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.
The harassing telephone calls and letters will continue if you choose to not pay the balance due on your timeshare, and after anywhere from 6-24 months (this is dependent on the procedure of your resort company) your timeshare company will begin foreclosure proceedings on your timeshare. Timeshare companies will try to avoid this at all costs because a foreclosure means they have to take the property back and pay legal fees for the proper paperwork to be processed. I have heard instances of resorts offering to lower the amount due on the principal, changing contacts to make maintenance fees due only every 2 years, adding extra perks into your vacation package such as extended stays, rental cars, airfare, and sometimes even offering to forgive the amount owed if the two parties can reach a suitable agreement for payments to continue.
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/deed-in-lieu-of-foreclosure-for-timeshare/
Timeshare Foreclosure and Your Credit Score – http://rcivip.com/timeshare-foreclosures-and-your-credit-score/
Alternative Timeshare Sales Options – http://rcivip.com/alternative-timeshare-sales-options/
we had a Marriott timeshare, and the collector terrorized my wife and said all sorts of things that were not true — and this was a collector that worked from marriott.
We had a mortgage, and after 6 months, they had us sign a deed in lieu and that was that.
But two more things —
1) we were worried about the maintenance fees in order to get the deed in lieu, so we paid them. And the lady we talked to asked why we paid since they would have been covered by the deed in lieu. (Marriott did deposit a week into our Interval International account, but we would have been better not paying at all).
2) when you take a deed in lieu for a Mortgage (not maintenance fees) they report the amount still owed on the mortgage to the IRS as income.
It is still much better than keeping on paying the mortgage and maintenance fee with nothing to show at the end. Marie talks about donating the timeshare — there is no one who will accept the timeshare as a donation, so she just wants you to pay maintenance fees. Look at ebay and timeshares — they are selling for $1 and you pay the transfer fees, so don’t think you still have something of value.
Hi Bill,
I own at the Welk’s resort and has a loan of approximate $17,000 on it. I also gave them the TS that I own in Cancun(all paid) but we still have not finalized the title change. We are thinking about stopping payment and go through the foreclosure process due to some financial issues along with the misrepresentation of their timeshare. Do I still need to continue to pay the maintenance fee even though I don’t pay on the loan. Welk’s does their own financing in house. I also have filed BK last year and I don’t know what affect this will have on me. I already have bad credit for 10 years.
It would have been great if you had included the timeshare in your BK, since you could easily escape the collection calls.
If you stop paying on the loan, do not pay on the maintenance fees. When they offer to cancel the loan and take back the week, tell them it has to include the maintenance fees as well. they want back the week so they can sell it to someone else.
Before you feel too bad, look at what comparable weeks are worth on ebay — you have already lost your investment, so it is foolish to keep paying them. Unfortunately, they will find someone else to buy.
Hi Bill,
The BK was finalized 2 months before we traded our cancun TS for this one because
the salesman was so adamant that it is a good way to go. We already included the
Cancun in our BK and then turn around to accumulate an additional 17,0000 to the
Welk’s TS. They said this will help build up our credit & etc. We were stupid.
I’m just worried that we filed BK & turned around & was qualified $17,000 to buy this
TS. I don’t even see the one payment I made so far to them on my credit report. I
don’t even see the inquiry as well.
If I already deposit at 2 weeks with II trying to go to Hawaii next year. Once I stop
paying are they going to notify II to give them the 2 weeks that I have deposited
already? Should I call my Welks TS and tell them I cannot make the payment and see if they will do the deed in lieu of foreclosure?
So I should not pay anything towards the loan and the maintenance fees? I am just afraid they will go after me for the difference of the price I bought it for and the price they sold it for . Also, would you know what would happen to my cancun one since I have traded that one in to reduce the cost oft purchase? That TS is paid off and I haven’t transfer the ownership to them completely.
Thank you so much for taking the time te respond to me since this is so stressful.
when you see a posting from someone like Marie, keep in mind that they are telling you that you should keep on paying the collection companies (and probably Marie works for one).
Yes, it hurts to have bad stuff on your credit report, but how much are you really willing to pay to collection companies to avoid it? Wouldn’t you be better off to put the money into the bank and buy your next car with cash or a higher interest rate?
Laine,
Do not listen to the timeshare trolls like Marie, trawling in groups and lying and scaring you. They are quite common. ( Marie, may you die of cancer – soon! )
If you paid for the timeshare in full, and just owe the maintenance fees, then they cannot come after you. They say the can, but not true. You are just actually paying rent to them. They believe since the sold you the timeshare under fraudulent pretenses, they can bully you by messing up your credit ratings, and scare you into their continued extortion. You don’t “own” your timeshare. What a bunch of garbage.
