If you stop paying your timeshare maintenance fees,
you will likely default on your ownership
. This not only hurts the resort, but it hurts you and your credit. Like a home going into foreclosure, the resort takes the ownership back and it will stay on your credit report.
Timeshares don’t have to be for life
If the resort refuses, the owner can abandon the timeshare
, although that may lead to collection actions and damage to the owner’s credit.
Some people just stop paying on their timeshares. If you do walk away,
don’t be surprised to see a big hit to your credit score and to start getting regular calls from collection agencies
. You might regret your purchase, but you did sign a legally binding contract.
- Act Quickly. …
- Draw Up a Document Renouncing the Timeshare. …
- Send Copies of Your Renunciation via Certified Mail to Interested Parties. …
- File a Copy of the Renunciation in Probate Court.
Trading Standards says if a person wants to exit a timeshare they should
contact the company they bought from directly
– and in most cases, they will let a consumer leave.
Give it back:
Contact the developer or resort management
. Tell them you want to quit-deed the property back to them. In other words, you are willing to give away your timeshare in exchange for the future savings of not having to pay your membership.
If a repayment plan isn’t negotiated, the timeshare company might go the route of taking you to court for breach of contract to get a judgment against you and place a lien against the property. Ultimately, they will foreclose on the property.
The short answer?
Yes. Resort developers can and do take financial and legal action against timeshare owners attempting to leave their interest
. However, they may not pursue these strategies as aggressively as some consumers may think.
In general, though, if you don’t pay the fees and assessments on a right-to-use timeshare,
the HOA may sue you for a money judgment or “repossess” your right to use the timeshare
. A repossession is a different legal process than a foreclosure.
If you are bequeathed a timeshare that you don’t want or can’t use, here’s how to legally disclaim it:
File a “Disclaimer of Interest”
, this is a written refusal to accept the timeshare. A qualified estate attorney can help you with the paperwork. File your disclaimer on time.
You’ll have to cut each separate contract to escape
. That’s a lot to do on your own, so you may need an attorney to help you work your way out of all those contracts. Find one who specializes in contract law and has successfully gotten people out of their timeshares.
If an exit company does not verify your situation before, you can potentially lose thousands for hiring an unqualified exit company to work on your case. An average cost to cancel a timeshare can run you
$3,000-$15,000
.
- Step 1: Revisit Your Contract. To start with, dig your original contract—and any other paperwork about the timeshare—out of your files to see exactly what you signed way back when. …
- Step 2: Research Your Timeshare’s Value. …
- Step 3: Try to Sell Your Timeshare. …
- Step 4: Contact a Timeshare Exit Company.
For example, in 2010 Florida passed a timeshare foreclosure law that shortened the amount of time needed to process a timeshare foreclosure from 18 months to just
90 days
. However, in other states, the foreclosure process could still take up to a year or more.
If you continue to stop paying on your loan, the timeshare company can go to court and file a foreclosure lawsuit to obtain the rights to your unit and take it back. While it mainly depends on what state you have your timeshare in, this process can take
about one year
.
