided to create two separate but complete sections. If an owner buys a lockout unit, he can divide the unit and either stay in one half of the unit and rent the other half or rent both halves to different parties.

Lug

At Any time, obtaining a "premium" or higher price for a timeshare week than the developer is currently asking.

Maintenance Fees

Maintenance fees are established and collected by the Home Owners Association or Resort Management Company to maintain the property, pay insurance, utilities, refurbishing and taxes. These fees vary from resort to resort and with the type and size of the unit purchased. The cost of resort operation is spread among owners. This fee must also build up reserves to pay for non-recurring costs like furniture, appliances etc. that need periodic replacement and other capital costs as normal physical deterioration occurs.

Note During the active sales period, maintenance fees may be temporarily subsidized by the developer as a marketing tool. When the HOA takes over, fees may rise to unsubsidized levels.

Management Company

The company contracted, usually by the Owners Club/HOA, to carry out all the day-to-day management of the resort. Very often owned or controlled by the developer. See HOA/POA

Management Fees

The fees, usually paid annually, by each owner or points club member to cover the costs of running the resort on a day-to-day basis.

Marketing Company

A separate company from the developer responsible for marketing. Sometimes a developer will manage the on-site marketing and employ a separate Marketing Company to manage off-site marketing

Maximum Occupancy

The maximum number of persons an interval unit will accommodate; usually from 2 to 10 persons. Maximum occupancy is typically expressed in conjunction with "private occupancy" referring to the number of persons the unit will sleep privately and the number of bedrooms within the unit. Configurations of units vary from resort to resort.

Mini-Vac

A mini-vacation package where the resort pays all or most of the holiday costs of a prospective purchaser in return for that prospect attending a sales presentation. See Fly-Buy.

Mooch

A term used by timeshare sales people to describe prospective buyers who are attending a sales presentation only for the gift, with no intention of even considering a purchase. This is one of the more flattering terms (relatively speaking). There are other industry terms for such people, but they are mostly unprintable. A professional mooch is someone who makes a regular practice of doing this.

Nose Bleed Drop

A sales term for quickly dropping the initial stated price a precipitous amount without much haggling in between.