What Happens if I Stop Paying My Timeshare?
This question comes up a lot on timeshare forums and blogs, and it can be complicated depending on the exact procedures outlined in your particular contract. There are a few main points that stay the same regardless of whether you have a deeded timeshare or right-to-use, and whether or not you have paid off the entire amount of the timeshare. The following is a description of the steps that will take place if you decide to throw in the towel and allow your timeshare to go into default, leading to timeshare foreclosure.
Timeshare is treated equal to real estate in the eyes of the law, and it follows the same rules and regulations as a homeowners deed. 
Your timeshare can foreclose in the same way as your home if you stop making payments - and this does not just mean payments on the principal balance, it also includes yearly maintenance fees. After your first missed payment, whether it be a monthly payment on the principal balance or your maintenance fees, you will start receiving calls from your timeshare resort’s collection company attempting to collect a payment. You will also receive information by mail detailing the amount due, including any applicable late fees, and their intentions on reporting your delinquency to the IRS.
If your timeshare does go all the way through the foreclosure proceedings you will be notified by mail that your deeded timeshare will be part of a trustee’s sale or public auction. At the given date, time and place your timeshare will be sold at a sheriff’s auction to the highest bidder. The auction is public record and the transaction can be recorded and reported to the IRS and credit bureaus, effectively ruining your credit for the next 7 years. This strike on your credit score can make it difficult to finance a car, obtain a loan or even buy a home. Since timeshares rarely sell at auction for the amount owed on the deed, the timeshare resort company has the option to take legal action and sue you for the remaining balance owed. Read more on timeshare foreclosure and credit scores in the post - Timeshare Foreclosures and Your Credit Score
Timeshares can be hard to wiggle out of, but most anything is better than letting the property foreclose and take a major hit on your credit score - especially if you are anticipating a major purchase in the near future. Timeshare foreclosure should be your last resort if there is absolutely no way you can make the monthly or yearly payments. It is wise to contact your timeshare resort if you are having financial difficulties and anticipate missing a payment, some properties will even offer to take your timeshare back under some circumstances; some resorts will also offer a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. You will also want to check out possibly donating your timeshare if the principal amount is paid off in full - this is not an option if you still owe money on a loan.
Helpful Timeshare Foreclosure Links:
Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure for Timeshare - http://rcivip.com/2008/deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure-for-timeshare/
Timeshare Foreclosure and Your Credit Score - http://rcivip.com/2008/timeshare-foreclosures-and-your-credit-score/
Alternative Timeshare Sales Options - http://rcivip.com/2007/alternative-timeshare-sales-options/
April 8th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Is it any easier to terminate if the balance is paid in full? I bought a timeshare at Virginia Beach, VA in 1995, paid it off completely, but have never used it. I offered to give it back for free because I don’t want to pay maintenance fees for something I don’t use. When I called the resort they said they couldn’t take it and I have to keep paying the fees.
April 8th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Hi Gary,
If your timeshare is paid off in full you can often give it to charity even if the resort will not take it back. Another option would be to “sell” the timeshare for an extremely low cost, even free, letting the buyer know that all they will be responsible for is paying the maintenance fees. I would suggest putting an ad up for the timeshare on your local Craigslist, eBay or in your local paper. Best of luck!
Useful links:
Charities that accept timeshare
Alternative Timeshare Sales Options
Selling a Timeshare
April 14th, 2008 at 7:33 am
My father is retired and my mother died. He cannot use the timeshare anyomore and the company keeps charging additional maintenance fees ( last year it was 2000.00 for one week) He had not paid the fees the last couple years hopin ghthey will take it back because they won’t take it back the other way. He has not paid it and wants to give it back but they say they can’t take it. He added my name on it for survivorship, but I don’t want it either and I don’t want to be stuck with his problem. Is there anything we can do. We want to give it back and save them collection costs but they don’t want it back.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Hi Sharon,
Unfortunately I do not have any other advice for you than what I have mentioned to Gary above. You may want to try giving the timeshare away to someone else via taking out an ad on Craigslist or eBay. Also do some research on donating the timeshare to charity - there is a link in my reply to Gary on how to do this. I suppose the last and final resort would be to actually go ahead and foreclose on the property, which may actually not be that bad for your father if he has his house, car, etc. paid off; i.e. he may be in a position where it would be ok to take a hit on his credit. Let us know what you decide and if you need any help. Best regards.
April 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Thanks, he does not have a house anymore. He moved in senior housing and needs all his money for his rent now. (Social Security and pension are not enough) The timeshare was taken over a few years ago and the “new” people keep adding extra administrative costs so that it costs about $2000.00 a wk for maintenance fees. NO one will buy a deal like that because I have relatives that aren’t far from where it is and they tell me the new people are letting the place get trashed and cut back on all their services. NO one would want to buy it now with the new owners. I worry because before my mother died, she and my dad put my name on the deed for survivorship rights, but I don’t want it at all.
April 17th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
I know it may be hard to hear, but if you do not have any luck giving the timeshare away either to charity or otherwise, I would just let your dad foreclose on the property. The only thing a foreclosure is going to do is make it hard for him to take out a loan or purchase big ticket items, they are not going to seize any of his assets of deduct any money from his social security/pensions for the foreclosure. Again, I know it is not a pleasant solution, but I strongly urge you to think about it. Where is the property located?
April 18th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Florida, around Clearwater. He can’t fly anymore and has one of those scooter things to get around in. It is a shame they will spend the money to forclose when they can just have it without spending that money. No wonder they are in trouble.
May 3rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I am trying to ask the timeshare lawyers to do a deed in lieu of instead of a foreclosure. what are the chances of them doing that? they cannot go after my home, right? how will they collect any legal fees owed to them? by calling me continuosly?
May 3rd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Racheal,
I would say the chances of having a deed in lieu of foreclosure prepared for your timeshare really depends on where the resort is and whether or not you have paid off the entire principal balance of the timeshare. If you are not behind on payments, have paid the principal balance and have a desirable timeshare - whether it be a good location or excellent points program - then your chances are good that an agreement can be met with a deed in lieu of. If the former are not true, and you already have some delinquency recorded, it is not likely that your lender will allow you to stop payments with a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
The best thing you can do, if you are current with payments and have paid the balance in full is to stop paying your maintenance fee and wait until your Owners Association (or HOA) turns your account over to a third party collection firm. After the collection firm has used up all their typical methods (like threatening letters and phone calls), they will usually advise you that your home resort will accept a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
If you are successful in reaching an agreement with the lawyers, developers and any other party involved with your timeshare, you will need to make sure you get it in writing that this will not be recorded and reported to credit agencies in order to save your credit score. If the deed gets recorded inaccurately it will look like you were delinquent with payments and can sometimes look worse than actually foreclosing.
As for the lender being able to go after your home, or any other personal property in order to collect payment for a timeshare foreclosure, this will only happen if you have a lien on the timeshare.
A deed in lieu of foreclosure is a great way to remove yourself of all ties with the timeshare you no longer with to own. Please let us know how the process works out for you!
May 12th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Hi,
I want to know one information. I am owning a timeshare with west gate resorts and spa in Orlando. I still owe some 18k to them. And I paid them 3K till today. I want to know if I stop paying the remaining amount then you said the developer will do some kind of foreclosure. So what do you mean by that. Will the developer take some kind of police action or do I need to go to any kind of court about the legal proceedings. Please let me know.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Hi Radha,
I would say that your resort is not likely to agree to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure based on the amount of money you still have left to pay on the principal balance of the timeshare. Most likely what will happen if you stop paying the remaining amount is that the property will go into foreclosure, at which point you would be expected to take part in legal proceedings related to the foreclosure of the timeshare property. Depending on whether or not you have any liens placed on the timeshare, the lender may have the option to seize any assets placed as a lien on the loan.
My first suggestion for you would be to contact your lender/timeshare developer and tell them that you are unable to continue payments and see what options you may have to release all ties with the resort. If the only option they present to you is to proceed with a foreclosure, seek legal counsel to keep your losses at a minimum. Please let us know how this process goes for you, I wish you all the best.
May 17th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Hi Mandie,
Thanks for your reply. I would like to tell you that I dont belong to USA. And I want to leave for my home country. Currently staying in USA, so can you please tell me if I want to leave US will it be any kind of problem. or If I want to come US again then will there be any problem.
Thanks for your mail.
Kalyan
May 19th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Hi, just a quick question.
A friend of my wife has a timshare that has been completely paid off and they no longer use it anymore since they have a few others and she wants to transfer it over to us for free.
What is the least expensive way to transfer this deed? We live in VA. Do we have to get a deed company involved or lawyers? Thanks for any help you can provide.
May 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
In Virginia an attorney must be involved in the transfer of timeshare property. The cheapest way to go about transferring a timeshare deed with attorney involvement is to have the document prepared by an outside title transfer service and then turn it over to the attorney for review. Be aware that there will also be fees for closing costs in addition to attorney fees and the deed preparation. Having these documents prepared using an online service will save you money, here are a few websites that offer time share deed preparation services, these may be of assistance to you in your situation:
Transfer My Timeshare
Timeshare Title, Inc.
Bach Porch
Please let us know how this works out for you! All the best.
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
My loan payments & membership fees are automatically deducted from my accounts. How do I stop these payments if I plan to foreclose?
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Radha, have you done anything about your timeshare? Am in a similar situation. I am losing my job soon and would have to go back to my homecountry. Would appreciate any update on what to do. I don’t care about credit rating anymore since I won’t be staying in the US anyway but I don’t want to go to jail or anything like that. As far as I am concerned the resort can take the timeshare back and resell it and I will just consider the money I paid as loss.
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Hi Carol,
The easiest way to stop automatic payments is to contact your bank and let them know you are no longer going to be authorizing automatic payments to your timeshare company. Make sure you have the company’s exact name, as it shows up on your account statements, so they can easily make the change; this will, in effect, “block” them from access to your account. You can usually do this via the web (if you do online banking) by filling out a few forms, over the phone depending on your bank’s policies, or in person at your local branch. This is a lot easier and less painless than switching banks.
There is no need to let your timeshare company know that you have stopped payment, they will realize soon enough after the missed payment, and expect frequent, harassing, telephone calls to being within the first few weeks of a missed payment. Be sure to speak with them directly at some point though, as many timeshare companies will try to offer different options to owners in order to avoid the fees incurred by a vacation property foreclosure.
Good luck and be sure to check back and let us know how it goes!
May 23rd, 2008 at 6:28 pm
Hi Joey and Radha,
Please, please, please do not worry about being thrown in jail for not paying off a timeshare!!
Basically, the only legal recourse a lender has to collect a debt owed is to place a lien on your assets (which rarely happens in timeshare) and report your delinquency to the major credit reporting companies (which often happens).
In both of your cases, honesty is going to be your best policy, let your timeshare company/lender know that you will no longer be able to make payments on your vacation property, and that you will be proceeding with foreclosure preceedings. Oftentimes, if a lender or timeshare developer knows there is no way you are going to continue paying, they will offer other options to borrowers, such as a “deed in lieu of foreclosure”, which is mentioned above. These companies do not want to spend the extra money and effort in order to take your time share property back, so as long as you are straight forward, honest and make the process as simple as possible, you have nothing to worry about - other than a hit to your credit score, which obviously does not apply.
Please check back and let us know what you both have done, and do not be afraid to come back and visit the US because of an unpaid timeshare. Best of luck to you both!
June 5th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Please explain “Deed in lieu”, regarding foreclosure.
Thank you very much.
June 5th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Hi Chuck,
Please refer to this article - Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure for more information. If you still have questions, please post in that article.
Best,
Mandie
June 24th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
My husband and I bought our timeshare 11 years ago and we were convinced by the resort where we bought that continuous upgrading was the way to go. After upgrading several times, we have now got such an outstanding balance and large monthly payment and enormous maintenance fees that we cannot pay them. My husband had to retire early and is on Social Security disability and only draws that plus his national guard retirement each month. I have had to quit work because of a knee injury and therefore we are living solely on my husband’s income which is about 1/2 what it was when we upgraded our timeshare about 2 years ago. We are both in our early 60s. We don’t own our home, we have 2 automobiles which we still owe on through our bank and we have a small little fishing boat that is worth about $1500. We do have a clear title on it. We owe almost $21,000 on our timeshare and our yearly maintenance fees are over $1,000. We cannot continue to pay this amount as we are going in debt each month more and more. We had to have a garage sale last month just to make our monthly payments. We have the monthly amount taken out of our bank account each month which is $355.42 and each month we are usually short about $400. I am trying everything I know to keep us from going under. We don’t care about our credit listing, we don’t own our home as we rent and have been here for over 10 years, we don’t care about any money we might lose, we just want out. We can’t really afford a lawyer at the present time. In January 2009 I will be old enough to draw my social security and that will be around $500. My husband was injured in Kuwait during active duty in 2004 while serving a year for our country thus the reason he is on SS disabilty. Is there NO WAY to get out from under this? We have tried to find out from several resourses and we don’t know which way to turn. We are afraid of losing our vehicles, our boat and also we are concerned about IRS coming down on us for this or having them take money out of his already low income. We have not missed a payment and we are current on all our maintenance fees but the fees are due again in November 2008 and we don’t see ANY WAY that we can pay them. We have both seen our health deteriorate and we have both been very stressed out because of this situation. We should have known better than to get into such a situation but the timeshare resorts are so convincing and just don’t seem to know how to take a “NO” for an answer, and we didn’t really see the end result until it was too late. We are both almost totally unable to even use our timeshare anyway and it won’t be paid in full for another 8 years. That is providing we even live that long. We will both be close to 70 and will have sunk a ton of money into it at 12.9% interest. PLEASE ADVISE US as to what we can do. We are so desperate and so upset over this that we can think of nothing else. We don’t rest at night and we both are so worried about what can happen to us and our assets. We don’t have much but our few household items and we don’t really own anything of value other than our vehicles, boat and some tools that belong to my husband. Thank you so much for your advice and for any help you might give us or any suggestions you might have. Sincerely, Janet
June 25th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Due to financial hardship, I can not longer pay my timeshare. I received court papers (Morgage Foreclosure Complaint)from Florida recently. Do I need to file an answer with the court if I’m letting it foreclose?I do not live in Florida.
June 25th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Hi,
As per your suggestion, I have removed auto debit for my timeshare and also I have changed the credit card number.
From this month onwards i have decided not to pay any thing for my timeshare.
But from Odie’s comment above, I want to know what kind of problem can these court papers cause to us.
Please answer asap.
June 25th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
Odie and Radha,
The court papers serve to inform you of the steps being taken in the foreclosure process. From everything I have read and personal accounts, I do not believe any action needs to be taken to let the court know you intend to proceed with the foreclosure; your silence will indicate your compliance with the process. Be sure to hold on to any paperwork you receive and follow through with any requests/attempts to contact you regarding this matter.
Be sure to keep checking back and update us on your progress.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:30 am
Hi Mandie, btw a great and very informative website.
You mentioned to Radha, Joey and Odie that if payments cannot be paid and your timeshare goes into foreclosure…
I live in South Africa, I bought timeshare whilst on holiday in Las Vegas (give you a hint: sounds like “grandpoo”
).
Q’s:
Does your credit rating absolutley only get affected within the borders of the USA?
Does the record definitely last only 7 years?
After the 7 years will the mark on your record be considered in future finance applications?
Will this effect my abillity to travel to the USA/or anywhere in the future (tourist VISA applications)
How long will the process of foreclosure take?
What are chances of me getting sued, and how long until I know I am in the clear?
My sincere condolences to all who are suckered into buying overpriced timeshare loaded with empty promises.
July 8th, 2008 at 12:56 am
Hi Mandie,
I am really struggling to pay for my timeshare, living and working in South Africa, with the strong dollar and weak rand the payments are more and more each month, I really need to know the answers to the questions I posted above because I need to make an informed decision soon?
July 11th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hi Mandie,
My husband and I owned a Timeshare in South Lake Tahoe, NV. The timeshare already paid in full back several years ago. The maintence fee is going up every year. Now is alomost $1000 yearly. We do not want to owned this timshare anymore. We want to give this away or donate it. I have contacted several non-profit organizations. They said they cannot take it due to the location or other reason. How does affect us if we stop paying the yearly maintence fee? Please help. Thank you!
Patricia
July 11th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
Mitch,
Here are my responses to your questions, which should obviously not be treated as legal advice as I am only going from my own personal experiences and research I have done.
Does your credit rating absolutley only get affected within the borders of the USA? Yes, I have never heard of a FICO score existing in another country.
Does the record definitely last only 7 years? 7 years is the average number I have been given, but I can not say for sure this is an absolute.
After the 7 years will the mark on your record be considered in future finance applications? After 7 years it should be removed from your credit score, but I have been told by credit counselors that there are ways for financial institutions to “purge” information from more than 7 years if there is some concern about your financial stability. There are ways to pay to have these imperfections removed from your credit score.
Will this effect my abillity to travel to the USA/or anywhere in the future (tourist VISA applications). No, again, FICO credit scores are only applicable in the US.
How long will the process of foreclosure take? This depends on the state the foreclosure is taking place in and what their particular legal precedents call for; you will need to look up the information specific to that particular state.
What are chances of me getting sued, and how long until I know I am in the clear? Your chances of getting sued are quite low, but nonetheless, they do exist. This again depends state to state and per situation, I can not give you an exact time frame for being “in the clear” with regard to being sued for a remaining mortgage balance.
July 11th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
Hi Patricia,
In the eyes of the law not paying a timeshare maintenance fee is the same as not making payments on a mortgage, and if you stop making your maintenance fee payments you will go into foreclosure with the timeshare property. My suggestion, since you have already paid off the property in full, would be to offer the property for free/$1 at auction using eBay, Craigslist or your local paper. For the right price (nothing) someone is bound to take it off your hands, even if a charity is not willing/able to do it at this point in time. Best of luck, let us know what you decide.
Best,
Mandie
July 14th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Mandie,
Thank you !
Patricia
July 14th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Mandie,
By the way, do you know anyone would take this time share? We are giving it out for free only whoever wants to take it will pay for all documents and process fee for transfer the title. Thank you again!
Patricia
July 19th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
HI Mandie, this is the 1st time i find some of the answers i have been looking for. My case is similar to Joey’s or Radha’s. I’m not a US resident and i dont live in the US. In may 2007 I made the mistake and signed up for a 3 bed deed in an Orlando TS during the breakfast showroom. So far i have been paying on schedule for a year and still have 9 years to go. However my ownership starts officially in 2009 so i havent paid any maintenance fees yet.
Based on what i have read, if you are a non US resident, stop your payments and follow on the Foreclosure process is the best way to get rid of the TS.
I have 2 questions to add, though:
1. Currently i’m in the process of getting the residence for Canada. It’s been a year since I started the process and hopefully in less than a year from now i should get the answer. my question is: is there any chance that my residenceship process with Canada gets affected by the foreclosure? Can i get rejected because i stop the payments of a TS in the US??
2. Also about Mitch’s question on the Law suit, what is the worst case if you do get sued?? Does this apply for non US residents as well?
Thank you very much for he advice
July 19th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Hi Ken,
I know nothing about establishing Canadian residency, so you should consult an expert in this area, but that said, to my knowledge your credit score here in the US on has an effect on your dealings within in the US. Here in the states, having a foreclosure on your record is not grounds to refuse residency, and I would imagine the same applies to Canada, especially you did not purchase the timeshare there.
Second, if you do get sued by the timeshare lender, you can be sued for any number of things including amount owed and court fees. The amount will depend on the amount owed on the timeshare. There are a lot of legalities involved with yours and Radha’s cases that really do require someone with a bit more knowledge of the way international real estate works than myself, but I hope what little information I am able to provide is of some assistance to you.
Best of luck, be sure to check back in and let us know how it’s going:)
July 19th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Mandie,
Thanks for the advice! i’ll contact some lawyer friends to check how this suit could affect me if it happens.
Radha, please keep posting on how your process evolves..
thanks!
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Hi Mandie and Ken,
Thanks for updating your status.
I have been getting calls from TS persons but I am not lifting the phone. It has been 1 month now.
Since I have jumped into this well and decided not to pay back them I also left every thing on god, let us see what will happen. I will anyway keep posting the updates.
You guys also keep posting things..
Radha
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:29 am
Hi Mandie,
I want to ask one more thing. You mentioned that there might be involved some legalities involved. Can you briefly tell me what kind of legalities you are talking about.
Please let me know.
Radha
July 31st, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Wow, this site is an eye opener.. Mandie, you’re a wealth of information (a Godsend to some of us!).. I’m 31 have a family, a canadian citizen now working as a physician in the states. I got involved with starwood vacations when i had just begun residency in 2005. At the time it sounded great. had a single bedroom for $7 K.. 2 years back got it upgraded to a 2 bedroom for $14 K at 10.9% interest…We own our unit after every 2 years for a week. when i finally calculated what the unit would cost me over 7 years, it came to over $20 K ( i was just shocked). I’m thinking of selling this unit or foreclosing it now before I pay the remaining $11 K. Selling is not going to be easy and its going to force me to continue payments of $170.00 a month. If I foreclose, would my profession as a physician allow me to do that? I mean, I can’t prove any financial hardship based on my income. The second thing is that since I’m on a visa working in the states, would a foreclosure affect that?(I know you’re not a lawyer but I’d appreciate your input)..Thanks.(Radha, have safe trip to India!)
August 5th, 2008 at 6:35 am
Hi everyone,
Thanks Rhada for updating your status here… its very useful to know how you are doing so please keep posting. As for me, i’m still getting more specialized advice since my situation is a bit different because of the residence process i’m in the middle of. Currently i have a lawyer good friend of mine investigating how a potential foreclosure could affect me.
Again, Mandie thanks for opening this door.
Keny
August 5th, 2008 at 11:30 am
There really should be recourse for the people who were sucked up….my maintenance is now north of 900 per year…the resort leaves much to be desired…it use to be a world class…according to II…now i heard you wouldn’t want to stay there….can’t sell it…and can’t give it away with out paying the maintenance….I’ve been wanting to just let them foreclose……you know…knock your socks off…do us a favor…
you would think if our trading is not as good…and there are are law suits against the management company…and we always have to pay the difference to make up $ in maintenance you wouldthink they could be sued for breach of contract. We should all bank together a lobby…. BLUEBEARDS…ST THOMAS…
August 11th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Obviously, this time share thing (getting people obligated over years and years to expenses they cannot manage) is a huge problem. On the one hand.. the purchasers made bad financial decisions. However, there seems to be a lot of duplicity on the part of timeshare sellers (high pressure sales tactics, high interest rates, etc).
Is there any organized effort that you are aware of to find a legal argument for suing the timeshare as a means of disposing of the timeshare. Would suing them for fraudulent practices, for instance, concern them enough to accept the timeshare back in lieu of payments? This just seems like an area that is ripe for a class action suit.. and or legal reforms.
Do you know of any such current actions being taken?
August 12th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Hi mandie, i just recently bought a ts and was given 2 months to pay the deposit, i’veonly paid $200 and have now found out it was a big big mistake to buy ts. as i havent started making repayments can i walk away dont mind loosing my $200 dollars. pls advice me
August 31st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Hi All,
I have returned from my vacation, and mean while I have received few notices from my TS company. But I am still ignoring them.
Two times they sent me a notice stating they will report to Collection agency. And next they sent some Original Owners Policy of Title Insurance. I sincerely don’t know what does it mean, if any body can explain it would be useful for all.
Anyway I will be keep on posting. You also keep on posting information.
September 10th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Hi, I’ve just received a call from a Resort Management rep who told me I was going to be sued for not paying my maint.fees. I have not paid the fees for 2 yrs because they doubled in cost. I tried giving the weeks away as well as selling and that did no good. I notified the HOA that I no longer wanted the weeks before I stopped payment and they said too bad. Can I be sued? What can I do? Thanks…
September 10th, 2008 at 9:42 am
i missed payments for 4 months already and timeshre won’t help me, it is now with 3rd party collection agents and keeps calling and sending me letters. i still owe 8k but has already padi 200/month for 5 years. your advice please! i don’t want to continue anymore and can’t afford to make any payments. thanks
September 13th, 2008 at 4:50 am
I purchase a time share with Hilton Grand Vacation and got behind on my payments (6 months @ $250mthly) and maintainance fees. I spoke to the company and they said I could pay the past due payments around $1,300 and make arrangements on the maintainance fees. When I called back 2 weeks later the amount went from $1,300 to $2,000 and he said it went to foreclosure and the extra $700 was attorney fees. I was instructed to call the attorney and when I asked about the amount to pay, they said I had to pay $1,300 in attorney fees for filing the foreclosure. I believe this is excessive and when I spoke to Hilton again, the same employee I spoke who is the forclosure specilist said he did not tell me the attorny fees were $700. We do not mind paying fees because of our actions, but it seems they are taking advantage of the situation. Please advise your thoughts
September 25th, 2008 at 6:46 am
Hello Mandie, your information has been a god send to my wife and I. We own a time share and were somehow dupped into extending it a while back. The maint. fees have become outragous and we can no longer afford it. We have tried to sell with no luck. If I understand you correctly, if we just quit paying our maint fees they will just take it back without our home or other assets being in jepordy. We desperately want to get rid of this and especially dont want it going over to our children where they are obligated to pay the fees.
PLEASE let me know if this is correct or there is some other way to get rid of this timeshare.
September 25th, 2008 at 6:49 am
By the way our timeshare is paid in full, all we are having to pay now is the maint. fees, what have gotten out of control. Whenever we try to reach a real person to discuss this matter all we get is the run-around.
Thanks again,
Rich
September 25th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Hi Derrick,
It does sound like you are being drug around by the timeshare company - I would spend a little extra money and hire a lawyer if they are threatening to sue and/or file any type of foreclosure listings. I would definitely seek legal council.
September 25th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Hi Richard,
In your case, since the timeshare is already paid off, I would like to refer you to the #2 comment posted on this thread regarding ways to get rid of timeshare. A timeshare company can still pursue a foreclosure even if the principal amount is paid in full (although it does make it less likely, some resorts still will proceed with foreclosure), and since you only pay maintenance fees you are in a good position to be able to avoid foreclosure (not to mention a major hit to your credit score). I would try to get rid of your unwanted timeshare anyway you can - whether it be ’selling’ it to someone for $1, or donating to a charity willing to take on the property; do everything you can to transfer the title before considering foreclosure as an option.
Have you contacted your resort and found out what their protocol is for taking property back that has already been paid off? Have you been delinquent on any payments yet? Please let me know, and post any discourse you may have had with them about giving the property back, it will help a lot of others on this board going through the same thing.
Keep us updated,
Mandie
September 25th, 2008 at 11:13 am
We have tried to contact the resort but either keep getting the run around or are unable to be able to talk to someone that can handle the transaction, either they are away at the moment, etc and we never get a call back. We were thinking that we may have to make a trip to the place we purchased the timeshare and see if we would be able to do any good then, however, thats a long trip and money is close now. We only get correspondence from them when they want money, and the maint. fees rose 25% for next year. I may try putting it on cragislist and see if that gets any response. We even paid Century 21 Timeshare listing over 500.00 to sell it a few years ago and never got a response.