Also I am sure they promised the value would go up, but you can’t even sell your timeshare for one dollar. This is the definition of fraud. Just because some developer sold his fraud property to someone like Wyndham, they are not allowing to profit from an ongoing criminal activity. They could never win in court, and are actually afraid to go there. They want you to believe they would. No different from loan sharks or any other criminal, just living in gray areas of the law for now.
People are walking away from home mortgages, you think they can force you to pay for a timeshare “mortgage”. They are annoying, they are criminals, yes. But If you are willing to allow your credit rating to take a minor hit, and tear up collector notices for a couple of years, you will be free of them.
Until the law catches up to these criminals, it is legalized extortion. This is your only way out – trust me – I did the research. Sorry.
The timeshare is not paid for. We still owe quite a bit and have also PAID over $45,000. .. unbelievable. That’s who we are getting the calls from, the mortgage people not the MF dept. We have only gotten a couple of calls from them. That’s what I was asking the question about, paying them after we do the D in L of..if we actually get the opportunity to do that. I just saw the post from Melham that she still hasn’t gotten paperwork concerning that and she is almost at 1 year of not paying! We are only 3 months into it. Just wanted to clarify our predicament. If our TS was paid for we possibly might even keep it. It has worked for our family and we have had some nice vacations from it but after really looking into the future of always paying the maintenance I don’t see it as a wise choice. Because of our financial situation we can’t do it anymore anyway. The credit score hit is very painful for me but the other option of continuing payments is worse. Thanks for your input.
if you owe on a mortgage, they will do a DIL in 6-12 months, but will also report whatever is left on the mortgage to the IRS. You will owe taxes on that, which is a lot less than paying it off — unless you have rented it out and can show it as a business loss.
it can take 3-4 years for foreclosure / DIL for maintenance fees.
When they offer a deed in lieu for the mortgage, make sure that it includes the past maintenance fees — since a real foreclosure would include removing the maintenance fees as well as the mortgage. They try to get you to pay even more, but don’t let them.
They will do a separate foreclosure/DIL for maintenance fees?? They’ve already said the MF dept is a separate dept and they have nothing to do with the mortgage dept. (I suspect they will tell me I can’t add that on to the DIL for the mortgage) After the DIL for the mortgage will they continue to collect for the MF? 3 or 4 years of collection calls??? geez….
you need to tell them that the DIL has to be for all their charges. If there were a real foreclosure, it would include the maintenance people losing their right to come after you, since the foreclosure of the property would end the later liens on the property. Sort of like foreclosing on a mortgage wipes out any second mortgage.
Well said, Ron.
Also,people need to remember that if they need to explain a low credit score all they need to do is ask the potential creditor to look at the source. Once they see ‘TIMESHARE’ they will understand and ask for explaination probably offer exemption or allowance. The very word “TIMESHARE” will tell them that you were scammed.
Taking a “hit” on your credit score has huge repercussions!! If you end up with a poor credit rating, good luck qualifying for any low interest loans in the future (loans for your car,home purchases etc.)Plus, if you donate your timeshare you can get up to $5000 in tax deductions, which is another reason why one should NOT simply just “walk away”.
READ THE TESTIMONIES ON THIS (AND OTHER) SITES.
Marie probably works for Wyndham.
Maybe she would like to have mine. It’s FREE Marie!
Come on. Step up.
I’m WALKING. By the way, I ran this strategy by my attorney
who did some research and agreed that this is the most simple and, in many cases, the only way to toss this Albatros.
To Dr Quack,
Now,now don’t hate! Some of us qualify for donation. It’s worth noting!! However, If I didn’t qualify, I was prepared to simply “let it go”.
Stop it you troll. 99% of the donations of timeshares are scams. You don’t take much of a hit on your credit score, plus if you are not planning to buy a house or new car you are fine. You can also explain the bad report is from a timeshare scam and they will see your other great payment history and approve you most likely.
Also never get a lawyer involved. They are just as bad crooks as the timeshare company. They see a Timeshare sucker coming and cahrge you $3K to send a letter.
