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/
Hi
I have a timeshare with SPM Resorts in Hollywood Florida. It is fully paid, but I have to pay the yearly maintenance fees. I have stopped paying the maintenance fees for 2013 and now and getting emails from Pinnacle collection agency. What will happen next if I do not respond and do not pay. I plan on purchasing a house and car soon.
Please help
Why don’t you respond? My timeshare sent me Final Notices for two years. Then they sent the account to a professional, proper collection agency. I read their letter, and immediately responded with a list of reasons why I will not pay anymore. I told them I wanted to give the “property” back and asked they convince the timeshare to send me a Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure. After a while, I received a letter from the collection agency stating they were authorized to offer me a Deed in Lieu Of Foreclosure. They also said there would be no charge to me. We signed the papers and now we have no timeshare and no maintenance fees. So fight it!
Hi BaldSpot. I too have timeshare with (WG) that I tried to ignore calls & letters for 7 mos. Started to pay to keep of my credit bureau. ugh! Just wondering if they reported to credit bureau & IRS?
Thanks
I guess you will just keep on paying forever.
Hi
I have a timeshare with SPM Resorts in Hollywood Florida. It is fully paid, but I have to pay the yearly maintenance fees. I have stopped paying the maintenance fees for 2013 and now am getting emails from Pinnacle collection agency. What will happen next if I do not respond and do not pay? I plan on purchasing a house and car soon.
Please help
Why don’t you respond? My timeshare sent me Final Notices for two years. Then they sent the account to a professional, proper collection agency. I read their letter, and immediately responded with a list of reasons why I will not pay anymore. I told them I wanted to give the “property” back and asked they convince the timeshare to send me a Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure. After a while, I received a letter from the collection agency stating they were authorized to offer me a Deed in Lieu Of Foreclosure. They also said there would be no charge to me. We signed the papers and now we have no timeshare and no maintenance fees. So fight it!
I too purchased a time share at the grandview Las Vegas last year. I owe about $4000 on the mortgage and have yet to pay any maintenance fees? I live in Canada and have been thinking long and hard about not paying it anymore. The main thing that I’m worried about is my credit here in Canada. I don’t currently own a house and would like to in the near future however I don’t want to screw up my credit.. or be sued. Is there any other Canadians out there where this has shown on their credit or have had legal action presented to them?
I am very happy. After all of the threats, phone calls, and letters, my wife and I finally received a warranty deed in lieu of foreclosure from Palm Beach Shores Resort and Vacation Villas (Florida). I believe that my dozens of letters to those crooks and my many official complaints to several agencies in Florida that regulate timeshares helped persuade them to take back the property. If you make the mistake of visiting that property, and then make the mistake of taking the timeshare tour, DO NOT BELIEVE A WORD THAT THEY SAY and DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING!!
We also have a time share with Palm Beach Shores that we are desperately trying to get rid of. What exactly is a warranted deed and how did you get it? We would greatly appreciate any advice!
Marie: After I clearly realized that those *&%$#@s completely misrepresented their product, I began a letter writting and complaint filing campaign. I wrote several letters of of complaint to Palm Beach Shores and their parent company. I filed several complaints with:
Pam Bondi–Florida Attorney General
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation
Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida
Federal Trade Commission
Broward County Permitting, Licensing and Consumer Protection Div.
It initially took a lot of time and work. I had to close my credit card from which they were taking payments. I also sent copies of all my official complaints to Palm Beach Shores. After I filed all of my complaints and wrote all of my letters, my wife and I totally ignored their phone calls and threatening letters. However, I looked at everything that they sent me in the mail just in case they would offer the Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. We finally got the Deed in Lier of Foreclosure paperwork from them, which basically means that they are simply taking back the property. It took about two years to get this done. Hope this helps.
So, I’m just wondering why you had to close your credit card. I thought even credit card companies continued to process charges even when the account is closed. Were you on some sort of automatic billing? I’m just worried because I usually pay my maintenance fees on my credit card but it is not set-up as an automatic withdrawal so I want to be sure that they can’t just charge me without my consent. Thanks.
Just out of curiosity, what were your complaints???
Marie,we also have a timeshare there as well. Did you get the letter about how a large percentage of owners have not paid the special assessment fee and how a large number are not paying maintenance fees either. Due to this the remaining owners are expected to pick up the shortfall. If enough owners stop paying I don’t see how the resort can survive. I can’t see how the remaining owners can continue to pay the shortfall as I would think that it will eventually become too expensive for them…Perhaps if enough timeshare owners stopped paying their maintenance these resorts would have to look for another source of revenue or perhaps be sold to developers for other purposes…
Remaining owners are “expected” to pay what the other owners did not pay? That is outrageous! They can “expect” you to pay all they want, but that is not in the contract, right? So you go to the grocery store, and the cashier says to you, “Sorry, but a few of the other customers walked out without paying, so I’m adding $30 to your bill to make up for it. No, wait. Make that $50. I need to get a haircut after work.”
Yes it is crazy…but I spoke to a Real Estate agent here who warned us about buying condos in depressed areas and that if other owners do not pay their condo maintenance fees that the remaining owners have to pick up the slack…Never knew about this when we bought our timeshare…Personally, I hope they go under!!!
At a grocery store prices go up to make up for the losses due to shoplifting. And yes Maintenance fees go up for those who still are suckers and pay for it. Most people are paying close to $1000 a year, that’s $52K a year for each unit. They are profiting form that and it does not go to only maintain the property. Every building they own with 20 people paying brings in $1 million a year or so, and some places like Westgate have whole mini cities and are making out like bandits. People pay HOA fees of less than $500 a month for the places that they charge $4,000 a month for in Maintenance.
I wrote to Bill Me Later and told them that I was not going to pay the downpayment that I had been scammed. They responded and said they checked with Wyndham and that we had signed papers for that and we are still required to pay it. I have not paid anything on it to date. My phone continues to ring and I do not answer it. I assume it is Wyndham or Bill Me Later trying to threaten me. For those of you who have dealt with Wyndham, have you just waited for them to send you a DIL or have you continued to send them letters stating that is the only thing you will respond to and will not pay them anymore? Or should I call them and tell them to send me the DIL letter or just go ahead and foreclose and send me the 1099? I dont care as long as it goes away, Wyndham and Bill Me Later. Just trying to understand my next steps if possible, I really dont want to wait a long time for this headache to go away. I appreciate all the advice from this site, just wish I would have found it sooner.
Bill Me Later is a loan company, separate from the timeshare. You could withhold payment from the timeshare, but you can’t from Bill Me Later. You “borrowed” money from Bill Me Later and you must pay it back. The only way out of it is to get the timeshare to give the money back to Bill Me Later. Of course, that will never happen, so you are screwed. All of us have lost thousands of dollars paid to the timeshares. Our best hope is to get out of paying MORE than we already have paid. Pay off Bill Me Later, but don’t pay any more to the timeshare. And NEVER NEVER NEVER buy anything again that involves Bill Me Later or a company like it!
BaldSpot,
I never paid BML, and because I have not, I never received a deed from Westgate for a property now owned by Hilton. Since I have not paid anything on this TimeShare to Westgate, what will happen next?
I settled with Bill Me Later for less than what was originally owed just to get them off my back.(DONE WITH THEM) Now I just received a 1099A from Wyndham and nothing else. My question is does the receipt of a 1099A mean that it is over? Or do I need to request a 1099C for cancelled debt? Just trying to determine the next steps….I dont want to “claim” this 1099A on my taxes this year only to get something else down the road and have to argue/debate “claiming” it twice…Any help would be appreciated..
I think you need to contact Wyndham to see if they still show you as an open account. You might have settled the down payment but still have a mortgage to pay
I called Wyndham and they said my account had been cancelled. Done with those people!!! Thanks for all the help on this website and for others out there…keep up the fight it is better than paying them any more money…
I thought some of you would find this amusing. We defaulted on our Wyndham timeshare in 2010. They most certainly did not buy back our contract. They reported the cancelled debt to the IRS so we had to count it as income. Anyway, I keep getting these emails from Wyndham:
Wyndham Owner,
Below is a list of over 40 Wyndham Properties available at a discount. Some Wyndham owners can no longer use their Wyndham ownership and give up their Wyndham Contract. We purchase the Wyndham Contract from these distressed owners and sell them to owners that can use additional points in their Wyndham Accounts. You can now purchase these forfeited Wyndham Contracts for pennies on the dollar.
— Jamie Lewis
Luxury- Holdings Group
It makes it look like they are ‘buying’ back peoples’ contracts out of the goodness of their stony little hearts, doesn’t it? Yeah, right.
What did you do with your 1099-A? Did you file it with your taxes? I received mine for 2013, and I want to know if it’s necessary to file it.
There are plenty of reasons why people are looking to getting out of timeshare today; some might want to be free of maintenance fees, mortgage payments or, plain and simple, can´t afford another payment.
I NEED A LEGAL CLARIFICATION PLEASE!!!!!!
I have received a Summons from a Court in Florida, regarding a Foreclosure Timeshare that I stopped paying since 2011. I did not response to it.
Can they garnish my wages somehow?
Will I be able to buy a home next year?
Thanks in advacne
you only need to respond to the foreclosure if you want the foreclosure to stop — meaning that you want to pay and keep it.
normally, wages can only be garnished for child support, federal taxes and fees and taxes owed to the state. You don’t need to worry about garnishment for TS and they actually need to take you to court to get a court order for you to be responsible for paying the past fees.
No they cannot garnish your wages. If this is the only bill that they you have not paid and you have otherwise good credit you should be okay buying a home.
Since a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure costs a tiny percentage of an actual Foreclosure, my guess is that either you or the summons is fake.
How about we start with some information about this timeshare. Give us some information about what the summons says. What is the case number of the summons?
No offense intended – Perhaps you could get someone to help you write this because, for example, there is no such thing as a Foreclosure Timeshare. You need to clearly state facts we can understand.
If this is a real summons from a real court, you must respond and you must fight it. If you do not respond, the other guys win by default.
Call the court and ask if this is real. It could just be a collection agency faking it. If the the summons is fake, you need provide a copy of the fake documents to the court and let them deal with that.
why would you want to fight the foreclosure? the whole purpose is to get them to take it. Timeshare resorts foreclose all the time. they do a single suit with a couple of dozen people and their weeks.