Thanks for all your help
Rich
October 3rd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Hi guys, I have a question. My wife and I purchased a timeshare Last year in 2007. We thought we were getting a really great deal and so we purchased. We really did not know what we were getting into. We have been paying on the timeshare since and we haven’t fallen behind. Now, the maintenance fees came in and are not what we thought it was supposed to be. I have called the resort to see if they would take it back. I told them that i know i will loose out on all the money paid on it but it’s an expensive lesson learned. They said they couldn’t do that. They mentioned putting the amount on a credit card or so. That’s just moving my payment somewhere else and i still have to pay all the little fees. We were talking about foreclosing on the timeshare but did not know how long that would ruin our credit. Would be as bad as if someone that filed bankruptcy or not? Also, from reading on here i wanted to see if you think if i called the resort itself and mentioned that since i can’t afford the place i might have to foreclose on it do you think they would budge then? Please give us some advice b/c we do not know what to do and we can’t keep paying the monthly payment on the timeshare.
Jay
October 4th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Jay, we have some friends who just quit paying their timeshare monthly mortgage, and in the end, the timeshare took it back with no affect on their credit………they really don’t care because they are just going to turn around and re-sell it, so they didn’t lose a dime on it. Our friends sister did the same thing, that’s why they decided to do it. We have a timeshare as well, but we use it, and are looking into buying another, but we will buy a used one, not new, and save a ton of money………
October 4th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Gary, I live in VA Beach and may be interested in taking your timeshare off of your hands, do you still have it, and if so, what are the details. Thanks in advance……
October 5th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
HUSBAND AND I ARE PLANNING STOPPING PAYMENTS ON TIMESHARE TIMES HAVE GOTTEN HARD NOW IT’S LOCATED IN MYRTLE BEACH IF ANY ONE IS INTERESTED. GOING TO CALL THEM TOMORROW
October 5th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Kathy, the friends you mentioned, who “just quit paying their Timeshare Mortgage” and the company took it back; are you able to name the Company? I am pretty much in the same boat.
October 5th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
no, I am not sure of the name of the company, but their timeshar was in orlando. I can find out in a day or so and come back and post, I am sure that his sister’s timeshare was not the same company. They got the calls, for a little bit, than an offer to make a lump sum payment, they said they could not afford it anymore and eventually they got the paperwork in the mail for the “foreclosure” and it has not affected either one’s credit. We had debated on doing the same, but since we can still afford ours and do use it, it is only 90 minutes away from us so my husband can still go to work from there if need be, we decided to keep it, and the next one we buy will be a “secondhand one” instead of directly from the resort to save a ton of money, we want 2 so each of our sons will get one.
October 6th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
My now retired parents stopped paying on their timeshare bec they can’t afford it and was told it will foreclose. Can the company go after the home? I don’t understand “lien on the timeshare” answer above. Sorry and thanks in advance for your reply.
October 8th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
I purchased a time share from Shell. I bought it in the US but live in canada. I have decided not to pay anything more for it. They have called lots but I just ignore them. If they foreclose does anyone know if it affects canadian credit rating…I checked after 4 months of non payments and there is nothing on my credit report from date of purchase or for the 4 months of ignoring them totally.
October 8th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Hi Mandie, I am in desperate need of advice. My husband and I currently own 2 timeshares in the US(paid in full and need to get rid of). On a recent trip to Mazatlan, Mexico (Mayan group-Seagarden)we purchased a new timeshare and in return they would keep the (2) that we already own. According to the aggresive saleslady we were going to recieve a call from some timeshare company which would then takeover my previous timeshares. Today I found out we are the owners of 3 timeshares, the horror I felt to learn it is a scam, it was never written on paper, so it’s her word against ours. If we choose to default on the payments, how will this affect our credit? They are affiliated with HSI, can they still come after us? We took a loan with Bank of America to use it as a down payment,and that we are going to payoff.
October 10th, 2008 at 5:04 pm
Hi,
I’m getting pretty scared now. I paid off my timeshare years ago. I then paid years of maintenance fees. I never used the timeshare. They took extra money from me once to sell it but they never did. I stopped making payments probably more that a year ago. Lots of calls from collection agencies. I just ignored the calls. Today I got a letter from a law firm stating they have been contacted by the “Such and Such” Financial Services (the collection agency that has been calling me). They mention adding additional legal fees, court costs and expenses. They give me the total due of unpaid maintenance fees. I would be happy to pay if it meant the end of this and I don’t have to pay maintenance fees for the rest of my life. They say I have 30 days to respond. They say if I notify them to dispute the debt that they will assume the debt is valid. They will then obtain verification of the debt or a copy of the judgement and mail a copy to me. If I request they will provide me with the name of the original creditor (like I don’t know who that is!) if different from current creditor ( I assume this is the collection agency).
They say I have 30 days to respond.
I live across the country from where this law firm is located.
Will they really sue me? Will I have to fly out to the original state of purchace??
Should I contact them? I read somewhere that I should avoid talking to collectors because it just starts the (I forget the term) period of time they can harass you all over again.
Please, what do you advise I do??!!
Carole
October 10th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
don’t buy timeshares, they are a fraud.
October 12th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I have recently communicated with these guys via mail (I told them I demand to communicate via mail and not telephone) they have to oblige because that is the law!!!! :o)) (no more irritating phone calls!!)
They have said they will let me out of the contract if I pay them a few thousand dollars - let me guess, another scam!!! right!!!!
I think I will ask them via mail, to send me all the details in writing , stating that if I pay them ‘x’ amount of dollars they will take back this time share, state I am not liable for any maintenance fees going forward and that all my interest and resposibilities are free and clear from this time share. I would expect this to be signed by an officer of the vacation club, any lenders and the collection firm..
Before I pay a dime I will have my lawyer review it.
I think it is interesting that they offered this with all the other folks out there not being able to toss away this albatross!! Maybe they realize they can’t do anything to a Canadian and are just trying to get a little bit more from me……any thoughts on that???
October 12th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I bought a timeshare from Wyndham, I already paid it in full. My question is should I stop paying the maintenance fee after buying a house or before.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:08 am
Mandie,
Everybody keeps talking about foreclosures. I’ve never been offered that. They just have a law firm threatening to sue me now for nonpayment. It’s for $1500. Would they really bother??!!!!
Attorney fees, court fees, etc……will they really do that? I thought with the amount I “owed”, I really wouldn’t be worth the bother to them..
Do you think I should get a lawyer Mandie? or just wait it out…..maybe they are at the end of the statue of limitations and just threatening me as much as they can until it runs out??????????
Kevin,
I paid my timeshare in full and paid my maintenance fees until I bought a house. Then I stopped making payments. I figured I didn’t need credit for anything anymore and I would rather have a bad credit rating than continued ownership of this parasitic time share.
But the above explains where I am right now so it is something to consider…..
Carole
October 14th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Hi Everyone,
After reading through all the posts it really seems to me that the longer you have been paying on/using a timeshare the more trouble your going to have getting out of it if you just stop paying. My wife and I recently fell for the timeshare sales pitch and signed up in Vegas R_C_I, after doing research and only making two payments and the downpayment, I am seriously considering stopping the payments. 1. We don’t own anything of value. 2. We only use cell phones (easy to change numbers). 3. We never want to buy a home and usually only buy used cars for cash. Now I do have great credit and my wife has aweful credit. I was wondering if I could sell my half of the timeshare to my wife outright and get my name off the deed. Then stop the payments, her credit is bad because she declared bankrupt once before. My thinking is that the TS company might see this as a lost cause and not pursue it. Anyone out there see this as logical or since I signed the original contract will they still try to come after me too. Thanks for any replies.
October 14th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Hi Everyone~ So glad I found this site. My husband and I purchased a timeshare back in the late 70’s and paid $5000 cash for a week in March under their promise that we could bank our week and vacation wherever and whenever we wanted. The following year, we tried to go to Florida after banking our week. We gave them 5 different dates and none were available. We never used the timeshare although we did pay the maintenance fees for approximately 5 years or so. We tried selling it with no luck and finally I wrote to the company and told them that we no longer wanted the timeshare and that we were giving our week back to them to re-sell or do whatever they wanted with it.
We had not heard anything from them since and actually thought they were no longer in business because the building was small and old. Well, last week we received a notice in the mail from a collection agency in California stating that we owed $31,481.40!!! This is the second notice we have received and we have not replied to it. I cannot believe that we are receiving this after 20+ years of not hearing a word. I wonder if another company now owns the timeshare and has decided to try and collect from the owners who have not paid their maintenance fees. I am pretty sure… if I recall after all these years, that I actually sent the deed back to the timeshare company turning over the ownership to them. I am concerned over this, however, I regularly check our credit report and it does not appear to show up now. When we bought the timeshare, we were in our early 20’s and the idea of paying $5,000 for a week in March (middle of winter in MD) and being able to vacation anytime and anywhere we wanted seemed like a dream… WHICH IT WAS!
October 19th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
are there any good thing about owning a timeshare
October 19th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
MY GOD!! this site has opened my eyes, just back from vegas, and yes, signed up for grandview,,,,,,were not told about the 5day period at all, it does say on the paper work, but there is that much to read. i have emailed and faxed letters telling them we want out, cant afford at, they said we were told twice about the 5day, but we were not,,,she said she will talk to her manager, after offering us, the one week, every two years that others have mentioned,,,
this was daft i no now,,,but they really did talk you into it,,,,
i dnt no what to do,husband wants to cancel credit card and they said the ts people can still demand the payment?
help
October 20th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Judy,
No.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Thanks Kathy for the help on the timeshare! I will do that and get back with you guys on how it went. Good luck to everyone!
Jay
October 27th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Hey, I feel for all of you out there. Denise, we set up our account on a bank draft. So that sucks cuz no matter what happens they will get their money. I asked for advised. Kathy helped me out a bit. I will be calling the timeshare people to see what we can work out or if we can change the method of payment. the one thing is that i am reading on here about people getting sued for not paying maintenance fees. Well, my deal is that i just got my maintenance bill in and am worried that they might want to hit me later with a huge bill. I will let you know what happens once i talk to them. If anyone knows of a better thing to do please let me know.
October 28th, 2008 at 10:18 am
I’m interested to know where each of you own. I own with Wyndham and would love to just hand over my deed. Kathy said she would ask her friends where they owned but never got back with us. Also, what happened with Radha? I too use direct withdrawal to pay my “mortgage” and maint. fees. I have contemplated many times to cancel direct withdrawal but will take a 1% hit to my interest rate. I pay over $700 a month in “mortgage” and maint. fees and still owe $35k to Wyndham. Can anyone tell their story of a foreclosure or deed in lieu as a Wyndham owner??
October 29th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
What happened with Joey and Radha’s situation? What did they do - stop making payments and if so what did their lender do? My husband and I were “sucked” into a timeshare in Myrtle Beach two years ago. I am paying monthly payments of $250 and we still owe $12,700. We built an investment home that has been on the market for two years. The current sale price is below the cost we owe to the bank. I want out of this timeshare because trying to keep our head above water on this investment home is more important to us. We aren’t going to get out of it (timeshare) what we were promised, no one told me if I deposit a week that I would lose it if not deposited correctly or we didn’t use it within two years. All these stories are the same and it just makes me sick to my stomach. I did talk to the Westgate Resorts and they are not willing to help me. They are only out for themselves.
November 5th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
Hi Dave,
Did you manage to find out if being a Canadian your credit can be spoiled if you stop paying your TS debt in the US????
thanks for sharing.
PS: Radha, would be great to read from you!!!
November 7th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Hi I bought TS by Wyndham in June 2006. still owe $10.900.. If i stop making payments to TS will this effect my credit? i checked my credit reports and the mortgage for TS is not on it. basicly what im asking is Will this screw up my credit??? what is the worst thing they can do if i stop making payments??? will this effect my mortgage for the house? thanks.
November 11th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Keny, nope they do not report in Canada. I’m good!! They actually offered to buy me out. They sent me a note stating if I paid them x dollars I would be totally free and clear from this contract, suprisingly the amount is the exact amount in arrears.
I used the thing once, after getting denied many times, for one week. They have just over $10,000 of my hard earned cash already….They aren’t getting another dime from me!!
The good news is they never even put an expiry time on their offer so if things ever change I have an email from them stating their offer :O) I see this as a great ace in the hole!!
November 11th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Hi,
I am curious - is a timeshare foreclosure as detrimental to your credit as a home foreclosure?
Thanks,
Bethany
November 12th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
We recently went through bankruptcy and included our timeshare to be forfeited. The timeshare company said that they rejected this and therefore we still owe the maintenance fee. We have not paid the fee and do not intend to. I am interested in the “deed in lieu” of foreclosure. The property has actually been paid off for many years but we never use it. The maintenance fee is reasonable, but for the past several years we have been late in paying. After we lost our jobs and home, it seems like a mute point now. A collection agency is now involved and tacting on an additional $300 to the regular fee. I sent a letter to them already regarding the bankruptcy, but the only response I have is…you owe the money. So do you think we should just send a certified letter stating that we cannot pay this maintenance fee, the property was included in a recent bankruptcy and we wish to proceed with the “deed in lieu of” foreclosure. Anyone????
November 12th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Hey guys, I wrote earlier in this thread and have been reading and considering ever since. I have “GRANDVIEW disease” which I contracted on holiday in Vegas 2007, I am not a US citizen and reside overseas, I stopped paying my timeshare about 101 days ago, I have been contacted a few times via email. I have now been threatened with foreclosure and credit reporting (the credit score only effects within US boundaries - I HOPE, can anyone confirm??)
Anyway, I have not seen one post here which states that they actually had been sued, credit scores had been affected, SO I SAY “LETS STOP PAYING THE B@ST@RD5″.