So Ron, are you saying that if we are in fact able to do the Deed in lieu of process (for the mortgage payments) that we shouldn’t have to pay the late maintenance fees? Part of the agreement of the D in L of is that they will offer that to us but we will have to pay all of the maintenance fees. They told me they are completely different departments and that the maintenance fee dept. will continue to collect the debt. How is it that they have no legal standing? I’m assuming it’s because we no longer own the property after all is said and done, then they can’t get us on the maintenance. Is that right? Oh brother…I hate this mess.
Damian is correct, they have no legal standing if you simple stop paying maintenance. My experience the same. Credit score hit, annoying jerks on the phone, then they have to give up. Don’t believe anybody about any organization which helps you. All lies. Just walk away and tell them to f#$@ off.
Hi everyone,
I,like you,have been searching for a legitimate timeshare resale company that DOESN’T charge astronomical upfront fees and is truly in the business of selling/donating timeshares. As you all learned, finding such a company is like finding a needle in the haystack. After spending hundreds of dollars in trying to sell my timeshare, I realized that dishonesty and greed fueled the timeshare resale industry. My faith in humanity was finally restored when I found Timeshare Angels. This timeshare resale company truly does live up to it’s name!! Whether you choose to donate or sell your timeshare, Timeshare Angels will take you through the selling or donating process effectively. Their number is:(510)744-1875 or visit their website:www.timeshareangels.com. :))
We stopped paying for “The Grandview Las Vegas” back in 2007 and aside from credit score taking a hit and some harassing phone calls there are no other repercussions.
My husband and I made one of the worst decision in our life by purchasing a timeshare from Orange Lake in March 2010. We live in Canada and we made our last payment in September 2010. So far orange lake calls us daily. I lost my job in November 2010 so feeding my child is my priority. I will provide an update once I have one…
Hi can you let me know if OL already send you any notification about the time share, I own one I am getting ready to hired a State lawyer, do you have any new about them, how about your credit???? milegon@yahoo.com
So…we have now missed 3 payments to Wyndham. They call all the time (programed my phone to “no ring” when they call) The last time I actually answered and talked to them the lady was very nice and gave me a phone # to talk to another department to talk to them about the Deed in lieu of foreclosure. When I called them they were very surprised that I was given their number. She kept saying she could give my no information until I actually had the D in L of papers in front of me. (I was nice to her and that helped to get some info 🙂 I asked her several times if was I assured of getting the papers since I still had at least 4 months of waiting to get them. She said they would definitely send them out. All that I had read on this site was exactly like she spelled it out. The maintenance fee department has now started calling as well..but their call is automated rather than a live person. My question to those of you who have gone through this whole process is this: After you have signed all of the papers and closed it all out, how did they approach you on paying the owed maintenance fees? Did you actually pay them? What would happen if you didn’t? We are putting back the money in an account but I know when the time comes it will be hard to give them a big chunk of it! But, I really don’t mind if it will be the end of everything. I just wondered how it all played out for those of you who have completed the process. Thanks, and Happy New Year!
Has anyone ever stopped paying on a ts threw Goldkey resorts??
Browsing the Net, from a News5 article: http://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Kirkland-man-buys-timeshare-and-gets-a-ride-hed-rather-forget-103246034.html salesman told buyer- “if you want I can sign a letter saying I lied to you, and so I had my attorney draft up an affidavit and I asked ‘would you mind signing an affidavit?’ And he said no I don’t have a problem,” said Justin.
A signed, notarized piece of paper has Joe saying “I was told to convey statements to Justin Bartlett that were untrue just to get him to purchase the travel share program.”
“I was thinking this thing was going to go away,” said Justin.
Justin mailed the signed and notarized affidavit to the company hoping for a refund.
“They got back to me saying sorry we’re taking no responsibility for this. We don’t have to take responsibility for what our sales reps say,” he said.
Justin called me and I asked Wyndham if that was true. A few days later, Justin called me back.
“Wyndham gave me a call and said they are going to give me all of my money back and they are letting me out of my contract. I’m completely excited,” said Justin.
Wyndham Vacation Ownership says it made a big mistake, telling Justin that his cancellation request was denied when it was actually still under review. But no one told Justin anything about this “review” until we got involved.
I am canadian and am still paying on a Las Vegas timeshare. I wondered if I stopped paying would my entry into the states be interrupted at all? I can not afford it anymore. I usually go to the states at least 2 times a year and hope my entry wouldn’t be denied.
Thanks!
it makes me sad to see all of these.
Yes, we also have lost more than $100,000 in timeshares and maintenance fees. That’s just the way it is, and there is no way to get it back.
If you look at red week, or ebay for your timeshare, you will see them selling for $1 to $100 by people like us who just want to stop paying the yearly fee.