Hi I don’t think his wording is wrong. Wyndham threatened me with a foreclosure. I asked them how could they foreclose on a property with no deed. They kept giving me the run around until I sent them some information on foreclosure repossession based on my contract. I have not heard from them for 7 months
Hi Mr., I called the court and they told me that I have not been served yet. On the summon letter, it has 9 names including mine demanding us. I will not response and hence, they will win by default. Will the be able to freeze my bank account in Texas?
Good news everyone I just found out that a TS foreclosure is not a true foreclosure. while it still can have some impact on your credit score, it doesn’t carry the same weight or stigma as a real property foreclosure.
When underwriting the credit of an FHA borrower, should a foreclosure on a timeshare be considered a foreclosure on a mortgage or an unpaid consumer debt?
In the FHA underwriting process the default or foreclosure of a timeshare should be considered an unpaid consumer debt and not a foreclosure of a mortgage.
Reference
HUD policy determination
I have a timeshare in Orlando, but I don´t live in US, I´m from Brazil, What would happen with me if I don´t pay anymore?
They could stop me to enter in the US for that?
NO! NAO! They cannot prevent you from entering the USA. They are breaking the law if they say that. If they tell you they will confiscate your home or prevent you from entering the USA, tell them you are going to report them to the attorney general in their state for making false threats! They could lose their license or face criminal charges!
Stop paying. They cannot do anything to you. Timeshare companies are dirt, and they have no standing in the international world. Eles não têm legitimidade na comunidade internacional. Fale, “Vai tomar banho!” ha ha
They will use all sorts of threats to scare you into paying them something. Do Not Pay. Do not pay a fee to close out the account. Do not pay anything! They already took lots of money from you, and what did you get for that? Probably nothing.
I stopped paying my maintenance fee. They made lots of threats. After 30 months, they stopped the threats and took back the timeshare and released me from all obligations, and I did not have to pay any fees.
Boa sorte!
Hi- I have a timeshare in st Thomas Bluebeard beach club and they want me to sign lien of foreclosure, they said I have 20 days and they will give me back $250.00 if I sign. & if I don’t then I will have to pay for attorney fees. But I have not make payment for 8 years. I think they cannot come after me because the Satue of limitation in calif. is 5 years? Is this true? What should I do? Sign or not sign? Please anyone, tell me what to do. David
Robert-I have not pay for 8 years now, they send me a Lein of foreclosure, say they will give me $250.00 back but did say that there will be fees I have to pay at the end. The Satue of limitation in calif is 5 years. Should I ignore it ? It seems like they want the clock to start all over again?
I don’t think the stature of limitations applies to this because we all signed a stupid contract for life. They won’t get any lawyers after you because they know it will cost them money that they will never get back. I would accept a deed in lieu but with no fees or other charges, otherwise I would ignore it.
Ignore it. They have no power. If you want, you can sign a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure which gives the property back to them, but do not sign a “Lien of Foreclosure”. That sounds like something really bad. Also, you owe them nothing. Do not agree to pay any fees no matter what they say. If they send you a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, make sure it is written so that it does not require you to pay anything ever. You are giving them back a property for free which they claimed was worth thousands, right? So tell them to take their lousy “fee” out of the thousands you are giving back to them.
of course the statute of limitations applies. It begins when the last payment is made. They can bill you all they want, but they cannot start a suit after the statute of limitations. never make a payment or say you owe them anything, and use the statute of limitations as a defense if some future collector tries a suite.
Nothing will happen. They can’t stop you from coming into the country. A private business has nothing to do with immigration.
wat if u signed with the TS company that u have to pay attorney fees n such if you go to court? that was in the agreement that i failed to thoroughly go over.
I am in the same boat with Royal Holiday Club. This is my first year that I do not pay maintenance and I have been receiving all kinds of threats, from ruining my credit to charge additional fees, and send me to a collection agency. I only have no more than seven or eight years left of the thirty year contract, and I think that I used it no more than five or six times during all these years, plus the Time Share is paid for already, long time ago. After my divorced in 2009 my ex wife kept all documentation including the contract and sure I do not know where she is right now. I tried to explain that to the person who called me from the Royal Holiday Club, but they do not want to listen, only they want to hear is that I going to pay. So I decide not to pay maintenance fee anymore.Will see what happen.
Please keep us advised as to how this turns out. Keep a record of all communications from these people. They might break the law and you can turn that around on them.
We sent a letter to Royal Holiday stating we would no longer pay them anymore money because it is fraudulent. We can’t use the service as they claimed and we are done. They have been chasing us ever since we stopped paying maintenance in 2011. They’ve called and emailed, but we’ve ignored them. We received our first call from a collection agency just last week and guess what I did with the message left on the machine?!!! I don’t know if they can ruin our credit, but I do believe that with the state of the economy and the number of people trying to get out of their timeshares, it shouldn’t be considered when applying for loans.
If you have not been able to use the timeshare because there is no vacancy when you try to make a reservation, then you need to write a letter to the collection agency and tell them you have been defrauded and the timeshare owes you a full refund. You could send a copy to the local attorney general, too. And tell them you will, of course, not pay any more money to anybody. That’s what I did. The collection agency turned it around, and I eventually got a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure to sign, and now we have no timeshare and no fees. If you ever get them to send you a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure, insist that there are NO FEES for you to pay. Remember – you are giving them a “valuable” piece of property, worth thousands, absolutely free. How could they charge you for that?
I have an issue with King’s Creek Plantation.I have been paying them since 2009. I have never used the facility.I send a request to them if I can get out of the contract.I have been made to submit papers bec.of financial hardships.In reality, owning the property does not have a purpose tous anymore.I am thinking of putting a stop payment on this property., becuase they don’t have any consideration.Will my property be affected?
Thanks,
Maria
I received my 2nd notice to foreclose from Westgate yesterday. For the second time, they’re offering the Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. I don’t want to pay the $600 processing fee they’re requesting. I’ve read through all the posts here and understand that it may be best to not do anything, that nothing may come of this, and to definitely not pay them a dime, but if I can get encouragement from any of you, I’d certainly appreciate it. I’m really worried about being sued, having my wages garnished, having a lien placed on my home, etcetera. I can’t afford to pay on the timeshare anymore, I know it’s a scam, and I really don’t care about my credit being ruined as long as I have my house and car. I’m worried about the IRS coming after me, too. Any advice? I live in Florida, BTW.
Don’t pay the fee, I would return the deed in lieu without the fee and tell them if it’s not accepted to proceed with foreclosure. The deed in lieu won’t cost them anything, the foreclosure will so let them go for it.
they won’t sue you, they can’t garnish your wages, they can’t place a lien on your home, The IRS won’t come after you, they don’t deal with a private business transaction, they just want you to pay taxes on your income.
All they have is fear to use against you. People foreclose homes every day, wages are not garnished, other property is not confiscated, etc. This is not even real property and it’s worthless. All they can do it take it back.
You may see a small blip on your credit score, that’s the worst that can happen.
Thanks!
Absolutely do NOT send them a dime.
First: Everybody needs to visit 419eater.com and read how scammers lure you in with a small “fee” and another fee and so on until they have your entire life savings. Besides the warnings about these scams, the website has forums where people post very entertaining stories about how they are scamming the scammers. You will split a gut reading this stuff.
Back to the timeshare issue:
Sending them money may “start the clock” again and set them off on another round of demands. After learning about the 914 scams, I am afraid the timeshare thieves may pull the 914 Scam routine on you. They have what you want (release from the timeshare) and they only need a small “fee” to process the paperwork. Once you are invested with this fee, then they need another “fee” for the next step, and so it goes forever until you realize you’ve been had AGAIN by the same people who scammed you in the first place. Meanwhile, they are kicking back in their office, laughing their hats off at you and dreaming up more threats.
Second, after paying them however much you’ve initially paid them for the timeshare, now you are GIVING them a timeshare worth thousands of dollars :0) (Let them dispute that!) They can get their $600 when they sell the timeshare they got for free after you paid them a bunch for it already.
Third, it is in their best interest to do the Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure because the alternative is Foreclosure, which, according to my attorney, is very expensive. That’s why they have the DILOF.
I do not know what the IRS has to do with this timeshare thing. I would not worry about it. I have not heard of any problems with the IRS except for threats.
I wouldn’t worry about your credit being ruined by this. I think everybody in finance knows timeshares are a fraud. But do the math: Even if they post something on the credit bureaus, what is going to cost you more? Continuing to pay them or a hit on your credit?
As far as credit concerns go, please get to know Dave Ramsey. He has a website and a weekly radio show. He has a get-out-of-debt-forever program that actually works. We are out of debt because of him. Our married kids are on his program, one of our daughters and her husband teach it at their home, her husband works at a big company and the company bought the program for all the employees, people at my work and church are doing it, etc. It is amazing how much money you can put into savings every month when you have no debts!
I had a feeling that if I send them money that it will start the clock again. I combed through the posts here and it seems like some people submitted the DIL without having to pay anything. I was especially suspicious because they’re calling it a “processing” fee. Thanks.
Hi I’m Penelope I stop paying two months ago they told me I would never get a deed along time ago so I said I’m not paying on something I don’t get a deed also have you heard of a company called help 4tso in Florida to get you out of contract I have pacific Monarck and now it is diamond pleas help me I want to buy a home also I been cleaning up my credit now im not paying this resort nomore
I had several sompanies contact me after we stopped Paying our timeshare in August 2012. One that I remember was GOLDEN RULE. One of theses companies was on the news July4th weekend 2012related to illegal proceedings. I told them I had read the news article and would not be interested in their service. BUT another company called me three days later. OK enough, I contacted an attorney sent her the paper work they wanted me to sign and kept copies of all correspondone. The second company was an affiliate of the first, the attorney sent my documents to an attorney in the state where the timeshares corp office is located. The advice to me in short was my money would e wasted and the wording on the contract offered me NO GUARENTEES that I would not longer need to pay or the time share AND the contract clearly stated I could not get my $11,000.00 back. So do some research on these companies that are calling you and ask them if they can get you out of your timeshare for NO MONEY UP Front
My parents owned a timeshare with Diamond Resorts International. My father died in 2001 and then my mother died in 2011. It is a deeded timeshare and was not listed in the will for the trust. We paid up all the maintenance fees for the year after she died and sent DRI the death certificates for the owners. It is my understanding that since this property was not listed in will and the will specifically covered that point by saying if it’s not listed, then it’s not included. Yet, DRI is beginning their scare and threat tactics on her trust. Do I have a leg to stand on, should I send them copies of the will? I don’t want them to see the names of my family so they can threaten them too. The owners are dead and they didn’t leave us the property (none of us want, nor can afford it either).
