# Stuck in my membership—HELP!!



## tinebean87 (Nov 13, 2019)

Hi everyone,

My husband and I became Diamond Resorts members a couple years ago and since then we've slowly become aware of how useless our membership is. We only have 2,500 points/year (because that's all we could afford), but that's essentially a useless amount of points and makes no financial sense whatsoever when our monthly "mortgage" payments are about $250 and our yearly maintenance fees are about $900.

Anyway, I'm trying to get out of our membership any way that I can, but I'm not sure what to do since we still owe a lot of money on our "mortgage." We've already applied for Transitions and been denied. I've spoken to a time share cancellation company, but they're asking for $3,400 up front and I've read horror stories about that kind of thing. People have told me to get a lawyer, but I've also read horror stories about that too.

It seems that any way I turn, I'm trapped. I'm held hostage in this membership.

Any advice?????


----------



## pedro47 (Nov 13, 2019)

You were turned  down for Transition because you have a mortgage.


----------



## TUGBrian (Nov 13, 2019)

well yea, the company that loaned you the money would certainly like you to pay it back..that is normal.

if you pay the loan off, you can then use the transitions program to surrender your ownership back to DRI.


----------



## tinebean87 (Nov 13, 2019)

I just find it really hard to swallow that I still owe $11,000 on a mortgage to something worthless. I could get the same vacations for 1/4 of the price if I booked them outside of Diamond. It's ridiculous.

I know I was turned down for Transitions because of the mortgage, but it drives me up the wall that there's even a mortgage to begin with. It's a points based system, I don't own anything material. It's like if you were legally locked into your Netflix subscription for life but never wanted to watch Netflix again. And your Netflix subscription cost you $4,000 per year.

Anyway, I could go on and on about how upset this makes me, but it sounds like the only recommendation is to pay the $11,000 plus interest and yearly maintenance as the price of my own stupidity—money I would rather be spending on my infant daughter. UUUGGGGHHHHHHH


----------



## goaliedave (Nov 13, 2019)

the only thing for people in your situation to do is stop paying and endure the phone calls and take the hit to your credit rating.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


----------



## goaliedave (Nov 13, 2019)

tinebean87 said:


> I just find it really hard to swallow that I still owe $11,000 on a mortgage to something worthless. I could get the same vacations for 1/4 of the price if I booked them outside of Diamond. It's ridiculous.
> 
> I know I was turned down for Transitions because of the mortgage, but it drives me up the wall that there's even a mortgage to begin with. It's a points based system, I don't own anything material. It's like if you were legally locked into your Netflix subscription for life but never wanted to watch Netflix again. And your Netflix subscription cost you $4,000 per year.
> 
> Anyway, I could go on and on about how upset this makes me, but it sounds like the only recommendation is to pay the $11,000 plus interest and yearly maintenance as the price of my own stupidity—money I would rather be spending on my infant daughter. UUUGGGGHHHHHHH


exactly. same as if you bought anything else in life that you couldn't use, or didn't investigate properly. sadly , millions of people in your situation.

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


----------



## geist1223 (Nov 13, 2019)

There really is not good news. Stay away from those cancel timeshare companies. It is only flushing money down the toilet with no relief. It is true that you can not do much of anything with 2,500 DRI Points. But you can roll over for one year and have 5,000 DRI Points every other year. Then you can use Point Saver  - Booking at less than 60 days.

You have owned for a couple years and still owe over $11,000 for only 2,500 Points. How much did you pay per Point?

As another said you can always stop all payments and be harassed by DRI and Collection Companies; and, possibly take a hit on your credit report.


----------



## goaliedave (Nov 14, 2019)

on the bright side, you can still have good vacations in certain locations. An efficiency unit (basically a hotel room) in Orlando Cypress Pointe booked 59 days prior to arrival is 1000 per week so you can get 2.5 weeks. 

Sent from my SM-J327W using Tapatalk


----------



## R.J.C. (Nov 14, 2019)

tinebean87 said:


> I just find it really hard to swallow that I still owe $11,000 on a mortgage to something worthless. I could get the same vacations for 1/4 of the price if I booked them outside of Diamond. It's ridiculous.
> 
> I know I was turned down for Transitions because of the mortgage, but it drives me up the wall that there's even a mortgage to begin with. It's a points based system, I don't own anything material. It's like if you were legally locked into your Netflix subscription for life but never wanted to watch Netflix again. And your Netflix subscription cost you $4,000 per year.
> 
> Anyway, I could go on and on about how upset this makes me, but it sounds like the only recommendation is to pay the $11,000 plus interest and yearly maintenance as the price of my own stupidity—money I would rather be spending on my infant daughter. UUUGGGGHHHHHHH



Normally I would say thoughts like this should be thought of prior to signing the contract but that's bridge under the water. That being said, 2,500 points is small but hardly useless. There are several resorts where 2,500 points can get you a 1 or 2 bdrm unit for a week in off season or better yet, you can do 2x5 night (Sun-Thur) stays for the same amount of points getting 10 nights instead of 7.