You really have three choices –
1) keep paying fees if you enjoy what you have and plan to keep going there every year.
2) pay someone to take the deed, which will cost thousands (and the timeshare is then owned by an LLC that goes bankrupt) – don’t even think of paying someone to sell it or rent it for you — they will just steal as much money as you are willing to give them
3) stop paying the fees, and take the harrassment of collections for up to 4 years, expect your credit rating to take a hit, and don’t be surprised if they report your unpaid mortgage to the IRS so that it is taxable income. If they offer a deed in lieu, jump on it as long as they don’t want you to pay more than $100-$200.
it isn’t easy, but if you don’t want to keep paying every year for what you are getting, this is all you can do to get away from that payment.
Hey, this is just awful:-( I recently purchased a timeshare at Grandview Hotel in Las Vegas during the month of November. It was actually my birthday week and I always wanted to visit Las Vegas. I thought that it was legitimate since other people were actually at the presentation. I recently was laid off from the Internal Revenue Service for a few weeks and was trying to contact them to postpone initial payment January 1, 2011 but has been unsuccessful. I purchased a one bedroom and it was financed for 84 months at $282 month plus 338 yearly maintanence fees. After researching about the scams, my 5-day cancellation has expired. I am glad that I located this site whereas now I can listen to others stories concerning timeshares. I will try and contact the person that actually took me to the presentation while I was on my vacation. Hey, in life expereince is always the best teacher. I will keep you guys posted.
I am writing to Traci who stated she was with Summerbay ts. Also saw post from Dorothy and wouldlike to know if her case was thru summer bay.
I too have summerbay and am prepared to stop all payments beginning in Jan. for both morgage fees and maint. fees. I would love to hear how things are going with you Traci or anyone else who has summer bay. I am scared but guess this is the only way out. What a mess this is and why do they get away with destroying so many good people!!
UPDATE; The bank paid my timeshare and I paid my bank back and closed the account. January payment will be due with no account for Wyndham to withdraw from. The bank sent me a letter to contact them about the account. I trashed it. After being laid off for 19 months, I hadn’t had autodeposit added to the account and they were charging $5 a month fee for the checking account for that reason.
we stopped paying almost three years ago for several timeshare weeks at different places, so we have multiple stories.
Marriott did a deed in lieu after 12o days, but sent the IRS letter.
another timeshare sent a deed in lieu after 9 months and that was the end
We had two TS send deed in lieu letters last month that if we sign the deed in lieu they will not come after anything else.
We just don’t answer any of the collector phone callse — thank god for caller ID.
If we ever pick up by mistake for a collector, we just say that we do not owe anything.
You don’t want to acknowledge any debt once these go to collection agencies.
If they call, you don’t have to answer or talk with them.
Hi Bill, Would you mind telling me if one of your timeshares was through Summer Bay by any chance? I have only seen one other person on this site through them and sure would love to know more fromn someone who has gone thru this with SB. thanks diane
Hi Diane, email me @ tomasinort@msn.com and I will let you know what is going on with our Summer Bay account. I am having major trouble posting comments. Takes way too long to load and I would love to share the info. Thanks, Traci
Hello everyone; Hope you have a pleasant holiday season. Bit of ADVICE; DON’T PURCHASE A TIMESHARE. After delivering trucks for years, knew how to get from place to place in the states and what living on the road is like. Decided to purchase an odd year for CASH from Wyndham (Fairfield) @ Grand Desert, then another for an even year @ Ocean Blvd , Myrtle Bch., S.C. Which I still owe $9000 on an RCI credit card. At the time was told the card would be 0%. 6 months later was shocked that the interest went to 6%. Was ok with the $185 a month payments and $107 Maint. fees. Then was laid off. Was told months at most. Try 19. Worked 3/4 months @ P/T jobs while collecting UE. Made it by. May 2010 went back to work. We visited Shawnee for a weekend and C. Foreming (misspelled) the sales rep told me -Oh! he’s NOT A SALESMAN- that if I purchased another timeshare relinquishing G. Desert and Ocean Blvd., I be the PROUD OWNER of a deed to National Harbor. Newly built in Wash. D.C. Costs $11-18 a day to park there. Must be splendid as I haven’t seen it. That was $29000. The clincher was I could sell back to Wyndham if I exercised a “right of first refusal”. GREAT! Never had heard of that before. But since Wyndham bought Fairfield changes were being made. Prices were increasing 3/4 times a year so the TS will be worth more. Right? RENTING. C. would now be my rep and would help rent this out if we worked together. Wrong. THESE SALES PEOPLE WILL TELL YOU ANYTHING. 9 MONTHS LATER HAVE TALKED TO HIM 2x. Emails go unanswered. Received an email from him 2X. Sent one email that I’d let him sell my TS he could keep any money that I didn’t owe. Since he told me it was worth $69-83K. And while I was there, a previously owned Shawnee property was presented to me. He didn’t bite.
