Hopefully not too much more than you'd expect.  Most timeshare owners have the understanding that their annual "dues" or maintenance fee includes property tax plus fees required for the upkeep of the resort.

So, here comes the fun - yesterday's Miami Herald ran a news story explaining how a number of timeshare property management firms have been charging $3 to $5 fees to the timeshare owners without their knowledge. Does not sound like much? Well, in 2007, 4.4 million households owned one or more weeks of timeshare in the US. AND, it turns out that these fees have been going to a political action committee set up by the American Resort Development Association. According to the story, "This year alone, ARDA spent $540,000 lobbying against mortgage reform legislation on Capitol Hill, including the expansion of truth-in-lending requirements to timeshare buyers."

This discovery came to light during a Federal Election Commission audit of the Political Action Committee of ARDA. Their report covers a period of roughly 2003 - 2004's election cycle and $1.8 million raised during that time.

If you want to keep up with this developing story, check in here from time to time, or subscribe to this blog.

Great photo of Point Loma California, courtesy of www.pdphoto.org