Selling my vacation club

Has anyone heard of being charged a Foreigner Registration Fee before they can sell their timeshare? Does this have to be paid up front or can it be paid out of the proceeds?

In all likelihood there is no such thing and you are being scammed. I'm sure they will tell you that it must be paid upfront and then you will be re-imbursed on the back end. If you pay the company will come up with a new fee you have to pay upfront. You will never receive any legitimate money from them. When they know they can't get anything else out of you they will pass your info onto their sister scam group that will claim they can recover your money if you just pay a small fee to get the ball rolling.

This is a common scam - there are NO taxes or fees to be paid to Mexico when you sell your timeshare.

There is no deal.

There is no buyer.

You will never see a penny.

The person who contacted you is a scammer, and they are going to steal your upfront fees, and ride off into the sunset.

DON'T DO IT!

DeniseM said:

This is a common scam - there are NO taxes or fees to be paid to Mexico when you sell your timeshare.

There is no deal.

There is no buyer.

You will never see a penny.

The person who contacted you is a scammer, and they are going to steal your upfront fees, and ride off into the sunset.

DON'T DO IT!

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Thank you Denise. They are calling it an SRE Permit. Have you ever heard of that?

TAC500 said:

Thank you Denise. They are calling it an SRE Permit. Have you ever heard of that?

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No - because it doesn't exist. But these folks are very convincing, and if you press them, they will probably come up with documentation - which, of course, they created themselves, and is totally bogus.

SRE is the Ministry of External Affairs. I googled it and there are references to foreign purchases of real estate.

KarenLK said:

SRE is the Ministry of External Affairs. I googled it and there are references to foreign purchases of real estate.

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Except, the OP owns a vacation club membership - which is not real estate.

Would it make clearer if they called "You Have Been Scammed Fee"?

Presumably they are offering very generous price and you are blinded by this.

Most Vacation Clubs do not have any value or anything tangible associated with.

Yes, it can be paid out of proceeds and this is way LEGITIMATE deals are done.

No different than olde Nigerian trunk of money scam where a couple days before shipping a problem arises that requires wiring money to clear up.


SOS!

Denise, the references I saw were regarding real estate, as in purchasing a home or business, not a timeshare or club membership, and oddly, the first place I found the reference was in a webpage from the Norwegian government!

Here is what the title company sent me.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a general Direction of foreign Investment form that needs to be signed by all owners to receive a so called S.R.E Permit number. Now since this New Mexican Government Political Regime has enforced a new law for foreign individual and companies that may directly own vacation land or Real State assets in Mexico except in what is described by Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution as the "restricted zone?" A zone within one hundred kilometers (sixty-one miles) of the international border and fifty kilometers (thirty-one miles) of the seacoast. So since taxes where in involve in this transaction it is now a mandatory to have an S.R.E permit from the Mexican Government to begin this International transaction. Here is the link from the foreign affairs Ministry http://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/reinounido/index.php/servicios-a-extranjeros click on acquisitions on properties in Mexico. The S.R.E Permit would be issued to you through LaVista Title, Inc. since they have the authority to receive this number within 48 hours. Now since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Secretary of the Exterior Relations S.R.E) rules apply, you as the designated Owner of said membership you are the only eligible since the permit number is issued to you by S.R.E.

You can also verify this information in the following link:

http://www.mexicocapitalmortgage.com/closing-costs/

It's bogus. A vacation club is NOT Real Estate. While it's true that foreigners have to jump through hoops to buy coastal Real Estate in Mexico, Vacation Clubs, and timeshares are RTUs (Right to use), and there is NO deed. Hence nothing that requires the referenced form.

They are simply trying to scam the OP.

Jim

P.S. If YOU have a buyer, write, or call your resort for transfer information. They will send you the form, and charge some few hundred $ to change the names on your RTU.

Reread posts 3 and 5.

If you have purchased a house or condo you should know all disbursements are made by Title/Escrow Company out of proceeds and charged to buyer and seller as agreed.

There is no way they will agree to this as there is no money on deposit.

If you do go ahead please be sure and come back and advise us when deal is done and you have money in hand for our edification.

That description a few posts up set my BS Meter to super high. The grammar is a huge red flag. One should expect some errors in translation when dealing with an international situation, but they tend to be logically related to the languages involved (e.g., using feminine or masculine terms in a language that doesn't use them, or incorrect use of articles or tense).

However, here the errors are in "trying to sound legal" and failing miserably.

If you do decide to pay this, and other fees they will come up with, please do post back in six months or a year and let us know the outcome of your transaction!

pjrose said:

That description a few posts up set my BS Meter to super high. The grammar is a huge red flag.

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Is this what you referring to:

pj and others, do you remember a few years back that the tourist card had a space on the back side where you were supposed to "sing in the box"?
Not very well checked before sending to the printer for a few million copies!

TAC500 said:

Here is what the title company sent me.

. . .

You can also verify this information in the following link:

http://www.mexicocapitalmortgage.com/closing-costs/

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When you click on that link here's what it says about the SRE permit:


"This permit attaches itself to the home. Essentially it ensures the property is in a state where title is clean, clear and ready to be transferred. For us to order this document, we collect the water bill, tax bill, copy of current title, condominium regime and all homeowners association docs and submit them to the Ministry. The SRE permit can take anywhere between 2 weeks and 45 days in some cases and is handled by the Bank or the closing company."

