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[ 2019 ] What about foreclosure?

awa

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I’m just curious about this after seeing that Transitions is $1000/contract now. Has anyone just stopped paying the maintenance fees and let Diamond foreclose? I suppose someone who did that may not have much occasion to hang out on TUG but I thought I would ask. I’m curious how many years they let go by and how damaging it actually is to your credit rating. We have 7 paid off contracts and don’t intend to stop using them soon, but there seems to be a pretty clear trend of declining benefits and I suspect that soon we won’t think the MFs are worth it anymore. If we don’t need credit for any major purchases coming up... why not?
 

OldGuy

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It would be nice if people would post what the hit on their credit is . . . . since that has been speculated about since just before dirt.
 

Passepartout

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Everyone's situation is different. Some people- or their estate after they pass, might want to have their affairs 'in order'. If you are through traveling, and want to just stop paying MFs, why not give 'em away. Re-home them. List them fir free in Bargain Deals or Craig's List. This probably doesn't answer the OP's question, but it's my feelings on the subject. When you default, someone has to pay to keep the resorts maintained, and attractive. What is contemplated here is not fair to the rest of the owners.

My usual $.02 worth.

Jim
 

awa

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We own points in a trust. It’s not some small resort with only a few owners to share the burden of unforeseen expenses. And it wouldn’t be a surprise to them. I’d offer them $250/contract to take them back, like it used to cost. $7000 to take them back is ridiculous. This is a case where they’ve identified a way to gouge people with no consequences.

Besides, I’m sure their confident sales force could resell them in no time.
 

Grammarhero

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We own points in a trust. It’s not some small resort with only a few owners to share the burden of unforeseen expenses. And it wouldn’t be a surprise to them. I’d offer them $250/contract to take them back, like it used to cost. $7000 to take them back is ridiculous. This is a case where they’ve identified a way to gouge people with no consequences.

Besides, I’m sure their confident sales force could resell them in no time.

Up to you. No one can accurately predict what the resort will do. However, if the resort forecloses, they have a right to report such to the three credit agencies. I understand you may not even need credit soon, so that might be your leverage.

Whether the TS go through with the hassle is another story. Depends how diligent or lazy the TS default processor is.


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WVBaker

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Also keep in mind how a change in your credit standing may affect you now.

"Employers in most states have the right to run credit reports (the document that's reflected in your credit score) on their prospective employees. The version of the report presented to employers is not exactly the same that a lender would see, but it can still bring major red flags to light. According to LearnVest, "47% of employers run credit checks on job candidates primarily to reduce the potential for theft and embezzlement, reduce liability for negligent hiring, and assess trustworthiness."


This is especially important in high-stakes jobs that require a lot of responsibility or deal with a lot of money, like positions in banking or government, but it can play an important role in an employer’s opinion of you for any position. People will always disagree whether or not it’s fair to consider an employee's credit report however, truth of the matter is that many do. A foreclosure will affect your credit score and if your credit is less than stellar, it may just keep you from getting that dream job.


"When you have a low credit score that denotes a spotty credit history, lenders can decrease your limit if you do not make your payments on time. They could also decline your request for a credit line increase or lower APR on an existing card, Credit.com reports."

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-your-credit-score-can-impact-your-life-2016-5#-5


Also, if you think may refinance your home loan, should you have one, you may not get the best interest rate? What if interest rates drop significantly in the future, and you decide you’d like to refinance?

Just some things to keep in mind. :ponder:
 

Passepartout

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I think the OP is wanting somebody- ANYBODY- to give a decision he's already made validity. It isn't coming from here. Not when it's so easy to give away timeshares.

Jim
 

clifffaith

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I think the OP is wanting somebody- ANYBODY- to give a decision he's already made validity. It isn't coming from here. Not when it's so easy to give away timeshares.

Jim

But is it easy to give away Diàmond? Then the new owner can't use Transitions to get out because Transitions claims not to be available to resale contracts. They'd also need to find someone to give it to. Anyone know how much the transfer of ownership fee is?
 

Grammarhero

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But is it easy to give away Diàmond? Then the new owner can't use Transitions to get out because Transitions claims not to be available to resale contracts. They'd also need to find someone to give it to. Anyone know how much the transfer of ownership fee is?