Tried Timeshares by owner since they called and called that people wanted tio rent for $3600 a week. Only thing their rentals are through RCI. Where’d they get my Phone? Why did they know I was a VIP with 343000 points? Anyway, signed on for $2000 to have my TS advertised and decided to cancel in 5 days. They called again. There must really be a rental market out there, I’m thinking. Could use the $3600 and one rental would pay off the $2000 ad fee. Working 2nd shift it’s been hard to reach someone there to change the ad. Noone available before 1 p.m. Lowballed the ad with $350 for a weekend and got 2 offers of $400 for a week. Told TBO to list my TS for sale at $33300. Anyone interested? Stopped payment 2 days ago. Can’t wait for the busy phone lines. We visited Ocean Blvd. and the sales rep- OH! HE’S NOT A SALESMAN- there told us again about the first right of refusal. He’d work with me on rentals. These guys follow you when you vacation. Orlando 3 weeks ago. Jose can help. C. talked to him told him we were coming. BUY MORE TS. He’ll help rent it. Don’t tell anyone. Special deal. Already have a renter. JUST BUY!
It’s been 60 days since we stopped paying the maintain for our time share. We payed it off the first year we got it and we were told that the maintains fees would average around 300.00 a year and would go down because of new sites being built every year.lol them lieing a-holes.They sent us a bill for 900.00 in maintains fees this year.We only have enough points to go every other year. WHY would I pay 900.00 a year on a time share we can’t use our points on every year? And the best part was that because they had so many complaints about this they were willing to help us out. If we give them another 30.000 dollars we can have enough points to go every year,plus pay the 900.00.Are these people for real? Nuts I tell You! Anyway they got me for 9000.00 they are not getting me for any more.My credit score is not worth 900.00 a year. So if it goes down a 100 points let it.
just got this years maintenence fee’s for kingstown reef in florida, we bought in 2000 and have only used it twice,because of the lies that was told to us at the sale,we were told that we would have 2 bedrooms every second year but when we went out there we only got 1 bed,we spoke to their lawyer and he told us that we only bought 1 bed and even atmmited the 2 salespeople that was working there at that time were sacked because of their sales tactics,to cut a long story short,we paid for it at the sale so no morgage,no cooling off period was giving..we were promised the moon and stars,last year i went 3 months without paying,but backed down when the threating letters came,after seeing this forum, im not paying another penny to them,i live in ireland
we were harrassed into buying timeshare while on hol in florida. were told we could sell back to orange lake if not happy with it.Obviously when we returned home we realised what we had got into and tried to sell it back but were told this was not poss. Have not paid loan for 7 months and get pestered constantly have paid 4thousand pounds for a legal rep but he does not seem to be giving us much info.we have had many sleepless nights over this as most of you reading this will know all about it has ruined the memory of a great hol.reading these letters has helped but we still have no idea when or how this will end for us
Hi I also have rip from OLR, what is your lawyer’s name??? we hired a lawyer didn’t do anything for us we discontinued his services this week, good thing
we didn’t pay him a lot money, now we are getting ready to hired and State
Attorney lawyer’s name Ann Pellegrino, she has a lot experience with time share, so we see. I will let you know. I got this lawyer from a person here that post her name with a positive comments about her job so we hope she will helping us with this mess. MIlena
Carlos Y. :
Last year, my fiance and I made the same mistake of purchasing a Westgate resort TS located at the Planet Hollywood Towers in Las Vegas. I never realized what an awful, completely horrible idea it was until I started reading all of the comments on various sites, especially this one. I honestly don’t know what to do. It’s not that we can’t afford the payments right now, but the $250 a month + maintenance fees each year is going to catch up with us eventually, and god forbid one of us becomes unemployed. This money could be going towards our future, not a 3 night/4 day stay in Vegas, accompanied by, what is essentially, a high priced hotel bill!!! I really have no hope because selling it is obviously not going to happen, renting it won’t happen, so we will continue to drown in the thing. I have seriously thought about stoping payments after reading all of these posts, but because I am so young and have a great credit score right now, I am scared to. I know I will need that credit score to qualify for a home loan once we get married, a car, or any other large purchase in the near future. I wish I knew whether stopping payments is going to affect my credit. I know some of the previous comments imply that they have not seen anything show up on their credit yet, while others have literal horror stories. If I knew that it wasn’t going to affect my score, I wouldn’t pay them a penny more! Time shares a an awful scam, but realistically, I was the stupid one who fell for it 🙁
Carlos, have you tried contacting Westgate? I have thought about it just to see what they would say if told them I was stopping payments. They would probably just threaten me legally!
