Much has been published about Anfi and the vast number of claims presented to the courts in Spain for the selling of illegal contracts. Furthermore, the vast majority of these claims have been upheld with the resulting court judgements ordering Anfi to return the full purchase price to the member together with legal interest. It is difficult to say how much Anfi have already paid and more importantly how much is still to be paid, suffice to say it will run into millions.
Anfi have chosen to take a rather devious way to remove themselves from members taking legal action in the future. Letters are being sent to owners basically stating that they need to sign a new contract to bring their ownership up to date with current Spanish law, what it doesn’t confirm is that the recipient actually has an illegal contract which may be challenged in a court of law, did we expect them to come clean? Not a chance.
Below we reproduce a copy of the exact letter being sent by Ryan Johnson from the Anfi customer service department. After you have read this we will dismantle the major points and justify why you should not agree to the new contract terms.
Dear XXX,
Greetings from Anfi for 2021!
May I take this moment, to inform you, we are updating and posting/passing out all the agreements, after the recent timeshare law changes. These changes were voted, accepted and ratified by the membership of Anfi, via the General and extra General committee/membership AGM´s.
Please can you confirm for me, that your details are correct, and match your passport Identification.
MR. XXXXX
ADDRESS HERE
As you probably already know the updates are generated because of the changes to Spanish Timeshare Laws.
*The new Spanish Timeshare law states that a timeshare contract cannot be “infinite”, the timeshare memberships can be valid for a maximum of 50 years. After 50 years all our contracts will automatically be renewed with another 50 years and so on. This is now 50 + 50 and rolling.
*The other change is that all our floating weeks must have an apartment and a week number attached to them, this is for inventory control. Basically so we do not sell the same apartment two times. We have always had an apartment number behind our floating weeks, but it has never been printed on our members certificates. Now we need to print out the certificates with apartment and week number even for the floating agreements. This does not mean you will have a fixed week now, it is just symbolic for inventory control. You will still be able to book your weeks in the floating system as you have done before. Fixed week owners, are not affected by this particular update.
*The updated agreements have the clause explaining how to relinquish and therefore cancel a contract, free of charge. The updated agreement gives the holder of the contract, this right, explaining how to end the contract without cost, and to stop future Maintenance payments from incurring, when the contract ends.
These are the only changes in the new contracts. It’s really not a lot and you can see they are incredibly beneficial to the member. Your updated agreement will be delivered by post to you. It is very important for your benefit, that you have a legally up to date contract that is in line with Spanish Law.
For now, throughout the Pandemic, please stay Safe and well!
Kind regards,
Ryan T Johnson
Anfi Group
Customer Service Department
Tel: (+34) 928 152 990 Ext: 5741
Fax: (+34) 928 736 422
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
From 14th November it will be compulsory to present at the time of check in at the Anfi resorts, a certificate showing a negative Covid-19 test result of each guest. Please click on this link for all the necessary information. https://anfi.com/en/members-area/
NOTA IMPORTANTE:
Desde el 14 de noviembre de2020 es imprescindible presentar en el check-in, un certificado que demuestre la realización de un test de diagnóstico de infección activa por Covid-19 con resultado negativo. Por favor use este link para obtener toda la información al respecto. https://anfi.com/en/members-area/
Breaking down the information
As you probably already know the updates are generated because of the changes to Spanish Timeshare Laws.
It’s now 2021; Spanish law changed with the introduction of Law 42/98 which was enacted on 5th January 1999. It’s only taken Anfi 22 years to communicate those changes …really.
The first point of major concern is the statement as follows:
The new Spanish Timeshare law states that a timeshare contract cannot be “infinite”, the timeshare memberships can be valid for a maximum of 50 years. After 50 years all our contracts will automatically be renewed with another 50 years and so on. This is now 50 + 50 and rolling.
In our opinion this confirms that Anfi were issuing perpetual contracts which they refer to as “infinite” which are illegal in Spain. The solution is simply to replace these with 50+50 rolling, well if this isn’t a way to reintroduce a perpetual contract, what is? By the age most people purchase a timeshare it is likely that a 50 term will outlive the owner, if at the end of the first 50 years the owner is by chance alive then they automatically get given a further 50 years of ownership. Do you think this is fair? We certainly don’t.
Moving on, the next point that gives us concern is the following:
The other change is that all our floating weeks must have an apartment and a week number attached to them, this is for inventory control. Basically so we do not sell the same apartment two times. We have always had an apartment number behind our floating weeks, but it has never been printed on our members certificates. Now we need to print out the certificates with apartment and week number even for the floating agreements. This does not mean you will have a fixed week now, it is just symbolic for inventory control.
Law 42/98 which was the original Spanish law that brought about the changes clearly stated that owners should have their confirmed apartment and period of use stated clearly on the purchase contract, with this in mind why does Anfi state the following:
We have always had an apartment number behind our floating weeks, but it has never been printed on our members certificate.
Our question would be how can Anfi sell a floating week contract, which is once again against Spanish law 42/98, and then allocate a specific apartment? It is impossible to believe that just by chance the apartment you have been allocated is available to you whichever week you choose. A floating week means you can choose any week in the year, or season you have purchased. So you are the owner of Apartment 42, say, are we to believe that that apartment would be available whenever you decided to holiday? We would very much doubt that. Maybe this is why the number has never been quoted on the members certificate.
The updated agreements have the clause explaining how to relinquish and therefore cancel a contract, free of charge. The updated agreement gives the holder of the contract, this right, explaining how to end the contract without cost, and to stop future Maintenance payments from incurring, when the contract ends.
No surprise with this statement, if both parties agree to the termination of a contract then there is no further liability on either party. We are sure Anfi would be delighted, with many members having illegal contracts, by simply cancelling them this lets Anfi off the hook.
Two other points that are on the verge of being outright lies are:
These are the only changes in the new contracts. It’s really not a lot and you can see they are incredibly beneficial to the member.
And:
It is very important for your benefit, that you have a legally up to date contract that is in line with Spanish Law.
How will this new contract be of benefit to members? If there is a benefit this letter certainly does not make it clear. The second statement again implies that having your contract completely up to date in line with Spanish law is a benefit, in fact this quite the opposite. Anfi know darn well that your existing contract is potentially damaging to them as there is a distinct possibility that you may mount a Spanish court claim.
If your contract is deemed illegal the court will award you compensation, who pays that compensation? Answer- Anfi. So in reality the only one to benefit is certainly not you but Anfi.
Our Advice
Laws are put in place for the protection of all; if a company such as Anfi took a corporate decision to ignore the law, then the result of any actions taken against them must be accepted. Thinking you are above the law is one thing but acting above the law is another ball game. Anfi know darn well that their past actions have come back to haunt them and are being hurt financially. Instead of doing the honourable thing, they choose to bamboozle members into believing that signing a new contract will be “beneficial”.
If you are an Anfi owner you need to check your legal rights as you too could be one of thousands who have been mis sold an illegal contract and you could be compensated for this action. Our advice would be not to sign any new contract until you have taken expert advice as to your own personal circumstances.
Remember, if you sign a new contract it will contain a disclaimer that you will never make any legal challenge. There will be no point in crying over spilt milk because you had your chance for a right to reply but chose not to.
If you own at Anfi we would be delighted to advise you on the legality or otherwise of your contract. We are only a phone call away.
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk