Boards of directors of owners associations in the U.S. Virgin Islands and elsewhere play a critical role in managing timeshare resorts. This is especially true in mature resorts that are past the development stage and are being run by their owners. Boards frequently contract with management companies to handle the day to day operations of the resorts and may rely on their expertise — so long as all is going well.  But even with the best of management companies, board members bear a fiduciary obligation to the ownership and  must monitor and review the performance of the manager, resolve policy issues, and engage in the long range planning that is essential for a resort to remain healthy.

A primary challenge for any interval ownership regime is attracting qualified people to serve on boards of directors of owners’ associations. Because interval owners usually own only a week at a resort and don’t reside where the resort is located, their interest in participating in the management of the resort may not be a high priority. In fact, many owners just want to visit and have fun. To participate in board functions takes time and effort that few are willing to expend. That being said, there seems to be, in most cases, people who are willing to step forward, either because they like to be involved or have a sense of duty or, in the case of a troubled resort, to protect their interests.

Continue Reading Timeshare Board Membership: A Key to a Successful Resort

After over a decade of discussion, review and deliberation by the Virgin Islands bench and bar as well as the Law Revision Commission and several Legislatures, on February 8, 2010, U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh signed into law sweeping reforms of the Territory’s probate practice and procedure.

This new legislation reduces needless expense and delay in the administration of estates and trusts, enhances protections for those under guardianship and increases uniformity with other states and territories. This summary highlights five areas of important reforms enacted by the new legislation.

Continue Reading Territory Receives New Probate Code

 The Uniform Debt-Management Services Act (UDMSA) was signed into law  by Governor John P. deJongh Jr. of the Virgin Islands last Wednesday.  The act sponsored by St. Croix senators Terrence Nelson, Neville James and Samuel Sanes was drafted and approved by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC).   The UDMSA, approved by the ULC in 2005 and amended in 2008, was the result of a multi-year study into debt relief options for consumers. It is the first national effort at providing uniform rules to govern both consumer credit counseling services and debt settlement services.

 “In today’s economic climate, we are finding more and more consumers turning to debt management companies, which have tripled in number over the past few years,” said Tom Bolt, Chair of the Virgin Islands Uniform Law Commission.   “There have been frequent instances or accusations of abuse by consumers who utilize these services.  This legislation regulates the industry in uniformity with other jurisdcitions, while protecting our Virgin Islands consumers.”

Continue Reading Governor Signs Bill Protecting VI Consumers Utilizing Debt Management Services

U.S. Virgin Islands Governor John P. deJongh recently appointed two BoltNagi attorneys to serve on territorial governmental boards. Managing Attorney Tom Bolt has been appointed as a member of the Interagency Council on Homelessness and Laura C. Nagi, Chair of the firm’s Family Law and Children’s Issues Practice Group as a member of the State Advisory Group of the Law Enforcement Planning Commission.

Continue Reading VI Governor Appoints BoltNagi Attorneys

The first "opportunity for solution" that you have in preparing a U.S. Virgin Islands Individual Income Tax return is that your tax preparation software doesn’t have a state module for the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is not a problem. A U.S. Virgin Islands income tax return is prepared using the same Form 1040 U.S. Individual Income Tax Return that is used throughout the United States. The major difference is the tax is paid to the U.S. Virgin Islands Treasury rather than the United States Treasury. This entry will cover some minor differences and practical tips which you may want to pass on to your tax preparer.

Continue Reading Preparing an Individual Income Tax Return with U.S. Virgin Islands Income

Investors sometimes make investments in real estate that turn out badly.  There is an old saying in the Virgin Islands that "the man that makes a small amount of money in the Virgin Islands is one that started with a large amount of money!"  Many may blame their loss on the "real estate cycle" when actually there were mistakes that could have been avoided by better planning and analysis.

Based on over 35 years experience in real estate, I have identified several costly mistakes.  Here are a few:

Misjudged Demand. 

Developers have faced costly setbacks by assuming that customers existed without undertaking adequate market analysis.  For example, a mixed-use retail/office development designed to attact EDC businesses and upscale shoppers just when the Territory’s EDC Program had a setback from additional federal regulation and upscale shoppers took it on the chin in the current economy.

Continue Reading Costly Mistakes In Real Estate

Congress failed to address pressing estate and generation-skipping transfer tax matters before it adjourned in December. Consequently, as of January 1, 2010, the provisions of 2001 federal tax legislation (the “2001 Act”) will cause the federal estate and federal generation-skipping transfer (GST) taxes to be repealed for one year, starting on January 1, 2010.    

For 2009, there was a $3.5 million exemption for each tax and a 45 percent top tax rate for each tax. Under the 2001 Act, the federal estate and GST taxes will come back into effect on Jan. 1, 2011, but with only a $1 million exemption for estate tax, a $1.1 million exemption for GST tax (indexed for inflation), and a top rate of (generally) 55 percent for each tax.

Continue Reading Federal Estate and Generation-Skipping Tax Repeal in 2010

At the beginning of 2009, employers, insurers and COBRA administrators revised their procedures and notices to implement the COBRA subsidy provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”). These provisions allowed certain eligible individuals to elect COBRA coverage and pay only 35% of the COBRA premium for up to 9 months. Subject to certain exceptions, employers then collect the other 65% of the premium from the federal government through a credit claimed on the employer’s payroll tax return. This COBRA subsidy was a temporary measure that was to be available only to individuals who were involuntarily terminated from employment and were entitled to elect COBRA coverage on or prior to December 31, 2009. On December 19, 2009, President Obama signed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010, which includes an amendment extending the COBRA subsidy (the “Subsidy Amendment”).

Continue Reading Congress Provides for COBRA Extension

BoltNagi, PC is the new name for the prominent St. Thomas law and lobbying firm previously known as Tom Bolt & Associates, PC. with the addition of Ravinder S. Nagi as a shareholder in the firm.  The 20 year old law firm serves clients in all aspects of business law, including banking, corporate, real estate, tax, trusts and estate planning, labor and employment law and civil litigation.   The firm also maintains an active family law and government relations practice.

Tom Bolt, founder and Managing Partner of BoltNagi, PC, said, "We are very proud to have Ravi Nagi’s name join ours.  The change reflects the overall growth of the firm – growth that’s in large measure due to the outstanding contributions of Ravinder Nagi."

 

 

Continue Reading Law Firm Announces Name Change to BoltNagi, PC

In order to clarify outdated and inappropriate legal guidelines and streamline the Territory’s slow probate process, the Senate Rules and Judiciary Committee passed a bill Thursday that will adopt the Uniform Probate Code currently enacted in 19 states.

In the U.S. Virgin Islands, probate, the legal proceeding in which a court determines how an estate will be divided, can sometimes take up to 20 or 30 years.  This long and arduous process has been known to deplete estates of any monies while properties stand empty and dilapidated due to years of legal wrangling.

According to Dan Gravel, an attorney with Tom Bolt & Associates, P.C. who concentrates his practice in trusts and estates and who testified in favor of the bill, the Uniform Probate Code (UPC) “will lessen the burden on courts and on families who have to navigate the probate process.” 
 

Continue Reading St Thomas Attorney Advocates New Probate Code