What should I do?
Just ignore them and they will go away. If they sense fear or you respond to the bully they will pounce on you. You have a right to refuse property even if it was not in the will. Don’t do anything. They can’t force you to pay for worthless junk.
I already discussed this subject with a lawyer. The timeshare has no claim on you or the estate. Being the thieves they are, the timeshare will hound you for years if you let them. You should not send them any money for any reason. FOR ANY REASON. Do not “settle” with them or send “closing costs” or agree to a reduced contract or any other made-up nonsense. And definitely do not send them any papers like the will. Tell them to shut and go away.
Look up the laws about collection agencies, notify the resort to cease and desist from harassing you falsely and let them know you will be keeping a record of any further contact.
If you have a land line, I recommend switching to Ooma or Magic Jack or some other internet-based phone system. We love Ooma. It costs us around $4.00 in taxes per month for unlimited phone, including long distance, but no other fees. The best part is that I changed our phone number when we switched, and the timeshare people could not get our phone number after I stopped paying maintenance fees. They could never call. All I got was a monthly “Final Notice” which I filed in the drawer.
After two years of final notices, they sent the account to collections. I advised the collection agency that I owed nothing, but the resort owed me my full purchase price plus all maintenance fees plus interest because they would never allow us to stay there. Some weeks later, I got a letter from the collection agency saying they were authorized to offer me a deed in lieu of whatever you call that thing. We signed off on that and never heard back. All done.
I live in the UK and have a timeshare with Westgate Lakes just had aletter from debt collector does anyone know how I stand as I live in UK
Hi David,
I live in the UK and had a TS at Wyndham Palms. My husband died 6 years ago this August and I have not paid any mortgage or maintenance fees since then. I had numerous telephone calls and letters threatening that my account would be sent to debt collectors and that the debt would be registered with the credit reference agencies. Guess what ?? I checked my credit report just last week and there is no record of this debt on there. The thing is they try to frighten you into paying but they have NO jurisdiction in the UK either to send debt collectors / bailiffs or to make a hit on your credit rating.
You may have seen other posts saying that you can ask for a deed in leu but for what I gather this is only useful to Americans as their credit rating can take a hit.
My suggestion is that you do not answer any letters, emails or telephone calls from them. As soon as you speak to them they will continually try to get you to continue making payments.
Good luck with this. You will need to be strong minded and resolute in not giving in to them. Eventually they will give up as it will cost them too much to chase you. They are better off just taking the TS off your hands and selling it on to someone in the US.
Regards
Phyl
I’m considering stopping paying. One of the people who purchased on my suggestion two years ago stopped paying last year. She signed her Deed in Lieu last week and mailed it back.
Did she have to pay anything when she signed the Deed in Lieu? They want me to give them $600 and I would rather not.
My parents just signed a deed in lieu through Wyndham and they didn’t have to pay anything. In fact, Wyndham sent them a check for $125 for filing the paperwork.
Did your parents pay the full price with Wyndham when the signed the deed. I just got into contract with them and am so sorry I did.
I baught a Intrawest timeshare in Whistler. I live in the States I don’t plan on paying them after awhile what would be the worst case scinario? If the were to sue it’ll be thru the BC courts and I’m not of BC jurisdiction, so in theory nothing can happen and I loose what I paid into it?
Thanks
I have a silverleaf resort property, I can not pay I have told them and they insest I will pay now I have gotten a notice that the bill is due in full. Can they put a lien on my house they are threating me with legal lees attorney and court cost on top of intrest on balance. Help
I am also having an issue getting out of a Silver Leaf timeshare that I purchased a few years ago. It wasn’t a big issue for me although I have only used it once and even then I could have probably bought the same vacation package online as you have to pay a large all inclusive fee plus $199 if you trade it into RCI. In any case I definitely regret ever being scammed by them!!!
I have not paid in 2 months now including maintenance fees, I was in a bad car accident in the fall of 2011 and am having trouble even affording my primary residence never mind a vacation property that I cant even afford to use now. They are also telling me they can’t do anything or can’t take it back, etc. when I know that they can. I guess at this point I am just going to let them continue billing and adding fees and threatening me, etc what else can I do?..
That’s all you have to do. If you can’t pay, just don’t. All they can do is take back their worthless property. Not only is it worthless it’s a liability that will forever cost you more and more.
all they can do is call you, and ask for payment, and send you letters and add a collections notice to your credit report. Don’t send them any cash or acknowledge the debt or say that you will pay it. Just wait for the financial statue of limitations to pass. It will fall off your credit score in 7 years. All they can do is harass you and then foreclose, unless you send them money or promise to pay, which resets the debt clock.
We r in the same boat we have been trying to get out since August 2012 we r trying to find so many ways to get out but cant
Has anyone had any dealings with Sheraton Visanta Resort in Orlando Florida. Due to a financial hardship (loss of income/job) we have not paid since January 2013 and the phone calls are relentless. We can not afford them and they are not willing to work with us yet…we have been paying for years on them and have plenty of equity…we would just like this nightmare to go away!!!!!
Stopped paying my timeshare in January of 2012, we get the calls, we get the Late notice payments. It has been turned over to the resorts collection dept. It is on my credit report as under collection. Yesterday we got a letter saying our mortgage was being taken OUT of the Collection Dept and put into the NEW mortgage dept. They had offered us a new/lower interest rate, new/lower payment amount, extended the loan 12 more months, will remove the “negative collection from our credit report, and offered to forgive the past due payments.
Has anyone dealt with Club Melia, aka Sol Melia?
They promised so much to us and now when we booked our first vacation from them, we had to pay an extra $1000 because that hotel was not all-inclusive, when we were told that every resort/hotel we book with them is all-inclusive. Then, on top of that we needed to pay a fee for $200 for something I wasn’t even sure of! We remembered them saying that there was a buy-back option in case we weren’t happy with the timeshare. So when I contacted them about that, they said they aren’t doing that at this time!! Our stupidity that we even signed up for it in the first place! Any ideas or suggestions on how we could get out of this asap!!!
Has anyone deal with Tree Top Villas
Hello,
I have a TS at Tahiti Village Las Vegas. I have been paying on time since 2008. I decided to stop paying them since it is impossible to make any reservations. I have not been able to stay there at all since we purchased it. It has been 5 years!!! I stopped making payments this year since I purchased my home 2 years ago and I know my credit will be ruined. They finally stopped calling me for payments from TS, but now I have Pennicle Financial Group (collection agency) calling me everyday, all day.
I have always been responsible with all my payments so I have no experience dealing with collection agency’s . I have heard they can sue you and garnish your wages. Is this true?? How else can I get affected besides have a negative on my credit?
Collection agency has no leverage, they cannot sue or garnish your wages. Also since they are not the ones your owe money to, request that they stop calling, just tell them that you prefer to communicate with them in writing.
THAT’S IT! That would be the end of them!
read this: http://credit.about.com/od/debtcollection/tp/fdcpa-violations.htm
Also read up on FDCPA http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.shtm
One obersvation I have as I follow this thread, is new people who face the same problem as others including myself had come in to this forum to ask the question, they get answers and that’s it. Dialog seem to end. Also most of the people come from submissive or passive position, like we all did something wrong and now afraid not get spanked!
I say we should be more active and aggressive!
This crappy situation ruined or at least spoiled allot of families finances, we’ve all been lied and cheated on many diff points during sales presentation.
We’ve all been sold this “awesome” good, that almost overnight turned into garbage that we now cannot get rid off, the trash removal company is not really coming, but we all keep getting billing statements for “enjoying” this AWESOME PRODUCT and for trash removal services!
Please, PLEASE PLEASE people, lets get some ideas together of how we can put this thing in FORWARD instead of REVERSE!
Lets hear success stories or plans of action, so we as a group can come with some working strategies, to not only make these TimeShare scammers to go away, but to PUNISH THEM for being Greedy Lying ScamBags!
I know I want to and ready, WHOS WITH ME!?
I settled with Festiva TS in Branson after not paying for almost a year. They settled for about 1/3 of what I owed. I am free and clear of this nightmare.
How exactly did you settle with Festiva? I have a Garden City, SC timeshare with them, and would LOVE to get rid of it. I plan on stopping all maintenance fee payments as of January 2014, and hope they will eventually just take it back.
I didn’t pay maintenance fees or my payment for over a year. They kept calling me and I would just ignore their phone calls. they finally sent me an email and said they would like to settle the account. I told them that I didn’t want it anymore and that it was worthless. We came to an agreement which was about 1/3 of what was owed and signed a contract.
I have my own agreement with them. I haven’t paid maintenance in over 2 years. The TS itself was paid off a long time ago. My agreement is that they will never see another red cent from me. If they want to foreclose of do a deed in lieu go for it. But I won’t take their calls or be intimidated by them. All they can do is take back their worthless property that people don’t want for free, and sell it to another sucker.
Darlene, did it affect any loans you have tried to get since then? I have a TS with festiva and have been making the monthly pmts but i didnt pay the maintenance fees. I have been contemplating stopping the monthly payments too.
I agree, people should be made more aware f the pitfalls of taking on a TS.
What about Facebook/Twitter?
I know people who love their timeshares and have bought many. But they don’t want mine for free!!
You should start a website, I don’t know how to alert people not to sign up to timeshare presentation and gifts.
I am! We bought two units at Williamsburg Plantations in Williamsburg, Virginia almost 20 years ago. We can’t give it away. It’s all paid up and when I asked what will happen when we die, (I’m 77 years old) I was told it will go into our estate and our children will have to continue to pay. I offered to pay them to take it back and he hung up on me!!
Shall I stop paying the yearly maintain fee as Baldspot suggests?
Please Google “Tahiti Village scam”. You might learn that you can apply for a full refund. You should not be afraid of the collection agency ruining your credit. Consolidate Resorts is afraid you might figure things out and sue them for breach of contract and/or fraudulently selling non-existing property and have to give you a full refund. So you can go either way – tell the collection agency to obtain a deed in lieu of foreclosure or have a lawyer write a letter asking for a full refund.
