CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

11. CONTINGENCIES AND COMMITMENTS

Commitments and Letters of Credit

As of September 30, 2019, we had the following commitments outstanding:

• We have various contracts for the use of information technology hardware and software that we use in the normal course of business. Our aggregate commitments under these contracts were $67 million, of which we expect $13 million, $26 million, $15 million, $8 million and $5 million will be paid in the remainder of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively.

• We have commitments of $2 million to subsidize operating costs of vacation ownership property owners’ associations, which we expect to pay in the remainder of 2019.

• We have a commitment to purchase an operating property located in New York, New York for $182 million, of which $7 million is attributable to a related finance lease arrangement and recorded in Debt. We expect to acquire the units in the property in their current form, over time, and we expect to make payments for these units of $120 million and $62 million in 2020 and 2021, respectively. We currently manage this property, which was rebranded as Marriott Vacation Club Pulse, New York City. See Footnote 17 “Variable Interest Entities” for additional information on this transaction and our activities relating to the variable interest entity involved in this transaction.

• We have a commitment to purchase 88 vacation ownership units located in Bali, Indonesia for use in our Vacation Ownership segment, contingent upon completion of construction to agreed-upon standards within specified timeframes. We expect to complete the acquisition in 2020 and to make the remaining payments with respect to these units when specific construction milestones are completed, as follows: $3 million in 2019, $23 million in 2020 and $2 million in 2021.

• We have a remaining commitment to purchase an operating property located in San Francisco, California for $101 million. We expect to acquire the operating property over time and expect to make payments for the operating property as follows: $55 million in 2020 and $46 million in 2021. We currently manage this property, which was rebranded as Marriott Vacation Club Pulse, San Francisco, during 2019. See Footnote 17 “Variable Interest Entities” for additional information on this transaction and our activities relating to the variable interest entity involved in this transaction and Footnote 3 “Acquisitions and Dispositions” for information on the purchase that occurred during the third quarter of 2019.

Surety bonds issued as of September 30, 2019 totaled $104 million, the majority of which were requested by federal, state or local governments in connection with our operations.

As of September 30, 2019, we had $3 million of letters of credit outstanding under our $600 million revolving credit facility (the “Revolving Corporate Credit Facility”). In addition, as of September 30, 2019, we had $4 million in letters of credit outstanding related to and in lieu of reserves required for several vacation ownership notes receivable securitization transactions outstanding. These letters of credit are not issued pursuant to, nor do they impact our borrowing capacity under, the Revolving Credit Facility.

We estimate the cash outflow associated with completing the phases of our existing portfolio of vacation ownership projects currently under development will be approximately $9 million, of which $4 million is included within liabilities on our Balance Sheet at September 30, 2019. This estimate is based on our current development plans, which remain subject to change, and we expect the phases currently under development will be completed by the end of 2020.

Guarantees

Certain of our rental management agreements in our Exchange & Third-Party Management segment provide for owners of properties we manage to receive specified percentages or guaranteed amounts of the rental revenue generated under our management. In these cases, the operating expenses for the rental operations are paid from the revenue generated by the rentals, the owners are then paid their contractual percentages or guaranteed amounts, and our vacation rental business either retains the balance (if any) as its fee or makes up the deficit. At September 30, 2019, our maximum exposure under these guarantees is $33 million, of which $4 million, $10 million, $9 million, $4 million, $2 million and $4 million relate to the remainder of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and thereafter. In addition, our maximum exposure under other guarantees is $3 million.

Loss Contingencies

In March 2017, RCHFU, L.L.C. and other owners at The Ritz-Carlton Club, Aspen Highlands (“RCC Aspen Highlands”) filed a complaint in an action pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against us and certain third parties, alleging that their fractional interests were devalued by the affiliation of the RCC Aspen Highlands and other Ritz-Carlton Clubs with our points-based Marriott Vacation Club Destinations (“MVCD”) program. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages, disgorgement, fees and costs.

In May 2016, a purported class-action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida by Anthony and Beth Lennen against us and certain third parties. The complaint challenged the characterization of the beneficial interests in the MVCD trust that are sold to customers as real estate interests under Florida law, the structure of the trust, and associated operational aspects of the trust. The plaintiffs sought declaratory relief, an unwinding of the MVCD product, and punitive damages. In August 2019, the District Court granted our motion for judgment on the pleadings and dismissed the case. The plaintiffs have appealed the ruling.

In December 2016, Flora and Bruce Gillespie and other owners and former owners of fractional interests at the Fifth and Fifty-Fifth Residence Club located within The St. Regis, New York (the “St. Regis NY Club”) filed an action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against ILG, certain of its subsidiaries, and certain third parties alleging that the sale of less than all interests offered in the fractional offering plan, the amendment of the plan to include additional units, and the rental of unsold fractional interests by the plan’s sponsor breached the relevant agreements and harmed the value of plaintiffs’ fractional interests. The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages, rescission, disgorgement, fees and costs.