I just bought a diamond. Transfer fee is $300.


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awa

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I think the OP is wanting somebody- ANYBODY- to give a decision he's already made validity. It isn't coming from here. Not when it's so easy to give away timeshares.

Jim
Your assessment is incorrect, actually. I said we are going to keep using our membership for awhile. OP is a she, btw. And if you think it’s easy to give away a 4000 point contract in the US collection, then you haven’t looked recently. I just asked the question to gather data for a future decision that becomes more and more likely as the benefits continue to get stripped away. I just wanted to see what people had to say about it and maybe connect with someone who had done it. I appreciate all contributions to the conversation.
 

awa

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But is it easy to give away Diàmond? Then the new owner can't use Transitions to get out because Transitions claims not to be available to resale contracts. They'd also need to find someone to give it to. Anyone know how much the transfer of ownership fee is?
Very good point. Three of our contracts are resale. I’d definitely try to give them away first and pay the $300. But if there are no takers then I’m wondering what comes next.
 

Grammarhero

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Very good point. Three of our contracts are resale. I’d definitely try to give them away first and pay the $300. But if there are no takers then I’m wondering what comes next.

What DRI TS do you have?


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awa

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I'm just tickled pink that it has suddenly become easy to give away timeshares. Wouldn't you know it, just after I spent ten years trying to give away 6 of ours!

:banana:

LOL
If only you had waited until July 2019...
 

Egret1986

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For anyone needing an estoppel from Diamond to give away or sell their contracts, think ahead and request it now. At one time they indicated 7-10 days to get one. My most recent request took 3 months and I had to keep checking on it. I decided to go ahead and order estoppels for my remaining contracts. The reason for the wait? Heavy volumes. Maybe that's due to the Transitions program and the flood gates opening for owners wanting out, when the idea of giving these things away doesn't pan out. No matter what some say, not all timeshares can be given away. That's the standard suggestion when folks start talking about walking away from their never-ending obligation. Diamond saw another money-making opportunity. Why should the exit companies get all that cash? Diamond started charging $250, then $750 and now $1000 per contract. This has been in a fairly short span of time. What might it be by next year? Charge what the market will bare, right? Remember, Diamond has to agree to take your contract back; it's not a given. So before you find that person to take your "free" contract, you better have that estoppel in hand or they may rethink things and walk away before Diamond sends it to you.
 

awa

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For anyone needing an estoppel from Diamond to give away or sell their contracts, think ahead and request it now

Holy cow, this is exactly the kind of info I was hoping for! Would you mind explaining to someone with no legal experience what that means? That’s a document that serves what purpose in the transaction? They don’t need to be dated within any particular time period before the change in ownership happens? How do you request them from Diamond? Thanks so much for posting!
 

artringwald

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Holy cow, this is exactly the kind of info I was hoping for! Would you mind explaining to someone with no legal experience what that means? That’s a document that serves what purpose in the transaction? They don’t need to be dated within any particular time period before the change in ownership happens? How do you request them from Diamond? Thanks so much for posting!

A seller needs to request an Estoppel letter from the resort in order to show the current status of the timeshare, points, usage availability and that there are no outstanding fees/loans. You can obtain this for free by contacting Diamond Resorts at: estoppelprocessing@diamondresorts.com You will need to provide them with your member ID number and resort information to request this information.
 

awa

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A seller needs to request an Estoppel letter from the resort in order to show the current status of the timeshare, points, usage availability and that there are no outstanding fees/loans.

Thanks! So if I order them in 2019 to show the above but I don’t try to give the contracts away until 2021 (or whenever), will I need a new letter showing that MFs were paid in 2020 and 2021, etc. or will they just use the 2019 letter for loan and usage info and verify MFs with a phone call or something?
 

artringwald

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Thanks! So if I order them in 2019 to show the above but I don’t try to give the contracts away until 2021 (or whenever), will I need a new letter showing that MFs were paid in 2020 and 2021, etc. or will they just use the 2019 letter for loan and usage info and verify MFs with a phone call or something?

You need to ask for one each year. I don't know if it's the same for all timeshare companies, but DRI won't let buyers assume the loan. The loan must be paid in full before the transfer.
 