Just be very careful about hiring a lawyer – remember there are many scammers out there who promise to sell your TS. There might also be scammers posing as lawyers who promises to get rid of your TS.
Hi BaldSpot: I googled that phrase and lots of links came up including stuff from Trip Advisor and a guy named Robert Paisola. Can you please post the link to the page that you are referring to, where one can apply for the full refund on the account? Does that include maintenance fees or just the timeshare loan?
Thanks in advance.
Ripoff Report dot com has 35 complaints against Tahiti Village:
ripoffreport.com/reports/directory/tahiti-village-consolidated
Robert Paisola appears to be a consumer advocate but also has some very painful claims made against him. I would review information on his websites but I would not do business with him.
The big story about Tahiti Village can be found here:
pissedconsumer.com/reviews-by-company/consolidated-resorts/consolidated-resorts-scam-20090116144243.html
Good luck!
UPDATE:
I wanted to give you an update in case anyone finds themselves in my situation. I ignored all the collection agency calls and received a letter this week from them giving me a “one time offer” to waive most of the debt if I make a payment for $2000.00 by the end of the month! They are giving me a discount of more than $10,000!!!! This is so ridiculous!! I have never heard of any serious company settling for so little money. I don’t know why I didn’t stop paying them a long time ago! How can you take anyone serious like this! Well they sure ain’t getting any money from me now!
make sure to look up the financial statute of limitations for your state. If you are past the statute, they cannot sue you for a debt you do not acknowledge. And if the try, you need to use the defense that the debt is past the statue of limitations.
got the Same letter yesterday only my reduction was not that large. And new payment plans and new interest rate.
Good for you, some people fall for that nonsense and pay up. Why would you pay and get nothing out of it? The reason they can discount it to whatever they want is because they know the timeshare has no value. Also if you pay they realize you are a sucker and keep going after you for more fees. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the fine print it says you are just settling with the debt collectors and still owe a lot more.
Yes got the same offer end of last month with a similar discount. Sent them a letter back stating deed in lieu of foreclosure is all I will take. still waiting for a response…
Do you need to hire a lawyer for that? Please let me know how that goes. Maybe that’s something I should look into.
It took me from 2009 of no payments on my timeshare until June 2013 to finally get a deed in lieu. The collection has been on my credit report since I stopped paying in 2009. They said they would report to the 3 credit reporting companies that the mortgage has been satisfied. So I am hoping my credit score will soon get better. Never ever buy a timeshare in the states you live in. I know in Mexico you don’t own property so no deed. Easier to get out of if can’t pay. If you can take the credit hit don’t give them any more money and ignore the collection calls. Good luck to you all. Actually we should try to start a class action suit against the timeshare companies.
I did consult a lawyer about the counter offer. Sent the lawyer a copy of the letter sent to me. She advised me to go ahead and send the counter offer back by the deadline. We should all stick together and share what works to get out of this scam.
Hello,
I am in a bit of a different situation than most on here. I did get scammed by the Welks Resort and have made all of my payments on time. I am in good financial situation and could probably continue to make the payments. But me and my wife are expecting and I would rather spend the money on saving for my daughters education instead of wasting it on a useless ts.
I guess my main concern is that I do have the financial resources to continue making the payments, would this make it easier for the Welks to come after me, law suit and wage garnishment.
I have already purchased my house and have a good credit rating so I am assuming that if I keep making my house payments that my credit would rebound fairly quickly.
Also, does anyone know at what rate you are taxed on the forgiven debt?
Has anyone on here had experience walking away from the welks and know how they respond.
Any help would be appreciated. I am so glad to come across this website and all the helpful info on it. Thank you all for the info you have already shared. I will keep all informed of my situation and how it progresses.
If you have sufficient proof you were scammed, lied to, etc., you might be able to force their hand and demand they take it back or even give you a refund. If they are in breach of contract, for example, if you cannot get a reservation, then they are breaking the law and you can take action. I think in most cases, they will want to avoid court and offer you something.
If that is not an option, then consider selling your timeshare to someone who will soon pass away or to someone who will be returning to his home in China with no plans of maintaining residency in the USA.
Let’s say you know Mr. Smith, who has terminal cancer and is not married – or his wife has already passed away. He short on cash. You can pay him $500 to sign off the paperwork and take over your timeshare. You can even make him a promise, on paper, that you will pay the timeshare maintenance fees until he passes away. Once he is gone, timeshare jerks will try to make his heirs assume the TS, but they can’t do that without their agreement. Of course, Mr. Smith will have already warned his kids to reject the timeshare. Just make sure Mr. Smith lists his address at a regular home, not at a nursing home. That would definitely kill the deal. Keep in mind the TS will probably run a credit report on Mr. Smith, so he has to look good in that department. On the other hand, if they give you any argument, Mr. Smith can simply say he is buying the TS as a gift for his children to use.
Or you might visit your local community college or university and post something on the bulletin board indicating a foreign student who is planning to return “home” can make a few bucks by “buying” your TS. This student needs to have an address and current employment of some kind that would not make the TS people nervous about transferring the TS to him or her.
There is one more avenue – I have a friend who is Chinese. He told me lots of foreigners buy timeshares so they can have an address in the US which makes it easier for them to enter the country. I forgot the details, but maybe you could sell your TS to someone in a foreign country.
I would like to hear what the rest of you thinks about this idea. I even thought about making it a business – if I could figure out how to proceed, I could charge people $500 to sell their TS and actually sell it, unlike the scammers. Wouldn’t that be fun. Get people out of their timeshares, make money, and screw the TS’s at the same time.
Interesting idea but would TS willing to transfer loan or finance it for foreign person.
In case loan w balance is present wouldnt they have to approve this?
Timeshare contract signed in Mexico – living in the UK.
Premier by Original (Original Resorts)
contract signed is payable over 5 years, with 1st payment due early May. Payments to be made by credit card – they have our details. So far – no money has been paid. We have received no benefits from timeshare. We were told it was a 5 day cooling off period. Very tipsy whilst signing, and didn’t look at contract properly until home from holiday – much longer than 5 days after.
We have “bought” 350 days to be used over 25 years – so assume it is timeshare points. We have no set dates or weeks. No mention of timeshare was made during sale – but we suspected as much – and there is a small mention of timeshare printed on one of the many pages of the contract. I have read through the very small print and nowhere can I find mention of what happens if we cancel. There is one sentence that hints that it will be passed to debt collection if we don’t pay – at our expense. There are no annual maintenance charges.
Has anyone come across this company before? Is it actually time-share or have we signed up for some form of holiday club run by the hotel chain? We are baffled – and have been trawling the net for answers – all to no avail. The resort is affiliated to RCI and SFX and is in their brochures.
What will happen if we cancel our card? They won’t be able to affect a payment authorization. I assume it will be treated as a default loan – but how can that be affected in Mexico – when we are in the UK? For a judgement to be passed to our credit rating, surely it would have to be applied for in the UK?
Just don’t pay or respond to any call or correspondence. There is nothing they can do to you in England, not even affect your credit rating. Just call your credit card company, let them know you want to change your credit card number because you were swindled by a timeshare company and that you do not authorize any payments to them.
Hi Cajame
I purchased TS in Florida 7years ago. My husband died August 2008 and I have not paid any of the mortgage or maintenance fees since he died. I have had many phone calls for the first couple of years and I still get bills with extra interest payments due added to the amounts. I have no intention of paying anything more for this TS and they can threaten as much as they like with collection agencies but they have NO jurisdiction in the UK and it cannot affect you credit rating here. All they can do is take the TS back, give you a Deed in Lue and sell it on to some other mug. Not that I am suggesting you are a mug just gullible like my husband & I were.
Just remember if you do not live in Mexico they cannot do anything to you!!
Good Luck
Phyl
My parents own (paid in full) a timeshare in South Africa ( Mount Amanzi). Due to the economy & retirement they can no longer afford the maintenance fees. They have several weeks stored and have tried to give them away for cost to cover the fees but that hasn’t worked in 5 years. (Its cheaper to get a vacation without having a timeshare!) They did not pay the fee due in September and have received the notice that they will be sued if payment is not received by May 1st. I emailed Mount Amanzi for them and asked for a Quit Claim Deed/Warranty Deed and was told to pay the Sept fee first. 6700 Rand = 670 US Dollars. Can this affect their credit here in the United States? Can Mount Amanzi put a lien on their house in the United States?
they cannot sue you until they foreclose and take back the deed, which is what you want them to do. even then, they will not sue you.
they cannot put a lien on your house unless they sue you first, which they will not do. These are just scare tactics. They can put a collections notice on your credit, but do you really want to pay the $670 per year not to do this?
If you pay them the $670, they will still not send you the deed in lieu. Don’t even think about sending them money until you get a letter from them signed by an officer saying if you pay so much, they will never come after you again. But, I would just not pay and take the credit hit.
Why/how are you sure they will not sue? Also, it IS possible to be sued if they, (being in South Africa), do not have the social security numbers or birth dates of my parents, (who are in the States)?? I’ve hunted all day for info on possible repercussions of going delinquent on international timeshare maintenance fees. ( My parents will never travel to Africa. ) 99.9% of what I find refers to timeshares owned here in the States. This is so exhausting and frustrating!!!
When you borrow money from a bank, the bank makes you provide “collateral” for the loan. So if you buy a house, the house is the collateral. If you do not pay off the loan, the bank takes the house and sells it to get back the money they loaned you. The timeshare contract does not have your house or any other of your property established as collateral for a loan. The timeshare maintenance fees are not loans. They are fees for services or use of the property. If you do not pay, the only thing they can do is prevent you from using the property and eventually, confiscate the property (the timeshare “property”) to satisfy any debt they claim you have. Since the value of the property far exceeds the maintenance fee (the rest of you – stop laughing!), you should not pay them any more money for any reason whatever. They want you to pay fees and fines and penalties and whatever else they can dream up because their only goal in life is to suck all the money out of you.
You should look up collection agency laws and debtor’s rights in your state and get informed.
I just got another bill from Thunder Mountain, $4430.00, they have it in Meridian Collections. Yearly fees are $650ish. I flat out refuse to give them anymore of my hard earned money!!!! They have made no offers to me at all and I think it has been like 4 years now. I just throw the collection letter in the woodstove!!! Gone for another year!!!
