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There are two things I have found work really well for saving money on vacations, especially timeshares. 

The first is using your amenities.  Most timeshares come fully equipped with a kitchen, laundry, and on-site activities - use them!!  There is no need to eat every meal out when you are able to make meals in your vacation suite.  A family of 4 can save at least $200 a week just by making their own breakfast.  Look for ways to get the most out of your resort and make it work for you, and get creative.  Have a theme day or spend a rainy day in your villa playing board games, your vacation is as good as you make it.

Second, talk to the locals, read the local newspaper, and use the internet.  Many timeshare resorts are often nestled in areas outside major cities or attraction areas, so make use of your resources and embrace your location.  These people will know where the best deals in the area are, and it will give you a good chance to explore places that are considered ?off the beaten path?. Some of the best adventures can be had for free, and the only way to find these kinds of places is to ask around.

What are some of the ways you use your timeshare to get the most for your money?

Your ability to obtain a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure and termination of your timeshare ownership usually depends on whether or not you have paid the principal amount on your timeshare, and whether or not that particular resort is accepting deedbacks.  If you have paid the original balance and only pay your annual maintenance fees, a Deed in Lieu is much easier to obtain that if you still owe on the timeshare itself.  Be aware - in accordance with the changing economic times, many resorts are refusing to accept deed backs under any circumstances.

Timeshare is Paid Off
1) Pursue the deed directly - Contact your home resort and inform them of your inability/unwillingness to continue paying the maintenance fees associated with your timeshare property.  Ask directly for a deed back/Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure; you may be charged a recording fee for this transaction of anywhere from $50-$500.
2) Pursue the deed indirectly - Simply stop paying your maintenance fees. Eventually your home owners association will turn your account over to a collection agency that will begin to use the traditional routes of communication including letters, email and phone calls in an attempt to collect the money owed.  Make it clear to the collection agency that you have no intentions of bringing the account current and would like to discuss options for terminating your ownership.  If you are an owner at property where deed backs are still accepted, the resort will accept a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure to sever all your ties with the timeshare property.

Still Owe Money on Timeshare Balance -
Your lender's willingness to allow you to sign the deed instead of foreclosing depends on a variety of factors including the amount owed, frequency of delinquent payments, your personal situation and resort desirability.

I have read that an alternative to foreclosing on my timeshare is to obtain a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure...  How do I obtain this document?

Any time you owe money to a lender, that lender may attempt to successfully get a judgement against you to recoup monies owed.  There are two types of foreclosure in the US - foreclosure by judicial sale and foreclosure by power of sale.  A judicial sale, also known as sale of deed, is the most commonly pursued foreclosure, and does allow the lender/timeshare organization to sue for the difference between the auction price and amount owed.  All parties involved in this type of foreclosure must be advised in a legal fashion in accordance with court laws of the proceeding, including the foreclosure sale and the new amount owed before the foreclosure is able to proceed.  The party owing money has the option to respond and dispute the foreclosure.  If, after all this, a judgment is levied against you, it is enforceable within the jurisdiction of the judgment, i.e. if the judgment takes place in the US, it is only enforceable in the US, NOT any foreign countries.  If the lender wishes to pursue the judgment in a different jurisdiction they would have to follow the laws and statutes set forth in that particular country.

All foreclosures are a matter of public record and are reported to credit agencies within the US, again, this does not hold true for countries outside the US.

Are you really going to be sued for the balanced owed on your timeshare?  Most likely not, simply because the time, effort, and legal fees the lender/timeshare organization would have to put forth is relatively little compared to what they could be making by reeling in a new owner.

Your credit score will only be affected if the property actually goes into foreclosure, which does not usually happen with timeshares.  It is much more profitable for your lender/timeshare company to pursue new owners than it is for them to attempt to obtain a judgement against you and proceed with a legal foreclosure case.  Timeshare developers and their associated lenders seem to be reluctant to take delinquent owners to court because they know they will answer to all of the disputes and breaches of contract they committed to get you to purchase the timeshare in the first place.

If my timeshare is paid off and I stop paying my annual maintenance fees and/or additional assessments, will my credit score be affected?  By how many points?

I purchased a timeshare a number of years ago and have yet to pay off the balance owed.  If I choose to stop paying the principal amount owed, can I be sued for the balance?  Will this affect my credit score?

The following is taken from my original post "My Timeshare Horror Story - The Grandview at Las Vegas":

In October 2006, my fiance and I decided to get away for a weekend and visit a few of his friends in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite our amazing hotel deal, we were pretty tight on funds and the trip was last-minute in nature, so when we were approached by two sales associates at the Mandalay Bay offering “free show tickets”, there was no hesitation to find out more. We were informed that we would be eligible for numerous Vegas show tickets that evening including Cirque de Soleil, Lance Burton, and others. We were also told that to qualify for the tickets we would need to attend a brief presentation on “real estate opportunities” lasting about 2 hours in length and that there was no obligation to buy - I would later realize that the latter part of this statement was entirely false. Within what seemed to be seconds of accepting the invitation we were whisked through back corridors of the Mandalay Bay and lead to a secluded parking area where a handful of sight-seeing vans were waiting. The 5 minute drive turned into 20 minutes and we ended up pulling into a dilapidated strip mall, far from the glitz and glamour of the strip.

Next came the waiting area. I estimate there were 50 other couples crowded in the converted grocery store that now housed the sales headquarters for the Grandview Las Vegas. We were processed by a Grand View employee and told to wait until our name was called. After waiting you were actually pretty excited when your name was called because this meant you could eat some free food, get on with your day, get your show tickets, and get on with your trip.

We were lead to a R.C.I. conference room of epic proportions and seated at a table with four chairs, our RCI assistant strategically sitting between us. To be perfectly honest, with all the commotion going on and our RCI guide throwing out as many facts and figures as humanly possible (he could have used differential calculus equations to predict the perfect ketchup to hamburger ratio and I would have been none-the-wiser), the events that transpired are somewhat of a blur to us. There are a few disturbing facts I am certain of, I do know that no credit check was ever done on either of us. The RCI salesperson had no regard for our present financial situation and in fact this was used against us to bully us into purchasing the time share because it would be “an investment we would have FOREVER”. When we asked if we could have time to think and possibly come back tomorrow or a later date, we were informed that the timeshare opportunity would have dissipated by then. Somehow R.C.I. convinced two twenty-somethings, in the midst of starting their own business, that it would be in their best interest to have a $500/month timeshare payment and additional fees if they actually decide to take a vacation. So much for no obligation to buy!


After our time share purchase, I realized that a portion of our monthly income was now dead and it was at this point I sincerely believe I went through Kubler-Ross’ stages of dying:

   1. Denial and isolation - I simply pretended there was no time share and did not tell anyone about it or my experience with RCI.
   2. Anger - I wanted to sue RCI for everything they were worth, spam them everywhere, and warn everyone of their unfair business practices.
   3. Bargaining - Just please let me bank these weeks that I can not afford to take a vacation!!
   4. Depression - We are never going to be able to make this time share worth it, how could I have been so stupid?
   5. Acceptance - I am now a part of the RCI time share community, how can I make this work for me? What benefits can this offer? How can I help other people?

I have created this site to help those in all stages of their timeshare experience in hopes to create a more informed buyer, owner, and seller.