Xolodno

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I’m just curious about this after seeing that Transitions is $1000/contract now. Has anyone just stopped paying the maintenance fees and let Diamond foreclose? I suppose someone who did that may not have much occasion to hang out on TUG but I thought I would ask. I’m curious how many years they let go by and how damaging it actually is to your credit rating. We have 7 paid off contracts and don’t intend to stop using them soon, but there seems to be a pretty clear trend of declining benefits and I suspect that soon we won’t think the MFs are worth it anymore. If we don’t need credit for any major purchases coming up... why not?


I'll tell you my experience. I had 10k in points, completely paid for, but bought them way below what they are selling them for now. So long story short, wife had serious medical issues, my father passed and left my mother essentially homeless, etc. Long story short, bought a place super cheap for her, took a hard hit on my credit. No way in hell I was going to make the 2k payment in time. I called DRI (when Cloobeck ran it) and explained the situation and told the agent I could make the full payment with late fee's once I got my bonus in spring. He explained that I could post date the payment and avoid the late fee's, I was thankful. I also told him that given the circumstances, I'm probably going to be late for a couple of years. He stated he didn't see a problem with that and just call if I couldn't make it by the due date. One problem solved...so I thought....

Next year, still trying to keep the screws down, with both my wife's and mothers health. Again, wasn't going to make the MF payment until spring. So I called, like I was instructed...and the agent said they could not do that (Cloobeck was pretty much out of power by this point). So he referred me to the manager....that bitch was giddy with the fact that I might lose my timeshare. I made the payment in spring with the late fee's...and they hit my credit report on one of the companies.

But something happened shortly after that, I got a promotion with a huge pay raise, my Mom was taken care of and my wife was well. So we decided, to "go for it" and take that European Vacation. But when I was looking at booking the DRI resort near Paris...noticed the obscene point cost. Points to dollars, it was about $1200....yet Interval had the week for $450 in January. I booked through Interval....and I was pissed, fyi, this was in May. Fast forward to September, we were staying at the Polo Towers for the weekend....and gave in to the "Owners Update". Said "no" to everything...then the closing manager came by and said "Well, if you buy the Sampler, we will waive your Maintenance Fee's for next year". I inquired the price, surprise, surprise, it was the same price as the MF's, but slightly higher. And as someone who works in Marketing Analytics, seemed plausible, they were on the hook for the MF's already. So I make payments with interest, slightly higher than my MF's while trying to sucker me into buying more later via hard sell. I get it, I'm still paying for the MF's in a round about way, but also subsidizing their cost a little. Make's sense to me. On top of that, the Sales Manger stated that I will get a MF bill, but to just ignore it as it's pre-programmed into their system.

I really underestimated their greed....

So I had the cash on hand to pay for the maintenance fee's on time for the first time in two years. But since it wasn't all "due at once" being waived and in the form of payments of the sampler, decided to splurge a bit while in Europe. And we had an awesome time...and used Interval the whole time as DRI points didn't make any economical sense.

So, we get back home. And about late February, given the threatening notices...I call DRI. Long story short, Sales Manager was fired, and MF's would not be waived AND I was still required to pay the MF's with late fee's. I had one thing on them....the Sales Manager wrote the MF's waiver on paper...and texted me the guarantee, which I kept. In this rare case, I got my money back on the Sampler. But it was too late....

I had spent the money for the MF's already on a false pretense. My patience had come to an end. Given the false assurance from the Sales Manager, the cost per point on a off season vacation and the rude manger who was all to happy to wish me misery....I had enough. No point in throwing good money after bad...even if I do take a hit on my credit report....which I was prepared to challenge.

I emailed DRI, given the circumstances (mentioned above), I would not make any MF's.

I got one email that someone would reach out to me. We got one message on our phone from a rep from DRI....I didn't return the call. I wanted to see if they would make more attempts...they didn't. End of story, I logged into my account on DRI, and it said I no longer had a membership. No hits to my credit report (aside from what I mentioned above).

But what's weird, they are still paying for my II membership. but have not used it. I have bought Worldmark on Ebay since then for less than the MF's for DRI...and we are enjoying it. I think about buying DRI on Ebay every once in awhile, because I do like some of the resorts...but then I see the price of MF's for 5k points...and it brings me back to my senses.
 