Timeshare Organizations like this are the scum of the earth.
November 14th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I have a red week, at a Gold Crown resort, Pueblo Bonito Rose’ in Cabo San Lucas fixed time week 11 (Spring Break) It is a Presidential Suite, sleeps 6-8 and it is yours for the asking. Pay the Maintenance fees of $965.08 due 1/2/09 and this beautiful time share is yours for the next 20 years (out of 30). Contact me at rrhelm@wildblue.net if interested. Nothing is owed on this property, and Maintenance fees are up to date through the end of this year.
November 14th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I too got suckered, but by my sister first. We bought in Florida while on vacation. We were supposed to split and I haven’t seen a dime from her. I am a single mom with 2 kids. THe economy got so bad and my ex stopped paying support. So my real mortgage isn’t getting paid, but the timeshare sure is cause they take it right my account. I too have wondered about stopping payments. Don’t know what to do.
IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN BUYING IT!!!! WEEK 14, ORANGE LAKE RESORT PANAMA CITY FLORIDA. IT IS AN EVERYOTHER YEAR-BUT IT’S THE POINTS SYSTEM WHERE YOU CAN BORROW FOR THE OPPOSITE YEAR. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I NEED TO SElL THIS
November 15th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Hi everyone! It seems like there are several people in my shoes. I too got suckered…brainwashed..or whatever into buying a timeshare with SilverLeaf Resorts. It’s a “beachclub presidential suite with blah blah blah blah” It’s supposed to be the cream of the crop and guess what….every time I have tried to use it, “sorry, we are booked” So, five months ago I said, “Screw it, I’m not paying these stinking animals anymore!” So, I have received a bunch of letters, phone calls, and even a notice demanding the balance in full. I actuall talked to a manager today and we were negotiating on a downgrade but the offer was terrible. So I told him, “I’m not sure yet on what I would like to do. That is, take your offer or take the foreclosure.” So he said, “Well, I will decide for you and we are going to expediate the foreclosure with you.” I hung up.
Here is my concern: can they come after my assets? Based on my understanding I have a deeded timeshare that was financed by some bank somewhere that was guaranteed by the resort company. Long story short, if I default the resort company has to pay up. So, can the resort company come after me? The only collateral I signed away was the actual timeshare? This is particularly a problem b/c I have several assets that are paid for. Any thoughts? Thanks a million!!!
November 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I had a Westgate villas resort… I used timeshare rescue to get out… i tried everything and even paid over $1000 to list… might be the only option now a days…regards
November 19th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
Hi Dave,
Good to hear from you!
What’s your plan? are you going to stop paying or take the offer?
Thanks for sharing
December 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Good afternoon,
Like the majority of folks on this list I’m looking for a major way out of 4 timeshare contracts. In short, my father passed about 18 months ago. He has the following paid in full principle contracts: 2 with Grupo Mayan in Mexico, 1 in Costa Rica with Villas Sol, and one here in the states in Wisconson. As the personal rep of the estate, I have everything completed to “close” the estate with the exception of these #@#! timeshares. The good news is that the principal is paid in full on all of these. The bad news is I owe about $6000 in back and current maintenance fee’s. One of the Grupo Mayan contracts has been cx’d with the second one about to be cx’d as well. I do have the ability to re-instate these contracts if I act within the next couple of months. My questions are as follows:
1) If I allow the contracts to expire (again the principal is paid in full)what will happen? I’m not concerned about credit rating as I don’t think they can effect my credit rating as a personal rep. Will they go after past/future fee’s? The question here, do I let the cancelation process play itself out? I don’t have any assurances that this will indeed, close the door on the specific contract from an estate point of view?
2) I can pay the back fee’s and get everything current, and continue to try and sell as they are currently listed on Time Shares Direct. The problem here is that this could drag out for years!!
Once I get rid of the 3 foreign timeshares, I would be more than happy to take ownership of the timeshare in Wisconsion into my name just in order to get it out of the estate. However, putting 4 of these in my name is out of the question. I’m just inviting more trouble, furthermore, I don’t have the ability to take 8 weeks off a year not to mention the costs. I’m just looking to make these go away. Any suggestions? Sorry for the loooong message!!
December 8th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
does anyone have info on this timeshare rescue or know how it works
December 17th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Sue,
I’ve been in the “unloading” of timeshares for the past year and a half. I’ve gone from completely clueless to wishing I could “mind-floss” this entire process. To answer your question: I have not been in contact with timeshare rescue. But like the countless other companies I’ve worked with, I will speculate with confidence on what their business model is. They either:
a) For a fee (could be close to a $1000)they will advertise your TS on a web site. The problem is the TS could be unsold for quite some time. In this scenario they are just an advertising tool and/or the middle man. This would be identical to Timeshares only.
or
b) They will purchase your Timeshare from you outright. Generally speaking, this type of company will really low ball you on the price and I’m guessing you would have to pay a fee for them to low ball you. They are basicly a title company and will turn around for much, much higher. I’m also guessing that they’ll do some background work to determine if your contract is desirable enough for them to take on. I suspect that they would have some very creative language in their contract. If you go this route, not to state the obvious, but make sure you get in writing that once the title/deed is transferred, your free from any additional financial commitment. (Research complaints and/or lawsuits against these guys and make sure they’re clean, which I doubt. Forgive me for taking the glass is half empty approach, but this timeshare business has got to be one of the dirtiest business’s on all levels that I’ve ever seen!!)
Lastly, there are websites where you can donate the timeshare for a tax credit. I might suggest this option if timeshare rescue is a nightmare and assuming your contract isn’t worth thousands and thousands of dollars. Note: Timeshare donation companies will also need a couple of days to consider your TS desirable and take a few months to unload. Normally I wouldn’t suggest this, but considering that people can’t even give away timeshares, and if you need to get out and that’s the bottom line, might be worth looking at.
December 29th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Does anyone know the ramifications of not paying for a timeshare that was signed and purchased in Mexico? I spoke to an attorney that says there may be limitations of what they can do as far as collections, foreclosure etc….is anyone familiar with this? The payments are current but I am no longer able to pay it.
December 30th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Hi all,
Like everyone else, I’m in the same boat right now. I think I’m going to try just to stop making payments. I owe about $11k and with expenses on the rise, my monthly debt has exceeded the income, so I’m going to try and stop it, but of course, we just purchased a condo and I’m worried about what they would do about putting a lien on the condo. Is there a chance they could seize that asset? It’s really the only asset I have right now, but there’s no equity built into it because we’ve just purchased it 3 months ago.
Mandie, since you’re the expert, I’d love to hear back from you!
Cheers, J
January 1st, 2009 at 8:26 pm
We also got suckered into buying a Silverleaf timeshare in Fox River Resort IL and when we thought were making an “upgrade” actually ended up buying another deed in Texas to get Diamond Status. We were outright lied to as to how much our monthly payment will be. And now, nine months later of trying to make the monthly payments, we were told of how irresponsible and stupid we had been to buy it in the first place by one of the collection rep. We are currently two months behind the ts in Illinois and is seriously considering foreclosure. We can no longer afford the monthly in light of the economic hardship we are all experiencing. The jerk-rep though was trying to scare us off that in Illinois just because we foreclose it didn’t mean the loan will go away. Can you please advice us on this? Besides isn’t misrepresentation ground enough to void that contract under some kind of Timeshare Act law?
January 6th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
I am a 66 year old senior citizen, living on social security and a part time job income and paying on my time share puts me in a serious bind, choosing between paying my mortgage payment, groceries, etc or this time share payment. Cannot pay the fees this year and have contacted my credit union to stop the auto draft on the time share payments. Not worried about my credit, I have everything I need. Just want to know if they can come after my house that is not paid for or my car that is paid for. Dont want these jokers to get anymore from me. Please help me with an answer as to if my home and car are safe if i stop paying on my time share.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I, like many of you other hard-working folks, was suckered into buying a one bedroom at Tahiti Village in Las Vegas. They lied through their teeth and told me that I could easily refinance at a much lower rate. They are “lending” me the money at 16% apr!! When I heard the 16%, I told them no way. I am not paying that amount and then they told me the lie about easily refinancing the property. I had no idea. When i got home and did my own research, I found that timeshares are worthless, therefore, no company is willing to let you refinance. I did not know that since I am a newbie…but I am sure they knew that. I used my stimulus check to help pay the downpayment of over $3000 and I made about 3 months worth of payments before i was fed up and decided to stop paying. They lied to me and I cannot get it refinanced. They have been calling and emailing me. I told them to take it back. I told them I am not afraid of getting my credit ruined since it already sucks. I also told them that I am judgment proof and that I own NOTHING, I rent and I dont even own a car. I told them to save their time and efforts and just take the darn thing back…they already took aboput $4000 from me for free. But, they keep calling. Now they are threatening foreclosure. I can’t wait! I welcome it! It will finally mean that I will be done with this forever! I don’t care if I never buy my own home…as long as I don’t have to deal with them anymore!
January 7th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Hi everyone. I hope that me and my husband had an intensive research about time share first before signing up. Now, we are so stressed out because like some of you we are non US residents and we are about to exit US and go back to our country to process our visa in June. We are holding a J (working visa) and hopefully have it changed to H. We cannot afford to pay the monthly and the maintenance anymore because we have more important bills to pay first. We purchased a property in Gatlinburg (Westgate) last July 2008 and paid up to December. We already paid them 2k including the downpayment. It was really a very nice and very deceiving presentation. What they have said are not true like we can sell it right away, it’s a good investment, etc…they even know that we might be in this situation right now (undergoing visa process) and it will be easy to sell it. We trusted their words and when we go over our documents after 25 days, we realized that what they have said are not the ones on the paper. So we started calling them and informed them that it was unfair in our part because they said they will help us sell it and they did not even mention about the 20 day cooling off period. So, they promised to call us back and we’ve waited for months and not heard anything from them. It was hard because they keep on passing us to different people and never really helped us. Now we are finding ways on how to get rid of it…we will keep you posted if this one will work. =)
January 7th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
By the way, thanks Mandie for sharing your wealth of knowledge. May God bless you a thousandfold.
January 9th, 2009 at 8:35 am
I own 2 weeks at Sand Pebble, Treasure Island, Florida - weeks 33 and 34, peak school holiday weeks. I need to get rid of them, as my husband cannot travel, due to ill health. We live in Scotland. I am happy to give them away, for free, and for someone just to take on the maintenance fees - 633 Dollars per week. The transfer would cost about 200 Dollars. The other option I have is to walk away from them, but I am concerned about the consequences. We live overseas and no money is owing on them, until the fees are due at the end of this month. Would they pursue me through the courts in Scotland - if anyone can help, or would like the weeks, please let me know.
Julia
January 13th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Hi,
22 months ago we signed up for a ts at the occidental grand flamenco xcaret, mexico - or so we were led to believe. We made it perfectly clear to the sales rep that we were only interested in that particular resort. We couldn’t afford the package thay were offering so the sales team said they would see what thay could do. The head salesman went off, returning 5 minutes later saying that they would be able to offer us every other year at the resort instead of annually. Like fools we signed. 18 months later we tried to book at our resort only to be told that we didn’t have that resort and in actual fact were owners of a ts 5 miles down the road in Playa del Carmen at a resort we had never even heard of - let alone seen. At no time was it pointed out that we were signing for something different to what we thought we were purchasing. If this information had been disclosed at the time we would certainly not have signed. We even asked if it was at the resort we were staying at and were told it was. Not one of the sales team pointed out that it was a completely different location. This must surely be fraud on their part? I do not want this ts as it is not what we paid for. please let me know my best course of action, if we have to default on it then so be it.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Good luck to all who are at their wits end and would just like to have a foreclosure. Like many of you my husband and I were swindled in to buying a timeshare from ILX resorts in September of 2004. We also turned down the first offer because as newlyweds with a new family we knew we could not afford something as frivilous as a vacation timeshare. We were then offered a (can you believe this?) repo! We were told that we would have instant equity and as soon as we got home we could refinance or even sell at instant profit. We soon realized what a mess we had gotten ourselves into and quit making payments in May 2005. We accepted the fact that we would have to deal with a foreclosure on our credit. We tried to give the timeshare back to no avail. The company that financed the timeshare continually ruins our credit by reporting to the CRA’s that we quit making payments and got up to 180 days late and then all of a sudden they report we make about six payments or so and then fall back 180 days again. I believe this is an attempt by them to be able to continue past the seven years and to make matters worse it shows up to be a mortgage. I have started investigations on this company by all of the CRA’s and the FTC for false credit reporting since we have had no activity on this account since our last payment in May 2005. The last report shows us to be 120 days late in Oct. and Nov. 2007 and then the account is shown to be closed and sent to a collection agency. Here we are in January 2009 and still no sign of foreclosure and also the maintenance fees are a totally seperate delinquent account. It looks like there should be some means to an end. This is a predatory lending industry that should be shut down by the government. Any advice on what we can possibly do to just get rid of this nightmare would be greatly appreciated, but it looks like you are pretty well stuck for life once you sign the dotted line. I’m just glad we got out before we gave them to much of our money.
January 14th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
I came on the website to find out what would happen if the timeshare went into foreclosure. It’s amazing to find out so many people are dealing with the same issue. I have two timeshares and one just sends me letters stating my balance but the other one constantly calls me. Right now I am seriously considering letting it foreclose. Due to my financial situation now, I am more worried about day-to-day living as opposed to worrying about a timeshare. I was told that if it went into foreclosure I would be sued by the bank. I truly hate to lose one of them because I have already invested quite a bit of money into it.
