Defense Association
rights and interests of owners
timeshare products and exhibitors
timeshare industry «RUSTIME»

About us

The harmonious development of the vacation club industry requires not only market mechanisms for effective sale of timeshare products but also development of appropriate civil society institutions, namely those that protect the rights of Russian timeshare owners, expert communities and professional associations.

So, the Rustime Association was founded for protecting the rights and interests of Timeshare product owners and Timeshare industry participants. The Association’s prime goal is to support and develop the modern tourism industry infrastructure in Russia and integrate Russian tourism into the global tourism system. Another important focus is to provide legal and informational support, protecting the rights and interests of Russian tourists and timeshare owners both in Russia and abroad.

The underlying principles of the Rustime Association are based on analysis of the timeshare market in Russia and globally, a study of the international experience of non-profit timeshare associations, and a review of the existing terminology and contractual framework of the timeshare market.

It is urgent for a civilized timeshare market to be formed in Russia, this requiring concerted public efforts, above all by vacation club certificate holders, public agencies and interested Russian businesses and experts involved in the tourism and hospitality sector.

NPO Rustime stands ready to assist individual holders of timeshare certificates in asserting their rights, to provide informational support, organize educational and outreach programmes for improving services on Russia’s timeshare market and gaining a strong international reputation for this.

Supervisory Board and Expert Council

An important role in the Association is played by the Supervisory Board and Expert Council, featuring DSCs in economics and political science, representatives of the tourism industry, State Duma and Federation Council deputies, security service and law enforcement veterans.

Through combined efforts and in-depth knowledge, the Rustime Association is ready to tackle challenges and address issues arising in many areas of tourism, including the timeshare industry.

Mission

To create a civilized timeshare market in Russia through concerted public efforts, especially by vacation club certificate holders, public agencies, Russian businesses and experts involved in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Strategic goals

To protect the rights and legitimate interests of Association members before third parties;

To develop a civilized market for timeshare products in Russia;

To develop an expert community and mechanisms for regulating the timeshare market in Russia and integrating Russian resorts into the international timeshare system;

To provide legal protection for owners of recreation club (timeshare) products;

To facilitate transition by tourism infrastructure owners to a new vacation format, create a common legal space that might subsequently provide a platform for legislative initiatives;

To promote an overall strategy for developing the vacation club market and tourism infrastructure by involving public authorities, socially responsible businesses and civil society structures;

To bring together and coordinate the efforts of vacation club (timeshare) product owners, experts and consultants (lawyers, hospitality industry representatives, tourism infrastructure owners, marketers, etc.) in order to promote experience and information exchange, professional competence development, networking and cooperation, improvement of the means and methods used in professional activities.

Services

In pursuit of its mission and responsibility toward timeshare owners, NPO Rustime provides the following legal services:

Administering transfer of the right to use a certificate.

Claim settlement and mediation.

Legal support for certificate purchase.

Advice and support on division of marital property including timeshares.

Assistance with immigration to a foreign country with a valid timeshare certificate.

Assistance in the event of loss of documents in a foreign country.

Entering certificate details in the register of technical and legal passports and issuing extracts from the register for timeshare certificates.

Providing legal advice.

Document discovery.

Representation in court.

Support in a timeshare owner’s bankruptcy.

Advice on taxation in the club’s state and in the Russian Federation, study of international tax treaties.

Assistance with taking up an inheritance left by the timeshare owner.

Evaluation of the timeshare certificate by professional appraisers.

Documents, programmes, initiatives

Declaration

NPO Rustime has developed a policy paper called the Declaration “On Social and Material Damage Caused by Timeshare Market Participants Resident in the Commonwealth of Independent States”. The Declaration contains the Association’s mission statement, the organization’s specific features and the functions of the timeshare market, and the socio-economic impact of tourism on markets in different countries.