B., I am in a very similar predicament with the exact same location (Thunder Mountain). I divorced in 1998 and the divorce papers stipulated that the TS would be sold and the profit (haha) split, and my ex kept all the paperwork. Never heard from her again, until a few years ago.
Recently the TS showed up on my immaculate credit report as having gone to Meridian Collections to the tune of $8700. Can anyone here clearly define what happens if I let it go into foreclosure? I have no way to negotiate with Meridian because her name is also on the title (should I ask for power of attorney?). I want to be rid of this, and I can take the hit on my credit report. But how far can they go legally to collect?
Stop worrying about what won’t happen. They can’t do anything but send it to collections and then foreclose or issue a deed in lieu. Just forget about it, the worst has happened which is a little blip on your credit report. If they ever try to go after anyone’s bank account ot property the backlash and publicity would shut the whole Timeshare scam down.
they can call you over and over, and they can file a collections notice on your credit report. that’s about it. the TS company can foreclose. the collections notice stays on your credit report for seven years from the first missed payment
Just got another bill from Meridian Collections, this bill is NOT GOING AWAY!!! Had to chuckle and started the woodstove with it once again, wow, it did go away, right up in smoke!!!! I have there phone number logged in as a junk call, they usually call 2-3 times a day, but I never answer it!! This timeshare is in a company name, so my credit report is fine!!!!! Can’t believe that they have not offered a deed in lieu yet?
I am curious to know what happened with your South African time share situation. We are Canadians who purchased a South African time share in about 2002. It is fully paid for. Time has come to get rid of it, but everything we have tried has failed. It is frustrating and disheartening. We are paying levies for something we don’t use. What are the implications of ceasing payment on our levies? Would they bother to come after us?
Can they take me to court for non payment,and can they garnish mt incoming wages?
no, they cannot garnish your wages
they couldn’t take you to court without foreclosing first, and foreclosing cures any debt owed
Ok, they told me if I give them 750 they will buy back my deed, should we do this to save our credit, we are all paid up, purchased in full, no morgage, but I hate timeshares and I don’t want to see another
you have to decide what it is worth to you — but do not send them anything until they have put it all in writing, or you will restart the clock and just have more grief.
If you pay them some more money they will give you money back for your deed? Can’t you see how illogical that is? What’s the money for that you have to pay them? Tell them to take it out of the thousands you already paid them. Have you heard of the Nigerian scams? They say, “A rich contractor died leaving $240 million dollars etc., all you need is to send me $40 for registration fee and then you get the money. So you send in $40 and they say, Thanks, now we need $120 for the Bank Fee. So you send that in and then they need $350 for tranference fee. And so on and so on and finally they have you for $80,000 and you still don’t get any $240 million.
Here’s the deal – you already paid this thing off – they are not going to pay you anything for it. Just turn out the lights and stop talking to them and do not send another cent. No more money. The End. That’s what I did, and I’m saving a nice bundle every year. They don’t care about me, and I don’t care about them.
So it has been 4 months since I last paid Wyndham, and I have been rejecting certified mail from them, and I have been receiving past due notices from them. I also have received phone calls saying they can make a deal by downgrading my timeshare since I have equity. Has anyone tried negotiating into a smaller monthly payment? And I am curious on how much of a hit everyone has taken on their credit report.
Do not negotiate a downgrade. Do not send them another penny. All they want to do is keep you hanging on and paying them something. Cut the cord and the BS and just stop. Don’t answer the phone when they call. Don’t respond to anything they send you unless they offer to take back the property and release you from the contract. The End.
I need help to get out of not mine timeshare as I can’t even get a vacation the name is pacific monarch which diamond resorts took over I just want out please help I’m in california
You need to read some of the posts here and you will see what you need to do. It’s been explained a hundred times already.
Penelope,
I too have a timeshare with Pacific Monarch. I’ve not made any payments for the last six months as I could no longer afford the quarterly dues. Diamond Resorts contacted me and offered to make a deal with me to lower the payments and add it to the end of the loan. The monthly payment isn’t my problem. I can make that. What I can’t do is pay the ever increasing quarterly dues that are now just shy of $700 every three months. I don’t know about your situation, but mine was with three other people (parents and my ex-hubby). My dad passed away, my ex is incarcerated and my mom walked away leaving me to carry the loan for the last five years. I owe approx $8K but there is no way I will continue to pay on something that hasn’t even been used in over six years. I figure I will take the hit to my credit and deal with it. It’s a scam and should be outlawed.
Has anyone stopped paying Tahiti Village in Vegas? I stopped paying 3 months ago & have received 3-4 phone calls a day in the last month. They threaten foreclosure & negative credit. Any advice?
not tahitit village — but that is what the timeshare people do — call often and say they will destroy your credit and foreclose —
but you want them to foreclaose, and you can’t stop them from giving you a nasty comment.
I quit paying two years ago. I changed my phone number and I refused to accept certified letters.So every month they send me a letter saying Final Notice! Pay now or this is going to collections. But they can’t sue me because it would be for services not rendered. As many of you have expressed, you can’t get a reservation at these places, which is fraud. If a prosecutor ever went after these pigs, they’d spend the rest of their lives in prison. Do NOT pay them another cent.
I’ve considered not paying Tahiti Village, but still on the fence. Have you’ve found any information about a class action suit against these people?
I have a timeshare with Tahiti Village i stopped paying back in 2009 i had it for a few months and thought why on earth did i get this. Integra is the collection agency they finally sent me a option for a payment plan of a crazy amount per month or Deed of lieu of Foreclosure. I understand the deed will def hurt my credit. it took them a while to contact me the letter said i had til the end of april. Any other way out of this.
The deed in lieu of foreclosure is the best thing – just make them agree to not report it to the credit agencies. But even if they do, who cares? Its a timeshare and anyone with experience knows that doesn’t count as a real credit hit but as an escape hatch from timeshare hell.
I stopped paying maintenance two years ago, and the loan since last January. I sent them a couple of letters indicating that we cannot afford to pay any more due to economic hardship. They sent us a letter stating instead of requiring us to pay $xxxx they are giving us a discount of 75% and only pay $xxx to get our loan paid off and our privileges reinstated. I am going to consult our lawyer to draft a counter offer stating we don’t pay them a single cent anymore, and for them to take back their unit that we no longer want to keep paying maintenance on (since I know we will be on the hook to pay maintenance for life even if we pay off the loan in full today). Hope that helps.
I have a timeshare in Kissimmee that we no longer want. It is paid for and all fees are current. I do not want this anymore and can’t sell it. If I let them foreclose on it will I be responsible for the legal fees? How much could they be?
I called by bank today to stop all the payment on bluegreen. I will not pay them any penney againg. I was told a lie.
After not paying for 2 months, I received a potential negative report from Wyndham. Has anyone received a negative report this early?
Honestly I don’t know or care what they report. Whatever they do it’s worth it to get this albatross off from around my neck. The only other option is to pay forever and to me that’s useless and blackmail. My credit is fine, there is not much they can do.
What about liens? Can they put a lien on homes, cars, and bank accounts if payment is stopped? My parents were deceived into a Wyndham resort in Florida and really do not have the means to continue payment but I fear they have a lot to loose.
🙁
It is highly unlikely and in any event, they must first file a lawsuit and obtain a Judgment against you before a lien can be put on your property. Plus Usually you cannot lose your home because of an unrelated debt.
No timeshare company wants the bad publicity of taking away an old person’s home for not paying a timeshare. It would bring that sham industry to a halt.
They are also not going to invest the time and money to sue a person when they don’t even know if they will get any money out of it.
that seems very quick, but look at it this way — now there is certainly no reason to pay them because they have already destroyed your credit and it is there for 7 years, not matter what they tell you.
My timeshare that i owned was foreclosed four years ago. I now have the negative credit report in my credit. I only owed $700 more dollars but the person who had taken over the property neglected to pay it nor told me about it. Not until I took charge and checked my credit reports that I learned about all these. I tried to buy it back but Wyndham wont let me. I started owning and paying for it way back in 2001. foreclosed 2009. I am thinking of either just letting time go by for this to be deleted or make a deal to pay it. As of now, they havent transferred it to a collection agency yet. What do you guys think?
If it’s been foreclosed why would you pay? It’s like paying for a house that has been taken away from you and you can never use again. Things go to collection agencies before they report it negatively to the credit bureaus, once it’s reported, just forget about it, it’s a blip that is easily explained to any serious place wanting to give you a loan. I doubt these things actually go to real collection agencies. They know people aren’t gonna pay it. They probably have some shill company that they create themselves to be their “collection agency”, same as the shill companies they create to loan people money to buy they shams.
Has anyone dealt with Westgate in Florida? I am concerned about stopping payments on my TS bc I really cannot afford to have my credit go bad. I have been planning on purchasing a “Real” home soon.
Purchase the real home, then stop the payments on the timeshare! 😉
We have paid in full our timeshare at Vacation Village at Weston. WE have been paying all taxes and fees every year, we can not afford it anymore. I wrote and asked them to take it back. They said send them 750 dollars and they would take it back, any advice, thank you Cherie
They are going to take it back regardless, why pay them? I haven’t paid my maintenance for 2 years and get a call from an 800 number a few times a week but I never answer and they don’t leave a message. My credit it fine, I doubt that whatever they can report will even make a blip, a few weeks ago I got instant credit for an Amazon store card, I have never failed to pay a bill on time except for these crooks and their timeshares. It certainly is not worth $750 to me. Those crooks have enough of your money, don’t give them more. And if you do decide to go thru with it make sure you get in writing that you are done with the timeshare and will not own it any longer and will never have to pay them again, I don’t trust those cheats.