Also, some people were saying they just stopped paying and nothing happened. I am sure that was because those timeshares were not deeded. I had one some years ago that was not deeded and we just stopped paying it. We received calls and letters for a few months but nothing was ever done about it and it never showed up on our credit reports. Actually, when we purchased it the salesperson told us that if we stopped paying there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Deeded timeshares are supposedly different because it’s as though you have a mortgage.
I was trying to find a comment that would be more specific in letting me know what would definitely happen if I stopped payments. Has anyone actually had their timeshare go into foreclosure and if so what happened????
January 15th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Wondering if in light of the economy are the companies going to be more ruthless in coming after money owed to them for ts.? just curious… i too like so many others cannot afford my ts any longer.
Also, have checked my credit recently for refi of my house and there is no reference to ts on credit report… we’re still current on pmts and fees, but i thought if you had a ‘mortgage’ that would be a debt owed and would show on a credit report…
any thought?
btw… very informative site- Marc
January 18th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
i believe its a mortgage only when you default, i have owned for 5 yrs. have always paid, had hoped it would enhance credit but its not listed, and when we bought home two yrs. ago lender couldnt find it. we too are considering stop payment but worry in these time they will agressivly pursue. i have definately re-evaluated the american dream concept in 2009. thank you mandy and others for helpful advice, kim
January 20th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Hi, I cannot pay for my timeshare anymore, it is in virginia beach, i pay 375 a year and i have a fixed week: week 49 which falls aroung the second week of Dec. If you would like to take it it is free for this year since i already paid the fees for 2009, also for an extra charge you can become a member of rci and travel where ever you want. I will pay for all the fees involved in the transfer, you will not pay a penny until Jan of 2010. email me if interested at gracee12003@yahoo.com
January 21st, 2009 at 10:28 pm
the last payment i did to my TS was a few months ago. Yesterday i received the 1st notification about my past due. lets see how it goes.
btw, i havent payed the maintenance fees either, which turn out to be quit higher than the ones stated in the documents i signed. do you know if this could be a reason to sue those liars??? i was never told the maintence fees would increase.
thanks,
January 25th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I am so glad to find out that I am not alone. The TS market is a big, big, scam. I too was scammed into buying a TS in Vegas. I have great credit, but I am giving up as well. I am just not going to pay. My yearly maintenance fee continues to increase each year.
I wonder if these scamm artists can garnish wages or IRS refunds?
January 25th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
And here I thought I was all alone as well. My hubby and I purchased our timeshare only 2 years ago. We were living in the east coast at the time and the timeshare is located in Virginia. It was a good idea when we were living there. Its not anymore since we are now living in Montana due to him being in the service (joined after our timeshare purchase). Our TS is now a great burden and we want anyway to get rid of it. Unfortunately I don’t know what options we have because we just recently purchased it and still owe a significant amount. I am trying hard not to lean towards foreclosure b/c of other reasons besides the obvious. I’m really lost and angry and confused. Can anyone offer any help what-so-ever.. and yes I do realize that this is a hard (and expensive) lesson learned!!
January 26th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I agree with you on that Mishi, we have learned our lesson the hard and expensive way. Me and my husband mailed a legal notification to West Gate Resorts through the help of the OWNERS ADVOCATE. They are helping us cancel our timeshare contract and at the same time, file a complaint for all the false hopes and promises that they have told us during the presentation. If the case will not be resolved, they will completely refund our payment. Anyone who is familiar how The Owners Advocate works? All I know is that they are credited by the Better Business Bureau and they have helped people to get rid of their timeshares. We are planning to go back to our country this summer and we really need a lot of money and we cannot afford to pay anymore so we stop our monthly payment since January and never paid our maintenance since we just got our ts last august 2008. We never get a chance to use it.
January 28th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
MITCH
I agree. just stop paying them.
So help me, I won’t pay those people another dime.
January 29th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Pink,
would you consider disclose what are the fees you are paying to the Owners Advocate?
i would try contacting them but with all the scammers out there who sell promises on helping to get rid of your TS for a “small-in-advance” fee, i have my doubts…
thanks,
January 31st, 2009 at 12:37 am
can someone please help me… i need advice or opinions. i lost my job and cant pay for a vacation resort unit that i just bought into in december 2008. i gave money for closing costs, and they gave me papers showing i still owe down payments, and also monthly payments starting in januray 2009. before the balance of my down payments and my monthly payments were even due, i lost my job, and now cant pay for this resort unit. i called the resort and told them, so many different people that i cant pay anything. they keep calling me everyday, in which not bothering me, i keep telling them, i’m still without a job, barily taking care of my special needs child and having yard sales every day just to eat meals and buy diapers. i told resort of all of this, they still keep asking me can i pay anything at all on the down payments. they said they need all down payments to be paid before my paperwork (deed) can be filed with the courthouse. i keep telling them im sorry that i purchased resort and signed papers but i didnt know i would lose job, and now having really hard time. cant get any help no where. family has brought household items and some baby food. im thankful for that. but this resort stuff is haunting me everyday and im stressed out as it is with no job now. i been looking for a job every since i lost mine, no luck but pray one will come soon before they start foreclosure on my house i live in everyday. can someone please give me advice or opinion…. will i get sued? im so scared. my family and old house i have now is what matters most to me, but people telling me im going to be sued and resort time share place will take away my vehicles, because the resort people asked me to write all my vehicle information down on paperwork and they are old vehicles but they are paid for, and now im afraid they will put lien on my vehicles. and im really afraid they will sue me. i ask resort company if i could just voluntarily surrender the time share unit back to them since i have no job, and they said no. i ask them is there anything they can do to help me. they said we will work with you on the monthly payments but first you have to finish paying the down payments $461 monthly for 3 months, and $227 for monthly payments we will work out later. so far im late on 1 down payment and 1 monthly payment, but fixing to owe for februarys down payment and monthly payment. ive been begging them please cancel contract or something. i now understand i cant. they said its legal binding contract and im breeching it if i dont pay anymore money and they said it will start legal processing. i know there’s no help or hope for me in this situation, but any advice or opinions welcome. please everyone pray for me to get a job soon. time share stuff scary, but losing my family, worse. in love, -Jamie
February 2nd, 2009 at 7:08 am
Hi everyone,
Just to make a quick comment on Ken’s comment. Yes they can and will raise the fees regardless of what they tell you. In fact that was part of my reasons to ditch the timeshare. Besides not being able to pay the “mortgage” this year they also raised the rates by like $50 this year because of these updates and are continuing to raise them by 10% over the next 5 years! So, with fees being like $360 now, by 2014, they’d be at $580! A ridiculous price to pay, especially when no one even gets a 10% cost of living increase.
So, I’ve just started to stop payments and haven’t heard a peep out of them. I’m hoping that they’ll be bogged down by the shear volume of people foreclosing.
Also, if they can’t make their bills they’ll go bankrupt. There actually are strength in numbers, so I feel like if everyone started foreclosing, they wouldn’t be able to keep open.
On a personal level, I’ve fought so hard with the timeshare that I have because they’ve lied to me and ignore whatever I say and treat me with such poor service that I absolutely refuse to pay them anymore. Hopefully they’ll go under soon and I can be rid of this nightmare!
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:59 pm
This is somewhat maintenance fees related, and I have not found anything else similar online. My old Timeshare just sent me a General Warranty Deed for a unit I have not owned since December, 2005. I am assuming that they have not been able to collect any maint. fees from the new owner, so have quietly “Granted, Sold and Conveyed” it to me and recorded it at the county all without my knowledge/consent. How can it be legal? How do I fight this? This is a new low even for a timeshare company.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Jamie,
good on you mate!
that’s the best thing is for everyone to just default on those b@sterds and they go under - belly high.
February 8th, 2009 at 6:06 am
Have any of you who are in trouble considered a BK FILING on the time share a Chapter 13 or a full 7 to remove all the problems I mean if your going to waste 7 years on your credit why not make it worth the wait? after 2 years in BK you can re-establish your selves with new credit as with a chapter 7 it last 8 years to re-file and 10 years on the record but the Fico only uses 7 years…. Plus you should all know you are entitled to make a 50 word statement to be placed on all 3 credit agencies as to why you filed a BK… or even why you let a Time share go in the first place…
February 8th, 2009 at 7:04 am
one more thing the reason I wrote here was this::: I to am in a time share I bought at west gate lakes in orlando in july of 08 I was told several times how easy it was to make money off of the referrals and sell my free weeks and if I wanted to rent my odd year time share out NO PROBLEM plus how the Maintenance fee was 599 and taxes were 112 so i would pay a odd year fee of 711 and here is the new year 2009 and that bill showed up as 752 so I called and was given some excuse as to the rise for upgrades even as the real estate markets have tank and the property taxes have come down there rose why???? no answer from the rep… next I remember asking the girl “a brenda” which this was being recorded at closing that if the wife and I decided to cancel this after we went home from our vacation what’s the time frame … and was told that once we sign its ours being a “DEEDED PROPERTY” so that if we were not 100 hundred percent sure now was the time… we had the kids crying for sea world i had my discount and free tickets for doing the morning show the deal looked easy to refinance once home RIGHT!!! so I signed!!! One paper after another real quick to get us out of there and (ITS MY FAULT FOR NOT READING PAGE AFTER PAGE BUT I FIGURED I WOULD THAT NIGHT IN THE HOTEL WHICH I DIDN’T TIL I GOT HOME 10 DAYS LATER) and when we got home and called the bank to refinance this 17.99% deal for 10 years at 243.12 a month with the $2000 I put down owning now 13500 the condo was 15k plus 501 closing costs it was a nice looking deal at the time all done real fast your thinking a $243 payment is nothing RIGHT???? WRONG!!!! because now the trouble starts: no refinance bank laughed I was a fool for getting into it, in seven months only 300 bucks has come off the principle and no way to sell it or the free weeks it like a time bomb right… then the economy and lost wages hits and now the future is bleak (I was banking on pre-paying for future vacation like so many but not now) so I will be probably doing a chapter 7 but I feel for those out there like me BUT we should have read the fine print because I got into it with the mgter of finance there over the fact that it stated 10 days from contract signing and it was the day after that 10th day I wanted out and there was nothing he could do after the 10th day and I told him about the recorded closing and was told she said no way out yet florida law had it 10 days in small print on the last page and how slick they are in not letting people KNOW THE FACTS AT CLOSING!!!!!! but like I said who saw the economy and lost job coming and the deal and pitch was so easy to fall for… YET I should have read the fine small print!!!! so if you default you can make it all go away with a BK filing and write a statement as to the reason your filing a BK and people look at that when later in life they judge you for CREDIT!!!!!
February 11th, 2009 at 10:31 am
My husband and I have also retained the owners advocate to help us cancel our timeshare contract. If they really can get the contract cancelled they will be worth every penny of the $999 fee that they charge. I have just received my final documents which they are sending to the timeshare company and giving them 15 days to respond. They said most cases are resolved in that time period, but they will continue to fight the company if they do not agree to cancel the contract because of how they fraudulently sold it. I researched this company upside down and inside out trying to find anything bad about them that I could and came up with absolutely nothing. If they do deliver on their promise then I will most definately yell it from every mountaintop I can find, I will be the best free publicity they ever dreamed of getting. It has been nothing but absolute hell since the day we signed that contract in 2004 and it is unbelievable the things these timeshare companies have and continue to get away with. I will definately let everyone know the results of our case, good luck to everyone.
February 12th, 2009 at 5:14 am
We too have a timeshare at Westgate Lakes in Orlando. We took it out back in 2003, and have been paying more than $200 a month for the damned thing plus $800 every other year in maintenance fees. We live in the UK and are UK citizens, and have found that it is much cheaper for us to stay in a hotel, than stay there! We are thinking about just stopping the payments, as we’ve been trying to sell it for the last 4 years without success. Its a financial noose around our necks and we just want rid of it. If we stop paying, apart from foreclosure, is there any other action they could take against us, bearing in mind we dont actually live in the US?? Thanks
February 17th, 2009 at 10:55 am
to crystal: Who is this owner’s advocate?
February 18th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
Hi,
Has anyone that owns a TS with Whyndam seen their maintenance fees increase dramatically over the last couple of years?
Are the maintenance fees somewhat connected to the amount of points you owe?
Thanks
February 20th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
How about combining two contracts into one contract with a purchase of more points added in and a hefty amount financed through Wyndham. The maintenance fees are killers monthly. We approaced Wyndham about downsizing to fewer points and they refused. We like Wyndham but don’t know who to talk to to downsize our points yet stay with the timeshare program. ANy suggestions? Isn’t there a national timeshare owners’ advocate group? If not, I’ll help start one. Maybe we can find some legal loopholes. PLEASE RESPOND
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Crystal - We used The Owner’s Advocate last summer and they got our contract cancelled and 100% refunded. It took roughly 6 weeks for the money to be returned to us. They did everything they said they would and were very professional.
Bob - The company is located in Santa Barbara and they are members of the Better Business Bureau. They help people get their timeshare contracts cancelled.
February 24th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
MB- How do I contact the owners advocate you used?
February 24th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
I have read all of these and wow!!! I have really been had by my timeshare. Is there anyone familiar with bluegreen or anyone other than me having problems with this company?
February 26th, 2009 at 6:40 am
Ken - The phone number is (866) 644-7776.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
does anyone know or ever herd of a timeshare company that would be willing for you to pay a lump sum to settle your time share for less. Basically my mom passed away when i was a kid and i get my first lump sum settlement amd we own timeshare through bluegreen. We like our timeshare and alway use it. or find a way to use it..if you own your own buisness did you know you can give your time share away to your employees as a bounus and claim it on taxes..i havent done it but know ppl who do.
