Mayan is asking approx $3,000 to tranfer title.

Hi

This my first post so I hope I do it right!

Can anyone tell me if this is normal? Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta tell me I would have to pay 5 (five) times the maintenance fee to tranfer title of the unit into anyone else's name except a family member. (They are supposedly free.)

Any comments appreciated.

Unfortunately - that's correct.

It just depends on the contract you have. The older contracts are lower. Some of the older ones are only 1 m/f. Sounds like you have a newer version.

It is unbelievable but sadly true

rsmor said:

Hi

This my first post so I hope I do it right!

Can anyone tell me if this is normal? Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta tell me I would have to pay 5 (five) times the maintenance fee to tranfer title of the unit into anyone else's name except a family member. (They are supposedly free.)

Any comments appreciated.

Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? That is beyond outrageous. While I'm 100% against "walking away" from any obligation in this case I'd stop all payments and tell them to shove this ownership where no sun will ever see it and cut my losses. What a total rip off. No wonder timeshare - but especially Mexican timeshares - have such a negative reputation.

Wow a develepor beating the PCC's at their own game

Reason number 4569231 to never get involved with a Mexico timeshare....

Mayan wants $3,000 to change name

timeos2 said:

Are you kidding me? That is beyond outrageous. While I'm 100% against "walking away" from any obligation in this case I'd stop all payments and tell them to shove this ownership where no sun will ever see it and cut my losses. What a total rip off. No wonder timeshare - but especially Mexican timeshares - have such a negative reputation.

Click to expand...

Dear John:

I am willing to simply stop making bi-ennial payments of $589 for a 1 bdrm and see what happens. We are Canadian. Do you have any idea how vigorously the Collections Dept will pursue us if I do so? RTU ends in 2031. I am 62 but the wife, who also signed, is only 58. Both of us retired. "Cutting my losses" (about $10K USD) is a viable financial option. Just how important is a credit rating at our ages, would you know?

Thankyou, John, and all the others very much for the quick, helpul responses!

Rsmor

Mayan asking $3000 for closing

Rent_Share said:

Wow a develepor beating the PCC's at their own game

Click to expand...

Could you explain pls what are PCC's?

PCC means don't pay anyone to sell your timeshare.


http://www.tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare_glossary.htm

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=81470

Let it go

rsmor said:

Dear John:

I am willing to simply stop making bi-ennial payments of $589 for a 1 bdrm and see what happens. We are Canadian. Do you have any idea how vigorously the Collections Dept will pursue us if I do so? RTU ends in 2031. I am 62 but the wife, who also signed, is only 58. Both of us retired. "Cutting my losses" (about $10K USD) is a viable financial option. Just how important is a credit rating at our ages, would you know?

Thankyou, John, and all the others very much for the quick, helpul responses!

Rsmor

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You are unlikely to suffer much, if anything, from negative input on your credit from ignoring this ownership. The leverage they have would be very limited and many, if not most, credit agencies seem to recognize that these are questionable operations and give little value to claims. To be honest I'd let it go and risk the small credit hit it may represent rather than continue to pay on a less than worthless "ownership".

Bamboozles & Hornswoggles & Scams.

rsmor said:

Could you explain pls what are PCC's?

Click to expand...

Click here for a clue.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

rsmor said:

Dear John:

I am willing to simply stop making bi-ennial payments of $589 for a 1 bdrm and see what happens. We are Canadian. Do you have any idea how vigorously the Collections Dept will pursue us if I do so? RTU ends in 2031. I am 62 but the wife, who also signed, is only 58. Both of us retired. "Cutting my losses" (about $10K USD) is a viable financial option. Just how important is a credit rating at our ages, would you know?

Thankyou, John, and all the others very much for the quick, helpul responses!

Rsmor

Click to expand...

Personally, I don't think that is a good idea as I don't feel it is right to walk away from financial obligations.

On the good side, the Mayan family of resorts are great resorts and continually improving - great vacations spots.

Realistically, the Mayan resort chain does not operate as a traditional timeshare. They sell entry level memberships (at high cost through them) and then offer (and negotiate) upgrade deals for vacation goodies - luxury units, free golf, free massages, no MF unless you use, free use after a certain age, etc.

We own there, bought resale, but have negotiated upgrades to things we want and with no yearly maintenance fee lingering over us. It works for us and we are easily paying off our investment through usage. The high transfer fee to us is unimportant as our kids are more than willing to use our vacation goodies (with no MF liability) - part of the reasons for our upgrades.

