Purchasers of timeshares were given more protection after amendments to a bill were passed in Parliament on Friday night.

Frustrated members of the St. George?s Club ? the only timeshare on the Island ? had been pressing since the mid-1990s for revisions to the existing law, dating back to 1981, which they said favoured developers.

Introducing the Timesharing (Licensing and Control) Amendment Act, Tourism Minister Ewart Brown told the House that the bill was the result of extensive consultation which began in 2002. A specialist US attorney in the field of timeshare law was called in to advise Government.

Contained within the bill is an extension of the period that the purchaser of a timeshare will have to occupy and use the facilities of a timesharing scheme from the current 25 years to a minimum period of 40 years.

?This will make timeshares more attractive and more marketable to guests,? he said, adding that it would also prohibit the use of timeshares to members who are ?delinquent? in making payments.

Other key points within the new bill are increases in the fines handed to developers and managing agents who fail to comply with the Act. The managing agent of the timeshare will also be entitled to have a lien ? a charge upon a property for the satisfaction of a debt ? registered against the purchaser for any overdue charge or assessment owed by the purchaser. This would also cover money owed by the purchaser for any damage caused to the timeshare.

The Act makes changes to the tenants? associations which give purchasers a voice in the management of the timesharing scheme. These will, in future, be elected based on one vote per timesharing interval.

Dr. Brown said he recognised that the contents of the bill would not be popular with everyone. ?We are confident that this bill addresses areas identified by the majority of our stakeholders as areas in need of revision. There are some who do not support key portions of the bill. Government is about making decisions in the best interests of the majority,? he said, explaining that the bill would provide consumer protection.

In a lengthy address to the House, former Tourism Minister David Dodwell, Shadow Minister of Race Relations and Economic Opportunity, said he supported the concept of the legislation but was ?not sure if this bill has got it right?.

He reflected on how the vacation ownership market has changed significantly since the original timeshare legislation was passed in 1981. ?This is really the St. George?s Club Bill. They are the only real timeshare on the Island.?

He added: ?Not everyone is happy. We?ve got some purchasers who are not happy, we?ve got a developer that?s not happy and frankly even the Hotel Association.

?This is important to the community. It?s been festering for a number of years. The owners and stakeholders are not happy about it.?

He spoke of the importance of timeshare owners to Bermuda, as they are committed visitors who are ?in it for the long term? and are ambassadors for the Island. Some of them, he said, had got fed up with the high maintenance fees at St. George?s Club and walked away from their investments.

Mr. Dodwell called for the 40 year occupation and use period year occupation and use period proposed in the bill to be extended to 60 years and for a tripartite committee to be set up to bring together purchasers, developers and Government to thrash out any problems that they have among themselves.

He also expressed concern that all existing timeshare contracts ? around 2,500 of them for the individual owners at the St George?s Club ? will have to be altered in the light of the new legislation. ?This will be a huge expense,? he commented.

Maxwell Burgess, Shadow Minister Without Portfolio, advocated the idea of a tripartite committee, saying that purchasers presently have little say in matters once they have paid.

?It?s not unreasonable for he or she who?s purchased the space to have some say in how much it?s going to cost them to maintain it,? he said, adding: ?The person there year in year out needs to feel slightly more appreciated in the grand scheme of things.?

Opposition leader Grant Gibbons congratulated Dr. Brown on bringing the legislation to the house, but urged him not to rush it and get it wrong.

?This is not just about a few members of the St. George?s Club who are very angry at this point. If someone is unhappy about something they will tell ten people. If someone is happy about something they will tell three people. These people will be telling others that the Government of Bermuda has not lived up to their expectations,? he said.

Replying to the observations of the UBP, Dr. Brown said the St. George?s Club had had a ?rollercoaster existence? but that it would be incorrect to call this the St. George?s Club Bill even though it is currently the only timeshare in existence on the Island. He pointed out that a private residents? club opened this week at Tucker?s Point.

He told the House that he had received ?offensive and insulting? e-mails from people on the subject of the St. George?s Club, and commented that members did not have a common voice in their opinions. He had listened to the representatives of the development but ?began to get dizzy?, he said.

Nonetheless, he stressed the importance of resolving matters ?one way or the other? through the legislation, even if it does not have 100 percent support.

Dr. Brown responded to the Opposition concern that the term of 40 years was not long enough by saying new schemes could not be less than 40 years.

In committee, Mr. Dodwell said the biggest struggle with the bill would be landing developers with maintenance costs for unsold units. ?This is not nit-picking. This is big money ? $1 million is not nit-picking.?