As used in sections 42-103cc to 42-103ddd, inclusive:
(1) “Accommodation” means any apartment, condominium or cooperative unit, cabin, lodge, hotel or motel room, or any other private or commercial structure that: (A) Is affixed to real property; (B) is designed for occupancy or use by one or more individuals; and (C) is part of a time share plan.
(2) “Advertisement” means any written, oral or electronic communication directed or targeted at individuals in this state that contains a promotion, inducement or offer to sell a time share interest, including, but not limited to, brochures, pamphlets, radio or television transcripts, telephone or electronic media or direct mail. “Advertisement” does not include: (A) Any stockholder communication, including an annual report or interim financial report, proxy material, registration statement, securities prospectus, time share disclosure statement or other material required to be delivered to a prospective purchaser by a state or federal governmental entity; (B) any oral or written statement disseminated by a developer to broadcast or print media, except the following shall be considered an advertisement: (i) Paid advertising or promotional material relating to plans for acquiring or developing time share property; and (ii) the rebroadcast or other dissemination of any oral statements by a developer to a prospective purchaser or the distribution or other dissemination of written statements, including newspaper or magazine articles or press releases, by a developer to prospective purchasers; (C) the offering of a time share interest in a national publication or by electronic media that is not specifically targeted to any individual located in this state; (D) any audio, written or visual publication or material relating to the availability of any accommodations for transient rental if (i) a sales presentation is not a term or condition of the availability of the accommodations, and (ii) the failure of the transient renter to take a tour of the time share property or attend a sales presentation does not result in a reduction in the level of services or an increase in the rental price that would otherwise be available to the renter; or (E) any follow-up communication with a person relating to a promotion if the person previously received an advertisement relating to the promotion that complied with section 42-103ll.
(3) “Amenities” means all recreational facilities made available to purchasers in a time share plan.
(4) “Assessment” means the amount assessed against or collected from a purchaser by an association or its managing entity in a fiscal year to cover expenditures, charges, reserves or liabilities related to the operation of a time share plan or time share properties managed by the same managing entity.
(5) “Association” means a council or association composed of all owners of a time share interest.
(6) “Bonus time” means a program for the nonguaranteed use of accommodations or amenities at one or more time share properties under common management that allows reservations by owners of the time share properties for unreserved accommodations or amenities during a period of not more than thirty days before the desired reservation dates.
(7) “Closing agent” means a title agent, a bonded escrow company, a financial institution whose accounts are insured by a governmental agency or instrumentality, or an attorney (A) admitted to the bar of the state in which the closing occurs, (B) who is not an employee of the developer or of an affiliated entity under common ownership and control of the developer, and (C) who is responsible for the receipt and disbursement of funds in accordance with sections 42-103cc to 42-103ddd, inclusive.
(8) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Consumer Protection.
(9) “Component site” means a specific geographic location where accommodations that are part of a multisite time share plan are located. Separate phases of a single time share property in a specific geographic location and under common management shall be deemed a single component site.
(10) “Conspicuous type” means: (A) (i) Type in upper and lower case letters two point sizes larger than the largest nonconspicuous type, exclusive of headings, on the page on which it appears, but not less than ten-point type, or (ii) where the use of ten-point type would be impractical or impossible with respect to a particular piece of written advertising material, a different style of type or print that is conspicuous under the circumstances; and (B) separated on all sides from other type and print.
(11) “Department” means the Department of Consumer Protection.
(12) “Developer” means: (A) Any person, excluding a sales agent, who creates a time share plan, is in the business of selling time share interests or employs a sales agent to sell time share interests; or (B) any person who succeeds in the developer's interest by sale, lease, assignment, mortgage or other transfer if such person (i) offers not less than twelve time share interests in a particular time share plan, and (ii) is in the business of selling time share interests or employs a sales agent to sell time share interests.
(13) “Dispose” or “disposition” means a voluntary transfer of any legal or equitable time share interest, but does not include the transfer or release of a real estate lien or of a security interest.
(14) “Exchange company” means any person who owns or operates an exchange program.
(15) “Exchange disclosure statement” means a written statement that includes the information required by section 42-103nn.
(16) “Exchange program” means any method, arrangement or procedure for the voluntary exchange of time share interests among purchasers or owners.
(17) “Managing entity” means the association or person responsible for operating and maintaining a time share property.
(18) “Multisite time share plan” means a plan in which a time share purchaser has:
(A) A specific time share interest, which is the right to use and occupy accommodations at a specific time share property and the right to use and occupy accommodations at one or more other component sites created by or acquired solely through the reservation system of the time share plan; or
(B) A nonspecific time share interest, which is the right to use and occupy accommodations at more than one component site created by or acquired solely through the reservation system of the time share plan but which does not include a right to use and occupy a particular accommodation.
(19) “Offering” or “offer” means any advertisement, inducement or solicitation and any attempt to encourage a person to purchase a time share interest.
(20) “Project instrument” means a time share instrument or one or more recordable documents, by whatever name denominated, applying to the whole of a time share project and containing restrictions or covenants regulating the use, occupancy or disposition of units in a project, including a declaration for a condominium, association articles of incorporation, association bylaws and rules for a condominium in which a time share plan is created.
