legal eagles

[richa]

With all that is going on at TT and OW and the Mid Atlantic group that has been purchasing up all the membership parks, does anyone know of a really good attorney, versed in campground membership contracts and contract conditions. I think alot of us will be needing one pretty soon. Seems that the only way to stop these companies from forcing out the original contract owners is via a class action lawsuit against the parent company and it's subsidiaries. richa

[bnels55]

As to the buying up of the membership parks, we have been Leisure Time members and then added full Thousand Trails. We recently upgraded our TT to the Premier Membership. We are retired and stay mostly in TT parks, usually 3 weeks at a time. We have found our membership to be cost effective and have enjoyed our stays at the parks we have visited.

So far, TT has been very good about continuing current membership or offering an upgrade as an option-not a requirement.

Hope this helps.

Barbara

[suesodyssey]

Not sure what you mean about members being forced out? We are TTN and Mid Atlantic members and have not been forced out of any place. As long as you pay your yearly dues, you can't be forced out...unless you do something really bad.

[richa]

We are members of TT and also OW. Since the OW organization was sold to ELS, and TT has been given the right to "run" OW, they have made changes which violate our OW contract in a lot of ways. The unfortunate problem is that our members are scattered over a large number of states, and all the violations don't effect all members the same way. This means that if we contact the AG in our state, it doesn't help the members in another state. IF we hire an attorney here in Jersey, it doensn't necessarily help us in the other states we have campgrounds in. Our Master Membership contract is totally different from the other contracts of OW and from any of those that govern TT. We are guaranteed a campsite any time we pull into one of our campgrounds with or without a reservation. NO one that works for OW is allowed to stay on a site, and no one that is a member of OW is allowed to work for OW. Big difference in our contract than in the newer OW contracts. TT is taking our sites for park models, selling them, and closing our campgrounds in the winter when they never were before, denying our members the right to use them through the week. Different township ordanances govern the amount of time a campground can stay open when it has park models sold there. So, TT has deemed it necessary to close OW campgrounds down through the week and justify that closing by telling the members no one used them through the week anyway. They have decided to increase the number of seasonal rigs on site, which is also a violation of our contract, and have intentions of taking more sites away from the general membership to do this. None of this involves the TT or Mid Atlantic campground as of yet, but you will see OW members using TT parks in Florida more than ever this fall and spring. This is a violation of both organizations. Our contract has a stipulation that any OW campground that is closed or sold, must be replace in the general area by our own OW campground. We've been using TT or Encore for the past 5 years or so with our overflow going to other campgrounds in the area. OF course, our own campground has not been replaced and the new contracts being sold by TT (OW) do not even give the members a Florida campground to use. So, Even though these changes do not effect TT or Mid Atlantic to this point, they will in the very near future. OUr OW rentals are going into TT in Florida right now for OW members to use. They take up TT sites from TT members that already have a hard time getting reservations from TT for the winter. The TT's in Florida will both be effected this winter. So, my suggestion to you would be to get very familiar with your contract because it will be effected. We, as Master Members of OW can make our reservations a year in advance. MY TT membership gives me 150 days to make reservations and I can have more that 2 or 3 on the books at a time. I can also have more than one holiday on the books at a time. This is going to really screw up the TT members that want to go into TT this winter.
Now you see why we need a really good attorney that is qualified to practice in several states and knows the campground membership laws in each of the several states we are located in. This is going to effect about 50,000 members before it's over. BOth OW and TT. R. Anderson

[kamp19]

Richa,

I agree with you that YOU need a really good attorney to decipher what you are legally entitled to under YOUR contract with TT and OW.

Have a good weekend!!