Basically we owe 12,300 on our timeshare of which we have already paid about 8k in interest over the last five years, we purchased this one for 17k and before we upgraded to this package we had a lesser one for like 10k and payed on that for three years. I want to pay this off. its the first thing to go. i also have to cars with better intrest rates. i owe about 14k to those..and well if i can get bluegreen. to like erase or work with my on excepting my 9-10k lump sum and calling my account closed and paid in full or even settled…idc. then that would free me up enough money to pay off a car and all my credit cards..
We have never been late on payments, we arent in like financial hardship, although we will be if we kept paying there price…lol basically im thinking i might have to bluff them into thinking im gonna forclose..or default..ect. whats the worse they can do? say no…oh well then ill pay em off in full and NEVER NEVER buy anymore points again…i have enougha nd am happy with what i have.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
oh here is an interesting place called the time share dump…these ppl sometimes take your timeshare along with payments and mainance fees all you pay is the transfer and title fees to put it in there names…which to me is better then paying all that interest..
http://timeshare.qcommerce.com/default.htm#tdump
February 26th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
Tina i own through bluegreen also…i have had some issues but not many. my biggest was my family and i stayed at christmas mountain over thanksgiving and we had these big nasty stink bugs all over our villa and the juccuzi didnt work. i called and they came out and somewhat fixed the juccuzi which stoped working and giving hot water like before it even reached the jets..so basically the first three nights we couldnt use it..we killed like 10 of those bugs and they are called stink bugs for a reason…they look like big cocroach beatles…ewww black and nasty..my kids were scared to sleep alone. so basically you go to sleep and find one staring at you or look at you in the morn from your sink…ewww. so we calle them over they sprayed a bug..guess they didnge belive us. so the next mornign we went to complain to the manager and she was in the back forever and acually never did come out to talk to us. Some guy talked with us..to make a long story short…half way in our trip there compromise was for us to pack up all our stuff..(remember this is thanksgiving) with our kids ages 3 and 5 and get it all in the car go to the villa up the block and unload and put everything away, just to in two days put everything back in the car. No extra nights stay/ no points back/ no nothing to compromise for the trouble we had. they said the bugs were noraml around that time of year. iv been there alot..i mean alot. no bugs have i ever seen till then the next villa had two bugs. that villa was infested with bugs. anyway that is why we will never upgrade or buy more points through them cause of the way they treated us. you would think that someone who pays for a 20,000 timeshare would get treated with a little more decensy..hell i know a hotel would have gave me my money back or a nights stay for free. anyway..what is your problems..if it has to do with getting what you want when you want it i may be able to help..i work the system pretty good.
February 27th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Mine is a pretty long story, to make it short. We bought around 4-5 years ago and everything went ok, we had trouble making reservations, was advised to upgrade to “have more options”. I did, well still no options and like a dummy upgraded again. Still cant get the reservation I want. Hubby out of work, I am making monthly pmts of 750. Was told my maint fees would only increase maybe 100-200. No try 600-700. The account is frozen even though I am now paying 1000 month to pay maint fees also. I am struggling, worrying about my family, trying to work 2 jobs and am paying all that money and cant even send my family anywhere. I have asked for help and they talk to me like the idiot I am for getting involved with them. I told them I was going to have to stop paying and they basically said whatever. I have done this to myself but only because I was told one lie after another. I also read on another website that if you default they can garnish wages. Is this true? I am really losing sleep over this and not sure what to do. I cant even afford to see a lawyer at this point, I feel like it is only a matter of weeks that I can continue before I have to start thinking about more basic needs and a timeshare that cannot be used is not a basic need. I just wish my thick head would have realized that years ago. You know for all the money we pay I would have demanded the manager come out with some answers. Even the people on the phone are rude. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.
March 1st, 2009 at 8:00 am
Timeshare is not mine but part of my mother’s estate. Timeshare purchase paid in full, if the estate stops paying maintenance fees does this affect my personal credit as the executrix?
March 4th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Hi, has anybody been able to run a due diligence on the Owners Advocate? i called them last time and was attended by a very nice young lady who after explaining the basic process said that to start i only needed to pay 1000 which i dont have. she even sent me a so called “contract” where the OA ensure that i will get rid of the TS otherwise they will give me my money back. This contract is not signed by anybody of course.
thanks,
March 5th, 2009 at 11:20 am
can someone tell me what a “BK filing” is. Thanks…
March 5th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
DH and I are 2x TS owners (yeah, we were that stupid). Now of course we have had some emergency expenses come up *along with* news about our upcoming layoff (yes, both of us). One is through Shell and the other is through Grandview (Las Vegas). Shell is paid in full and Grandview is not; we are US residents. Does anyone know will either of these guys take these d@mned things back?
Thanks!
March 11th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I have just notified Grandview that I will not be able to make payments anymore and was hoping they can take it back. Blunt reply back was: no, i have to sell it.
I have already contacted my bank to try and stop payments, but alas, because it is a cc, the payments can only be cancelled by the person requesting payments!! So, I am more than willing to keep my cc at its limit so as to prevent further payments taken untill such time that they stop trying to.
I have asked to speak to someone in the TS finance department so that I can warn them of my intentions. I am fortunately not a US citizen, nor do I live in the US, so couldnt care less what they do to my US credit score (not that I have one!)
Has anyone ever gone through the whole process of not paying, foreclosure…..etc??? Very curious to what they will do, bearing in mind there is so many of us that want to get out!
March 11th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Ive just stopped payments on my Westgate timeshare. I’d advise you to cancel your card, that way they cant take any money from you. Its good that you are not a US citizen, as they cant touch you. I’m in the same position being a UK cictizen. The fact is, is that the loan is secured on the timeshare, so they will probably send you threatening letters for a bit, lots of phone calls, but just ignore them. Eventually they will get fed up, and take the timeshare back, as that is all they can do.
March 11th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Well I still dont know what im going to do. I am hoping that when i call bluegreen and tell them that im going to forclose the will listen and work with me. I really have to get them to drop the amount i owe on my loan so i can get ride of other debt. I owe 12k on the loan if they would drop to like 9k or 10k for a lumpsum payment i would pay off them right away, then pay off the cars. But i dont know if they would. My husband thing we should screw around with them, but i dont want extra late fees and our interest rate to go up, apprenently in our contract if we miss a payment they will put our already rediculous rate up to 13% daily accoring intrest. He things we should call them, tell them we are having issues making our payments on things and we havent missed a payment through them yet because they take it electronically, but we will miss a payment throught them soon. Basically say hey look, my wife fell into a small inheritance and we like using the timeshare and want to keep it but we cant if you arent willing to work with us to settle on a lower amount owed. basically if they say not then, well say “you telling us you would rather us forclose then take a gaurenteed 10k right now..or whatever the amount, I dont want to pay the full price, its rediculas when i see double what i own selling for only 7k and payed almost 20k for it. Stupid economy.
March 11th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
I tried talking to bluegreen about my hard times, being the only one working right now. They were not interested at all, told me that it is my responsibility, that we signed the papers and they do not care if I default or file bankruptcy, that they will not help me at all. Basically they said it is all my problem, none theirs. I wish I only owed them that much. They have been nothing but rude and uninterested in my situation. Absolutely nothing like the sales pitch. You would think as much as I pay every month, and the fact that I have paid faithfully for years that they could be a little decent to me on the phone. Guess that is too much to ask. What is this about not being able to stop the payments from my checking acct? Oh what I wouldnt give to have had a brain before I signed those papers. Guess that is what I get for being so selfish and wanting my family to have nice vacations. What a joke, with my high payments I cant even afford to buy groceries.
March 13th, 2009 at 2:45 am
Hi All,
I have left US since 6 months. I called up the Timeshare people to know about my Interest I paid to get Tax Returns. They told me the figure of some 1000+ USD. I filed and I got returns with no questions. But timeshare also told the case is with the collection agency. I dont know what are they doing as I have removed all my phones and every details that a collection agency could know. Eventhough I have my Credit card still in a good stand.
I suggest strongly to all those who does not belong to US and want to leave the country then the best part is dont pay timeshare any thing even though you get calls from any body. No police nothing. No body can do any thing to you even though you will be staying in US.
You may get some documents, dont care about them and if possible chage to a good house if possible before doing the steps below.
Follow these steps if you wont care for Credit History.
Step 1 : Remove all your automated payments.
Step 2 : Request your bank to provide a new replacement card with a new card number.
Step 3 : Take a new phone connection and if its landline then pay extra few 30 USD(for comcast) to get a new number.
Step 4 : stay happy.
Step 5: If you cant do any of the above and if not applicable to you then dont even care about any calls from any agency. They are bull shit people and do only the job of threating people in soft words. For example: They wont say We will make you pay money, But rather they will politly say Sir if you wont pay the due then it will be esclated and it could be more serious and I am afraid you wont able to face that situation.
Its PIG shit.
Anyway if you leave the country then you wont have to worry as no collection agency will do these research where we are and follow us. As US laws wont apply to any other country.
REST IS ALL YOUR WISH HOW YOU WANT TO DO.
March 13th, 2009 at 7:51 am
Radha and all non-US
just cancel this crap. cancel credit card paymt.
cancel your phone number, whatever.
don’t let those b@sturds take another penny from you.
they are slime
March 13th, 2009 at 8:07 am
Yep Radha, your 100% correct, it has taken me 6 years of paying for the damned thing to realise it!! I feel liberated now Ive cancelled the payment, and now I know they cannot and will not get anymore money out of me, If they even dare call me, they will be told in the most unpolite fashion to F*** Off, and stick their timeshare where the sun dont shine!!!
March 14th, 2009 at 11:10 am
Radha, thank you so much for your information, I am also a NON US Resident and purchased a timeshare in October. With the slide of our exchange rate, this timeshare has become very expensive and so we are unable to pay since January. We have been getting the harrassing calls, and the polite threats of being sued and that our credit rating will be affected (who cares I dont live in the US). I am just worried that they might sue us for money once it has gone into foreclosure. What do you think?
March 15th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
They wont sue, you dont live in the US, so they cant sue anyway, its a load of rubbish to get you to pay, stick to your guns, and just ignore the calls and letters. thats what Im doing
March 17th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Hi All,
Thanks for reading my post and thanks for this site. A one stop for all persons like us.
I want to tell timesharehater and everybody that NO BODY can sue you unless you do a crime. And being not able to repay the loan is not at all a crime, as the timeshare is with them. So they can’t do any thing to you even if you are in US except threatening you.
And where do you live Mr/Ms timesharehater, if possible change your phone numbers to avoid the nonsense calls. And this time give your phone number very carefully. never post your phone number on the internet
Doing this may effect your credit , but due to the market crash, it will be common so you may get fresh loans next time when you like, but of course may the interest rate go high. Anyway leave it.
Just Do what ever I told, only if you dare to. As at any point of time if you get loose and let the fear enter your heart then don’t follow my steps. This is recommended for NON US people, and just an advise for US guys. If credit history wont matter then anybody can do it.
March 19th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
Hello everyone,
Me and my husband were duped into purchasing a Shell Vacations Timeshare and we paid over 14000 for it. I am currently walking away from my home that we cannot afford anymore due to its interest only loan and losing over $150000 in equity. Would it really matter to just stop paying on the timeshare? It would save us over 200 bucks a month which we will need because credit cards will be out of the question for the next couple of years… Why would the IRS tax non payment of timeshares when they cant do that for homes that people walk away from? Also, Can they sue you in Arizona, since its a no fault state?
March 20th, 2009 at 9:54 am
Whoa there!
Let’s set the record straight Radha, DO NOT advise US citizens to take this decision lightly. Yes I am a US citizen and have stopped making payments, but I have spoken with a lawyer beforehand and will share with everyone the repercussions of defaulting on a loan.
First and foremost, you will ruin your credit for 7 years. If you don’t feel like you’d need to get a loan for a car, house, cable or electricity or credit cards than go ahead. This is the least of your worries.
Because timeshares in the US are deeded you will basically be defaulting on a mortgage, which means that they will take your timeshare to auction once they have taken it from you. Most timeshares won’t sell at auction, but if they do sell for less than what you’ve paid, you will owe them the difference. This means that if you bought it for $20,000 and they sold it for $2,000 they can still recuperate the difference of $18,000 from you. They have every right and very well may come after you for the balance. Depending on what you own they may take you to court for your car or house. If you don’t own any assets they can garnish your wages. Also, heads up, the money that they cannot recuperate from the auction will be reported to the IRS and you will have to pay taxes on it.
My personal situation includes a co-owned home. I was concerned that they would come after my home, but because it’s jointly owned and the timeshare is in my name only, they can’t come after that and I own no other assets, yes not even a car. But what I’m banking on (no pun intended) is that they’ll have too many people defaulting to be able to come after us for the money owed. Court costs a lot of money and without assets to go after they most likely will make the decision to not pursue people, especially those that they will be difficult to collect.
So, for all US citizens unfortunately we may wind up paying for our mistakes in the end, but you have to make that difficult decision and live with what may happen.
Best of luck to us all.
March 20th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
We are almost through paying Silverleaf Resorts. We missed 2 payments and they threatened foreclosure. We made arrangements but they reported the bad credit to the credit agency but refuse to report all of the on time payments. We are in the process of wanting to buy a house and this shows up on our credit report. What can be done to get the positive information reported? Even when it is paid off they say they will take another six months to provide the deed and report that it is paid off.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:39 am
To Tracy - Have you managed to get out of paying? I want to get out and am a non US citizen/resident.
