Will Legal Action Help Me Get Rid of my TS?

[prosam]

Hi Everyone,
First time here. Hope I am posting this in the right forum.

Not sure about anyone else but I feel like I was duped into getting my timeshare at Westgate Lakes in Orlando. They set us up but I won't go into detail. I just want to get rid of it. I feel this crazy burden on my shoulders and it's really depressing me.

A friend of mine who used to be a paralegal seems to think I can threaten legal action and they will buy it back. Give me my money back.

Is this true? Has anyone ever done this?

If not true what is the best way to get my money back? I really do feel like I was duped. Do I have any legal recourse or do I just get rid of it on Ebay/Craigslist or transfer it to another TUG user?

Just trying to figure out my options. I would love to get my money back but if I can't just getting rid of the monthly payment and yearly maintenance fees would be great.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

 

[DeniseM]

Since you signed a contract when you bought your timeshare, and Westgate has a lot of smart lawyers to make it very difficult to get out of your contract, it is very unlikely that a lawsuit, or the threat of one will have any impact.

When you bought, you probably were lied to, but that contract you signed has a clause in it that states that verbal promises are not binding, and only the terms stated in the contract are valid.

Unfortunately, Westgate timeshares (like most timeshares) have no resale value.

If it isn't paid off, you have 2 options:

-Offer it back to Westgate in lieu of foreclosure.

-If they don't take it back, stop making payments and let it go into foreclosure.

If it goes into foreclosure, it won't be pleasant, but eventually (may take many months) they will take it back. In the meantime, you would probably be harassed by debt collectors to see if they can motivate you to pay, and it may ding your credit.

But after you stop paying for several months, they will give up on you, foreclose, and your ownership will end.

If you already have bad credit, or don't care about your credit, this is a viable option.

 

[prosam]

Thank you for the quick reply Denise.

It is not paid off. I just got it in February.

If I offer it back what does that entail? Do I need to pay anything?

If it goes into foreclosure will it effect me negatively? It's in Orlando and I live in Mass. I assume that it will affect my credit will it not? I have great credit BTW.

 

[DeniseM]

This is a different company, but here is a recent thread about what one owner went through when they decided to offer their deed back in lieu of foreclosure, it was refused, and they went into foreclosure.

It may or may not impact your credit - there is really no way to know. Westgate is likely to threaten you with a ding on your credit, but no way to know if that is true or not.

This is the most likely scenario in your case. Westgate doesn't want the deed back - they want you to keep paying.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231584&highlight=foreclosure

 

[prosam]

Again, thank you for the help. I think I'll just let it go into foreclosure.

Now what to do with the close to $900 I owe the Westgate Mastercard. All the monthly payments where being billed there. Big mistake. I forgot about it and the 274 per month just added up quick. SMDH

I wonder if I should let that go into collections as well.

 

[DeniseM]

You need to cancel the credit card, or they will keep charging more payments to it.

You will have to notify the credit card in writing that you are going into foreclosure on the timeshare, and you want to cancel the credit card.

 

[prosam]

I have already removed it as the form of payment. They cannot charge anything to it. It works as a separate form of payment. I can use it for anything I want not just Westgate.

 

[DeniseM]

I think the credit card is far more likely to ding your credit, than Westgate. If it is feasible for you, you may want to pay off the credit card.

 

[prosam]

I think the credit card is far more likely to ding your credit, than Westgate. If it is feasible for you, you may want to pay off the credit card.

I think so too. I might just pay it off. Should take about a year if I pay 75/month

I think I can swing that.

You are awesome Denise. Thank you so much for your help and advice. Very much appreciated.

 

[theo]

I have already removed it as the form of payment. They cannot charge anything to it. It works as a separate form of payment. I can use it for anything I want not just Westgate.

I would recommend canceling the credit card outright (ASAP after getting its' outstanding balance paid off in full). Frankly, I wouldn't put anything past Westgate as far as your stated (but perhaps unfounded) belief that they can't or won't attempt to make future charges to it.

P.S. There is really no "legal action" that you can take that would have any prospect of success, so don't go down that rabbit hole. You freely and voluntarily entered into a lawful contract (albeit a contract with deceitful parasites), but you can rest assured that none of their assorted oral lies or misrepresentations can be found in writing anywhere, so you essentially have no substantive basis on which to initiate or support any (expensive) "legal action". Bear in mind, Westgate has lawyers too...

