How bad are the consequences for not paying maintenance fees?

[Cuch201]

I am trying to get out of my current Bluegreen ownership because it no longer makes financial sense for me to keep it. I spoke with their customer service department that handles the Responsible Exit program, and it will cost me over $7000 for their "exit fee". I tried various strategies I've read about on the internet for getting them to offer another option, but nothing worked. I need out, and preferably very quickly.

I have done a lot of research on exiting timeshares. I know what they could do if I stop paying maintenance fees permanently (collections, credit hit, foreclosure, etc.). I also know what they cannot do to me (lien on other property, go after family). What I am having trouble finding out is how bad those consequences are and if/when they would happen. Depending on how big the credit hit is and when it would happen, I'd absolutely prefer that to paying them any more money.

My situation:
I am not using my points, and will probably never be able to use them again.
I have 23,000 points spread between 5 individual deeds.
All loans/mortgages are paid off. The only thing I owe going forward is maintenance fees.
My maintenance fees ($2900) are due in 30 days.
I am buying a house this year and I need to keep my credit score intact until I lock in the mortgage.

If anyone could offer any insight on what other people have experienced when they stopped paying, or advice on alternative exit strategies (no "relief" scams, please), I would really appreciate it!

 

[jp10558]

I'd suggest a couple things - pay these MF this year to protect your credit for the house purchase.

Then I'd also take this year to see if you can give away the bluegreen deeds (probably one by one) on the free timeshares forum here on TUG. https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/free-timeshares.55/ Make sure to follow the instructions there for the post.

If you can give them away (you can list multiple in one post, look at the Wyndham post by Rickandcindy for an example of how to do it effectively) then you're set. Even if not all go, each one you pass on lowers your MF so you can reconsider the financial aspect if you get down to one or two deeds - MFs on that might be sub $1k and IDK, that's a different decision than ~$3k IMHO.

Also, if you end up defaulting next year, the smaller amount pretty much will be less of a potential credit hit.

I'll also say that passing the TS on can help the buyer too - keep it away from overpriced developer sales IMO.

In preparing for potential default - look at the TUG forums - there are some threads on what happens, and frequently nothing happens or they after a couple years offer a deedback in lieu of foreclosure.

 

[Cuch201]

I'd suggest a couple things - pay these MF this year to protect your credit for the house purchase.

Then I'd also take this year to see if you can give away the bluegreen deeds (probably one by one) on the free timeshares forum here on TUG. https://tugbbs.com/forums/forums/free-timeshares.55/ Make sure to follow the instructions there for the post.

If you can give them away (you can list multiple in one post, look at the Wyndham post by Rickandcindy for an example of how to do it effectively) then you're set. Even if not all go, each one you pass on lowers your MF so you can reconsider the financial aspect if you get down to one or two deeds - MFs on that might be sub $1k and IDK, that's a different decision than ~$3k IMHO.

Also, if you end up defaulting next year, the smaller amount pretty much will be less of a potential credit hit.

I'll also say that passing the TS on can help the buyer too - keep it away from overpriced developer sales IMO.

In preparing for potential default - look at the TUG forums - there are some threads on what happens, and frequently nothing happens or they after a couple years offer a deedback in lieu of foreclosure.

Thanks for the advice! I will probably end up paying the MF this year because I can't risk it right now. Maybe I'll go through with it next year if I can't give my points away before then.

I've heard all the outcomes from no consequences to credit ruin and everything in between. I wasn't able to find anyone who stopped paying that was in my specific situation though (Bluegreen, no loan).

The customer service rep I talked to this morning told me they can send to collections after 3 months past due, but wouldn't say definitively whether or not they would. He also wouldn't say if it would automatically hit my credit report if they do go to collections. I even tried the angle of asking to save everyone time and hassle by just doing the foreclosure right away. He didn't go for it and probably flagged my account as a liability too.

 

[chriskre]

Thanks for the advice! I will probably end up paying the MF this year because I can't risk it right now. Maybe I'll go through with it next year if I can't give my points away before then.

I've heard all the outcomes from no consequences to credit ruin and everything in between. I wasn't able to find anyone who stopped paying that was in my specific situation though (Bluegreen, no loan).

The customer service rep I talked to this morning told me they can send to collections after 3 months past due, but wouldn't say definitively whether or not they would. He also wouldn't say if it would automatically hit my credit report if they do go to collections. I even tried the angle of asking to save everyone time and hassle by just doing the foreclosure right away. He didn't go for it and probably flagged my account as a liability too.

I am going on my 3rd year of letting my BG TS go. So far I refinanced my home loan and just bought a new Chevy. No impact on my credit score that I can tell and I don’t see the collection on my credit report. I was Tier 1 with the car loan.

All they do is send a statement every few months with the delinquency balance. No legal fees.

I own a resale legacy UDI that I got from BG HOA during the recession as a foreclosure.

Not sure if that makes a difference but this is not the first TS I let go without any consequences. I also let a Grandview go about 10 years ago. Nothing happened there either except they finally foreclosed after 5 years of calling me.

I am also in the process of letting two Vacatia managed properties go because of their ominous new policies. I will not be abused. I am much pickier about my portfolio now as I approach retirement.