My timeshare nitemare originates out of Collingwood Ontario Canada where Resort Holiday Group/RCI and affiliates with Ocean Manor Resorts and a whole lot of other names this outfit likes to call itself have decided after only 2 phone calls to send my account to collections with the credit bureau. Now of course, they have tarnished my good name and I’m getting calls from the credit bureau stating we (my wife & I )have signed a promissory note that they intend to collect on it.I told them good luck with that as my wife and I are pensioners and I can’t understand what it is I’m supposed to be paying for! Points that aren’t enough to take a holiday with without buying more,weeks that we can’t get or places we can’t get because they are booked so far in advance that we would have to pay extra to get something if it was available. People there that don’t know a damn thing about your account. We were so conned into this scam by total misrepresentation of the facts and they don’t care. I would really like to hear from anyone having dealt with this particular organization and they’re B.S. With all the totally unhappy people who have been mislead by uncaring sales people and their managers I can’t understand why there hasn’t been a class action law suit agains’t these timeshare scam artists. We know the Gov’t won’t do a damn thing about these “legal” con men because they all make so much money they have to “contribute” to their favorite political party and the political parties don’t want to do anything that would jepordize the contributions they get from them.
I’m also sick and tired of hearing the phrase”buyer beware” when these companies have absolutley no concern about their ethics of business whatsoever!
Case in point…when we went to the presentation we were upfront in telling the salesman that we didn’t have the $75,000 income that was one of the requirements to qualify for this timeshare offer in the first place. I believe they should, as a responsible corporate business, qualify all potential buyers for their timeshare programs by means of income verification and a credit check. Had they done this, they could have saved a lot of people a lot of headaches including themselves and we wouldn’t have qualified.
Another thing we learned after the fact is that they will suggest you can add your kids or other loved ones names to the contract and leave them the opportunity to enjoy vacations anywhere in the world that RCI/RHG has affiliation with.
All they really meant was this is how we can screw your kids/loved ones into paying ever increasing maintenance fees and a whole host of other fees as they see fit for as long as they live or length of contract. Whichever comes last. Totally illegal without the signatures of the names of those people whose names you may have given them. Those people would then have to contact the resort by letter and signature to have their names removed. Even then I have my doubts that would stop these leeches.
Anyway, I at this point don’t even want to go to Collingwood Ont.Canada to ski at Blue Mountain ski resort, or the world reknown Elvis Festival or the world class fishing available in the pristine waters of Georgian Bay. At least not out of the Collingwood area. Yes…they don’t want to let me off the hook so I have no problem letting the world know what I think about how a beautiful little hamlet like Collingwood Ont. can support or give it’s blessing to a scum scam business like Resort Holiday Group aka Resort Holiday Developments Inc.aka RCI and a whole list of other names they like to be known as. Just google above names and add scams to it and read what comes up! This is MY OPINION about the whole matter and I will not cease and disist until they come to their senses and cancel the contract I have with them. I don’t even want the $4000. or so that they have already gotten from me although it would be nice to get it back.
Maybe someone from the resort will read this comment and realize that maybe they should take another look at how they conduct their business but I doubt it!!
Maybe someone from the Gov’t will read this and decide it’s time to put an end to the way these businesses conduct their business.
I understand how bad you feel, but what is done is done.
don’t pay them anything — the worst they can do is send negative feedback to your credit and take back the points.
by the way, the credit report people will never call you, so the call is just the collections people trying to get you to pay — but what do you do next month and the following month?
The credit bureau is not calling you. They don’t call people, they just collect data. They are lying if they tell you it’s the credit bureau calling you, just keep your credit fine and pay all your other bills and you will be fine. Ignore calls or requests from these scumbag companies. They lure people in with gifts or money offers because that’s how they trap you. Then they lie about how much you need to make to qualify for this scam. They don’t care about you, they know they are a dishonest business for the most part with the majority of unhappy clients that are stuck for life.
the sales people are all on commission, they don’t care about you, just about closing a deal so that they get paid.
the collection people are on commission. they don’t care about you, just getting you to send some money so that they get their collections commission
Hi Everyone!
I have been reading your comments in regards to the TS. My husband pass away March of 2012 needless to say I had no choice to stop paying in the maintenace fee $1000.00 yearly. My finances is getting very limited in paying the mortagage. My timeshare is at Oak Plantation in Florida. I am getting the calls for the collection agency, however not answering. Call OP, wont return my calls. Has everyone out there experiences dealing with Oak Plantation in trying to foreclose???
let them foreclose — that is what you want them to do so you don’t have to pay any more.
So I could use some advice/reassurance. Me and my wife fell for a TS scam from the Jockey Club in Vegas. Didn’t care bout all the free crap. Its the misrepresentation that’s p’d us off. Right now, I’m basically the guinea pig for a bunch of my friends who are stuck with the same garbage. Now, we live in Canada. Just outside of Toronto. Is there anything they can really do to me/us? They have been calling. Usually once a day. And now I got a “Starpoints” manager calling to try to make things right. Best line he gave me so far was that “they got 99% happy customers but every once i awhile someone slips thru the cracks.” LOL
The kicker that made me take a stand was when a friend tried to book a room at the Jockey club and they said it was full but we went on hotels.com and we could get a room for the same week cheaper then their “last minute” deal.
Anything would help. Thanks
I’m in the same boat Dave. Havent paid since Dec 2012 and the calls roll in, they threaten to call your employer, garnish wages, foreclose all scare tactics that havent happened yet. Only thing is my credit took a hit from the monthly negative reporting but that is the very least of my concerns I can be cash only for a few years. I owe $9 or $10k to them and theyll never see another penny. These people are well trained I must say they really play with your mind and seem to have degrees in manipulation.
I too stopped paying and keep getting the calls. We owe approx $8K and I am done. We haven’t used it for close to 5 years. The maintenance fees keep going up and there is no way we can pay. I’ve made no payments for close to 8-months. They keep calling with a special plan and they will tack what we owe onto the back of the loan. I tell them thanks, but no thanks. I can’t afford to pay the monthly payment and the quarterly dues. They’ve already gotten over $25K from us over the years. They can have it and resell it for all I care. I know I’ll take the hit on my credit, but I am adding a statement to offset the timeshare. No worries for me.
Bill me later Question
Has anyone dealt with Bill Me Later prior to paying their downpayment? Mine is due in March and I am not going to pay it due to stopping payment on my TS with Wyndham. I got scammed and sure do not want to spend any additional money. If anyone has had any experience with Bill Me Later, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks
I was scammed with “Bill Me Later” as well. After refusing to pay it for a year, I decided to send them a letter telling them I was tricked/scammed into agreeing to use Bill Me Later by a Wyndham salesperson. Wyndham told me it was for “Financing”, little did I know they charged a down payment of $10,000 to my name.
Bill Me Later sent me a letter saying they were going to investigate and I would hear something in 30 days…I’m not keeping my hopes up.
I will keep you informed if I do hear anything.
Have you heard back from Bill Me Later?
Nope. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
I wrote to Bill Me Later and told them that I was not going to pay the downpayment that I had been scammed. They responded and said they checked with Wyndham and that we had signed papers for that and we are still required to pay it. I have not paid anything on it to date. My phone continues to ring and I do not answer it. I assume it is Wyndham or Bill Me Later trying to threaten me. For those of you who have dealt with Wyndham, have you just waited for them to send you a DIL or have you continued to send them letters stating that is the only thing you will respond to and will not pay them anymore? Just trying to understand my next steps if possible, I really dont want to wait a long time for this headache to go away. I appreciate all the advice from this site, just wish I would have found it sooner.
Back on November 28, 2012.
I posted information of my case about anyone having experience with buying time share advertising company. That they were charging me 600.00 to advertise my time share and then they went all the way down to 200.0 . They call me back this January and told them I post it on crispier and eBay n that was the last I heard from them. Now the timeshare had also stopped calling me as I keep telling them take their timeshare back as.I had already.gave them 15000 for nothing. Told them save them and myself some time and they could send from now the bill to collection agency as I couldn’t care less. I told them what it the difference if I stop paying now than later? That I would’ve given n loose more money and later they will still foreclosure the silverleaf resort when I lost my job to go into surgery and what ever agreement they will come out with I will still not be able to pay them a dime.
I was contact via phone by Nationwide Transfer LLC and inviting me to a meeting at a Hilton inn in ft worth to help out to get out of this asking for bank info of 25.00 to reserve seat n meeting. I did n yes was skeptical but out of desperation and listen to what they have to say I went. They were charging 3500 to represent me, I told them I filed on bankrup at the beginning of 2012 and trying to save money to get visa for my mother to come and care for me with my visa and I don’t have that type of money n no credit card due to bankruptcy, if I can’t pay the 200.00 for this timeshare how could they even think I could pay them or come out with this money to pay them? Im foreign and have.no family, no property and no access they.can come after.
two days later timeshare called me asking for more info on my health and my surgery not that they would care they just wanted to know why I stopped paying them only 2 months I got this vacation nightmare and she told me they were to send me a lieu to sign with a notary and send it back to them. I haven’t got any more calls about payment but yes the huge past due bill via mail. So I’m still waiting for the lieu document she offer if that was true.
I have a t-share at Mexican resort. I want to get out of it for many reasons. BUT, I’m from U.S….If I stop paying, ultimately can they ruin my credit rating? However, I believe their time share company is in the States in Cali…Thanks in advance…
I also owned timeshare in Mexico. Club velas vallarta in puerto Vallarta. Maintenance fees kept going up so I could not afford to pay. I just quit paying and finally they stopped sending me letters. You know you do not have a deed when you buy a timeshare in Mexico. I called the resort not long ago and they said I no longer own a timeshare. This has not showed up on my credit report and has been 3 yrs. The company I sent maintenace fees to were located in california as well.
We too quit paying on a Velas time share, with offices in California. They send letters which I ignore. So far there have been no certified letters. We cancelled our landline, so no more calls. It has only been 2 years for us. I have not checked our credit report as I was afraid, and figured everything else is excellent, and there is nothing I can do if it is on there anyway. We are soon to be applying for student loans for our kids college. I hope it does not show up.
What was the name in California I’m trying to get out of pacific monarch it making me sick
I received a phone call from Wyndham’s Owner Care service. They received my letter, and they want to try to work something out. Is it worth talking to, or just keep ignoring the phone calls? Has anyone talked to someone from Wyndham’s Owner Care department?
they will try to work something out so you keep paying them. Is that what you want?
Hi guy’s!!