Grammarhero

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I'll tell you my experience. I had 10k in points, completely paid for, but bought them way below what they are selling them for now. So long story short, wife had serious medical issues, my father passed and left my mother essentially homeless, etc. Long story short, bought a place super cheap for her, took a hard hit on my credit. No way in hell I was going to make the 2k payment in time. I called DRI (when Cloobeck ran it) and explained the situation and told the agent I could make the full payment with late fee's once I got my bonus in spring. He explained that I could post date the payment and avoid the late fee's, I was thankful. I also told him that given the circumstances, I'm probably going to be late for a couple of years. He stated he didn't see a problem with that and just call if I couldn't make it by the due date. One problem solved...so I thought....

Next year, still trying to keep the screws down, with both my wife's and mothers health. Again, wasn't going to make the MF payment until spring. So I called, like I was instructed...and the agent said they could not do that (Cloobeck was pretty much out of power by this point). So he referred me to the manager....that bitch was giddy with the fact that I might lose my timeshare. I made the payment in spring with the late fee's...and they hit my credit report on one of the companies.

But something happened shortly after that, I got a promotion with a huge pay raise, my Mom was taken care of and my wife was well. So we decided, to "go for it" and take that European Vacation. But when I was looking at booking the DRI resort near Paris...noticed the obscene point cost. Points to dollars, it was about $1200....yet Interval had the week for $450 in January. I booked through Interval....and I was pissed, fyi, this was in May. Fast forward to September, we were staying at the Polo Towers for the weekend....and gave in to the "Owners Update". Said "no" to everything...then the closing manager came by and said "Well, if you buy the Sampler, we will waive your Maintenance Fee's for next year". I inquired the price, surprise, surprise, it was the same price as the MF's, but slightly higher. And as someone who works in Marketing Analytics, seemed plausible, they were on the hook for the MF's already. So I make payments with interest, slightly higher than my MF's while trying to sucker me into buying more later via hard sell. I get it, I'm still paying for the MF's in a round about way, but also subsidizing their cost a little. Make's sense to me. On top of that, the Sales Manger stated that I will get a MF bill, but to just ignore it as it's pre-programmed into their system.

I really underestimated their greed....

So I had the cash on hand to pay for the maintenance fee's on time for the first time in two years. But since it wasn't all "due at once" being waived and in the form of payments of the sampler, decided to splurge a bit while in Europe. And we had an awesome time...and used Interval the whole time as DRI points didn't make any economical sense.

So, we get back home. And about late February, given the threatening notices...I call DRI. Long story short, Sales Manager was fired, and MF's would not be waived AND I was still required to pay the MF's with late fee's. I had one thing on them....the Sales Manager wrote the MF's waiver on paper...and texted me the guarantee, which I kept. In this rare case, I got my money back on the Sampler. But it was too late....

I had spent the money for the MF's already on a false pretense. My patience had come to an end. Given the false assurance from the Sales Manager, the cost per point on a off season vacation and the rude manger who was all to happy to wish me misery....I had enough. No point in throwing good money after bad...even if I do take a hit on my credit report....which I was prepared to challenge.

I emailed DRI, given the circumstances (mentioned above), I would not make any MF's.

I got one email that someone would reach out to me. We got one message on our phone from a rep from DRI....I didn't return the call. I wanted to see if they would make more attempts...they didn't. End of story, I logged into my account on DRI, and it said I no longer had a membership. No hits to my credit report (aside from what I mentioned above).

But what's weird, they are still paying for my II membership. but have not used it. I have bought Worldmark on Ebay since then for less than the MF's for DRI...and we are enjoying it. I think about buying DRI on Ebay every once in awhile, because I do like some of the resorts...but then I see the price of MF's for 5k points...and it brings me back to my senses.

Sorry for what you went through. Thanks for sharing. Your story will be helpful for other DRI TS owners.
 

chemteach

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For those posters who think giving away a DRI timeshare is easy, please do your homework. I have watched eBay auctions over the past few years. DRI US Collections don't sell. Not even when current year maintenance fees are paid and the current use year is free to the buyer. DRI deeds/collection ownerships are VERY Difficult to get rid of.
 
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