Ugh, so frustrating!
We live in Connecticut and we bought a 1 bedroom TS at Orlando Westgate Lakes in 2007 for 12K, came back to vacation the next year. Somehow we got suckered into upgrading to 2 bedrooms for an additional 10K. The Sales Person made it sound like it was the steal of the century, they were so freaking pushy, they wouldn’t take no as an answer,I feel we were brain washed. Thank God my father in law let us borrow some cash to pay off the high interest mortgage, we owe him $5800.00. Taxes and maintenance fees are around $800.00 every year due on 1/1. I like to idea of not paying them; specially when there are other most important things to pay for at this time of the year (car taxes, x-mas presents, Oil)
I wish the government would do something to put these crooks out of business. I paid about $25K (with interest) for the right to what? With the $800.00 fees I can get a decent hotel for 1 week pretty much anywhere in the country. Anyone else here bought from Westgate? I’m not paying them one more penny, let’s get a group together and sue them. We can also create a Facebook group against Westgate!
@ Susan. Thank you so much for that information. I will work on that today! They have been calling my home & work now too! To be quite honest, I’m getting quite pissed off at them! I have to tell my story over and over to whomever calls because it is NEVER the same person. Next call will be unfortunate for them because I’ve had it with them. They just don’t get it. I know it’s their job, but they can post something on the account to reflect the non-payment. I’ll let you know how the cease and desist works.
We are about to miss our 2nd payment to Wyndham. Like a lot of you, we just cannot continue making these payments! The thought of foreclosure scares me to death and I really don’t want my credit totally ruined. We still have children in college and our cars are beginning to age as well. At least I know they won’t last another 7 years! And frankly, I would rather put our $600 a month (with the maintenance fee included) payment toward our REAL mortgage! I’ve been reading about the “Deed in lieu of..” and was so glad to see it addressed on this site. I was planning on calling Wyndham today and ask about that and was expecting them to say they didn’t do that either. We’ll see how that turns out. So, those of you out there, what i understood from your comments was that they actually do send you the paperwork and have that as an alternative to foreclosure. They expect you to pay the maintenance that you are behind on only, no other fees. Is that right? We are up to date on our FL property taxes so that should be the end of that, right? So, does it really work? Just how bad does a DIL hurt your credit? I know it’s not as bad as full foreclosure, but it’s got to hurt a little. I would love to hear from those of you who have actually been through the whole process. It’s comforting to know that we are not alone in this TS nightmare! Thanks for all your input!
@Jeannie (& whomever else has Wyndham) I stopped paying in Sept.& they began calling me at home, work & on my cell almost immediately and at least 22-26 times a day (we have 3 contracts and our payment was over #1700.00 a month- they really wanted us!) I did this & the calls stopped within 48 hrs.- fax to (407) 645-6750 a cease & desist of all communications by phone on your contract(s)-(add the numbers)allowing written contact only. Keep a copy of the fax & where it went thru for your records. It is apparently illegal for them to continue to contact you. Worked for me. I have not heard from them in 6 weeks. I am now getting their “junk” mail!
Thank you very much for the extremely helpful advice. I did it with a a written letter…….
@erica, Hi! my credit has been ruined,but im updated to my credit cards and i just avoid charges now ,i dont plan to buy a house. I dont want to waste $600 a month..cash is important, we can recover our credit. Just hope theres a new policy for time share.
I have not paid on my timeshare since November of 2009. So it’s been over a year right now. I have yet to ge an offer from the timeshare. I still get phone calls like once every other day or so. A letter once in awhile. My credit has not taken a hit yet. My timeshare is with PalmBeach Shores.
@ Melham. Thank you so much for your input. I’m so glad I found this website. It has been very helpful and helps ease the worry.
@Jeannie, Shane, I stopped paying Feb 2010 (Wyndham too VA), i received calls at home and in my office but all those are recording, after few months they already stopped, i receive no more. Its my 8th month not paying but I havent receive any offer for foreclosure or anything. Ive been waiting for some updates from Stacy etc., as they received offer already from Wyndham.