I realize you want out of the system - but since you did not know about the transfer cost, I assume you have not read your contract closely. First, I would do that, as in 2006, when I assume you bought, they often had addenda for some added features. So, first, make sure you know what you have. I know, about that time frame, some contracts had an addendum where the mandatory MF stopped after 5 years as did the one we first bought.

Second, because of the way they work, there is a interesting secondary market for people already in the system or want in the system to achieve equity for luxury upgrades. If someone was to take your contract for no cost, then they could use what you paid originally for upgrade equity. So. if you really want to sell, I would suggest that you take a last vacation at one of the properties, find someone interested at the resort and make them a deal. Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

With that said, another option is just use the membership. The resorts are really great and are constantly improving.

Mike

rsmor said:

Dear John:

I am willing to simply stop making bi-ennial payments of $589 for a 1 bdrm and see what happens. We are Canadian. Do you have any idea how vigorously the Collections Dept will pursue us if I do so? RTU ends in 2031. I am 62 but the wife, who also signed, is only 58. Both of us retired. "Cutting my losses" (about $10K USD) is a viable financial option. Just how important is a credit rating at our ages, would you know?

Thankyou, John, and all the others very much for the quick, helpul responses!

Rsmor

Click to expand...

If I were you I'd write a nice letter to the Mayan Palace main office and explain you wanted to "give away" your timeshare you paid $10k for, but the exorbitant transfer fees they are imposing make it impossible to even give it away. Place a free ad on TUG to illustrate this.
Then tell them you are returning all rights to this timeshare membership back to them and that all fees have been paid to date. (Assuming they have)
Have this letter notorized and mail certified just so you have an accurate record of what occurred in case this becomes an issue later on a credit issue.
If enough people would do this it may cause the Groupo Mayan people to reconsider their ludicrous transfer policy.
I think this shows you are trying to be as responsible as possible in a difficult situation, but they are prohibiting you from doing that.
I know others will say there is no way anyone should back out of a contract and usually I would agree, but, I would make an exception for the Mayans and their deceptive and beyond-crazy practices and policies.
Good luck and keep us advised of what happens.

rsmor said:

Hi

This my first post so I hope I do it right!

Can anyone tell me if this is normal? Mayan Palace in Nuevo Vallarta tell me I would have to pay 5 (five) times the maintenance fee to tranfer title of the unit into anyone else's name except a family member. (They are supposedly free.)

Any comments appreciated.

Click to expand...

Can you say the buyer is a family member? A long lost but very beloved cousin.

Mayan asking $3000 for closing

Thanks to everyone who responded. It was very 'illuminating'. Giving this some thought.

I have another concern: I hope the rep on the phone was lying (wouldn't be the first time!) but I was given the impression very recently that RED is no longer considered High; that I would have to become something called an 'Elite' member.

Has anyone else been told this?

Sounds like a serious downgrade to my already worthless 'money pit' if true.

Turn about is fair play.

If they have changed the value and downgraded your unit,demand a refund of your initial outlay of capital. DON"T PAY ANYMORE!

rsmor said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. It was very 'illuminating'. Giving this some thought.

I have another concern: I hope the rep on the phone was lying (wouldn't be the first time!) but I was given the impression very recently that RED is no longer considered High; that I would have to become something called an 'Elite' member.

Has anyone else been told this?

Sounds like a serious downgrade to my already worthless 'money pit' if true.

Click to expand...

rsmor said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. It was very 'illuminating'. Giving this some thought.

I have another concern: I hope the rep on the phone was lying (wouldn't be the first time!) but I was given the impression very recently that RED is no longer considered High; that I would have to become something called an 'Elite' member.

Has anyone else been told this?

Sounds like a serious downgrade to my already worthless 'money pit' if true.

Click to expand...

In the GM system, red weeks are all weeks except Christmas, New Years, and Easter weeks. The Elite weeks include those. If you are being told that you can not rent your red weeks without having an elite status, then indeed that would be breech of contract on their part. it would be cause not only to stop paying but to get a complete refund of all money invested.

Mike

rsmor said:

Thanks to everyone who responded. It was very 'illuminating'. Giving this some thought.

I have another concern: I hope the rep on the phone was lying (wouldn't be the first time!) but I was given the impression very recently that RED is no longer considered High; that I would have to become something called an 'Elite' member.

Has anyone else been told this?

