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ARDA and ARDA-ROC’s 2025 Legislative Focus

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News and Press Releases

ARDA and ARDA-ROC’s legislative team are gearing up for the upcoming state and federal sessions. Thanks to our advocacy team’s efforts last year, ARDA-ROC and ARDA enjoyed some big legislative wins and defeated significant legislation that could have negatively impacted owners and the industry. We expect that many of these same subject matters will surface again in 2025.

Foreclosure

ARDA-ROC pursued a non-judicial foreclosure (NJF) bill in North Carolina, HB 1034. NJF is an alternative type of foreclosure to a judicial foreclosure. In a judicial foreclosure, the foreclosing party must file a lawsuit asking a court for an order allowing a foreclosure sale. It can sometimes take a year or more to complete the entire judicial foreclosure process.

In states with NJF, a party, usually a lender or HOA, can foreclose without obtaining a court order. They will still have to follow all statutory procedures to use NJF, including restrictions on timelines and notices. Often, the party being foreclosed on will have the choice to opt for a judicial foreclosure.

Virginia HB 880/SB 341 would have required that at least $5,000 accrue in assessments before an HOA could initiate a foreclosure proceeding, essentially eliminating the ability for an HOA to foreclose. Before the bill was enacted, ARDA-ROC successfully got timeshare exempted from the bill.

Last session also saw the passage of Colorado HB 1233. This bill was a partnership between ARDA/ARDA-ROC and the Colorado Home Builders Association and provides an exemption for timeshare associations from many of the notice requirements for delinquent assessments and fees (for example, multiple notices via registered mail or physical posting of notices on units) which took effect in 2022.

Inn Keeper’s Rights, Clarifications to Estoppel Certificates, Facilities Management, and Commissioners of Deeds

ARDA-ROC supported legislation in Florida last session to add flexibility for association boards regarding managing or removing facilities as defined in the Florida Statutes, clarifying that associations and managers should follow estoppel requirements in the Timeshare Act rather than the Condo Act, and explicitly extending the rights granted to hotels to deal with disruptive guests staying in timeshares. In addition, ARDA-ROC was able to secure an amendment which transferred responsibility for appointment of commissioners of deeds from the Governor’s office to the Secretary of State which will improve efficiency in that process.

Condo Reform

ARDA-ROC also worked to minimize the impact of major changes to Florida Statutes governing condominiums and association managers. Florida HB 1021 passed the legislature unanimously and will make significant changes to the requirements for association board members and managers in several areas, including the procurement of and payment for goods and services. While timeshare exemptions were added for two of the more problematic provisions, there are several others, including some relating to contracts, that will require changes for managers. ARDA and ARDA-ROC will continue to monitor this issue.

Timeshare Extension/Termination

ARDA-ROC secured another legislative win in Virginia last session with Governor Youngkin signing its bill on timeshare plan termination/extension, HB 1241. The LPC and ARDA-ROC-supported law puts policies and procedures into place for the full or partial termination of a timeshare plan. Many resorts, especially older ones, have expiration dates for their timeshare plans, but no procedures for what happens when the plan expires. This bill will fill in that gap for owners and ensure they are not left in the lurch.

Take-Back Bill

A take-back bill was filed last year in Virginia, HB 918, that ARDA-ROC successfully defeated. This bill would have required a seller’s mandatory take-back of timeshare interests after certain conditions had been met. After the ARDA-ROC team met with the bill patron multiple times, the bill was eliminated before the committee hearing.

Exit Company Defeat

Late last session, an exit company-driven amendment was tacked onto an innocuous bill in Tennessee (HB 2617, SB 2547). The amendment would have prohibited developers from communicating with their owners about low-cost exit options and clarify that exit services are not the practice of law in Tennessee. A hearing in the House was scheduled on this amendment, but right before we were set to testify in the Commerce subcommittee hearing, the Chair of the full committee decided to table the bill being put forth by the exit company. While ARDA-ROC successfully defeated the boll for 2024, more of this type of legislation is expected to arise in 2025.

Timeshare Taxation

The ARDA-ROC team, working with a broad group of hospitality and tourism interests, helped defeat Colorado SB 33. SB 33, which would have reclassified any existing residential property as commercial (raising the tax rate from under 7% to over 25%) if the property was listed or used as a short-term rental. Despite several efforts to amend the bill which could have reduced, but not eliminated, the negative impacts, the bill was voted down in committee and died during last session. Based on the noise around short-term rentals recently in Colorado, there is a chance that similar legislation will be put forth in the future.

Lowering Visa Wait Times

Early in 2024, Congress passed its government spending package H.R. 2882, which included $50 million in funding for the State Department to reduce visitor visa wait times.  

Working within a coalition of like-minded associations within the travel and tourism space, ARDA has been able to leverage upcoming high-profile sporting events in the United States (such as the FIFA World Cup in 2026 and Summer Olympics in 2028) to address the need for additional efforts to help bring down visa wait times and make the US a more attractive destination.  Having long advocated for the US government to set a public goal for visa wait times, ARDA commends the State Department’s recent announcement of a 90 day (average wait time) goal in 90% of US Embassies across the globe.  The team will continue to support efforts to make sure the State Department has the funds and resources necessary to make sure the U.S. is prepared to welcome international visitors.

Privacy

ARDA has continued to closely monitor privacy legislation that has been taken up by the House Energy & Commerce Committee. The American Privacy Rights Act of 2024 (H.R. 8818) seeks to create a national privacy standard that would have a broad preemptive effect over many provisions of state-level data privacy laws, while also giving consumers the right to enforce the law by filing a civil suit against entities that violate their rights under the bill.  As has been the case with prior privacy legislation, this bill is not without controversy as the issues of pre-emption and the private right of action continue to dominate amongst concerns from legislators on both sides of the aisle.  Earlier in 2024, the Committee had scheduled to mark-up the bill but the mark-up was abruptly cancelled only minutes before it was to begin, after growing opposition from a number of legislators, including House Leadership, who strongly opposed the bill in its form at the time and signaled that it would not be brought to the House Floor for a vote. ARDA will continue to monitor the situation as it develops. 

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