 

[prosam]

I would recommend canceling the credit card outright (after getting its' outstanding balance paid off in full). Frankly, I wouldn't put anything past Westgate as far as your stated belief that they can't or won't attempt to make future charges to it.

P.S. There is no "legal action" that you can possibly take that would have any prospect of success, so don't go down that rabbitt hole. You freely and voluntarily entered into a contract (albeit a contract with lying parasites), but you can rest assured that none of their assorted oral lies or misrepresentationsare going to be found in writing anywhere, so you essentially have no substantive basis on which to initiate or support any (expensive) "legal action". Bear in mind, Westgate has lawyers too...

Thank you for the tip Theo. 7 months later I'm still beating myself up over allowing this to happen. I really went into the presentation with all the intention to say no thank you but that did not happen. So disappointed in myself.

 

[theo]

Thank you for the tip Theo. 7 months later I'm still beating myself up over allowing this to happen. I really went into the presentation with all the intention to say no thank you but that did not happen. So disappointed in myself.

There is no percentage in beating yourself up; we all make mistakes. Do your best to just put it all in the rear view mirror, with a valuable lesson learned.

 

[taterhed]

What ever you do....

don't fall for any schemes that promise to get rid of your timeshare....and ask for money up front. It's a scam.

Lawyers that promise the same...will likely bill you but rarely help you.

 

[Passepartout]

I'd also make a small unspecified wager that Wastegate has been paid in full, and your indebtedness is to a financing company, which may or may not be Wastegate.

If you choose to allow it to go to foreclosure, write to Member Services at the Corporate Offices in Ocoee Fl, and offer them the deed in lieu of foreclosure. Tell them that you are not in any financial condition to service this debt (or any other excuse you can think of- death in the family, job loss, illness, whatever) and they won't get another cent from you. It may take a while of them not seeing anything from you, but eventually they'll catch on. Foreclosure costs them in legal fees, and during the run-up they are making nothing and can't re-sell your week. If you make it attractive for them to take a quit-claim from you, they might just go for it without dinging your credit.

Best wishes, and keep us informed. We always like to hear success stories, and it must happen often enough that darn few come back to teell us.

Jim

 

[gmarine]

BEFORE you let it go into foreclosure contact WG and do what Jim says in the above post. They may offer you a way out, of course with a cost to you.

If you default on the loan payments it will almost certainly negatively affect your credit. Defaulting on maintenance fee payments often will not affect your credit because HOAs dont always report it but you can be pretty sure the finance company will report the non payment of the loan to the credit bureaus.

Good luck, hope you can work something out with WG.

 

[Pmuppet]

I think they did a documentary on west gate timeshares so u might want to watch it on Netflix to get an idea of the kind of scum u r dealing with.

As Dave Ramsey would say, this is stupid tax and you get the the pleasure of paying it. Don't worry, everyone pays it the only goal is to minimize your annual stupid tax bill...lol

You are getting good advice as far as I can tell. I would just assume everything you have spent so far as gone and don't spend good money chasing bad money. Because Westgate will fight you till you are bankrupt to win because their entire business model is based on these types of transactions.

Your best case is make it clear they aren't getting any more money and you are willing to work with them to make this go away positively. That is, they can spend $1000-$2000 to take the deed back from you via foreclosure, dinging your credit, harassing you within the bounds of the law.

Or, you will give them $1000-$2000 to resolve this issue and they don't sing your credit, complete a deed in lieu of foreclosure, and all future liability is forgiven (in writing) and no harassing calls.

It will take you a long time to get to that as they will try to pressure you to keep the agreed upon deal cause that is the most lucrative scenario for them.

But if u can convince them they have only those two options (and we are talking months here), they will likely settle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[theo]

I think they did a documentary on west gate timeshares so u might want to watch it on Netflix to get an idea of the kind of scum u r dealing with. <snip>

The documentary to which you refer (entitled Queen of Versailles) doesn't really include much reference to (or much if any useful information about) Westgate.
It is really more about the life of opulence and excess led by Westgate CEO David Siegel and his wife and offspring.

That observation aside, it is nonetheless a good idea to stay far, far away from the slimy likes of Westgate and, if already in their clutches, to do anything and everything possible to permanently escape that unfortunate stranglehold.