Timeshare technical and legal passport

In order to prevent fraudulent and other illegal activities against timeshare holders, NPO Rustime has developed a timeshare technical and legal passport and created a unified register of certificates with fully validated ownership.

Law Programme

A targeted programme for reforming the law on the right of alternate use of property. The draft Federal Law on “Amendments to Part One of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation” is aimed at developing rights in rem law in the Russian Federation by having legislation adopted governing alternate use of property for commercial purposes by the owner or proprietor through queue being established for using the property, equal for all users.

Golden Route of Russia regional programme

The Golden Route of Russia is a major project involving construction of a transcontinental express highway from the Black Sea to the Sea of Japan, from Voronezh to Nakhodka. This route will provide a powerful impetus to development of the territories.

Programme for Russian hoteliers

As part of implementing its key objectives of supporting and developing the infrastructure of modern tourism industries in Russia and integrating Russian tourism into the global tourism system, Rustime has developed a targeted programme for reforming the temporary accommodation system.

Timeshare owner’s technical and legal passport

Rustime Association specialists have drawn up a special document called a timeshare technical and legal passport (TLP) and created a unified register of timeshare certificates.

Life is dynamic and constantly changing. Your needs vary as your circumstances alter. An ownership certificate for property in club hotels is a luxury item. It guarantees an exclusive vacation, but your ideas of luxury and comfort might change over time, you might need more spacious accommodation, you might wish to exchange or sell your certificate.

WHY

The market keeps developing products that look like but are not actually timeshares (seasonal club offers, customer loyalty programmes offering discounts on future vacations). To preclude fraud and other illegal actions against owners, a technical and legal dossier (TLD) for timeshares has been developed and a single database has been created for certificates with fully confirmed ownership rights. Certificate holders, clubs and other parties to transactions involving timeshare certificates are spread throughout the world. Any action involving a timeshare requires regular confirmation of several things, including information about the owner, market price, full annual maintenance payment, etc. A timeshare’s technical and legal dossier (TLD) contains the crucial information about your property. Having such a dossier guarantees that any transactions with the certificate (sales, exchange) are safe, legal and actually possible.

WHAT IS IT?

In order to conduct any transaction with a timeshare, the relevant rights need to be confirmed. A technical and legal dossier is a standardized document containing all the confirmed information about the owner and the owner’s rights to the property:

Confirmed right to purchase;
Specifics and timeframe of the property’s use;
Technical details of the property;
Nature of membership;
Ownership responsibilities;

Vested rights;
Regulated rules of certificate ownership;
List of grounds for contract dissolution by each party;
Key legal materials;
Financial information.

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE?

The document is issued both electronically and in hard copy. The hard copy is executed on official letterhead, the electronic version in.pdf format. Both the hard copy and the e-copy of a timeshare’s technical and legal dossier are certified by the seal and signature of the specialist that issued the dossier.

According to the experts, a unified database and development of procedures for official examination of certificates will effectively put an end to the vagaries of the timeshare market not only in Russia but also in most of the former Soviet Union countries. Rustime’s key objectives include taking on the main burden of handling legal issues of any complexity, attracting both big and small hospitality businesses to develop the vacation club business on the internal market of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and other issues that will foster civilized business in this area.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Rustime seeks to expand cooperation and exchange practices with foreign partners on a broad range of issues:

Exchanging information on legal regulation and lobbying of the interests of timeshare market players before various federal and regional authorities of our countries.

Holding webinars, workshops and roundtables to discuss various initiatives and new areas in the tourism sector.

Exchanging practices of professional legal assistance and consultations for individuals and legal entities involved in the timeshare business and of protecting the interests of disqualified holders of timeshare certificates.

Providing mutual information support on the functioning of the timeshare market and its players, on international trends, new projects, statistics and analysis.

Exchanging experience with technologies for promoting timeshare products and services on international markets.

Defense Association rights and interests of owners timeshare products and exhibitors timeshare industry «RUSTIME»