Just like many here I don’t know what to do anymore with this timeshare I bought in Hawaï from wyndham. I’m 29 years old from Québec,Canada and I seen a great opportunity of busines buying this timeshare to rent out. The thing is that they were telling me I could have 4 weeks in hawaï or anywhere else with my 300000 points, and since i’m buying in Hawaï I could exchange 1 week for 2 in other resorts. After calculation with the sale representati. I found it interresting to rent. For me now this kind of vacations doesn’t interese me, since I backpacked about 35 countries. So I bought it like a investment…. and 3 months later after I try to book a first week to rent it, I realise that I can’t have these 8 weeks they promise me, but only 3. Which change the calculation radicaly. So since July I’ve been trying to cancel this thing for misrepresentation. I spoke to them many time explaning my case, but since ié,m out of the resiliation period they can’t do anything… So I flew back to Hawaï to speak directly to the people who mislead me into this contract, but either they can’t do anything saying the contract is not in theires hands anymore.
But just for satifaction and sympathie for other fool like me, I spend 4 days at the front of the door telling people about all their lies, and oven told the truth to the people who were walking out of the office so they walk right back in to cancel it… mouaaahhahah!!! But even after they lost many sell and me saying that i’ll stay there for a extra week, they didn’t want to take off this handcuff off me.
After I engaged a compagny call timeshare pro, that are suppose to make it cancel, stupidly I paid up front. For now we send a testimonie of what have happen and all the misrepresentation and asking again for a cancelation… all this notarise. So far I receive a answer form wyndham, saying they know i’m using a organisation like that and they have no power. This cancel company told me that was normal and they would have a answers to them, so far they are really kind, but I’m doubting of their competence.
Beside wyndham are calling everyday, but I stopped answering.
What should I do next? According to all the other post people say that my crédit won’t be affected all the way to canada, is that true? Is anyone went to foreclosure for a timeshare?? because I read only comment of people saying that the say they will go to foreclosure but look like they never really do it.
Thank you guy’s
They only care when you don’t pay, otherwise they don’t care about you at all. They can lie as much as they want and some actually find ways to stretch the truth but if it’s not in writing all the lies told to you can’t be proven. The only way to win is to stop paying and ignore them. Keep your credit good and whatever they do should not affect anyone, plus you are not even in the US so it shouldn’t affect you at all. They don’t care. It’s a scam where they lie and misrepresent the product and then even after you are done paying it the maintenance fees are so high that they keep making profits off of that.
thank you!! very hopeful and useful. Dawm I hate theses guy’s 🙂
Hi,
I’m from Quebec too and own 3 timeshares in Florida that I’m in the process of getting rid of.
I was able to get rid of one very quickly and I intend to do the same with the other two.
Here’s how things went :
– I stopped paying .
– The resort sent me e-mails to know what was happening.
– I replied telling them no money would be paid anymore and that the only thing I would accept was a deed-in-lieu. ( they take back the unit ) . I warned them that I was a canadian citizen unaffected by credit ratings . I warned them I would take no phone call from them, only e-mails.
– I received the same e-mail from different people of the resort , always replying with the same answer.
– After three months , I started receiving calls ; I always answered in French , speaking very loud and showing the caller I had no clue about what he was talking about. The calls stopped after only three calls. ( that was fun ).
– Finally , I received an e-mail from a « person-in-charge » . I was very firm : no money, only a deed-in-lieu , and if they decided to sue me , they would have to do under the Quebec laws , so they would have to translate everything in French etc etc ….
– One week later , I was offered a « deed-in-lieu » .
I had a $4500 mortgage balance on this timeshare.
So , here’s what I suggest :
– Forget what you invested ; it’s gone . you just want to get out.
– Don’t give them a penny. Don’t talk to them on the phone. E-mails only.
– Ask for a « deed-in-lieu » . Be very firm .
– You’re a foreigner, they can’t do much and they won’t sue you.
– Forget about them and be happy.
Hey thank you for your advice.
I can see there’s hope to cancel it and get the deed-in-lieu…
but since I never use this timeshare and I bought it less than a year ago do you think once they cancel it. I can ask to have my money back ?? that’s what I been told because it could be totally theifing at the eyes of a judge in this case, so I could go after them in court after if they don’t refund me. Wer’e talking about ±10 000$, I would like to have it back.
Anyway’s the most important is to get this contract cancel and learn from it, at a expensive price but a lesson that will serve me for the rest of my life.
Thank you
You can ask for your money back, but it will be a waste of time and it will make them think that you are a dumb sucker and they will come after you harder to pay them. that money is lost. There is no way to get it back. A judge can’t help you, if you paid for something you don’t like it’s your fault. There is no way to prove that they lied to you if they did. It was an expensive lesson. Your only choices are to keep paying and use the timeshare or walk away from that money pit.
now wyndham stopped calling me… it’s now pinnacle dept recovery that has started calling me everydays. What can I do?
now wyndham stopped calling me… it’s now pinnacle dept recovery that has started calling me everydays. What can I do?
Tell them not to call you anymore, or don’t answer or block their number.
I am in Ontario, I did not pay this year’s maintenance payment, and have have have stopped payments to Royal Holiday. I sent them an email asking for a deed-in-lieu because I will NEVER use the service. I have had a couple of emails from them, but not much yet. Anyone know if they can ruin my credit in Canada, since they are not in Canada?? Thanks
I am in Canada. I stopped paying, and RH sent me this in an email: We wanted to inform you that a Deed-In-Lieu does not apply since this is not a real property, therefore is not deeded either. It is a contract that you signed, and by that contract we must abide at all times.
I still have no intention of payment them a cent more, and don’t think they can affect my credit rating, or if they can, it is not enough for me to continue paying for nothing . . .
lol — that is even better. for real estate, they can do collections and then also do a foreclosure. If this is just a contract, they can only try to collect. You have just broken a contract as happens all the time. What are their real costs of what they have provided to you?
An update: I notified them in March I would not be making any more monthly payments (and cancelled the credit card they were being charged to) and did not pay the maintenance fees. After 7 months I still get the occasional email (saying FINAL NOTICE . . . lol) and some calls on my home phone and cell phone that I never answer. For the amount of money that I am saving, I can handle ignoring my phone and hitting ‘delete’ to emails ! !
It has now been 8 months since I stopped paying the monthly fee and did not pay the yearly fee. At first I had a lot of phone calls to both my home and cell phone. I did not answer any of them. Whenever I received an email, I responded back with my original email advising I would not be paying any more money, and for them only to contact me via email. I am in Canada (Ontario) and the timeshare is with Royal Holiday. I have not had any phone calls from them over a month. The only thing I got in the mail was the occasional statement of how much I owe. I am pretty sure they cannot do anything to me since I am in Canada. If you have the same circumstances as me, I would suggest stop paying. It has been worth it not to pay them any more money.
On to January now, and I have still heard nothing further from them, nor have I been notfied of any problems with my credit, etc. Almost a full year since I first notified them by email I would not be making any payments and cancelled the credit card it was being charged to. Maybe it is because I am in Canada and the timeshare was in Dominican. All I can say is I am glad I ‘bit the bullet’ and decided to stop paying. I have saved myself so much money and frustration. BEST DECISION EVER regarding a time share. I do kick myself on not doing it earlier.
I am Canadian too and have a time share at a resort in Florida. I made my last payment last Sept and from Sept – April or so I received about 2-3 calls a day (never answered) and it slowly dropped down to 1, then every few days, and now I haven’t heard from them in a few months. I don’t think it will affect our credit in Canada, I recently had a some credit checks done and there were no issues. Ours is suppose to be a deeded property but in the past yr they have not sent a single thing to us. Good Luck!
Can I ask for a deed-in-lieu from Bluegreen? I also lives in the states, so just wondering if anyone has any personal experience with bluegreen corp and not payinh??
I have a TS with Bluegreen, still owe about $7K. Just trying to get rid of it because we can’t affort it anymore. Did you find anything out regarding deed-in-lieu?
yyyyaaaaahooooo!!!! just received the deed-in-lieu to sign up and then wyndham is taking my contract back. Really good news for me. Thank you everyone for your advice. 🙂
Could you please tell me how you went about that. I also have Wyndham want out.
Hi,
I stopped paying to the Kingstown reef in Florida 3 years ago,in fairness they never hassled me with phone calls or letters,just the raising bill every year.
Yesterday i received a letter telling me that if i sign the enclosed Deed in lieu of Foreclosure Document,that i will be relieved of any further obligation of my ownership at Kingstown Reef and that they will send me back a cheque for the sum of £125.00.
So its not all doom and gloom
I am getting hounded by Pinnacle Recovery for back taxes and maintenance fees on my Florida timeshare. I am getting 2-3 calls a day from them. Can Pinnacle sue me? The timeshare company is SPM Resorts, Inc. They sent us another bill of $900 for next yrs fees. So far we have not been served court papers, but are they just waiting for the bill to keep piling up. Has anyone on here just stopped paying, and what was the worst that happened to you.
We have stopped paying our maintenance fees for 2 years because our fee’s went from $150 to almost $800 a year. This past Saturday we have finaly received a legal letter that we are being sued for the amount plus some extra fees. We have decieded to consult a attorney and see what happens. This is what will happen to ya if you dont pay.
I don’t believe you for a second. I bet you are a timeshare shill who works in the industry. If they want to sue my, have a field day, it will be your loss, even if they win good luck trying to collect the money.
Courts are not collection agencies and won’t help them collect the money, so they will have to pursue other means and waste more money to get money that they will never get.
If you are so afraid keep paying like a fool for life. Doesn’t make sense to pay for a lawyer. It’s small claims court, you can’t win, you do technically owe the money, but it’s for something worthless, useless and a money pit. It’s worth less than nothing because you have to keep paying for nothing every year.
First off, I am a timeshare owner, not some shill.
I stopped paying my maintenance fees on a Florida timeshare in 2004. I kept getting statements every year with penalties attached, to which I never replied. In 2012, I started getting calls and letters from a collection agency, which I have also ignored.
I recently applied for a loan. The delinquency is on my credit report, along with a 25 point hit to my credit rating. This may not happen to everyone, however, it CAN happen. I am sitting tight at this point, seeing what develops next.
I owe more in fees and penalty than I owed on buying the damn thing in the first place!
first, there is a legal financial statute of limitations after which a case will automatically be thrown out of court. it varies by state, but is usually 4-5 years, so they cannot collect in court if you raise the statute as a defense.
Second, there is also a seven year limit on old collections items on your credit report. You can send a letter to the credit agencies requesting to have the bad information removed since it is more than seven years after the last payment.
what a lot of BS — probably from a collections agency so they can get their commission.
