The Timeshare Beat: Broker wins battle over appraisal charges

Broker wins battle over appraisal charges

By THOMAS S. BROWN (tom.brown@news-jrnl.com)
Business Editor - Daytona Beach News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH - A Daytona Beach time-share broker has won a court ruling upholding his right to charge appraisal fees.

Century 21 Timeshare Resales, a brokerage operated by Thomas Lugen at 1425 Tomoka Farms Road, went to Circuit Court after the Florida Division of Land Sales, Condominiums and Mobile Homes challenged its practice of charging potential clients appraisal fees of $200 to $300 apiece.

In his Sept. 25 ruling in Tallahassee, Judge J. Ralph Smith found that the agency's appraisal fee was not the same as charging an advance fee for listing a time-share property, a practice forbidden by state law.

The judge said the evidence supported a finding that Century 21's appraisal work is being conducted independently of its brokerage services.

Richard C. Booth, an attorney representing Century 21, said the ruling will help owners of time-shares get professional advice on how to price their units realistically if they decide to sell them.

"What a lot of owners don't realize is that most of these time-shares lose about half their value as soon as you buy them," Booth said. "It's like driving a new car off the lot."

Time-share resale commissions generally run in the 25 to 30 percent range, Booth said. The rates reflect the intensive sales work required to find prospective buyers for the units and the incentives that are offered to induce prospects to visit the properties. The state agency had no immediate comment on the ruling.

It has appealed the case to the First District Court of Appeal, but Booth said Lugen and other brokers are free to charge the fees while the appeal is pending.
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