If you are a Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI) owner, you may have legal rights in Spain to seek a full refund of your membership. We invite you to explore your options.
In January 2015, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that timeshare contracts signed after 5 January 1999 cannot run in perpetuity or for more than 50 years. Contracts must also meet specific legal requirements, including clearly stating the apartment/unit and week owned, with defined dates of use. This has led to many “points” and “floating weeks” arrangements being found unlawful in Spain where they do not provide that essential detail.
More recently, Malaga-based M1 Legal have obtained hundreds of compensation awards and set important precedents in the Spanish courts, including two recent awards for clients against MVCI.
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Case 1 |
Hearing Date: | 28 January 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Contractual Name: | MVCI Holidays S.L. & MVCI Management S.L. | |
| Reason for Nullity: | The contract end date exceeded 50 years and it did not provide a cooling-off period | |
| Amount Awarded: | £14,980 |
|
Case 2 |
Hearing Date: | 9 March 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Contractual Name: | MVCI Holidays S.L. & MVCI Management S.L. | |
| Reason for Nullity: | Malaga Court of Appeal confirmed the nullity (despite arguments from MVCI) due to the contract length (ending in 2077) | |
| Amount Awarded: | £33,992 |
To date, M1 Legal have secured 523 victories against Spanish-based resorts, valued at £9.1 million, and are handling hundreds more cases, including many involving Marriott Vacation Club International through the Spanish courts.
These results suggest that major timeshare companies increasingly have to accept compensation claims where contracts do not comply with Spanish law. While some less credible businesses have sought to avoid this responsibility, we are pleased that MVCI have acknowledged that many of their Spanish contracts failed to meet legal requirements and have allocated funds for compensation. In their 2020 MVCI Annual Report, they state:
Loss contingencies
"We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims in the normal course of business, the outcomes of which are subject to significant uncertainty. We record an accrual for loss contingencies when we determine that it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. In making such determinations we evaluate, among other things, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome and, when it is probable that a liability has been incurred, our ability to make a reasonable estimate of the loss. We review these accruals each reporting period and make revisions based on changes in facts and circumstances."
The same report also notes that since 2018 they have incurred $58 million in litigation liabilities. In 2019, approximately two thirds of their litigation liabilities related to projects in Europe.
We hope you have found this notice helpful, and invite you to find out more about your legal rights.