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[Cuch201]

I am going on my 3rd year of letting my BG TS go. So far I refinanced my home loan and just bought a new Chevy. No impact on my credit score that I can tell and I don’t see the collection on my credit report. I was Tier 1 with the car loan.

All they do is send a statement every few months with the delinquency balance. No legal fees.

I own a resale legacy UDI that I got from BG HOA during the recession as a foreclosure.

Not sure if that makes a difference but this is not the first TS I let go without any consequences. I also let a Grandview go about 10 years ago. Nothing happened there either except they finally foreclosed after 5 years of calling me.

I am also in the process of letting two Vacatia managed properties go because of their ominous new policies. I will not be abused. I am much pickier about my portfolio now as I approach retirement.


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That sounds like my ideal exit situation. If you don't mind me asking, what were your yearly MF for the BG?

 

[chriskre]

North of $1500. Plus I had to pay $135 for each week I booked to use or deposit so I usually used the 4 that were allocated to my ownership so add another $500 to that for about $2000 a year. Actually not bad for 4 weeks a year if you want to just stay at the resort but I was exchanging so had to add my exchange expenses to that.
I was fine with it while I could rent it out but then BG decided we couldn’t do that anymore and locked me out of my account and II downgraded my trading power because the resort had a water infection that they let get out of hand.
Nobody wants to get legionella.
So for many reasons I am done with BG and I am not traveling as much as I was before. If I can’t rent it then they can have it.


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[chriskre]

If you are on Facebook, Scott Wilson helps owners sell their BG for free if you message him. A lot of people have said he has helped them. Unfortunately you have to be up to date with your MFs in order to sell so I wasn’t going to throw good money after bad just in case the big BG boogie man came after me.
When you are on social security you have protected income so they can’t get a judgement for a timeshare. It’s all bluffing but it’s very effective. Most pay til they die. I don’t get it. We are too honest I guess. The TS industry sure isn’t.


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[Cuch201]

If you are on Facebook, Scott Wilson helps owners sell their BG for free if you message him. A lot of people have said he has helped them. Unfortunately you have to be up to date with your MFs in order to sell so I wasn’t going to throw good money after bad just in case the big BG boogie man came after me.
When you are on social security you have protected income so they can’t get a judgement for a timeshare. It’s all bluffing but it’s very effective. Most pay til they die. I don’t get it. We are too honest I guess. The TS industry sure isn’t.


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Thanks! I'll look him up and see what he can offer.

 

[hcarman]

I think the answer to how long it takes for Bluegreen to take your unit for not paying maintenance fees has to do with how interested they are in your unit and do you have a valuable PUP week.

 

[pedro47]

I am going on my 3rd year of letting my BG TS go. So far I refinanced my home loan and just bought a new Chevy. No impact on my credit score that I can tell and I don’t see the collection on my credit report. I was Tier 1 with the car loan.

All they do is send a statement every few months with the delinquency balance. No legal fees.

I own a resale legacy UDI that I got from BG HOA during the recession as a foreclosure.

Not sure if that makes a difference but this is not the first TS I let go without any consequences. I also let a Grandview go about 10 years ago. Nothing happened there either except they finally foreclosed after 5 years of calling me.

I am also in the process of letting two Vacatia managed properties go because of their ominous new policies. I will not be abused. I am much pickier about my portfolio now as I approach retirement.


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Sounds liked the credit bureaus looks at timeshare defaults in a different manner.

 

[chriskre]

Sounds liked the credit bureaus looks at timeshare defaults in a different manner.

Maybe


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[hcarman]

I can tell you an experience we just had, which leads me to believe that with Bluegreen it is all about the PUP inventory you have attached to your deed, or as BG calls it "Owners Offering" or something like that, as to how willing they will be to take it back. We have owned for close to 20 years. We have always paid on time and were paid in full on everything. We decided recently to upgrade and consolidate our multiple accounts into one deed with PUP that we might actually use. We had heard when it comes time to get rid of it, that it might actually have some minimal value (this wasn't from sales - we have heard through other owners). So we had prime PUP. We had a really tough 6 months this past year as we had purchased a new home out of state and were in the process of selling our old and it fell through many times due to the buyers not getting financing - so saddled with double property taxes in high tax states and double insurance, we let BG know we might not be able to pay in full for a few months. So they had payment plans which we did. But one month we had too much on our plate (medical too) and my hubby called and offered partial - but that was no good. They said to pay in full the following month when the home sold. We did that immediately after. Come to find out that our contract had been terminated? What? There was a whole bunch of miscommunications involved - right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing type stuff. And pointing fingers at other sections. But they of course offered to reinstate and we confirmed the same inventory since it had been just two weeks apparently. Come to find out a month after confirming that and taking our payment - they gave us some "junk" PUP time - no longer consolidated, one day here and one day there. This is fine but if you bought to consolidate and bought to use PUP - not so fine. So morale of the story - they wanted our time. It was at one of the resorts that Hilton is most interested in. And they took it in less than 2 months. While others sit begging for them to take their inventory back. Don't remember whether I saw anything on the credit report or not - nothing major for sure. But that is our strange and frustrating (I am being politically correct) experience.