N.Y. General Business Law § 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.