We have an update on the Chateau World Travel Club.
The Canmore resort it marketed is now in foreclosure that affects all of its 7-thousand members.
Consumer Watch Specialist Lea Williams-Doherty has been reporting on members' problems with Chateau World for the last six years.
Chateau World and its predecessor, Royal Club International, sold travel club memberships, similar to timeshares, to thousands of Albertans.
The company's resorts were the Chateau Canmore Resort Inc., and the Banff Gate Mountain Lodge in Canmore.
The company lost Chateau Canmore Resort Inc. last year and transferred all its members to the Banff Gate Mountain Lodge.
Parties affiliated with the company took out mortgages on all 58 condo units at the Banff Gate and defaulted on all 58.
The various lenders foreclosed upon those condo units and now they collectively own the Banff Gate property wiping out the interests the 7-thousand people who paid many thousands each for rights to vacation property.
Williams-Doherty met with a partner of Axcess Capital the lender that now owns the majority of the units at the Banff Gate Mountain Lodge.
Bill Butterman says Axcess intends to buy the remaining units from the other lenders so that it can sell the resort as a whole.
Butterman is sympathetic to the timeshare owners who were left with nothing for their money and says Axcess would like to sell the resort back to them.
He says there are two opposing groups currently contacting former timeshare holders to put an offer to purchase together.
One group is comprised of ex-Chateau World employees.
The other includes former timeshare holders. This is the group Butterman says Axcess Capital supports.
"We've been approached by the group that's controlled by Ms. Goodwin and Ms. Speiss and they're in the process of consolidating the timeshare members or the club members, whichever they may be, to make an offer to purchase the project from us. Axcess Capital has done its homework and we've investigated them to our comfort level and we feel these two individuals have the experience and the business background to do this on behalf of the members," said Butterman.
Butterman says Axcess has agreed to give former Chateau World members first shot at buying the resort property and the company will forego entertaining any other offers until July 1st.