Sounds like a serious downgrade to my already worthless 'money pit' if true.

Click to expand...

They're trying to sell you something.

That's a question only YOU can answer...

rsmor said:

Just how important is a credit rating at our ages, would you know?

Click to expand...

If you get a formal credit rating "ding" (..as you likely would...) as a result of defaulting on your timeshare obligations, you might be shooting yourself in the foot in regard to "loan worthiness". How "important" that is depends entirely upon your own future plans for applying for loans in the 5-7 years ahead.

Please disregard my last post about Red weeks!

Thanks to all but I finally found the original contract!

That 'young man; at Mayan did say I could not rent Feb or March but he either just mispoke or, as suggested, was "trying to sell me something". Given my experience with them, they do NOT get the benefit of the doubt. It was an attempted scam in my opinion.

Now I have the contract, I see it's only Christmas, Easter, Holy Week and New Years that Red are not allowed as someone pointed out. We never travel then anyway.

Special thanks to 'Mikenk' for opening my eyes to some other things... eg: Maintenance Fees are NOT forever according to the contract which is a load off my mind. I was afraid my kids would get saddled with them if we passed on before the expiration of the contract.

So. all in all, it's not as bad as it seemed and we will continue to trade the week with RCI...have gotten in some nice places.

Just for information: In case others weren't aware, VF weeks are NOT transferable to any new buyer. Now I will check if the Golf package and the 'Mazpack' have the same restriction. I expect the worse, given the Seller.

This forum is great! You people have been terrific.

Roger

Yes, if you do not own an 'Elite' contract, you should not be able to reserve, and therefore cannot deposit or rent Holiday weeks. Now, I admit, there may have been exceptions with the economy the way it's been.

Getting back to your original post, there are several variations in contracts regarding transfer fees, with older contracts being less expensive. But it sounds like you may have decided to make the best of the resort, and that's a good way to go for now-I think you'll enjoy it and there are several owners on TUG here for you if you need any advice.

Personally, I'm still waiting for them to build the HI location! :rofl:

Edited to add: Regarding VF weeks, I just checked my '99 contract again, and I cannot find anything that would prevent me from transferring my VF week with resale. Again, contracts vary. It also specifically states I can rent it.

Further confirmation that I will never own a Mexican Timeshare, sure glad I found TUG and others before I bought my US timeshares. I am so Glad that I do not own in Mexico, too easy to trade into, and never have to worry about getting ripped off! I would worry about having a grand Mayan room waiting for me if I exchanged into one , 2 different friends have had the "Palace switcharoo" in the last year.......

cruisin said:

Further confirmation that I will never own a Mexican Timeshare, sure glad I found TUG and others before I bought my US timeshares. I am so Glad that I do not own in Mexico, too easy to trade into, and never have to worry about getting ripped off! I would worry about having a grand Mayan room waiting for me if I exchanged into one , 2 different friends have had the "Palace switcharoo" in the last year.......

Click to expand...

Actually, I look at it a little differently - not about the country of the resort but of the resort itself to meet my needs. Regardless of the country, I won't own a timeshare contract with a mandatory maintenance fee. We do really like Mexico for winter time vacations; the Mayan resort group fits our needs well with regard to luxury, amenities, and continuous improvement. I absolutely understand their issues, but have learned to work around them quite effectively.

I would like a similar setup in the U.S. Northeast or Canada for summertime trips but have not found anything except traditional deeded timeshares, which just doesn't work for us. While I agree with Maranojo that a HI mayan location would be nice, I would prefer one in the Canadian mountains.

JMHO,
Mike

mikenk said:

Actually, I look at it a little differently - not about the country of the resort but of the resort itself to meet my needs. Regardless of the country, I won't own a timeshare contract with a mandatory maintenance fee. We do really like Mexico for winter time vacations; the Mayan resort group fits our needs well with regard to luxury, amenities, and continuous improvement. I absolutely understand their issues, but have learned to work around them quite effectively.

I would like a similar setup in the U.S. Northeast or Canada for summertime trips but have not found anything except traditional deeded timeshares, which just doesn't work for us. While I agree with Maranojo that a HI mayan location would be nice, I would prefer one in the Canadian mountains.

JMHO,
Mike

Click to expand...

The problem is that law enforcement officials in US and Canada do pursue scam artists and unfair/illegal business practices, therefore, companies like Mayan will never open resorts in US/Canada.

Sell you something

Indeed, it's called Snake Oil :hysterical: