UPDATE

September 29, 2023

Dear Marriott’s Monarch Owner:

The Monarch Board of Directors (BOD) is excited to learn that the Monarch owners are eager to cast their votes to resolve the 2042 extension issue, which threatens the existence of Monarch beginning in 2042.

Your BOD has worked closely this year with the Marriott Management Team (MMT), led by Birgit Koellner-Gozlan and Scott Wilson, and with MMT’s voting company Morrow Sodali, that Marriott uses for elections including the annual BOD vote to develop a voting plan that would result in extending the life of Monarch indefinitely. We believe we are close to completing a plan that will allow us to accomplish this objective soon. I am hoping in the very near future we can share the specifics of this plan with you. In the event that any additional hurdle should arise, I will let you know the specifics of the complication and how we plan to address it.

Thanks again for your continuing interest in Monarch and resolving the 2042 extension issue.

Ron Marks
President
Board of Directors
Monarch at Sea Pines Owners’ Association, Inc.

 

 Monarch Newsletter

May 2023

 
 

May 2023

Dear Marriott’s Monarch Owner:

I am writing this newsletter to update you on an important issue facing Monarch, referred to as the 2042 Extension Issue. At the risk of sounding alarmist, this issue presents a potential existential threat to Monarch as we know it. Let me summarize the issue for you in the following bullet points:

  • Monarch’s governing documents, including the Master Deed and By-Laws, which were written by the original developer American Resort Properties in the 1980’s, contain provisions that state that the time sharing plan that is layered on top of their condominium regime will automatically terminate in 2042 unless the Association takes action to the contrary.

  • The governing documents outline procedures for extending the regime that are unwieldy, to say the least. What’s more, the process for renewing the time-sharing plan would have to be repeated every ten years thereafter.

  • The alternative to renewing/extending the plan would be, in short, chaos. Owners of weeks within each unit would become tenants in common for those units without any rules governing occupancy rights. As such, no owner could occupy their week at Monarch and any stake in Monarch would be worthless in the real estate market.

* In 2020, the Board hired the law firm Barnwell Whaley Patterson & Helms LLC, located in Charleston, SC to work with us on resolving this issue.

  • The first thing the Board learned from the law firm was that South Carolina had just passed a new statute in 2019, named the Vacation Time-Sharing Plan Extensions and Termination Act – specifically to extend the lives of successful timeshares in the state.

* Attorneys for the Board and Marriott Vacations Worldwide (MVW) have interacted since 2021 to discuss how best to move this issue forward to a successful conclusion for Monarch.

  • The Board and MVW agree that the South Carolina Timeshare Extension Act presents the path of least resistance to accomplish that goal.

  • Using the procedures set forth in the Act would allow Monarch to negate the 2042 termination language in the governing documents and extend the time-sharing plan indefinitely, thereby preserving the Monarch that we know and enjoy well beyond 2042.

* The Board is currently having discussions with MVW on next steps in this process.

  • Discussions involve the (1) specific voting process to successfully extend the life of Monarch in perpetuity and (2) how to reach the needed high quorums of voting owners to successfully provide extension in perpetuity and update governing documents.

As we make progress with MVW in 2023 and beyond, the Board needs to communicate specific plans and progress to all owners.  The best way for us to manage these communications is through the Monarch Owners Website, accessible at https://www.monarchowners.com/.  If you have not yet had the opportunity to see your owner’s website, please check out its numerous sources of information for all things Monarch.

We will make it clear on the website home page where to go for the latest updates on this project.  We also invite owner comments to the Board on this or any other matter important to you, please go to the lower right- hand corner of the home page to see how to send an email to the Board. 

In addition, the Marriott Vacation Club Management Team at Monarch has been informing owners for almost two years about this issue at the weekly Owners Forums held each Monday morning at Monarch specifically for Monarch owners.  Please consider attending these Owners Forums when you are at Monarch to keep up with this important topic for all Monarch owners.

Switching gears, the 2023 Annual Meeting, Owners of Monarch at Sea Pines Owners’ Association, Inc. will elect member(s) to serve on the Board of Directors. Any Owner desiring to become a candidate for election to the Board of Directors must complete and submit a call for candidates form to the Association by June 26, 2023.

To access the form, click on the link in this letter and you will be directed to MarriottVacationClub.com where you will be prompted to log in using your MarriottVacationClub.com User Name and Password.  If you do not have an account, click “Create a New Account.”  If you have an account and encounter challenges logging in, click “Forgot User Name or Password” on the web site.  For technical support accessing the Call for Candidates Form on MarriottVacationClub.com, please contact Owner Services at 800-845-4226.

A call for candidates form can also be obtained by contacting Scott Wilson, Guest Relations Manager, by telephone at 843-686-8785 or via email at scott.wilson@vacationclub.com.

I hope this information has been helpful to you.  The Board is working hard with MVW to resolve these issues as soon as possible, and we can only achieve success with the cooperation of all Monarch owners. 

Sincerely,

Ron Marks
President
Board of Directors
Monarch at Sea Pines Owners’ Association, Inc.