 

[Ty1on]

The documentary to which you refer (entitled Queen of Versaiiles) doesn't really include much reference to (or much if any useful information about) Westgate. It is really more about the life of opulence and excess led by Westgate CEO David Siegel and his wife and offspring.

While this is largely true, my favorite part was when Siegel's son instructed salesmen to lie to their victims and tell them the salemen are owners. I bet PR cringed on that one. Or didn't care.

 

[prosam]

Thanks for all the help guys. You are amazing.

Are there templates available for this "deed in lieu of foreclosure"?

I will definitely check out that documentary. I can't believe I fell for it. I thought I was smarter than that. Or is it these guys are so good they can fool anybody?

 

[prosam]

If you choose to allow it to go to foreclosure, write to Member Services at the Corporate Offices in Ocoee Fl, and offer them the deed in lieu of foreclosure.

Jim,
their site is saying their address is:

Central Florida Investments, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
5601 Windhover Dr.
Orlando, Florida 32819

 

[theo]

Jim,
their site is saying their address is:

Central Florida Investments, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters
5601 Windhover Dr.
Orlando, Florida 32819

If you were within the contract rescission time period (which you clearly are not), the address to which you would mail that rescission would in fact be:

Westgate Resorts
2801 Winter Garden Road
Ocoee, FL. 34761

There is no harm in sending your written "deedback" request to both addresses, but in any case do not make any worthless, unproductive phone calls to Wastegate, only to receive canned and rehearsed responses from unauthorized low level minions who actually have no involvement or authority in any "deedback" decision anyhow.

Sales weasels are very proficient and very experienced in sales psychology, overcoming objections, establishing "rapport", overstating the product benefits --- and outright lying, whenever necessary, in order to "seal the deal". You were essentially a well intentioned but perhaps somewhat naive baitfish voluntarily jumping into a tank of very hungry sharks, regardless of your intellect or original intentions. Those highly motivated parasites sell for a living --- if they don't sell, they don't eat.

 

[prosam]

If you were within the rescission time period (which you clearly are not), the address to which you would mail that rescission would in fact be:

Westgate Resorts
2801 Winter Garden Road
Ocoee, FL. 34761

Of course, there is certainly no harm in sending your "deedback" request to both addresses, but in any case do not make any phone calls only to receive canned responses from unauthorized low level minions.

Sales weasels are very proficient and very experienced in sales psychology, overcoming any objections, overstating the product benefits --- and outright lying, whenever necessary, in order to "seal the deal". You were essentially a well intentioned but somewhat naive baitfish voluntarily jumping into a tank of very hungry sharks, regardless of your intellect or original intentions. Remember, those parasites sell for a living --- if they don't sell, they don't eat.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, is there certain words I should say? Is there a template about how to ask for the deedback?

I have no idea

 

[prosam]

If I site financial hardship, or death in family, or illness, as the reason for the request will they ask for proof of these things?

 

[theo]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, is there certain words I should say? Is there a template about how to ask for the deedback?

I have no idea

There is no "template", but suggested concepts and positions that you presumably seek to convey are:

1. Your purchase was a hasty decision which you now regret and view as a mistake. You deeply regret not having rescinded while you were still within the time period provided by state law to do so.

2. You are not going to pay any more money (if that is, in fact, your position) to perpetuate your mistake, so Westgate acceptance of "deedback" will make foreclosure (which costs Westgate time, effort and money) unnecessary.

That's about it. They might very well still decline, but you cannot / will not know unless you ask (in writing, clearly identifying your account, purchase date and location).

Good luck; you will need plenty in dealing with these slimy parasites.

P.S. I do not suggest or recommend fabricating any "heartstring" stories or tall tales; Westgate doesn't (and won't) care anyhow. Tell the truth and make it very clear that you believe that you made a serious mistake and are not going to pay another dime (if that is indeed your intent and position at this point) to perpetuate that unfortunate mistake.

Understand very clearly that there may be negative credit report consequences for defaulting if they decline to accept "deedback". It's entirely your personal decision to make whether those potential negative consequences outweigh the benefit of not spending any more money on (from a resale view) a nearly worthless "product".

 

[prosam]

You deeply regret not having rescinded while still within the time period provided by state law to do so.

I had no idea this was a thing. If I had I would have done so. I regretted the decision immediately upon returning home.