----------



## Passepartout (Nov 14, 2019)

What's done is done and can't easily be undone. So (as I seee it), you either default and suffer the consequences. OR buckle down, pay it off and either give it back (though it doesn't seem wise to spend $11K to do that) or follow the earlier advice to take a nice vacation every other year, last minute el-cheapo last minute getaways, OR take on a freebie to add to your point stash. That would rsult on higher annual MF nut, but would give you many more, better vacations.


----------



## CalGalTraveler (Nov 14, 2019)

@tinebean87 Where is your timeshare located? If Florida, South Carolina or California you may be able to go under a "non-judicial, anti-deficiency" ruling.  It will affect your credit and they will be nasty but all they can do is take back the timeshare in the end. So they may be willing to do a "deed in Lieu of foreclosure" to avoid the cost, delays and hassles.

We are not lawyers YMMV. Although we believe this works with deeded weeks, we do not know how this works with multiple deeds in a land trusts points system. Please report back what you learn.

Here is an excerpt from another post given to someone in a similar situation:
If your timeshare is in Florida there is something called a non-judicial, anti-deficiency rule that can be applied to timeshares. Bottom line: the worst they can do is take back your timeshare, hit your credit score, (and send you some nasty letters).

Read this thread and consult a lawyer before you take action. Because you have a mortgage they will go after you more heavily than someone who has paid off their timeshare and has decided to stop paying Maint Fees.

https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php...paying-maintenance-fees-what-happened.296893/

Once you are educated on this and with the review of the lawyer, you can contact the developer and offer to give them back the deed in lieu of foreclosure. If they refuse, then developer will have to go through the cost and delays of foreclosure and all they get in the end is the timeshare back on their books. So I would imagine the developer would have an incentive to take you up on your offer to save the cost and hassle of foreclosure. If your mortgage is with the developer, then it is really easy for them to take it back. If it is with a bank, there may be serious issues because the bank will want to be made whole on the loan.

YMMV. Speak with a real estate lawyer familiar with Florida laws as we are not lawyers here on TUG. (but now you know to ask the lawyer about non-judicial, anti-deficiency laws in Florida.) BTW...it also applies to timeshares based in South Carolina and California but not Nevada and Hawaii.


----------



## R.J.C. (Nov 14, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> @tinebean87 Where is your timeshare located? If Florida, South Carolina or California you may be able to go under a "non-judicial, anti-deficiency" ruling.  It will affect your credit and they will be nasty but all they can do is take back the timeshare in the end. So they may be willing to do a "deed in Lieu of foreclosure" to avoid the cost, delays and hassles.



I wonder how this applies to trust points. It seems to be aimed more at deeded week owners of a single timeshare.


----------



## CalGalTraveler (Nov 14, 2019)

IDK. For some points systems like Vistana the land trust is based in Orange County Florida but the deeds in the trust are from multiple states.

Would love a real estate lawyer to weigh in on this.

Yet another reason to avoid points trusts and stick with deeded weeks in these states.


----------



## Fredflintstone (Nov 14, 2019)

CalGalTraveler said:


> IDK. For some points systems like Vistana the land trust is based in Orange County Florida but the deeds in the trust are from multiple states.
> 
> Would love a real estate lawyer to weigh in on this.
> 
> Yet another reason to avoid points trusts and stick with deeded weeks in these states.



You are right, trusts are more difficult to figure out (and in my opinion this maneuver is done on purpose to tighten the contract) 

What I do know is timeshare laws are under STATE jurisdiction. So, if there is a home resort listed in the contract, the state where the home resort is located is where the laws apply. It doesn’t matter where the trust office is located.

There are many ways to structure a trust and the only way to determine jurisdiction is to read your particular contract cover to cover. From that, you will know which state laws apply.

Yes, timeshare deeds are much more clear cut.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Fredflintstone (Nov 14, 2019)

I should add that I have recently read a timeshare membership club contract. This contract is quite new. There is no deed whatsoever and no home resort. The beneficiary pays the trustee fees that are set by the trustee yearly. The trustee can charge whatever they want and the beneficiary agrees to this and signature affixed is attached. In return, the beneficiary receives X timeshare points they can use in the system. Beneficiary also pays membership fees as ordered by the trustee on a yearly basis.

The trustee reserves the right to change the terms of the contact at anytime with 30 days notice. Notice is send by regular mail by trustee.

In this contract, beneficiary agrees to accept the State of Delaware as jurisdiction but accepts trustee appointed arbitrators as the venue should there be a dispute.

The beneficiary paid 22500.00 cash for this contract. The contract has no end date and states it’s binding on heirs, assigns. Beneficiary can transfer contract to another entity (like selling a timeshare interest).

This contract had a 7 day recession period.

A very one sided contract in my opinion. Perhaps may not hold up in Court? Maybe....

So, in short, each contract is so unique. It’s so important to read any contract before signing. Too many folks get hyped up, have a signing party and leave scratching their heads in what to do.

