2020 New York Laws
GBS - General Business
Article 31 - Membership Campgrounds
653 - Specific Disclosures.
§ 653. Specific disclosures. 1. Prior to the execution of a membership
camping contract, the purchaser must be provided with a disclosure
document which shall begin with the following language printed in upper
case boldface type of a minimum size of ten points:
DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT
THIS DISCLOSURE STATEMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT MATTERS CONCERNING THE
PURCHASE OF A MEMBERSHIP CAMPING CONTRACT. STATE LAW REQUIRES THAT
THESE DISCLOSURES BE MADE, BUT NO STATE AGENCY OR OFFICIAL HAS
REVIEWED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT. THE STATEMENTS
CONTAINED HEREIN ARE ONLY SUMMARY IN NATURE. YOU SHOULD NOT RELY UPON
ANY ORAL REPRESENTATIONS WHICH ARE INCONSISTENT WITH THE DISCLOSURES
CONTAINED HEREIN AS BEING CORRECT. A MEMBERSHIP CAMPGROUND OPERATOR IS
PROHIBITED FROM MAKING ANY REPRESENTATIONS WHICH CONFLICT WITH THOSE
CONTAINED IN THE CONTRACT OR THIS DISCLOSURE STATEMENT.
2. The disclosure document shall consist of a written statement
containing all of the following information:
a. The name and address of the membership campground operator.
b. A description of the operator's business experience. Such
description shall disclose any event within the last ten years in which
the operator has filed for or been subject to involuntary bankruptcy,
insolvency, or an assignment for the benefit of creditors, or has been
convicted of a felony in any criminal case or proceeding or has been the
subject of a judgment unless reversed on appeal in any civil or
administrative case or proceeding involving fraud, or deceptive
practices, or violation of any law applicable to membership campgrounds.
The operator shall also make such disclosures as may be required and
mutually agreed upon as a result of negotiations between the operator
and the attorney general and contained in a consent order or assurance
of discontinuance resulting from an investigation, action or proceeding
commenced by the attorney general.
c. A brief description of the nature of the purchaser's right or
license to use the membership campground operator's property or
facilities.
d. The location of each membership campground owned by the membership
campground operator which is offered for purchaser's use and a brief
description for each campground of the facilities then available for use
by purchaser, and those facilities which are represented to purchaser as
planned, together with a brief description of any facilities that are or
will be available to non-purchasers or non-members. The description
required herein shall include, but not be limited to, the number of
camping sites in each campground, the number of camping sites in each
campground with full or partial hook-ups, and a description of the
facilities at each campground.
e. The following statement shall be given in the contract, printed in
boldface type of a minimum size of ten points reading:
PURCHASE A MEMBERSHIP CAMPING CONTRACT ONLY ON THE BASIS OF EXISTING
FACILITIES. CONSTRUCTION OF PLANNED FACILITIES MAY SOMETIMES BE
DELAYED OR TERMINATED FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS.
f. A description of the membership campground operator's ownership or
other right to use the campground together with the duration of any
lease, license, or franchise entitling the membership campground
operator to use the property, and any material provisions of any
agreements which restrict a purchaser's use of the property.
g. A description of the effect on the purchaser's membership rights if
a subsequent holder, successor, assign or other person later acquires
the campground or campgrounds through foreclosure, bankruptcy, sale,
deed, or other conveyance.
h. A copy of the rules, restrictions or covenants regulating the
purchaser's use of the membership campground operator's property or
properties, including a statement of whether and how the rules,
restrictions or covenants may be changed.
i. A brief description of all payments required to be made by a
purchaser under a membership camping contract, including initial fees
and any further fees, dues, charges or assessments, together with an
explanation of how such fees, dues, charges or assessments may be
increased.
j. A description of any restraints on the transfer of the membership
camping contract, including applicable fees.
k. A description of the policies relating to the availability of the
camping sites and whether reservations are required, and what usage
rights non-members have, if any.
l. A description of any grounds for forfeiture of any membership
camping contract.
m. A statement describing the material terms and conditions of any
reciprocal program represented to be available to purchasers, including
whether the purchaser's participation in the reciprocal program is
dependent upon the continued affiliation of the membership campground
operator with the reciprocal program, and whether the reciprocal program
operator and/or the membership campground operator have reserved the
right to terminate that affiliation.
n. A statement of the maximum number of memberships to be sold as
compared to the number of camping sites available to those members,
expressed in a ratio form.
o. The following statement, in bold letters of at least ten point type
where in capital letters below, which advises the purchaser of the right
to cancel the contract under section six hundred fifty-four-a of this
article, shall be contained in the disclosure document:
ADDITIONAL RIGHT OF CANCELLATION: AFTER THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS FROM
THE DATE THAT YOU EXECUTE SAID CONTRACT YOU MAY CANCEL FOR ANY OF THE
FOLLOWING REASONS: (1) A material breach in the provision of the essential services and
programs set forth in the membership camping contract; or
(2) You have relocated to a permanent residence not less than five
hundred miles from a campground or other facility where you can use your
membership; or
(3) You, your spouse, or your domestic partner currently resides in or
are notified of and accept the opportunity to commence occupancy in an
adult care facility or a residential health care facility; or
(4) You, your spouse, or your domestic partner are certified by a
physician as physically unable to visit the resort and materially use
the services and programs as outlined in the contract; or
(5) You are the victim of domestic violence perpetrated by another
signatory of the same contract.
Immediately following the above right of cancellation notice, the
instructions below shall be given in the same type as the print for the
contract text.
"Notice of cancellation shall be in writing subscribed by the
purchaser or his or her legally designated representative and sent by
certified mail to the membership campground operator at the address
stated herein. Such notice shall be accompanied by the original or
copies of the membership camping contract and all supporting
documentation. If you are exercising your right to cancel after three
business days, such notification shall also include a written statement
that certifies that the representations are true and correct, and
contain no material omissions of fact to the best of your knowledge and
belief."
2-a. The following statement, in bold letters of at least ten point
type, which advises the purchaser of the right to cancel the contract
under section six hundred fifty-four of this article shall be contained
in the contract:
YOU MAY CANCEL THIS MEMBERSHIP CONTRACT WITHOUT ANY PENALTY,
FORFEITURE, OR FURTHER OBLIGATION WITHIN THREE (3) BUSINESS DAYS
FROM THE DATE THAT YOU EXECUTE SAID CONTRACT. FOR ADDITIONAL RIGHT
OF CANCELLATION SEE THE DISCLOSURE DOCUMENT.
Immediately following the above right of cancellation notice, the
instructions below shall be given in the same type as the print for the
contract text.
"Notice of cancellation shall be in writing subscribed by the
purchaser or his or her legally designated representative and hand
delivered or mailed by certified mail to the membership campground
operator at the address stated herein and postmarked not later than
three business days from the date of execution of said contract. Such
notice shall be accompanied by the original or copies of the membership
camping contract and all supporting documentation."
3. The disclosure statement shall contain a signature line for the
purchaser immediately above which shall be printed in boldface type of a
minimum size of ten points the following words:
THE UNDERSIGNED HAS READ ALL OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE DISCLOSURE
STATEMENT.
