Help Me Exit, LLC is dedicated to providing information and education that timeshare owners and prospective timeshare buyers need in order to make informed decisions. Please use this free glossary of Timeshare Terms to get a better understanding of the timeshare industry.

-A
Accelerated Use
A timeshare program structure that allows an owner to use the time they have purchased in progressively greater increments.
Accrued weeks
Any type of extra weeks from the preceding year that hasn’t been used and therefore was “banked” and are offered for usage this year.
Ad Valorem
A Latin term used in the legal profession meaning “according to value”. This term is used in reference to the assessment of real estate tax.
Anniversary Date
Timeshare resorts that offer a “points system” use this term in reference to the particular date when points that have been earned accumulate.
Appraisal
A real estate term referring to the estimated market value of a real estate property.
ARDA (American Resort Development Association)
The primary timeshare ownership professional organization in the U.S. ARDA lobbies in Washington, D.C. on behalf of timeshare resorts and developers. Founded in 1969 as the American Land Development Association, ARDA has evolved to include nearly a thousand development conglomerates, as well as small timeshare development companies around the world.

-B
Banking
In the timeshare industry, the term banking is used to describe an option some timeshare companies offer to set accumulate weeks or points that go unused that can be used at a later date.
Biennial
A timeshare plan allowing the use of a timeshare week every other year.
Bulk Banking/Block Banking
A term describing the process of banking of many timeshare weeks with an exchange company in an expedient manner.
Bonus Time
A term used to describe additional time at a resort that does not fall inside your normally allocated timeshare week allotment.
Bonus Weeks
Additional weeks offered to prospective timeshare buyers as motivation to purchase a timeshare.

-C
Closing Costs
The fees and costs associated with the purchase of a timeshare.
Club/Trust Subscription
A timeshare program used by some resorts enabling the year-round use of facilities at the resort.
Constitution
The official document establishing the rules and guidelines for the way that the timeshare resort is managed and business is conducted.
Cooling-off Period
The time period within which a timeshare buyer may cancel the timeshare contract without penalty.

-D
Depreciation
Devaluation of the worth of real estate or timeshare property.

-E
End-user Finance
When a financing program is offered to allow a buyer to acquire timeshare holding.
Escritura
A term of Spanish origin referring to the process of registration and deeding of a Deed of Title.
Escrow
A financial account established specifically to hold on deposit and subsequently move funds between a timeshare customer and a timeshare seller.
Exchange
An option offered by some timeshare companies to trade one timeshare week for a different timeshare week.
Exchange Company
Third-party organizations that serve timeshare owners in the exchanging of timeshare weeks that have been banked.

-F
Fee Simple
A kind of timeshare ownership program where the owner’s name is on the deed. This type of timeshare ownership is the opposite of lease ownership and/or right-to-use timeshare ownership. Fee Simple ownership exists in perpetuity and the ownership can even be passed on to the owner’s heirs.
Fixed Unit
A type of timeshare ownership where the timeshare owner has rights to the very same physical timeshare unit each year.
Fixed Week
A Fixed Week is a specific week during the fiscal year that is normally determined by a number.
Floating Week
A timeshare ownership program where the allotted week could be used any week during the scheduled year based on availability at the particular resort.
Fractional Ownership
A deeded timeshare program where timeshare ownership and use are based upon actually dividing the timeshare property into different “shares.”

-G
Gold Crown Resort
RCI’s greatest rating for a timeshare resort, in line with the five-star resort criteria established by I.I.
Guest Certificate
The document that gives authorization to a guest of the timeshare owner for usage of a timeshare exchange in place of the owners.

-H
Holiday Ownership
Simply another term for the ownership of a timeshare.

-I
Interval International
Also known as I.I., this is one of the most popular timeshare exchange companies in operation worldwide
Instant Exchange
A short-notification exchange of timeshare weeks via RCI.
Internal Exchange
The exchanging of a week of timeshare ownership within a specific network of timeshare resorts.
Interval
A unit of timeshare usage time.

-L
Lease
A plan that enables the use of a property in areas where deeded timeshare ownership is not legally permitted.
Levy
Administration fees that are incurred by individual members of a points club. These may include resort management charges imposed for the usage of a specific week.
Linked Agreement
The situation where two seemingly separate timeshare contracts are, in actuality, linked to one another.
Lockout, a.k.a. Lock-off Unit
A Lockout or Lock-off is a system that can be divided into two or even more different parts.

-M
Maintenance Fee
Regular charges imposed by the timeshare resort management or HOA in charge of the physical maintenance of the property.
Management Company
The company in charge of the day-to-day operation of the resort.

-O
Odd- or Even-year Usage
Timeshare ownership plan where the timeshare owner is able to use the property only every other year.
OTE (Organization for Timeshare in Europe)
The European trade association in Europe comprised of timeshare developers and owners.

-P
Points
The name was given to the unit of measurement exchange companies and timeshare resort owners/developers use to distinguish the value for times of the year, resort sizes, and specific locations.

-Q
Quartershare
Timeshare ownership comprised of 3-month intervals with rotational scheduling.

-R
RCI
RCI (Resort Condominiums International) is the biggest timeshare exchange firm worldwide.
Red Week
The term “Red Week” refers to the top period at a hotel during which timeshare properties are at their finest.
Resale
The forward-selling of a timeshare property by the original buyer who bought directly from a timeshare resort developer.
Rescission
The period of time during which a timeshare buyer may instigate the cancellation of the timeshare contract without any penalty. The rescission period may be established by law and/or by the timeshare company itself.
Right to Use (RTU)
The lease arrangement establishing the allowable usage of a timeshare property for a particular time period.

RESORT COLOR CODES:

RCI Color Codes
     Red = High.
     White = Mid.
     Blue = Low.

Interval International Color Codes
     Red = High.
     Yellow/Amber = Mid.
     Green = Low.

-S
Season
A designated period of time during the year that establishes the value of usage and/or the ownership time period.
Sinking Fund
The percentage of the timeshare resort’s maintenance fee that is designated solely to guarantee that the resort facilities maintained to be in the condition that is “as new.”
Space Banking
The instance whereby a timeshare owner transfers a timeshare week into the “bank” of an exchange to gain the ability to trade for some other week.
Special Assessment
An additional charge that is billed to owners of timeshare properties by the resort or timeshare management company to cover incurred expenses connected to major upgrades or necessary repairs to the upkeep of the resort. These are often resulting from inclement weather damage.

-T
Timeshare
A vacation ownership program whereby an individual buys the right to use a resort or particular property for an established amount of time during the year.
Timeshare Redemption (r)
A legal and permanent termination of timeshare ownership obligations. The act of transferring a monetarily worthless timeshare from an individual to an inventory aggregate via a trusted corporation.
Time Division
The classification of interval weeks by their established value according to demand, i.e. low demand, medium demand and high demand.
Trading Power
The value related to a specific week for different properties through exchange companies.
Trustees
A back-up “insurance policy” for resort developers to supply secured backing in the case that the developer should fail financially.

-V
Vacation Ownership
Another term for timeshare ownership.

-W
Week Fifty-Three
A designated reserved time period set aside for usage by the developer of the resort or some other high-ranking member or trustee.