March 26th, 2009 at 11:58 am
Yep, stopped the payments last month. Strangely though, I havent had any calls or letters yet, but Im expecting them. Ive just had enough of wasting my money on something that is worthless. I’d recommend you to do the same, as there is nothing they can do to make you pay, and it wont affect your credit history either, as you are not a US resident
March 27th, 2009 at 7:14 am
Is there not anyone who enjoy having their TS and see it as a good way to vacation? All this reading about stopping payments, high maintenance fees really make me scared. Just bought one with points in Dec. To me it sounds good to be able to go to different places in the world. How can the US government allow TS if they are all scams and putting people into hardship? Where do you all have your TSs?
March 27th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Wait till you start getting hit with the maintenance fees! It costs me less money to book a full holiday every year, than it does to pay for this blood sucking timeshare. Example, I paid £160 per month, which is £1920 per year. I booked a 3 week holiday for weeks, with flights and accommodation, for £1500!!
March 27th, 2009 at 8:45 am
hey i want to know more about crystal and her situation with the owners advocate..we just signed with him to try and get us out of a timeshare in virginia beach…gold key are bums…we have called and left many messages to talk to someone about this..but no call backs…only call backs we are getting is wanting us to pay our maintance fee and the last months payment which i stopped payment on…ive been reading on here..some sya it doesnt even show up on your credit score…is this true….if so why am i so worried about this…its been a hardship on us…first we were suckered and lied to by the sells team…and nothing has been true about it…we were told we wouldnt be paying a closing fee..well we did…told it was easy to change weeks…but not so much…im frustrated and irritated about this whole deal..hoping and praying to get out of this whole mess…and next time i see a timesahre seller ill run not walk the other way screaming…..any info would be greatly appreciated….
March 27th, 2009 at 9:25 am
I dont know much about the owners advocate, but after having paid numerous resale companies hundreds of pounds over the last few years, the idea of shelling out more money, as i believe they charge quite a substantial amount of money, to something which isnt 100% guaranteed to get you out of the timeshare, I’d much rather save my money, cut my losses with Westgate, and go on my nice 3 week holiday timeshare free!!
And dumb blond, if you are still within the period that you can cancel your agreement, cancel it. My timeshare was a deeded (not points, points are worse!!) timeshare with Westgate Resorts, and every time I wanted to to book my week, they tried to charge me extortionate amounts of money to do so, even though I was an “owner” The maintenance went up by more than 50% in 2 years, and you are stuck with these damn maintenace fees for the rest of your life, even after you have actually paid the damn thing off!!
Timeshares are a scam, and a complete waste of money. Save your money and go and stay somewhere nice for a fraction of the cost
March 28th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
My husband and I were in Vegas this week and signed up to by a TS and upon leaving realized that we made a huge mistake. We sent off a revocation form three days after the purchase to hopefully cancel it. Has anyone had any luck with the revocing a sale of TS? I cancelled my credit card so that they cannot take anymore of our money. We live in Canada, it was our first time in Vegas and feel that when you are on vacation everything seems better than it really is and what they said and what is in the contract seem to be very similar but very different. I feel like I never want to go back to Vegas after what has happened and hopefully we can get out of this deal and not have to go through what all of you have gone through! Hoping for the best!
April 1st, 2009 at 10:12 am
bk filng is bankrupct… now what is this crap about IRS SCARING???
if you owe 15k paid it to 13k and defaulted the 13k and they sell it for a grand to a buddy how are you paying taxes on 12 grand???? its all non-cash paper losses… the deed was never transfered until a full payment was made!!!! this IRS CRAP IS JUST THAT CRAP!!!!
THEY REPORT THERE PAPER LOSS TO THERE GAIN YOU JUST CAN’T REPORT A LOSS ON YOURS I CALLED THE IRS AND ASKED!
April 1st, 2009 at 10:25 am
ONE MORE THING: you people talk about credit reports have any of you pulled a report they don’t show your paying so what gives them ther right to show a default? plus they never ran my credit at time of sale or qualified me? So you better check on that loop hole…. look if i loan you a paper amount but never really took cash out to give you and lets say you use my house and I were to give you a room to use for a fee and you bailed on me how can I call a credit report agency and file a claim of default unless I’m a paying member and report monthly payments or defaults!!! thinking about it that way!!!! I looked at my reports and the time share isn’t even reporting my payments!
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:37 am
They dont show up on my credit report, but thats probably because I live in the UK. From what I understand, if your payments dont show up on your credit report, they cant report defaulted payments, but if you were to foreclose on the timeshare, without completing the WDIF (Warranty Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure), then I believe they can report the foreclosure. None of this affects anyone who lived outside the US, like myself, as none of it would show up on my credit report here.
To be honest I think having dodgy credit for a while is worth not having to pay these bloodsucking timeshare companies any more hard earned money!
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:52 am
I am a UK citizen. I own at Tempas Palms (1week) & Orange Lake (2 weeks). I want to get rid off my week at Tempas. If I just stop paying my mortgage finance and maintenance fee can Tempas foreclose on my weeks at Orange lake which I am still paying for?
Also can I be stopped from entering USA to use my weeks at Orange Lake resort?
I have no problems so far with Orange Lake but have only managed to stay once at Tempus and have lost numerous weeks because I have not recieved the maintence bill until too late to deposit my week with Internal International as I own in week 6.
Also as my husband has recently passed away my & daughters do not want the TS weeks to be left to them (both resorts are deeded)it appears to me that I am just wasting good money after bad.
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:12 am
so what are you saying john?? that if you default on the ts then does it show up on credit report….
April 4th, 2009 at 2:10 am
Anyone being an executor of an estate,
I was an executor of my aunt’s estate and the lawyer somehow did not pay the Social Security check back to the government. After being notified of this 3 years later, I checked the paperwork, and yes, it was not paid by the lawyer. I paid the $800.00 and alas, the Social Security office put a 120 day late strike on my credit report. I have tried disputing this and they changed it as paid in full, all except Equifax. I too have a t/s in Thunder Mountain Condos in Steamboat Springs. I have not paid the maintenance fees which were due by October of 2008 and just got a letter from a collection company. Mine is paid in full, just the maintenance fees due every year. I have offered to give it away, pay all the transferring fees and can not find a sucker to take me up on the deal. Will a warranty deed in lieu of foreclosure work for me. It is a deeded timeshare. Anyone want this beast.
April 5th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Hi, I have 2 timeshare units in puerto vallarta, fully paid and up-to-date with maintenance fees payments up to and including 2009. I was in Orlando last week and I was offered a timeshare and I was promised in writing that if I purchased ts from them, they will assure me that the two time share interests that I own will be taken out of my name by the end of 2009 and before the 2010 maintenance billing. How would they take my name out? What is the guarantee that the Puerto vallarta resort will not go after me?
April 5th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Hi Mandie, this is a very helpful and informative site. I have 2 timeshare units in puerto vallarta, fully paid and up-to-date with maintenance fees payments up to and including 2009. I was in Orlando last week and I was offered a timeshare and I was promised in writing that if I purchased ts from them, they will assure me that the two time share interests that I own will be taken out of my name by the end of 2009 and before the 2010 maintenance billing. How would they take my name out? What is the guarantee that the Puerto vallarta resort will not go after me?
By the way, I still have a few days to cancel the ts in Orlando as it is stated in the contract that I have 10 calendar days to cancel it. Will I be able to get my downpayment back of $ 1500 if I cancel?
April 8th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
Couple of comments. Yes I have had luck rescinding the purchase of a timeshare and everything was returned on a sale in Florida.
As far as credit reports. When we bought our home, they ran the report and the TS did not show up, but if you default on one they will report it. I think that they don’t have to report the sale because if you finance it’s usually done through a private company as opposed to a national lender, so they don’t report it on there.
Note to John: You’re math is wrong. If you owe 15k and have paid 13k the balance on the deed is 2k, so if they sell it for 1k than the remainder of the contract that will be owed is 1k, which they will write off and then report to the IRS as the balance of the foreclosure and yes you will have to pay taxes on that. In any foreclosure the sale of the home is still treated as a sale and will be taxed by the IRS.
I strongly encourage anyone on this chain to DO YOUR RESEARCH! It’s always encouraging to read other writers’ trials and tribulations, but at the end of the day, it’s your responsibility and you must do your own research before making these types of decisions because it will be you and no other person on here that must live with the consequences.
Yes it’s a scam, but it’s still a legal purchase and in a country where lawyers rule and we are victims of unintended consequence.
Cheers,
J
April 15th, 2009 at 3:37 am
Would love to hear from other non-US citizens with regards to their progress and consequences of non-payment so far. I received my first call the other day (3 weeks after missing first payment). I then re-sent email explaining personal circumstances and got a (quite friendly) reply that there is nothing to be done and if non-payment continues that they will go through the various collections steps and eventually foreclosure as it is a deeded property.
In my letter I have said that when TS was sold to me it was stated (not in writing of course) that TS was good investment and will keep value, which of course is false. No comment/reply were made to this statement though.
Anyway, thanks for everyone’s comments and advice so far.
April 16th, 2009 at 2:40 am
Dont get into dialogue with them. Ignore all of the calls and letters. I havent had any correspondance yet, and Ive missed 2 payments, but I expect I will start getting letters soon. If you get into dialogue with them, you run the risk of them convincing you to pay less, or them giving you a smaller unit for a lower price, just ignore them. They will eventually get bored, and after sbout 6-8 months, you should receive the Warranty Deed In Lieu of Foreclosure, which you need to sign and send back to them, this effectively gives them back the timeshare, and you will be free of it. We were promised the earth by Westgate, which was all bullsh*t, and have been trying to sell ours for 4 years, but they are a con, and in no way are they an investment! Ive found it much much cheaper to book my holidays separately, for a lot less than what I was paying them!
Just hang in there, you will eventually be free of it!
April 21st, 2009 at 10:36 am
Hi Tracy,
Thanks for the advice! Do you really think they will eventually send the Deed in Lieu? Would they not rather go through the full foreclosure process and pass me onto the credit collection agencies? I’m not looking forward to the harassing calls and letters!
And yes, will hang in there, refuse to pay any more money to these crooks!
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I bought a timeshare from a friend in 2006. It is in Cancun Mexico. She had paid it off in full, but there is a maintenance fee of around $500 yearly. The contract that she signed was for 30 years in 1992, and is full of small print. I had bought it to use for trading, however it is near impossible to trade. I would like to just walk away and forfeit the money I paid her. Now I read on your website that I am liable for paying the maintenance fees for another 13 years–is this true? As far as I know the deed was never transferred–I don’t even know if there is a “deed” as it is a Mexican company, but I did sign a letter stating that I would assume all rights and obligations of her membership. I do not want to risk my credit rating over this…but I have no use for it at this point. HELP.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:09 am
Herman, It would cost them far too much money to try and pass it on to a collections agency. Most of these timeshare companies use their own inhouse collections dept, and make it look like its an external agency, when in fact its not. As you dont live in the US, the chances of them trying to collect are virtually zero, apart from the letters and phone calls! It is more cost effective for them to issue the deed in lieu, take it back and re-sell, which is what the majority of them do, so just sit back and wait, and enjoy the extra money your not giving away to those con merchants!
April 24th, 2009 at 10:19 am
How about defaulting the M/Fs on my fully paid timeshare? The timeshare I owned is under a secured promissory note. Can I still do a deed in lieu of foreclosure? Or is there a different type of timeshare foreclosure for this type of ownership?
April 24th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
I also have a fully paid Wyndham Points timeshare which seems to be good resort according to reviews but I cannot keep it due to loss of job and I have it up to date as of April 2009, there is no loan owed on it, it was purchased resale. I am happy to give it up with closing costs and resort transfer paid by buyer.
Otherwise I want to know what will happen if I stopped paying the Maintenance fees on it even though it’s paid off, will Wyndham go after assests and savings and car or is that a lie? I’m in the US and the timeshare is in state of Florida. If anyone knows, please let me know and if anyone is interested in purchasing more Wyndham Points for a steal also get back to me. The whole place is new and has a whirlpool tub in unit with new fixtures.
April 25th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Hi Lana, could you tell me how much is the annual maintenance fee and How many points that your timeshare entitled for? Where is the timeshare home base? Thanks.
April 25th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Hi Chm,
please email me directly at ilanatay@gmail.com
The home resort is in Ft Lauderdale, Pompano Beach and is 35 miles from Miami. It’s literally right on the beach and ownership comes with RCI membership (savings of $90 a year) so if you were to bank the points, you can get 4 weeks vacation with it. Then you could go anywhere there’s a Wyndham or other resort if you know how to do the searches but I can suggest where to find the info. I pay the fees monthly and it runs $52
Let me know if you need to know more.
April 26th, 2009 at 8:17 am
I can’t believe how stupid I was to get suckered into the whole TS scheme. I bought one in Orlando, FL. You feeling good while your on vacation. I didn’t know abouth these extra fees I got hit with a huge 725 fee separate from the mothly fees. Come Jan I stopped paying, spoke with the TS company to see if they would take it back…all they want it is their money. I am 3 months behind and they have sent it to their legal department and that it will soon go into foreclosure. I don’t give a damn,this is one of the biggest scam industries. I don’t know what I was thinking. I have a bunch of friends with bad credit and they seem to be managing. With this bad economy does anyone know if these companies won’t sue and claim your asset?
April 26th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
So what happened? I am hearing from other timeshare owners, that the foreclosure dings credit and so on.. but I am unclear as to what else happens. I’m interested myself, though I get a lot of different answers. Is the loan paid off? I heard from research that if it isn’t they could go after assets, but again, I don’t know firsthand or what they do now.