(21) “Promotion” means any program, activity or contest, or any gift, prize or other item of value, used to induce any person to attend a time share sales presentation.
(22) “Purchaser” means any person, other than a developer, who acquires a legal or equitable interest in a time share by means of a voluntary transfer other than as a security for an obligation.
(23) “Reservation system” means the method, arrangement or procedure by which a purchaser, in order to reserve the use and occupancy of an accommodation of a multisite time share plan for one or more time share periods, is required to compete with other purchasers in the same multisite time share plan, regardless of whether the reservation system is operated and maintained by the multisite time share plan, a managing entity, exchange company or any other person. If a purchaser is required to use an exchange program as the purchaser's principal means of obtaining the right to use and occupy the accommodations and facilities of the plan, such arrangement is considered a reservation system. If the exchange company uses a mechanism to exchange time share periods among members of the exchange program, the use of the mechanism is not considered a reservation system of a multisite time share plan.
(24) “Sales agent” means a person who, directly or through the person's employees, agents or independent contractors, sells or offers to sell time share interests in a time share plan to any individual located in this state.
(25) “Single-site time share plan” means a time share plan in which a time share purchaser's right to use and occupy accommodations is limited to a single time share property. A single-site time share plan that includes bonus time or a program under which the owner of a time share interest at a specific time share property may exchange a time share period for another time share period at the same or another time share property under common management shall not transform the single-site time share plan into a multisite time share plan.
(26) “Time share disclosure statement” means a written statement that includes the information required by section 42-103mm.
(27) “Time share estate” means an arrangement under which the purchaser receives a right to occupy a time share property and a real estate interest in the time share property.
(28) “Time share interest” means a time share estate or time share use.
(29) “Time share instrument” means a master deed, master lease, declaration or any other instrument used in the creation of a time share plan.
(30) “Time share period” means the period of time within which the purchaser of a time share interest is entitled to the exclusive possession, occupancy and use of an accommodation.
(31) “Time share plan” means any arrangement, plan, scheme or similar method, excluding an exchange program but including a membership agreement, sale, lease, deed, license or right-to-use agreement, by which a purchaser, in exchange for consideration, receives an ownership right in or the right to use accommodations on a recurring basis for a period of time less than a year during a given year, but not necessarily consecutive years, regardless of whether the period of time is determined in advance.
(32) “Time share property” means: (A) One or more accommodations and any related amenities subject to the same time share instrument; and (B) any other property or property rights appurtenant to such accommodations and amenities.
(33) “Time share unit” means an accommodation of a time share plan that is divided into time share periods. Any time share unit in which a door or doors connecting two or more separate rooms are capable of being locked to create two or more private dwellings shall only constitute one time share unit for purposes of sections 42-103cc to 42-103ddd, inclusive, unless the time share instrument provides that time share interests may be separately conveyed in such locked-off portions.
(34) “Time share use” means any arrangement under which the purchaser receives a right to occupy a time share property, but under which the purchaser does not receive a real estate interest in the time share property.
(35) “Time share resale” means the sale or transfer of a time share interest that was previously sold to a purchaser.
(36) “Time share resale broker” means a person who acts for another person or entity and for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, offers in this state to advertise, list for sale, sell, exchange, buy or rent or offers or attempts to negotiate a sale, exchange, purchase or rental of twelve or more time share resales in any twelve-month period, or who is registered as a time share resale broker pursuant to the provisions of sections 42-103cc to 42-103ddd, inclusive.
(P.A. 09-156, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 09-156 effective January 1, 2010.
Structure Connecticut General Statutes
Title 42 - Business, Selling, Trading and Collection Practices
Section 42-103cc. - Short title: Time Share Act.
Section 42-103dd. - Definitions.
Section 42-103ff. - Exempt communications.
Section 42-103hh. - Ownership and conveyance of time share interest.
Section 42-103ll. - Advertisements and promotions. Prohibitions. Disclosures.
Section 42-103mm. - Time share disclosure statement. Written acknowledgment of receipt.
Section 42-103nn. - Exchange disclosure statement. Filing with department. Amendments. Fees.
Section 42-103oo. - Duty and liability of developer.
Section 42-103pp. - Cancellation of purchase contract.
Section 42-103qq. - Purchase contract statements.
Section 42-103rr. - Exchange company. Liability exceptions.
Section 42-103tt. - Unfair trade practices. Use rights compliance. Nonmaterial error or omission.
Section 42-103uu. - Insurance.
Section 42-103vv. - Developer prohibitions. Penalty.
Section 42-103yy. - Assessments. Lien on time share interest. Foreclosure.
Section 42-103zz. - Costs of delinquent assessment collection. Notice to purchaser.
Section 42-103aaa. - Books and records.
Section 42-103bbb. - Time share resale broker requirements. Rebuttable presumption. Exclusions.
Section 42-103ccc. - Time share resale disclosure requirements.
Section 42-103ddd. - Time share resale agreement requirements. Exceptions.