They wont go after your home, the most possibility is to receive from IRS a forgiven debt, as to pay tax, the Timeshare is secured by the timeshare itself, we did not get anything ..tecnically we give lots of money already,I hope the category of time share will no longer like a mortgage, (its some kind of service,that if we stop, then we can no longer avail of the services,but unfortunately it is not treated like that) Pls keep posted .
@ Shane. We are on our 2nd month of not paying and started getting the recorded phone messages on our home line a few times a day, which I would just hang up on. After so many of those, we just did not answer the phone! Then they started calling my work! I work at a high school so a few times I answered the phone and was able to take care of the call. These were, as well, recorded messages. Then, just yesterday I took a call from an actual person who informed me I was two months behind. I just told her how it was in a polite way. That I could not afford it any longer and had other items I needed to take care of before this dumb thing! She said it would not foreclose until 120 days and will keep accruing interest and late fees. I hope that helps you out some. I just hope and pray they can’t go after our home.
@Jeannie,
Keep me posted. My wife and I just stopped paying our payment this month. I will keep you posted also.
Thanks
My husband and I traded 2 deeded properites for a Sunterra (now Diamond Resorts) “Membership” with 13000 points in 2006. Of course, we had to pay more for this “Membership”. We have been lied to several times. One of the enticements to go with this “Membership” deal was the agent said that the timeshare co. would reimburse us for the maintenance fees that we had just paid for our deeded property. Since we signed the contract in January and had we had just paid this fee and would not be using the deeded properties, this sould really good to us. Our contract was signed mid-January and this sounded good to us. Needless to say, it never happened. We had several emails to them to no avail. Also, we are not at all pleased with the condition of most of the units where we stay. Our contract says “The Membership described herin is a from of a “right-to-use” timeshare interest, and Purchaser will not receive a deed to any interest in real property”. Due to this, if we decide to stop payments, I don’t think we will go thru a foreclosuresince it not a deed property. Has anyone stopped payments on this type of timeshare? Also, has anyone had the cancelled debt reported to the IRS as ‘other income’? From what I am reading on the internet, that is a possibility – or maybe a threat. This is a great website. We appreciate any response you may give.
@ Dwaine: Thank you for responding. Please keep me posted. Thank you!
@Jeannie,
We stopped paying our maintenance fees a couple of years ago for the above mentioned camping membership. We just received an intitial collection letter. I’ll keep you posted.
We purchased a 'lifetime' membership in a camping resort in California 15 years ago. The initial purchase was paid for at that time. The original company went bankrupt a few years ago and another company took over. Three years ago we stopped paying the maintenance fees. This ‘membership’ is not even a deeded property. It only would last until the 2nd partner dies. We weren’t using this membership, so why pay for the yearly maintenance fees? According to our original contract (with the now bankrupt company) it stipulates that if fees or monies due are not paid, a written notice of suspension would be given and if the fees were still not paid that our membership would be terminated after 6 months, or period deemed appropriate by the company. Once our maintenance fee payments stopped, we only received the usual monthly billing notice that we owed the maintenance fees for the year. This went on for nearly 3 years and now we have been contacted by a collection agency about our delinquent maintenance fees. As of yet we have not received any correspondence (other than the monthly billings) from the camping resort. The total amount is less than $1,500. I am reading our contract as stating that if our yearly maintenance fees our not paid in a timely manner, that our membership will be revoked. Would this not apply with the new company? How big of a credit hit would this be if we refuse to pay this amount? Thanks for any advice you might offer.
My husband and I bought a Wyndham time share unit 2 years ago and have been able to use it only once! Every time I want to book a vacation they never have space available. It has just been a waste of money!! Also, with 2 kids in college we can no longer afford the monthly payments. Has anyone actually gone all the way through the foreclosure process? We just stopped paying our monthly fee and wondering what will happen next. Thank you.
Yes! Just don't pay the fees! I think it is best to ignore these obnoxious people. It is impossible to try to deal with them on an intelligent level. It may not do any good, but I am going to report the harassment to state Office of Consumer Affairs.
Everyone is talking about timeshare, turns out what I have is a membership vacation for perpetuity in Mexico. I had no idea I bought into a club. So there is no deed to foreclose on. It is paid for.
Are there any legal options to get out of this contract signed years ago?
Nancy, Im hoping also that the govt will do something about Time Share policy. this shld not be treated as mortgage. Why cant they make it ,that if we stop payment just lost the right of use and the services ,we dont own anything its just a services.
