Shawnee – Thomas R. Wilkins, CEO of Wilkins & Associates Commercial Brokers, Inc., announced that his office has been contracted to sell 49 townhome units at Northslope II, a timeshare development located in Shawnee-on-Delaware in the Pocono Mountains. Wilkins along with Joseph S. Wiesmeth, Esq. and Craig Roberts from Pennsylvania First Settlement Services teamed up in 2012 and developed a proposal for selling the timeshare units as fee simple ownership. The timeshare development, developed in the mid-80s by Shawnee Development, Inc. (SDI) was built as an interval ownership project.
In 2012, the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas, in front of the Honorable Judge Arthur Zulick, certified a lawsuit filed by the Association as a Class Action suit. In the Class Action suit its Board of Directors was named as Trustee to represent all the Class members.
Said Wilkins, “What we did is get a super majority vote of the owners, including those who were delinquent, and have the Association members ratify that there was more value in selling the units as whole owner units than there was in continuing as timeshare.” Wilkins further stated “An overwhelming majority of the owners have owned for 20+ years. Some had either passed away, their children were grown and other factors made it impossible for them to continue paying dues.” The lawsuit stated a delinquency rate of close to 90 percent.
Wilkins and his partners have done the converting of timeshares in other parts of the Poconos. In 2007, they sold the Wild Acres timeshares in Pike County in an “auction style” sale. The Northslope II timeshare will be sold in a similar fashion.
The Monroe County Taxing Authority will receive over $670,000 in delinquent real estate taxes at the time of the sale. In mid-2012, RCI, the world leader in timesharing exchange terminated their accreditation of the quartershare timeshare program at Northslope II which in fact rendered the timeshares worthless. The estimated value of the intervals-, as timeshare or interval ownership, was stated to the court to be anywhere between $100 and $300. The units as fee simple interest are being offered to the general public at $49,900 for interior units and $52,900 for end units. “Said Wilkins, “the sale is scheduled for February 8-9, 14-16 and 22-23; I am estimating all the units will sell without any problem. It is a cash sale.”
Stated Joseph S. Wiesmeth, Esquire, attorney for the Plaintiffs, “This is really a win/win/win circumstance. All of owners will be credited from the money received from the sale and those owners who are not delinquent could receive an estimated amount anywhere from $16,000 to $19,000. The county will win by receiving all of the delinquent real estate taxes which is close to $700,000 and the new owners have the ability to get a great opportunity at, what at one time was a very active development.”
Currently, there are 76 whole-owned units at Northslope II and when combined with the timeshare units should make it a very viable association with approximately 125 units. Northslope II is a combination of rental units, vacation homes and primary homes for professional and retired persons. The development is located two minutes from the Shawnee Ski area.
Any timeshare member who opposed the plan and distribution of funds was given until January 3rd to file an objection. No objections were filed with the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas. A hearing to consider final approval of the sales plan is being held on January 21, 2014 in front of the Honorable Judge Arthur Zulick at 1:30 p.m.
For further information, about the sale, please visit www.shawneetownhome.com call the Wilkins office at (570) 421-5409. All buyers should be registered. There is no obligation to buy if you register. Appointments on the days of the sale are requested.