According to the credit report, it will be bad for future purchases, car, job.. a woman who is advising me not to do it says it dings it pretty bad.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:32 pm
Rhada, good to hear from you after a long time…
Tracy, i was also into WG at Orlando. Im not a US citizen/resident and quit my payments in nov 08. After 3 months without hearing a word from them i started receiving letters about the due amounts.. then a letter with a “warning” about them sending the case to a collection agency and after that i have received a couple of letters from this so called collection agency being the latest letter a very short and polite one saying something like “we do have more options than what you may think. Contact us”…
the name of this agency ICA (International Collections Agency).
the only thing i have done is sending them an email stating the only option i can carry on with is having WestGate taking the property back. Let’s see what they reply…
April 28th, 2009 at 5:07 am
ICA is actually part of Westgate, dont get into dialogue with them, just ignore everything they send you, you will eventually get your WDILF
April 29th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Well, my wife and I were sucked into TAHITI VILLAGE in Las Vegas last may. That’s TAHITI VILLAGE- hopefully googlebots pick up on this so more people find this thread. TAHITI VILLAGE is a scam. After paying about 4k in “mortgage” fees and maintenance for a resort that I’ll never stay at, I am finished. Expensive lesson, but a good lesson to learn. I have not made a payment since December 2008. Right now, we receive about 20 calls per day from them, I responded with 20 emails with a form letter I drafted outlining their breach of contract. (Says no rentals at TAHITI VILLAGE, but anybody can go on Expedia and rent a room there) I now have 2 days to pay or my mortgage will be defaulted. Go ahead. I am a Canadian citizen and at this point, having read this and other blogs on timeshare, I will never pay another cent.
I have researched US Judgements enforced in Canada for those interested. IF they foreclose and sell at a reduced rate on the open market then try to obtain a judgement for the difference, the judgement is only enforceable in the US. Under Canadian law, they would have to apply via Court of Queens Bench to have the judgement enforceable. ALOT of work for money that they know they’ll never get. I am now 4 months in arrears and nothing is on my Credit report from both Equifax and Trans Union.
DON’T PAY THOSE PIECES OF SHIT ANOTHER DIME. Vegas was built by the mob- how do you think it happened? By scams just like timeshare.
May 1st, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I own a timeshare at Tahiti Village in Los Vegas. Got this with my ex 1 year ago when we were common law. We are both on the deed and have paid up to 10% of the $22,499 balance. Unfortunately we cannot afford the TS anymore for various reasons, mostly recession related. My question is can the timeshare screw up our credit if we default (walk away)? The thing is we are both Canadian with all the financial backing tied up in America. Can they come across the border to get money?
May 6th, 2009 at 7:59 am
Well, it appears that my tactics are getting to Consolidated Resorts / Tahiti Village. Joseph La FAMINA, their Account Manager, Mortgage Recovery sent me 51 replies this morning to my email all within 3 minutes!!!! He called both mine and my wife’s parents and started harassing them as well, they told him to pound sand. No reputable company would behave in such a manner, this is obviously a desperation move because somebody’s not getting their commission from me.
Dave- I outlined the answer to your question in my last post. Yes they can attempt to successfully get a judgement against you. In Nevada, there are 2 types of foreclosures. The sale of deed foreclosure (which is what we are both into) where they sell the deed and then would have to sue for the money they don’t get. They have to advise you (in a way that will satisfy the court) of the proceeding including the foreclosure sale as well as the new amount owed before they can do anything. At this point you would have an option to respond and dispute. IF a judgement is levied against you it is enforceable in the jurisdiction of the judgement. Canada is not in the US jurisdiction. They would further have to apply to QB court in Canada to have the ability to enforce in Canada. Upon a judge reviewing the facts in Canada, if they allowed the judgement to be enforced in Canada, then they would have to hire somebody to locate you and properly serve you. A lot of time and money that would be better spent on hooking another unsuspecting victim into their web of lies and collecting more money for a time share you’ll never be able to use and costs more than any trip. The internet is a great educational resource. As far as the credit issue, they would by law report to the US Credit Bureaus. Canada has their own, it’s all governed by law and they can’t just go and put derogatories on your credit in Canada. They have never reported. Go pull a credit report (Equifax.ca) and see.
They won’t take it to court because then they would have to answer to the disputes and breaches of contract that they are in the wrong. If the harassment and scare tactics don’t work, they’ll cut their losses and move on. Frankly, I don’t care if they go the whole way with me and try to ruin me. I have now learned to live within my means and that if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
May 12th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
I have been 6 months late in payments. I was laid off and now have a new job making less money. I just bought a house and am having trouble with those payments. Last week, I was served papers from River Run timeshares taking me to court for $9000.00 (the balance). I now seem to think, after speeking to there attorney, that they want the money without giving me back the timeshare. I am very frustrated. Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May 12th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Sorry! Mistake!
May 16th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
How about suing the timeshare company? How long do you think it takes and financially, the cost w/lawyer’s fee in case it drags into long court proceedings. Worst case scenario,if we don’t win the case the court will order us to pay the balance and moreover we have to deal w/ compounded unpaid lawyers fee. The dilemma is whether to ignore and face being served,foreclosure or apply Bankruptcy. I checked The Owners Advocate, seems they can help cancel your ownership but it depends in each unique case.
May 19th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
I’ve been getting more and more frequent emails (and a couple of voicemails) for my unpaid debt as it is now 65 days late. It is difficult not getting worried about it but still holding on to the hope that the fact that I am in the UK will deter them from pursuing this matter too far!
I am in two minds as to whether I should remind them about the lies they sold me and request a deed in lieu or whether I should just wait it out and ignore their communication completely untill something gives.
Any updates from those that are a bit further in the process than me would be much appreciated!
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
Anybody had any experience with defaulting on Celebrity? I’ve got a TS that I’ve been unable to sell/donate/giveaway that is paid up but their exorbitant annual maint/taxes (half of which are to assist them in recovering unpaid debt!) are killing me being unemployed. Anybody with experience with stiffing Celebrity?
May 29th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Purchased a Occidental timeshare in Mexico and have stopped paying on the loan because much of what we were told in the high pressured sales pitch were lies. It has been over a year since we stopped paying and I am getting phone calls and letters from a “so-called” collection agency for payment in full which I have ignored. We did not give them our social security numbers at time of purchase so they do not have. What can I expect next with this Mexican standoff? Without SSN’s, can they still report this to the US credit bureaus?
May 30th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
If your parents have a time share paid in full, except for the yearly maintenance fees obviously, how can they legally enforce the children to continue to pay when your parents are deceased? I refuse to pay anything on my mothers timeshare after she passes and its passed on to my sister and myself. My mother has been trying to sell it for years now with no takers. What do you guys suggest I can do regarding that sad day someday when my mom passes, and then the subsquent headache of this thing. I hate timeshares, have never succumbed to the sales pitches, don’t even go to them, and will NEVER pay a dime on them. There has to be a way kids can refuse taking over these things.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:14 pm
My timeshare foreclosed in 2006 but on my credit report it states that the foreclosue was in 2008 and I owe a balance of $2500.I recently went to apply for a mortgage and the loan officer is requesting that balance to be paid off. I contacted a representative at the timeshare who informed me whats owed is $13000. My question is how can that be when the timeshare only was $8900 when it foreclosed and I never recieved any information on being sued or a remaining balance and is there anyway I can get that past due balance and the incorrect information removed from my credit report.
June 6th, 2009 at 7:59 am
I finally got a legal notice from my timeshare stating that it will go in to foreclosure and that we will liable for all reasonable attorney costs, transfer tax etc. I am a non-us resident from the Caribbean, I couldnt make the monthly payments so i definately can not make those legal fees. Can they sue me for the expenses if I cant afford to pay them?
June 9th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Isn’t it amazing how they pressure you into buying these albatrosses. What if we advertised to the public in and around these different resorts to people not to buy timeshares that they are scams. Buying something that you will never get rid of and it will only suck the life out of you. I wonder would they consider taking our units back if we advertised what owing a resort is really like. Let’s get together and buy some advertising space and let the world know what these resorts do to you. I bet they would be willing to take back your unit if you don’t advertise. We don’t have to use the name of the resort specifically. I got duped by Westgate resorts. If they can use pressure tactics in selling these timeshare, we the “owners” should use pressure tactics in getting the resorts to take them back because we can’t sell them or give them away. Also they should not tarnish or hurt the creditworthiness that we have worked long and hard for to get established!!!!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:36 am
This is not your typical timeshare blog. My husband and I bought a timeshare in New Hampshire in the early 80’s with a fixed week and a mandatory annual maintenance fee. We thought we would mostly trade it through RCI, but found we couldn’t go where we wanted, when we wanted, couldn’t fully rent it, and wanted to JUST GET RID OF IT! However, we couldn’t do that either as no one seems to want to buy these as most of them are at a small mediocre resort that you probably only want to visit once or twice, and you are stuck paying a maintenance fee but not getting the vacation you are looking for. However, in 2003 through a friend we got a deal for a week at a fantastic five star resort in Playa del Carmen, MX called The Grand Mayan. This place was spectacular and it wasn’t evenly completely constructed yet! On the ocean, golf courses, spas, largest continuous pool in N America, etc Went to the timeshare presentation and bought in because (1)they took my old timeshare and gave me credit (2)no maintenance fees unless you use the week (and the fee was less than I had been paying at my tiny resort in New Hampshire), (3) weeks are floating not fixed, (4) can always get in when we want, and most importantly (5) they have several equally magnficent resorts in MX to visit (Acapulco, Los Cabos, Nuevo Vallarta, Rivera Maya,etc) and they are building in Hawaii and Argentina so I could see us going here every year. WE LOVE THIS PLACE, we go every year, and have upgraded a few times since 2003. They have a rental arrangement with Wyndham whereby if owners won’t be using all of their weeks, you can rent them on the various Wyndham owned websites such as Expedia, Orbitz, etc. I have read all sorts of blogs about their sales tactics being extremely high pressure, but oddly enough we have never personally experienced that. They have followed through on every promise they have made, and made good on some verbal misunderstandings that they were not contractually obligated to. However, my feeling on sales presentations is “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” and forego the gifts. Bottom line is if you own at a resort that you LOVE and will visit regularly, offers maximum flexibility in terms of locations, timing, and level of accomodations, give you maximum value when you do want to exchange, doesn’t require a maintenance fee unless you use it, and you can rent it when you want, timeshares can offer some real value. But you will only realize the value from using/renting them -definitely not from reselling them.
June 14th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
My husband and I are having financial difficulty keeping our obligation to keep paying our unpaid timeshare at David Walley’s Resort and Spa.We wrote the resort and the funding resort
telling them our situation, that we would put up our timeshare in voluntary foreclosure,because we can not keep paying it off.We are 60 days late and in counting.The resort told us,that they can not take their property back and the resort funding told us that
it is no option not to pay our monthly debt for the timeshare we told them that we can not keep up with the payment so we want to get rid of the property.We want voluntary foreclosure.
At present we still owe according to resort funding $8000.00
We received a phone call almost everyday and now the latest they said they submitted us to the collection agency.We need help badly,please can someone help us.I know that their our a lot of people/couple like us with this problem.
June 18th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I own in Mexico, Raintree Vacation Club, and want to find out if it’s a membership then what may happen if it’s not paid - does it go on US credit report even though they have corporate offices in Texas?
June 20th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
HI
My girlfriend and I just got back from Vegas, got suckered into buying a time share at the grandview. We paid 10% down $1500.00 approx and first pyt is due july 19th, we live in canada. The contract was signed May 19th. Does anyone know if can get out of this contract, i have sent an email to Grandview and also the mortgage dept, no luck yet. What are they going to do if we live in Canada??? My girlfriend is off work on medical leave, and i am about to lose my job, there is no way i’m paying for this, my monthly expenses and mortgage here are more important.
June 23rd, 2009 at 12:45 am
I seriously need some help!!!!! I bught a timeshare from Westgate in May 2006 and have up til Jan 09 kept up with payments, but now because of the recession me and my husband are having some serious finance problems. We live in England and we still owe $10,500 and some main.fees, we have tried to give the deed back to westgate but they won’t take it!!! We have been told that to get rid of it we just have to wait until it is foreclosed, we can barely even pay the mortgage on our own home and we are so worried about what will happen if the ts does foreclose, could we lose our house???????
Please if anyone can help me can you email hockeycrazy100@hotmail.co.uk
June 26th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
[…] you are facing timeshare foreclosure, or are looking for a way to get rid of an unwanted time share, a deed in-lieu of foreclosure can be […]
July 1st, 2009 at 10:23 am
I have a timeshare in Tahiti Village that I don’t want. Experts tell me that it is better to have it paid in full anf to try to sell it at a huge loss. One company wants $3000 to take it off my hands. I still owe $11000 on the share. The wife and I want to stop paying but I fear that eventually, Consolidated resort, which is in Chaper 11, will take the time to sue me. I have assets and live in the US. None of the non US resident stuff applies to me. I really don’t see any good answers here on what happens to US Citizens. Also, has anyone reported a case where you couldn’t sell your home or resolve your estate because you had a judgement against you. I also can’t see enough owners getting together to file a class action claiming fraud. Is the misrepresentation of the true value of the property a fraud? Earlier in these comments someone suggested a collaboration of owners. I’d like to join such a group if it is formed. If we had 100 of owing $10000 each and all we wanted was Deeds In Lieu Of Forclosure without our credtit being hurt it might be worth legal fees to some ambitious Las Vegas lawyer. It is important that Consolidated be liquidated and that any homeowner’s group in Tahiti Village be fair to those people who simply want out. I can’t see how they can maintain this property with raising the fees to at least what they would collect had the properties been rented for a week. If anyone has any ideas on how to proceed with this idea they need to speak out. Hopefully, a homeowners association will be fairer than Consolidated. The trouble is that the HG has hired CMC to run the shares. They will get farther with honesty and fairness then they will with herassment and lawsuits. In the meantime, my plan is to stop paying on the thing and find a good attorney. His fee could be no worse than the $3000 this other agency wants.