Accelerated Use: Accelerated use refers to a program that permits someone to use their purchased time in increasingly
Accrued Weeks: Any unused weeks from the previous year that have been banked and are available for use this year. T
Ad Valorem: A legal term which translates to 'according to value'. This refers to assessment of property tax.
Amenities: Features such as swimming pools, tennis courts, laundry rooms and boat docks that offer additional c
American Resort Development Association (ARDA): Based in Washington, D.C., this is the foremost trade association representing the timeshare ownersh
Anniversary Date: The day on which earned points accumulate, once per year. This applies in the case of timeshare reso
Appraisal: For real estate, an estimation of the worth of a given property, expressed as market value. Determin
Appreciation: When real estate appreciates, it has accrued value. Rarely, however, do timeshare properties appreci
Banking: Generally, when dealing with a timeshare exchange company, a timeshare owner has the option to reser
Biennial (EOY): Usage of a timeshare week occurring every other year. Also referred to as EOY (every other year).
Block Banking: Banking a large amount of timeshare weeks with an exchange company as soon as possible.
Bonus Time: Bonus time is use of a resort in addition to regular allocated time on a space available basis. A De
Bonus Weeks: Often promoted by a timeshare developer, timeshare resort, or exchange company, these are usually lo
Bulk Banking: Banking a large amount of timeshare weeks with an exchange company as soon as possible.
Closing Costs: Expenses incurred during the sale closing process, or 'back end' of a transaction. These normally in
Club-Trust Membership: Becoming more popular, this system of timeshare ownership is most common in the UK. Members of a clu
Constitution: Legal documentation which describes and regulates the relationships between the management company,
Cooling-Off Period: Also know as rescission, this term refers to the time period following the purchase of a timeshare p
Credits: Related to timeshare products or programs offered by some timeshare companies that assign a yearly a
Deeded Ownership: A timeshare product that is evidenced by an actual deed to a specific property or unit. Deeds are re
Deeded Property: A deeded property is one in which the property title does not expire. Once you own the timeshare, it
Demand Times: The periods of time in a resort that are requested the most. These are often unique to the particula
Deposit Window: The 24 month time frame within which timeshare owners are eligible to deposit their vacation week in
Depreciation: Reduction of the value of real estate or other property. Vacation properties are not necessarily pro
End-User Finance: When a loan is provided to enable a buyer to purchase timeshare property.
Escritura: In Spanish, the registration and deeding process for a Deed of Title.
Escrow: An account specifically for the purpose of holding funds from a timeshare buyer and a seller. A thir
Exchange: The process of trading intervals, credits or points at one resort for those at another resort, or in
Exchange Company: An organization which exists to facilitate the exchange of banked timeshare weeks. The largest of th
Exchange Confirmation: Notification that owners of timeshares and the host resorts receive regarding the unit they receive
Fee Simple: A type of timeshare ownership wherein the owner holds a deed in his/her name. Fee Simple is consider
Fixed Unit: The owner of a fixed unit timeshare property will always have the same physical unit each year, at t
Fixed Week: A fixed week is a specific week during the calendar year usually identified by a number. Most fixed
Float Week: A floating week may be used any time during the calendar year based on a resort's availability. Typi
Fractional Ownership: Timeshare ownership of two or more weeks at the same resort during a calendar year. Generally define
Gold Crown Resort: RCI's highest rating for a resort. Similar to I.I.'s criteria for 'five-star resort'.
Guest Certificate: Documentation provided by an exchange company usually affiliated with a resort. This document author
Holiday Club/Vacation Club: An organization which provides a number of timeshare weeks to members. In some parts of the world th
Holiday Ownership: Synonymous with vacation ownership, another term for timeshare.
Homeowners Association (Hoa): Timeshare developments are often structured like any condominium association, with a Homeowner's Ass
I.I.: Interval International, the second largest exchange company in the world.