Nancy ,how about your credit? did they ruin it too?
I purchased & pd for a TS in Fla in the 90's. The maintenance fees just kept increasing. The last maintenance fees I pd was for 2007 (around $800/year) because after I was duped for $400 trying to get my timeshare sold I realized you couldn't even sell it on Ebay for $1! (And no charity wants them either) I tried calling The Fairways at Palm Aire to give them there TS back and couldn't even get anyone to talk to. The letters and calls from the collection agencies started in 2008. I file the letters and ignore the phone calls.
Given the downturn in the economy, and the fact that so many people are having a problem with TS's, I can't believe someone in government, or the news media, hasn't addressed this issue. Actually, I like the above idea—everyone stop paying and let the companies go bankrupt.
Great site! My wife and I have decided to stop paying on our Wyndham timeshare next month. We have one more weekend getaway with them before we do though… lol. I'm looking forward to the day I'm timeshare free! I will keep you all posted…
we have timeshare with Carraige hill resort in Berrie, ON Canada..it has been fully paid and we have never used it..we always paid maintainance fee our fees due for the next year and i've cotacted resort and ask them to take my timeshare back we dont want anything for it but they refused. i am trying to donate it but i don't know by doing that will we be able to get out of owning timeshare and is it safe. we also dont want to continue paying the maintainace fees. can any one help?
I think everyone with a timeshare should make a New Years resolution to stop paying..By this time next year every timeshare company will be in bankrupted and there will be no more its not like they can afford to take everyone to court who has a timeshare….I stopped paying my maintain fees about 2 months ago and my timeshare has been payed off for a year now. So ill keep you updated as well.Best of luck to us all
I think everyone with a timeshare should make a New Years resolution to stop paying..By this time next year every timeshare company will be in bankrupted and there will be no more its not like they can afford to take everyone to court who has a timeshare….I stopped paying my maintain fees about 2 months ago and my timeshare has been payed off for a year now. So ill keep you updated as well.Best of luck to us all
Hello, I wonder is someone could answer my question. I recently filed for bankruptcy, and my attorney was able to successfully obtain for me a warranty deed in lieu of foreclosure. My timeshare mortgage has been paid for; however I haven’t paid the maintenance fees in about two years. I’m gladly giving the timeshare back to Westgate, however my problem is that my ex is also on the title, and is therefore listed on the warranty deed in lieu of foreclosure. I have not had contact with him in years and have no idea where he is. My question is, will I be able to get this document notarized without my ex being present to sign it? I’m not sure what to do. My parents have agreed to come with me to witness the notarization, but will it even be valid if my ex isn’t present? And will the notary even agree to notarize it without my ex there to sign it? His name is listed as the second grantor, right underneath mine. Can anyone help me?
well i have a timeshare with wyndham the don’t offer any assistance, so im going to just stop payment, don’t konw what else to do, been out of work for 6 months for medical reason and now it looks like i’ll be out of work for another 4 months, i just can not afford the 380 dollar payment anymore well i will post any outcome in the near future as i know it
I’ve found all the comments on this forum very helpful. We bought into Grandview at Las Vegas a couple of years ago and have been keeping up with payments until now. We still owe $15k+ on it, but have run into financial difficulty and will probably stop all payments and go the foreclosure route as well. My question is, since Grandview is an RCI resort, will a foreclosure affect my ability to use RCI network in the future? We also own another TS (which is fully paid off and which we intend to keep) which allows us to book vacations through other vacation ownership networks. RCI is one of those other networks. How will this affect my use of my remaining TS?
Hi, You can’t imagine the stress I’ve been under concerning my timeshare. I owe
a timeshare at the Ocean Beach club, Virginia Beach, Va. I owe 30k on this timeshare. The week I have is the 3rd week in July and the resort is right on the
beach. My wife and I had enjoyed our time there but now due to physical reasons
she retired early to heal up. Our income is cut in half and our payment a month for the time share is close to 600.00 a month. I’ve tried selling but no way is anyone going to pay the owed amount. They told me up front that the time share was worth 10k more then we purchased it for and that we could sell it with no problem because of the prime week we had. We will not be able to meet this financial obligation in a few months because we’ve been drawing our payment from our savings due to our income being lessoned. I want to write a letter to the home owers association to see if we could just give it back. We’d even pay closing costs to them to transfer the title back into their name. I hate to go the forecloser route but I can’t take this pressure anymore. Thanks! Eddie