Robert M. Chasnow is a Partner in the law firm of Holland & Knight and is Co-leader of the firm's Timeshare and Resort Community Development Practice Group. Mr. Chasnow has focused on timeshare law, and resort development and land sales law since 1974.
Mr. Chasnow practices throughout the United States and in the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada, on behalf of developers, marketers, and financiers on the legal aspects of development and compliance with governmental requirements in connection with:
- single site or multi site timeshare resorts and regional, national and international vacation clubs
- private residence clubs and fractional programs
- large scale and small scale homesite developments
- golf course and high amenity resorts
- resort and multiuse master planned community developments
- mixed use and urban destination properties
- beachfront and resort hotels and condominiums including
Mr. Chasnow drafts and implements highly tailored sets of full project documentation for timeshare, fractionals, private residence clubs, resort and golf communities, homesite subdivisions, vacation clubs, multisite timeshare programs, resort condominium and mixed-use properties; for developer clients, he provides initial registrations, phase additions, amendment and audit services for state timeshare registrations and federal Interstate Land Sales registrations and exemptions; he handles all aspects of federal and state compliance and enforcement issues; and advises on specialty compliance issues involving Fair Housing, RESPA, sellers of travel laws, telemarketing and do-not-call laws, vacation certificates, and a full range of multistate and federal legal issues pertaining to the marketing and sales of special use real estate and hospitality projects.
Mr. Chasnow also represents developers and lenders with respect to acquisition, construction and receivables financing including securitization, and represents developers, public companies and financiers with respect to due diligence, mergers, and acquisitions in the timeshare and resort real estate fields.
Mr. Chasnow represents owners, developers, hoteliers, and marketers of timeshare resorts, fractionals, vacation clubs, private residence clubs, primary and secondary home subdivisions, and new communities across North America by providing innovative and highly functional timeshare, fractionals and community development documentation. Mr. Chasnow and his Group have undertaken, completed and maintained well over a thousand matters involving timeshare, homesite development and multistate registrations, exemptions, amendments, consolidations, annual reports, and defense of developers and marketers with respect to state and federal registration, enforcement, compliance and policy issues. Mr. Chasnow is a longstanding practitioner before the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with respect to registration, exemption and enforcement defense under the Federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act.
Mr. Chasnow’s recent assignments have been:
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provide due diligence counsel on acquisition of two large publicly-traded timeshare companies for $650 million and $100 million respectively
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for NYSE hotel company, provide the legal design and implementation for an international private residence club with the initial club sites in Acapulco and Bermuda; create and implement compliance strategy for U.S. and Canadian marketing
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perform comprehensive due diligence on substantial Orlando timeshare resort in connection with $150 million timeshare receivables loan
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devise and implement national marketing compliance strategy through combination of timeshare registration and exemption in 32 states for rapidly expanding Orlando timeshare resort
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for South Carolina developer, craft complete timeshare program documents and handle registration and exemption issues in 15 states
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represent and advise ownership group with respect to a timeshare joint venture in the Caribbean
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advise and implement federal and state compliance strategies for two home site development companies in the mid-West
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handle local Florida counsel opinions for series of timeshare securitizations
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advise and implement legal compliance for web-based timeshare rental company on multistate telemarketing, do-not-call and e-business issues
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provide full set of project documentation for points-based timeshare resort in New Jersey including exemption from state DCA
Mr. Chasnow has authored numerous articles, and he is a longstanding speaker on timeshare and resort community development issues for the American Resort Development Association, National Land Council, University of Miami, and the Caribbean Law Conference. Mr. Chasnow also served as contributing editor of the Resort Development Law Reporter.
In addition to his published trade press and bar association articles, Mr. Chasnow has authored or co-authored articles on the following timeshare and resort community development and land sales and resort community development topics:
- Application of the Fair Housing Laws to the Timeshare Industry
- Sexual Harassment in the Resort Sales Office: Legal Evolution and Management Prevention
- Application of the 2002 USA Patriot Act to the Timeshare Industry
- Compliance with and Enforcement of the Federal Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act -- Registration and Exemption Issues
- Condominium Development and the Federal Interstate Land Sales Act
- Landmark Judgment Dramatizes the Cost of Federal Land Sales Act Violations
- Application of Federal Securities Law to Vacation Condominium Rental Arrangements
- Developer Disposition of Featured Community Amenities
Mr. Chasnow authored the initial draft ethics standards for content and use of vacation certificates for the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) Task Force. Mr. Chasnow also authored two monographs published and distributed by ARDA: Timeshare Resale Activities: Antitrust, Licensing, Registration and Securities Issues, and An Operational Compliance Guide to Federal Telemarketing Requirements.
In 2000, Mr. Chasnow received the Award for Commitment to Community Service from the Holland & Knight Washington, D.C., office for exceptional volunteer service to firm-sponsored elementary school program for children in the Shaw neighborhood of Washington, D.C.