This clearly has to do with real estate, not a vacation club. I don't know why you'd even need a title company to do a closing on such a sale. There is no "title" such as we have in the US for real property. There are no deeds to register with the county like we have in the US. Even with a Mexican timeshare, most are right-to-use and any transfers are handled by the timeshare company itself. Usually the seller just signs the back of his certificate of ownership transferring his ownership to the buyer and the timeshare company simply changes the owner name on their records.

pacodemountainside said:

Is this what you referring to:

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Yes, though I couldn't get the image to attach

KarenLK said:

pj and others, do you remember a few years back that the tourist card had a space on the back side where you were supposed to "sing in the box"?
Not very well checked before sending to the printer for a few million copies!

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LOL

Karen G said:

When you click on that link here's what it says about the SRE permit:


"This permit attaches itself to the home. Essentially it ensures the property is in a state where title is clean, clear and ready to be transferred. For us to order this document, we collect the water bill, tax bill, copy of current title, condominium regime and all homeowners association docs and submit them to the Ministry. The SRE permit can take anywhere between 2 weeks and 45 days in some cases and is handled by the Bank or the closing company."
.

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How much $$ are they asking for this "service"?

They claim the Registration fee is $2,450 and they have sent me a copy of an escrow account in my name with the monies already deposited by the buyer to reimburse me at time of closing. What I don't understand is if the buyer's money is already in the escrow account why can't they use that to pay fro the permit. The title company is saying that the S.R.E. will only accept payment form the persons registering and in this case it is me. They also need a photo ID.

I'm pretty sure it is a scam but I wanted to check on here first just in case this was something new in Mexico.

TAC500 said:

They claim the Registration fee is $2,450 and they have sent me a copy of an escrow account in my name with the monies already deposited by the buyer to reimburse me at time of closing. What I don't understand is if the buyer's money is already in the escrow account why can't they use that to pay fro the permit. The title company is saying that the S.R.E. will only accept payment form the persons registering and in this case it is me. They also need a photo ID.

I'm pretty sure it is a scam but I wanted to check on here first just in case this was something new in Mexico.

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Nothing new. That requirement has been it place for years. But it has to do with Real Estate. Again... Timeshares and Vacation Club ARE NOT Real Estate! Now, if you are holding a DEED for some property, the above comments are invalid, but if there is no deed, the scammers are trying to pull a fast one with you.

TAC500 said:

I'm pretty sure it is a scam but I wanted to check on here first just in case this was something new in Mexico.

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Of course it's a scam, but you could quote them this line from the SRE article that they linked:

The SRE permit can take anywhere between 2 weeks and 45 days in some cases and is handled by the Bank or the closing company."

Tell them to handle the SRE payment from the funds they say they have on deposit or forget the whole thing.

TAC500 said:

They also need a photo ID.

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Tell them you'll send your photo ID after they send you theirs as well as the photo ID of the buyer.

Since this fee is $2,450 and legitimate broker would get at least $1,000 and other closing costs how much have you VERIFIED is in legitimate escrow?

You have egregiously omitted actual vacation club, but all I have encountered in Branson, Vegas, Orlando and Denver have no value and "F" BBB rating as worthless.

You will never see thousands of dollars they have seduced you with!

Re-read posts 3 and 5!

Why did you come here for expert advice if seeking ratification of your decision?

pacodemountainside said:

Since this fee is $2,450 and legitimate broker would get at least $1,000 and other closing costs how much have you VERIFIED is in legitimate escrow?

You have egregiously omitted actual vacation club, but all I have encountered in Branson, Vegas, Orlando and Denver have no value and "F" BBB rating as worthless.

You will never see thousands of dollars they have seduced you with!

Re-read posts 3 and 5!

Why did you come here for expert advice if seeking ratification of your decision?

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No offense Paco but I have only been responding to others' questions about the details. I agree that this is most likely a scam but since the title company and realtor have said this is a NEW requirement for Vacation Clubs, I thought I would check and see if anyone on here could validate their claims. I have told them that if they wire me the funds from the buyer first then I would pay this fee. I am waiting for a response on that.

Has anyone heard of a company called NSR Services out of MN?

TAC500 said:

I agree that this is most likely a scam but since the title company and realtor have said this is a NEW requirement for Vacation Clubs, I thought I would check and see if anyone on here could validate their claims. I have told them that if they wire me the funds from the buyer first then I would pay this fee.

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Since there is no title, and it isn't Real Estate, there is no need of a title company, or realtor.

To the bold part: Well, that oughtta be about the end of this. There IS NO BUYER, nor will you see any funds. Only more smoke and promises "if you'll only send more money."

Jim

TAC500 said:

Has anyone heard of a company called NSR Services out of MN?

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I haven't. But there was a thread about a year back concerning a scam company based out of one of the twin cities.

Why are you inquiring about NSR? How did you find out about them? What are they offering you? What are you hoping to accomplish by using them?