At this time, I can’t tell you the TS company but will tell you it is one of the major companies in the business. 




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## geist1223 (Nov 15, 2019)

DRI is a Point System. The OP did not say which Collection they purchased.


----------



## RX8 (Nov 15, 2019)

Fredflintstone said:


> The contract has no end date and states it’s binding on heirs, assigns



Binding on heirs?  Just like exit companies like to perpetuate the fear that owner’s heirs will be held responsible this contract appears to do the same.


----------



## Fredflintstone (Nov 15, 2019)

RX8 said:


> Binding on heirs?  Just like exit companies like to perpetuate the fear that owner’s heirs will be held responsible this contract appears to do the same.



Yeah...it’s real early on. Never seen a contract quite like this and think it’s not enforceable unless there is something missing.

Well, time will tell. I do know they are being challenged on this one. I will let you know what happens after the gag order is released.

It still shocks me sometimes what people will sign for and what some firms try to get away with. 


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Fredflintstone (Nov 15, 2019)

Situations like the one above would all be solved if the trinket bait, back room signing process stopped. I still believe lawyers in buyer and seller sides should be enshrined in law for timeshare/memberships/points systems to avoid people getting taken. It would also protect the developer from being accused of deceptive practices.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## pedro47 (Nov 15, 2019)

I feel DRI is no longer the vision that the form owner & CEO Cloebeck wanted Diamond to become. IMHO.


----------



## Charliewayne (Nov 15, 2019)

This is probably far from the answer your looking for but I feel for you and this is just an idea. Get on the TUG bargain basement and find some really cheap Diamond points that someone is trying to give away. Maybe even eBay or any of the countless resale companies (who would transfer to you for free). Get enough to use your program, refi your mortgage with Diamond via a good CC like AMEX and do the sign and pay where they stretch out the loan/CC debt at a fixed rate for a longer period of time. Maybe even a company like SoFi or Lightstream. Take the money saved on interest to try and justify the additional maint fees or even to maybe make the same payments you already are but to pay off the loan early and save the additional interest. Only other possibility would be to get an attorney especially if there were any life altering things you were going through at the time of purchase. I.E. if your a vet with PTSD and they used the "what if you died tomorrow , how would you be remembered; any of the Nast stuff like that they use to sell you. If you were on any kind of medication at the time that would have altered your judgement that could be grounds for relief, I'm not sure just kinda throwing ideas out there. Sorry to hear what your going through but if you can't rid yourself of the debt at least try and make it work for you again via adding more points at no cost and using a refi program to justify additional maint fees.


----------



## Charliewayne (Nov 15, 2019)

Oh yeah, I'm not a lawyer and in no means do I have the qualifications to give legal advise so my post is purely me giving my 2 cents.


----------



## easyrider (Nov 15, 2019)

tinebean87 said:


> I just find it really hard to swallow that I still owe $11,000 on a mortgage to something worthless. I could get the same vacations for 1/4 of the price if I booked them outside of Diamond. It's ridiculous.
> 
> I know I was turned down for Transitions because of the mortgage, but it drives me up the wall that there's even a mortgage to begin with. It's a points based system, I don't own anything material. It's like if you were legally locked into your Netflix subscription for life but never wanted to watch Netflix again. And your Netflix subscription cost you $4,000 per year.
> 
> Anyway, I could go on and on about how upset this makes me, but it sounds like the only recommendation is to pay the $11,000 plus interest and yearly maintenance as the price of my own stupidity—money I would rather be spending on my infant daughter. UUUGGGGHHHHHHH



It isn't worthless unless you decide not to use it and you are not stupid for purchasing this. You might be going through buyer remorse which is understandable because some people get the same thing you bought for free. Now you have owners remorse as you have found out that it isn't easy to return this. Even so, it is easy enough to use which is why you bought this anyway. 

Timeshares are a luxury item with an intrinsic value when used for most people. Best thing to do is to use this , imo. You can use this timeshare if you learn how. Good thing you found Tug because there are people here that can help you get the use out of your membership.

Bill


----------



## rickandcindy23 (Nov 15, 2019)

Charliewayne said:


> Oh yeah, I'm not a lawyer and in no means do I have the qualifications to give legal advise so my post is purely me giving my 2 cents.


Plus, this thread is the first and only where you have posted, so that is strange.  I don't know that this guy wants to get into more timeshare and maintenance fees to even out his ownership and make it more palatable.  Sounds like he/she is disgusted with the entire thing.  I understand that!  

To the OP, try to figure out how to get out of this and don't look back.  Don't buy Diamond resale.  If you like timeshare, there are some really great ways to do timeshare without spending a fortune.  

But if you are stuck, be philosophical about it.  More than one of us here on TUG fell for a developer purchase we wished we didn't do, but we signed on the bottom line and figured out how to use what we have.  It's not the end of the world.


----------



## R.J.C. (Nov 18, 2019)

pedro47 said:


> I feel DRI is no longer the vision that the form owner & CEO Cloebeck wanted Diamond to become. IMHO.



I concur.


----------

