This Mexican Official Standard (the NOM) published by the Mexican Ministry of the Economy on March 28, 2022, has the purpose of establishing the commercial information requirements and regulatory elements by which the suppliers and/or intermediary providers of the timeshare service must abide, in order to achieve customer satisfaction for the agreed service.

The NOM provides informational standards for Suppliers in the following areas:

i. Adhesion Agreements;

It establishes that such must be executed in a format with a font size of at least 10 points to facilitate the customer's reading.

For the sale of the timeshare service, providers are required to be registered at the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor, or Profeco); as well as to have an insurance policy against damages and accidents. Finally, it requires a clear and detailed description of the charges and fees to the customer.

Regarding the pre-sale, it requires, in addition to the foregoing, that real property have with construction permits and to have a company duly incorporated pursuant to Mexican law.

Finally, it establishes the obligation to have an Internal Regulation, and its minimum content.

ii. Reservation Systems;

It requests the creation of a reservation system and to inform customers of the way to operate said system.

iii. Fees

The determination of the fee quotas must be established in the applicable agreement and be in accordance with the interim regulations.

iv. The administration of the timeshare;

It will be the supplier's obligation to carry out all acts related to the operation, maintenance of facilities and equipment, reservations, and replacement and repair of goods or assets.

v. Termination of timeshare; and

It establishes that the reversion of timeshare real estate can only be carried out when there are no longer customers with rights to enjoy the timeshare service in such real estate.

vi. Marketing of timeshare services provided abroad.

The NOM obliges suppliers to ensure that the applicable foreign real estate meets the same conditions and characteristics applicable to Mexican real estate.

Learn more about this NOM here.

This newsflash was jointly prepared by Diego Gómez-Haro ([email protected]), Rafael Villamar ([email protected]), Alfredo Villarreal-Hansmann ([email protected]), Alonso Sandoval ([email protected]), José Miguel Ortiz-Otero ([email protected]), and Elsa Leticia Neve-Ramírez Wiella ([email protected])