# Get out of Occidental vacation club



## Blue_sparrow (Sep 11, 2020)

Hello I am super new to TUG and this is my first time posting, I came here because of a suggestion from a friendly reddit user actually. Ok so me and my husband are Canadian, we were in Mexico before Covid hit North America and we got sucked into buying an Occidental vacation club membership. We no longer can afford/want our membership/timeshare and I have had a few people tell me to just stop paying and that the worst that will happen is the credit people will call us randomly and we might get a bad credit score in the USA(we're  Canadian so that's not something I am worried about). Is this the best route to go? Thanks to everyone for your time taken to read this and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


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## Passepartout (Sep 11, 2020)

Yup. Just stop paying. You won't get any refund of what you spent, but there is no deed to foreclose, it's just a vacation club and the only hold they have on you is to cancel- which is what you want anyway. You might get some letters or collection calls but they have no 'teeth'. All bark, no bite.

Jim


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## LannyPC (Sep 11, 2020)

Ditto to what Passepartout/Jim said but I will add this.  No matter what result or fear you face, do not go seeking the "help" of these companies or law firms that claim they can exit/cancel/release you from your timeshare.  In your situation, they are totally needless and besides, most of them are scams.


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## Blue_sparrow (Sep 12, 2020)

Passepartout said:


> Yup. Just stop paying. You won't get any refund of what you spent, but there is no deed to foreclose, it's just a vacation club and the only hold they have on you is to cancel- which is what you want anyway. You might get some letters or collection calls but they have no 'teeth'. All bark, no bite.
> 
> Jim


Thank you!!! I really am so grateful for your advice, my husband and I figured we'd lost what we had already put in as far as money goes and probably wouldn't be able to get a refund, which sucks but I guess some lessons are learned the hard way. Thanks again!


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## Blue_sparrow (Sep 12, 2020)

LannyPC said:


> Ditto to what Passepartout/Jim said but I will add this.  No matter what result or fear you face, do not go seeking the "help" of these companies or law firms <- THIS! OK yes thank you! Because I did contact them initially but I haven't returned thier call yet because I had a feeling that they might be a scam or just unnecessary, it's hard to think clearly when your fearful but this advice has helped tremendously and really lifted a weight off my shoulders thanks!!


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## Blue_sparrow (Sep 21, 2020)

Passepartout said:


> Yup. Just stop paying. You won't get any refund of what you spent, but there is no deed to foreclose, it's just a vacation club and the only hold they have on you is to cancel- which is what you want anyway. You might get some letters or collection calls but they have no 'teeth'. All bark, no bite.
> 
> Jim


Hey Jim I'm wondering about something, my husband called the Visa people and they said they would stop the payments but that they'd still have to talk with the vacation club and that our credit could be affected, is part of the "all bark, no bite"? It has me worried a bit actually. Just wondering what your take on this is?
Thanks


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## Passepartout (Sep 21, 2020)

I wouldn't lose any sleep over this. Let Visa stop all payments. IF there is a negative credit report- "These people said they'd pay $XXX.XX a month and they reneged." You have the right to post a response that any potential creditor gets along with their requested credit report. When they see it's for a Mexican vacation club, and the result is that you have $XXX.XX a month for other debt, it isn't hard to explain the default away. As to the 'All bark' comment, you can ask them to 'cease and desist' harassing mail/calls/emails, but they really have no legal hold on you and can't het a judgement against you.

Jim


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## Grammarhero (Sep 21, 2020)

Blue_sparrow said:


> Hello I am super new to TUG and this is my first time posting, I came here because of a suggestion from a friendly reddit user actually. Ok so me and my husband are Canadian, we were in Mexico before Covid hit North America and we got sucked into buying an Occidental vacation club membership. We no longer can afford/want our membership/timeshare and I have had a few people tell me to just stop paying and that the worst that will happen is the credit people will call us randomly and we might get a bad credit score in the USA(we're  Canadian so that's not something I am worried about). Is this the best route to go? Thanks to everyone for your time taken to read this and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


@Blue_sparrow out of 8 TS defaults by Canadians reported on TUG, 0 got reported to the Canadian credit agencies.  Check out the links below.  One Canadian MF defaulter was told to me in confidence, so I cannot reveal that. 

If you make the hard decision to default, mind telling us if your credit got affected?  It would help tuggers in similar situations moving forward.


https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/a...fees-what-happened.296893/page-7#post-2396547

https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/canadian-with-a-timeshare-in-florida.298837/#post-2367946

https://tugbbs.com/forums/threads/a...fees-what-happened.296893/page-3#post-2352822


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## Blue_sparrow (Sep 21, 2020)

Passepartout said:


> I wouldn't lose any sleep over this. Let Visa stop all payments. IF there is a negative credit report- "These people said they'd pay $XXX.XX a month and they reneged." You have the right to post a response that any potential creditor gets along with their requested credit report. When they see it's for a Mexican vacation club, and the result is that you have $XXX.XX a month for other debt, it isn't hard to explain the default away. As to the 'All bark' comment, you can ask them to 'cease and desist' harassing mail/calls/emails, but they really have no legal hold on you and can't het a judgement against you.
> 
> Jim


Thanks Jim! That's a load off our shoulders I am so grateful for your help and advice. I have zero experience with this stuff I get so overwhelmed sometimes so this really does mean the world to me thank you so much you're an amazing person!
Thanks


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## Grammarhero (Sep 21, 2020)

Blue_sparrow said:


> Thanks Jim! That's a load off our shoulders I am so grateful for your help and advice. I have zero experience with this stuff I get so overwhelmed sometimes so this really does mean the world to me thank you so much you're an amazing person!
> Thanks


Be sure to check the 3 links I posted.  They are Canadians who defaulted on TS as well.


