45:15-16.51 Definitions relative to timeshares.

2. As used in sections 1 through 36 of this act:

"Accommodation" means any apartment, condominium or cooperative unit, cabin, lodge, hotel or motel room, or other private or commercial structure containing toilet facilities therein that is designed and available, pursuant to applicable law, for use and occupancy as a residence by one or more individuals which is a part of the timeshare property.

"Advertisement" means any written, oral or electronic communication that is directed to or targeted to persons within the State and contains a promotion, inducement or offer to sell a timeshare plan, including but not limited to brochures, pamphlets, radio and television scripts, electronic media, telephone and direct mail solicitations and other means of promotion.

"Advertisement" does not mean:

(1) Any stockholder communication such as an annual report or interim financial report, proxy material, a registration statement, a securities prospectus, a registration, a property report or other material required to be delivered to a prospective purchaser by an agency of any state or federal government;

(2) Any oral or written statement disseminated by a developer to broadcast or print media, other than paid advertising or promotional material, regarding plans for the acquisition or development of timeshare property. However, any rebroadcast or any other dissemination of such oral statements to prospective purchasers by a seller in any manner, or any distribution of copies of newspaper magazine articles or press releases, or any other dissemination of such written statement to a prospective purchaser by a seller in any manner, shall constitute an advertisement; or

(3) Any communication addressed to and relating to the account of any person who has previously executed a contract for the sale or purchase of a timeshare period in a timeshare plan to which the communication relates shall not be considered advertising under this act, provided they are delivered to any person who has previously executed a contract for the purchase of a timeshare interest or is an existing owner of a timeshare interest in a timeshare plan.

"Assessment" means the share of funds required for the payment of common expenses which is assessed from time to time against each timeshare interest by the association.

"Association" means the organized body consisting of the purchasers of interests in a timeshare property.

"Commission" means the New Jersey Real Estate Commission.

"Common expense" means casualty and liability insurance, and those expenses properly incurred for the maintenance, operation, and repair of all accommodations constituting the timeshare plan and any other expenses designated as common expenses by the timeshare instrument.

"Component site" means a specific geographic location where accommodations which are part of a multi-site timeshare plan are located. Separate phases of a single timeshare property in a specific geographic location and under common management shall be deemed a single component site.

"Department" means the Department of Banking and Insurance.

"Developer" means and includes any person or entity, who creates a timeshare plan or is in the business of selling timeshare interests, or employs agents or brokers to do the same, or any person or entity who succeeds to the interest of a developer by sale, lease, assignment, mortgage or other transfer, except that the term shall include only those persons who offer timeshare interests for disposition in the ordinary course of business.

"Dispose" or "disposition" means a voluntary transfer or assignment of any legal or equitable interest in a timeshare plan, other than the transfer, assignment or release of a security interest.

"Escrow agent" means an independent person, including an independent bonded escrow company, an independent financial institution whose accounts are insured by a governmental agency or instrumentality, or an independent licensed title insurance agent who is responsible for the receipt and disbursement of funds in accordance with this act. If the escrow agent is not located in the State of New Jersey, then this person shall subject themselves to the jurisdiction of the commission with respect to disputes that arise out of the provisions of this act.

"Incidental benefit" means an accommodation, product, service, discount, or other benefit which is offered to a prospective purchaser of a timeshare plan or to a purchaser of a timeshare plan prior to the expiration of his or her rescission period pursuant to section 18 of this act and which is not an exchange program, provided that:

(1) use or participation in the incidental benefit is completely voluntary;

(2) no costs of the incidental benefit are included as common expenses of the timeshare plan;

(3) the good faith represented aggregate value of all incidental benefits offered by a developer to a purchaser may not exceed 20 percent of the actual price paid by the purchaser for his or her timeshare interest; and

(4) the purchaser is provided a disclosure that fairly describes the material terms of the incidental benefit. The term shall not include an offer of the use of the accommodations of the timeshare plan on a free or discounted one-time basis.

"Managing entity" means the person who undertakes the duties, responsibilities and obligations of the management of the timeshare property.

"Offer" means any inducement, solicitation, or other attempt, whether by marketing, advertisement, oral or written presentation or any other means, to encourage a person to acquire a timeshare interest in a timeshare plan, for gain or profit.

"Person" means a natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, association, estate, trust, government, governmental subdivision or agency, or other legal entity or any combination thereof.

"Promotion" means a plan or device, including one involving the possibility of a prospective purchaser receiving a vacation, discount vacation, gift, or prize, used by a developer, or an agent, independent contractor, or employee of a developer, agent or independent contractor on behalf of the developer, in connection with the offering and sale of timeshare interests in a timeshare plan.

"Purchaser" means any person, other than a developer, who by means of a voluntary transfer acquires a legal or equitable interest in a timeshare plan other than as security for an obligation.

"Purchase contract" means a document pursuant to which a person becomes legally obligated to sell, and a purchaser becomes legally obligated to buy, a timeshare interest.

"Reservation system" means the method, arrangement or procedure by which a purchaser, in order to reserve the use or occupancy of any accommodation of a multi-site timeshare plan for one or more timeshare periods, is required to compete with other purchasers in the same multi-site timeshare plan, regardless of whether the reservation system is operated and maintained by the multi-site timeshare plan managing entity or any other person.

"Sales agent" means any person who performs within this State as an agent or employee of a developer any one or more of the services or acts as set forth in this act, and includes any real estate broker, broker salesperson or salesperson licensed pursuant to R.S. 45:15-1 et seq., or any person who purports to act in any such capacity.

"Timeshare instrument" means one or more documents, by whatever name denominated, creating or governing the operation of a timeshare plan.

"Timeshare interest" means and includes either:

(1) A "timeshare estate," which is the right to occupy a timeshare property, coupled with a freehold estate or an estate for years with a future interest in a timeshare property or a specified portion thereof; or

(2) A "timeshare use," which is the right to occupy a timeshare property, which right is neither coupled with a freehold interest, nor coupled with an estate for years with a future interest, in a timeshare property.

"Timeshare period" means the period or periods of time when the purchaser of a timeshare plan is afforded the opportunity to use the accommodations of a timeshare plan.

"Timeshare plan" means any arrangement, plan, scheme, or similar device, whether by membership agreement, sale, lease, deed, license, or right to use agreement or by any other means, whereby a purchaser, in exchange for consideration, receives ownership rights in or the right to use accommodations for a period of time less than a full year during any given year on a recurring basis, but not necessarily for consecutive years. A timeshare plan may be:

(1) A "single-site timeshare plan," which is the right to use accommodations at a single timeshare property; or

(2) A "multi-site timeshare plan," which includes:

(a) A "specific timeshare interest," which means an interest wherein a purchaser has, only through a reservation system:

(i) a priority right to reserve accommodations at a specific timeshare property without competing with owners of timeshare interests at other component sites that are part of the multi-site timeshare plan, which priority right extends for at least 60 days; and

(ii) the right to reserve accommodations on a non-priority basis at other component sites that are part of the multi-site timeshare plan; or

(b) A "non-specific timeshare interest", which means an interest wherein a purchaser has, only through a reservation system, the right to reserve accommodations at any component site of the multi-site timeshare plan, with no priority right to reserve accommodations at any specific component site.

"Timeshare property" means one or more accommodations subject to the same timeshare instrument, together with any other property or rights to property appurtenant to those accommodations.

L.2006, c.63, s.2.