In February 2017, the owners’ association for the St. Regis NY Club filed a separate suit against ILG and certain of its subsidiaries in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which was amended to add Marriott International and Starwood as additional defendants in March 2017. The lawsuit was subsequently transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The operative complaint alleges that the sponsor of the St. Regis NY Club (St. Regis Residence Club, New York, Inc.), the St. Regis NY Club manager (St. Regis New York Management, Inc.), and certain affiliated entities, as well as Marriott International and Starwood, breached their fiduciary duties related to sale and rental practices, and further alleges tortious interference with the management agreement, unjust enrichment, and anticompetitive conduct. The amended complaint also alleges anticompetitive conduct in connection with the renewal of the St. Regis NY Club management agreement. The plaintiff is seeking declaratory relief in connection with the Starpoint conversion program and the exchange program at the St. Regis NY Club, unspecified damages, and disgorgement of payments under the management and purchase agreements.

In April 2019, a purported class-action lawsuit was filed by Alan and Marjorie Helman and others against us in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, Division of St. Thomas alleging that their fractional interests were devalued by the affiliation of The Ritz-Carlton Club, St. Thomas and other Ritz-Carlton Clubs with our MVCD program. The lawsuit was subsequently removed to the U.S. District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages, disgorgement of profits, fees and costs.

In May 2019, the G.A. Resort Condominium Association Inc., the owners’ association for the fractional owners at the Hyatt Residence Club Grand Aspen resort (“HRC Grand Aspen”) filed a lawsuit against us in the District Court for the County of Pitkin, Colorado relating to the transfer of ownership of developer-owned fractional interests at HRC Grand Aspen to the HPC Trust Club for sale and use as a part of the Hyatt Residence Club Portfolio Program. The lawsuit was subsequently removed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The plaintiff is seeking termination of the management agreement with the owners’ association, the annulment of certain amendments to governing documents at HRC Grand Aspen,

the removal of fractional interests at HRC Grand Aspen from the HPC Trust Club, unspecified damages, disgorgement of profits, fees and costs.

We believe we have meritorious defenses to the claims in each of the above matters and intend to vigorously defend each matter.

In the ordinary course of our business, various claims and lawsuits have been filed or are pending against us. A number of these lawsuits and claims may exist at any given time. We record and accrue for legal contingencies when we determine that it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. In making such determinations, we evaluate, among other things, the degree of probability of an unfavorable outcome and, when it is probable that a liability has been incurred, our ability to make a reasonable estimate of loss. We review these accruals each reporting period and make revisions based on changes in facts and circumstances.

We have not accrued for any of the pending matters described above and we cannot estimate a range of the potential liability associated with these pending matters, if any, at this time. We have accrued for other claims and lawsuits, but the amount accrued is not material in the aggregate. For matters not requiring accrual, we do not believe that the ultimate outcome of such matters, individually and in the aggregate, will materially harm our financial position, cash flows, or overall trends in results of operations based on information currently available. However, legal proceedings are inherently uncertain, and while we believe that our accruals are adequate and/or we have valid defenses to the claims asserted, unfavorable rulings could occur that could, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or operating results.

Other

During June 2018, we identified forged and fraudulently induced electronic payment disbursements we made to third parties in an aggregate amount of $10 million resulting from unauthorized third-party access to our email system. Upon detection, we immediately notified law enforcement authorities and relevant financial institutions and commenced a forensic investigation. During 2018, we recovered $6 million. During the second quarter of 2019, we received $3 million from our insurance company as final settlement of our claim, and the insurance company waived the requirement for us to reimburse the insurance company for any monies subsequently recovered. We recorded a gain of $3 million in the (Losses) gains and other (expense) income, net line of our Income Statement for the first three quarters of 2019. Any additional recoveries will be recorded in our results in the future. We have concluded that this event did not involve access to any of our other systems. No other misappropriation of assets was identified during our investigation.

Insurance Recoveries

In September 2017, over 20 of our Legacy-MVW properties were impacted by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria and, as a result, as of December 31, 2017, we accrued $1 million for the estimated property damage insurance deductibles and impairment of property and equipment, which was recorded in the Gains and other income, net line on our Income Statement for the year ended December 31, 2017. In 2018, we received $32 million of insurance proceeds related to the settlement of Legacy-MVW business interruption insurance claims arising from Hurricane Irma. These proceeds, and the related deductible of $3 million, were recorded net in the Gains and other income, net line on our Income Statement for the year ended December 31, 2018. During the first quarter of 2019, we recorded an additional $9 million of other income relating to the final settlement of these business interruption insurance claims, which was recorded in the (Losses) gains and other (expense) income, net line on our Income Statement for the nine months ended September 30, 2019.