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## Blue_sparrow (Sep 21, 2020)

Grammarhero said:


> @Blue_sparrow out of 8 TS defaults by Canadians reported on TUG, 0 got reported to the Canadian credit agencies.  Check out the links below.  One Canadian MF defaulter was told to me in confidence, so I cannot reveal that.
> 
> If you make the hard decision to default, mind telling us if your credit got affected?  It would help tuggers in similar situations moving forward.
> 
> ...


Yes I will let you know how this all plays out!
Thanks!


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## Grammarhero (Nov 10, 2020)

Blue_sparrow said:


> Yes I will let you know how this all plays out!
> Thanks!


@Blue_sparrow We are you are well and healthy.  If you made the difficult decision to default, mind sharing if your credit got affected?  It would help tuggers in similar situations moving forward.


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## J mommy (Jun 21, 2021)

Passepartout said:


> Yup. Just stop paying. You won't get any refund of what you spent, but there is no deed to foreclose, it's just a vacation club and the only hold they have on you is to cancel- which is what you want anyway. You might get some letters or collection calls but they have no 'teeth'. All bark, no bite.
> 
> Jim


can they sue you or put a lien on your house? i'm asking because i'm in the same situation and i'm in California.  I got a letter from them with the added late fee already.


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## bogey21 (Jun 21, 2021)

Blue_sparrow said:


> my husband called the Visa people and they said they would stop the payments but that they'd still have to talk with the vacation club



Visa payments?  If you have given Occidental permission to charge your Visa Account, you might want to consider closing that Visa Account and opening a new one...

George


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## Passepartout (Jun 21, 2021)

J mommy said:


> can they sue you or put a lien on your house? i'm asking because i'm in the same situation and i'm in California.  I got a letter from them with the added late fee already.


They are many, many, many steps from any legal or judicial remedy. Late fees only apply if you want to reinstate your membership. If not, drop the letter in the trash.


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## J mommy (Dec 11, 2021)

Passepartout said:


> Yup. Just stop paying. You won't get any refund of what you spent, but there is no deed to foreclose, it's just a vacation club and the only hold they have on you is to cancel- which is what you want anyway. You might get some letters or collection calls but they have no 'teeth'. All bark, no bite.
> 
> Jim


I'm actually in the same situation, I paid off already, now just paying for the maintenance, I stopped payments last year as I took advice from this forum that's ok however I've been receiving letters and tons of phone calls, I dont know how they got my other phone number, but they called my mom's house too. I'm panicking. Any advice?


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## Nowaker (Dec 11, 2021)

J mommy said:


> I'm actually in the same situation, I paid off already, now just paying for the maintenance, I stopped payments last year as I took advice from this forum that's ok however I've been receiving letters and tons of phone calls, I dont know how they got my other phone number, but they called my mom's house too. I'm panicking. Any advice?



Hang up & block the number. Shred mail.


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## Passepartout (Dec 11, 2021)

J mommy said:


> I'm actually in the same situation, I paid off already, now just paying for the maintenance, I stopped payments last year as I took advice from this forum that's ok however I've been receiving letters and tons of phone calls, I dont know how they got my other phone number, but they called my mom's house too. I'm panicking. Any advice?


Use caller ID. Don't answer/block the calls. There is nothing they can do. You CAN write them and tell them to cease ALL contact except US Mail.


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## theo (Dec 13, 2021)

J mommy said:


> I paid off already, now just paying for the maintenance, I stopped payments last year as I took advice from this forum that's ok however I've been receiving letters and tons of phone calls, I dont know how they got my other phone number, but they called my mom's house too. I'm panicking. Any advice?



No cause for panic. It's likely that your account was turned over to a collection agency. Those people are essentially powerless, but nonetheless highly motivated since they get a "piece" of whatever they can cajole or otherwise convince you to pay (that's why / how they located different contact avenues to reach you).  Just ignore them.  Don't answer their calls, don't respond to any correspondence from them. At some point they will realize and accept that their collection efforts are in vain and their efforts will cease.


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## forest2023 (Apr 17, 2022)

Blue_sparrow said:


> Hello I am super new to TUG and this is my first time posting, I came here because of a suggestion from a friendly reddit user actually. Ok so me and my husband are Canadian, we were in Mexico before Covid hit North America and we got sucked into buying an Occidental vacation club membership. We no longer can afford/want our membership/timeshare and I have had a few people tell me to just stop paying and that the worst that will happen is the credit people will call us randomly and we might get a bad credit score in the USA(we're  Canadian so that's not something I am worried about). Is this the best route to go? Thanks to everyone for your time taken to read this and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!


Any new feedback on this situation?


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## TheTimeTraveler (Apr 17, 2022)

forest2023 said:


> Any new feedback on this situation?




Blue_sparrow hasn't been around since October 11th, 2020 so it's likely you will have to draw your own conclusions.



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