Collectors cannot sue you —
and the TS first has to foreclose, which is what you want — and when they are ready to foreclose they ask you to sign over the property to save the legal fees.
a collection agency cannot sue you for not paying maintenance fees. only the TS can sue you and only after they have foreclosed, which is what you want.
we stopped paying on 40 TS weeks, and the worst that happened was calls from collectors that you can tell them to stop and only send letters. The worst they can do is file a collection notice on your credit report, and then why would you pay since it cannot be removed.
are you telling me you have 40 weeks?? What has happened?
We have 3 and we stopped paying in oct….. still waiting!
of the 40, we did not make the payment at the end of 2007 for about 30 weeks. We got about 9 collections reports on our credit rating, and only 2 were foreclosed with a copy to us. We received only 3 statements this year, so we have slipped off the others.
we did not pay 6 others at the end of 2008, and they have also disappeared. These are all oast the financial statute of limitations.
We kept 4 that we planned to use personally, but also stopped paying them at the end of 2011 since my wife’s cancer was discovered (which is currently under control with Chemo). I think they will just take these back since they are all prime fixed weeks and easy for them to sell. I expect to receive letters offering a deed in lieu.
We only receive phone calls, which are blocked by a little call blocker we bought from Amazon. We do not talk with them on the phone, or respond to any invoices.
Even with all the collections reports, our credit still ranks as good since all else is paid on time.
Bill, Your posts have really encouraged me. I inherited a Festiva timeshare from my parents 15years ago, and now cannot give it away. Should I notify Festiva that we are no longer paying maintenance fees, or just let them figure it out themselves? We are willing to take a hit on our credit, and deal with annoying calls/letter, as long as we can ultimately get rid of this burden. Anything else we should expect, or any paperwork we should fill out?
Liz — you just have to not answer when they call, since it will only be a collector who will yell at you. It does no good to notify them, since they just send it to collection. If they actually send a deed in lieu to sign, you can sign it, but if they want any cash, don’t send any since it just restarts the debt statute of limitations
Bill you are correct they do report as a collection on your credit report, and like you said so what! They will not remove it so leave it and never pay! Eventually your good credit will override the collection. Waiting for mine to go to foreclosure, it has been 3 yrs.
I hope you are not answering those phone calls. It only encourages them. Or, if you aren’t busy and have a good sense of humor, you could waste their time by having a looonnngg conversation with them. If you waste enough of their time, they might put you on their black list and then you would lose the privilege of receiving their calls. :0)
I stopped paying my maintenance fees two years ago. Every month, I get a final notice that THIS TIME, they really mean it and if I don’t pay, it will go to collections. So what are they collecting for? SERVICES NOT RENDERED! Good luck getting the judge to make me pay for that! All they can do is prevent me from using the property I paid for. They already got me for $30,000. They are not getting another dime out of me. I’ll go to jail first.
Here is a suggestion. If you have high speed internet, then go get an Ooma phone system. Plug it into your internet and you have free phone calls all over the USA for $4.00 a month (government taxes). This will also let you change your phone number and that’s the end of the harassing phone calls. Also, do NOT accept any certified letters. Refuse to sign. They cannot make you sign for the letter.
Had anyone have any experience trying to sell their timeshare with buy timeshare? They were asking for 600.00 to advertise my timeshare and as I refuse they have gone down to 200.00 yet I’m skeptical to be robbed again. Any advise ..
Most likely it’s just another scam. They found out they couldn’t steal $600 from you so they will settle for $200 to steal from you. If people can’t sell them for $1 why would you pay someone to try to sell it for you? They are worthless. Stop paying is the only way to get out of this nightmare.
Legitimate sales will extract a commission AFTER they sell. Rip-off artists require you to pay up front because once they get their “commission”, they don’t do anything but pop a cork on another bottle of champagne. Never pay advance fees. Go to Craigslist and eBay and search for timeshare sales and you’ll see how much you can sell your timeshare for. I think the going price is zero.
All of us timeshare owners have a big tattoo on our foreheads that says, “Gullible Fool.” So be aware there’s sharks out there hunting for fools.
Thank you Baldspot and Robert for your advice. You guys are great help. Also I had read something about after foreclosure and if they do the foreclosure you will get a letter from the IRS, what type of letter is this? Will it mean you own money to the IRS? .
From what some have written here, apparently if the timeshare people “cancel your debt”, then they send that information to the IRS and then the IRS wants you to pay a tax on that “income.” I do not know how legitimate that is. If the IRS really does that, then you need to investigate to see if your type of ownership actually qualifies for that kind of action.
Remember, the timeshare people will lie to you to make you think all sorts of things are going to happen to you if you don’t keep sending money to them. So always investigate fully before sending anyone any money. Even if the IRS sends you a notice to pay, you should verify first that you really do have to pay. Good luck!
Big scammers…I tried this in the past and they only take your money and never call you again.
I have already asked, but has anyone personally dealt with bluegreen corp timeshare? I did cancel my automatic withdrawal and this will be month 2 of not withdrawal. Just worried will get in legal trouble. We do live in states.
Thanks for any information!
Do you have an update? We have Bluegreen and are considering the same. I’m nervous, though. Would love to hear from someone who has done this!!!
I had a bluegreen timeshare. I attempted to inform them that I will no longer make another payment. I stopped payment on my bank draft. I received a 1099 to file on my taxes. On my credit report it is listed as abandonded. I have not heard anything in 2 years. THANK GOD! I’M FREE AT LAST!
Once you filed your 1099, how much in taxes did you end up paying? And what kind of an affect did “ABANDONDED” have on your credit report?
Bluegreen keeps calling and My husband and I continue to ignore all calls. We have recieved several certified letter notices(we have never been home to sign:) We also have recieved letters that I just trash. I may have my head in sand, but I continue to follow advice of ignoring all calls and letters. I originally tried to work with them, but they would not. I feel bad as we always try to pay our bills, but at this time our main home and kids are our priority, not a time share that we can’t use due to behind maintenance fees, etc. It is a low priority, if they forclose, what could happen? Take away a property I don’t have access to? Can this effect my main home, or cause me to lose it? We have already paid them aprox 14000 in last few years.
No they can’t take away your home.
It used to be bluegreen, and now Pinnacle. They keep calling, but we keep ignoring! Have gotten several certified letter notices, but haven’t been home to sign, and don’t open any mail from them. My head is probably buried in the sand, but I have to take care of mortgage that my family RESIDES in. Not having even the money to pay maintenance fees, can not even book at any site, so is basically was just zapping us for 287 monthly plus 1000 yearly for maintenance fees. They already have recieved 14000, and can’t afford to spend another dime on it. Can this affect my home, can they come after my home since it is mortgaged? Anyone had anything else happen with Pinnacle or bluegreen??
Anyone have any dealings with Festiva?
I have a timeshare in Branson with Festiva. I have stopped making my payments to Festiva in April. Right now all I get is phone calls about every other day. they have been real nice to leave polite voicemail but they do not respond to my emails. We do not answer the phone when we see what number is calling.
Hello, we purchased in Bahamas with Festiva and still owe. Do you know if they allow Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure? We have to get from out of this. Thanks
YES i have Festiva and THEY ARE THE WORSE. I am seriously considering to just stop paying period. They continue to tell me Im behind on payments that they previously stated were cleared. They add fees and new policies every day. THIS IS THE BIGGEST SCAM EVER. MOre and more money and nothing is available when you get ready to book. I don’t know what to do. There are several class action settlements against them. I bought mine in Orlando, Fl but live in Georgia.
I just settled with Festiva for 3 monthly payments for about 1/3 of what they wanted plus their 15% interest. I signed a contract and once my posted dated checks clear the bank they will send me the contract that states I am free and clear of this nightmare.
Has anyone been scammed into paying their down payment through “Bill Me Later”? I am planning to write a letter to the “Bill Me Later” and “Wyndham Vacation Resorts” corporate office telling them I was scammed out of thousands of dollars by their use of “Bill Me Later” to pay for down payments. Add that to the current mortgage and maintenance fees.
On Oct 9th I posted our situation with a timeshare we aquired in the Bahamas For RCI through Apex Mareketing International. I have since written a letter to the Resort / Marketing company STATING that due to extreme misrepresentation of facts that we consider the contract null and void. Along with this letter we gave a detailed account of our sales experience and promises made, of the phone call made to us conveniently 4 days after the cancellation period explaining how this REALLY was going to work and of the conversations we had with the Timeshare re-sale company that basically backed up the fact the Marketing company were flat out lying! I included emails and typed out voice mails. I sent all of this via email to the resort and to the Financing company, Property Manager, Timeshare re-sale company, RCI and the Federal Trades Commission. I then sent a hard copy to each of those places via registered mail. We didn’t hear back from anyone until Nov 1st (3 weeks later) when the Finance company called and left a message. We had cancelled the credit card they were to use for payment. My husband returned the call and left a message saying we had no account with them. Then on Nov 6th we got an email from the Resort saying that unfortunately since they received our letter outside the cancellation period our request to cancel the contract was DENIED. Obviously they did not read our letter. I thanked them for replying but said we weren’t looking for their approval and that no further communication was required.
Soooo…that is where we are at. I appreciate the advice given on this site. It gave us the courage to fight.
I love the part where you said, “I thanked them for replying but said we weren’t looking for their approval and that no further communication was required.” SLAM THAT DOOR! ha ha ha
I have been meaning to update. On Nov. 23 after 2 months of sticking to our position of misrepresentation, getting over 800 views on my tripAdvisor review, 2 couples cancelling their contracts within the 7 days after reading my complaint and another couple just walking away from the sales presentation I received an email from Apex Marketing International saying that because of our dissatisfaction they were cancelling our contract and refunding our deposit of $5800!! We signed a mutual agreement which I had a lawyer approve ($125) and we received our refund in FULL that same day!! It is worth standing strong!!Don’t give up or give in!!
Thank you so much for the update we are in this situation at the moment with misrepresentation and have sent emails from our legal person stating this. At the moment all is quiet from their side we just want our deposit back and get away from it. So will keep up the battle.
We are trying to buy a home in Vegas but lost it because they reported us 30 day late and we wernt so they send us letters saying it was there mistack now what do we do stop paying so we don’t buy a home soon