Instant Exchange: A vacation exchange conveniently made by telephone for travel dates within the next 2 to 45 days.
Instant Exchange: An exchange of timeshare intervals on short notice, typically between two and forty-five days. Insta
Internal Exchange: An exchange of a week of vacation ownership within the same resort or a network of resorts owned by
Interval: This term refers to a unit of time. For instance, one week of timeshare ownership is an interval wee
Interval: An assigned period of time in a timeshare resort. Typically, an interval consists of one or more wee
Lease: In localities where the deeded ownership of vacation properties is not permitted by law, it is stand
Leased Or Certificate Property: The right to use your timeshare for a specified number of years. Certain resorts may allow for accel
Levy: Among members of a points club, the term levy refers to administrative fees incurred by individual m
Life Property: A membership that allows usage each year for the owner's lifetime.
Linked Agreement: Two agreements, appearing to be separate, which are in fact linked. For example, in areas where laws
Lockout, A.K.A. Lock-Off Unit: A timeshare property which can be divided into two complete sections so that two different parties m
Maintenance Fee: A regular charge levied by the management company of a particular resort or the homeowners associati
Maintenance Fee: The Homeowners Association or Resort Management Company establishes and collects maintenance fees fo
Management Company: A company responsible for running a resort on a day-to-day basis, often contracted to do so by the h
Maximum Occupancy: The Maximum number of guests that a timeshare unit will accommodate.
Odd- Or Even-Year Usage: Biennial vacation property ownership where the owner can use his/her property every other year, term
Ote (Organisation For Timeshare In Europe): A trade association in Europe composed of resort owners and developers. The OTE is similar to ARDA,
Points: Points are units of measurement used by exchange companies and timeshare owners to establish value f
Points: Related to timeshare products or programs offered by some timeshare companies that assign a yearly a
Private Occupancy: The number of guests that a resort unit will accommodate, based on two adults per separate sleeping
Quartershare: Three-month interval ownership with a rotating schedule.
Rci: Resort Condominiums International. Owned by Cendant, RCI is the largest timeshare exchange company i
Red Week: The peak season at a resort during which time timeshare properties are at their most desirable. Diff
Request Window: The 24 month time frame within which owners of timeshares may submit their vacation exchange request
Resale: A timeshare property being advertised for sale after it was originally purchased from a resort devel
Rescission: A grace period allowed by law and/or company policy during which time a timeshare buyer has the righ
Right To Use: An alternative to a deeded timeshare, a right-to-use product is made by an owner agreement granting
Right To Use (Rtu): A lease agreement granting use of a timeshare property for a specific time period. The management co
Season: Each resort will have different seasons, and this has a significant impact on the demand of any time
Sinking Fund: A fraction of a resort's management fee that is allocated specifically to ensure that the facilities
Space Banking: Space banking occurs when a timeshare owner deposits a timeshare week into an exchange company's 'ba
Special Assessment: In addition to a yearly maintenance fee, sometimes this additional charge is billed to timeshare own
Standard Exchange: A vacation exchange request made by telephone or mail for travel dates between 24 months and 45 days
Stock Company: Resorts issue shares of ownership in the property or properties they sell. Instead of owning a deed
Time Division: A way of classifying interval weeks as according to value, time division breaks all the weeks in a g
Timeshare: The concept of purchasing an increment of time at a resort, condominium, apartment, or other facilit
Timeshare Developers: Companies that develop or acquire resort properties, and usually market and sell the timeshare inven
Trading Power: The value assigned to an interval week when trading a timeshare property for a different week throug
Trustees: Trustees of a resort property exist primarily to provide a secure backing in case a resort developer
Unit Size: Timeshares are usually described as condominium units, hotel-style units, studio units, or by the nu
Vacation Ownership: Synonymous with 'timeshare'
Week Fifty-Three: Once about every seven years, a year will have fifty-three weeks rather than fifty-two. The fifty-th
