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Need Help: Cancel/Sell Timeshare

CCP

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HGVC Elara
My ex-husband and I bought our timeshare in July 2013, (it was 4 months after my father passed away) we never used it. After we divorced, I ended up with it and now I'm struggling to keep up with the monthly payments and yearly fee. We've never even been to the Vegas Elara. Is there any way I can get out of this?? I don't need to get money back, I just want to get rid of it. Any advice would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
 

brianfox

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Welcome.
From your post, it sounds like you still owe money on the purchase. If this is the case, then I'm afraid there is not much you can do to get the property off your hands. Once it is paid off, you can give it away (TUG has a bargain section where such ads can be placed for free). I don't know Hilton well enough (there are experts here, though), but some companies will allow you to pay them to buy back their own property - but only if it is fully paid off and you owe no outstanding fees. See this section of TUG regarding that. However, until then, since you have never even visited, why not rent out your week to at least offset the yearly fees? At a bare minimum, you should be doing that.

You also always have the option of stopping any further payments - which will result in harassing phone calls and ultimately damage to your credit history for a period of time. That is a personal decision you need to make based on how much is still owed.

Honestly, coming to TUG for advice was the wisest first step you could have made. One thing every person here will tell you - DO NOT deal with any company that promises to get you out of your timeshare contract. They are ALL scams, and will take your money and leave you worse than you are now. I don't care what guarantee they offer or how nice they sound. They are all scammers and should be avoided. If you are solicited by mail, email or phone by one of these companies, toss it. TUG is flush with threads started by people who were scammed by these companies. If you have the stomach for it. scan through some of these:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3

It may help to provide some additional information - unit size, view, week, etc so the value can be gauged (although I am betting the value is near $0). Also, if you don't mind, about how much is still owed?

Very sorry about your dilemma. Take some degree of comfort that you are certainly not alone.

-Brian
 
Last edited:

CCP

newbie
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Resorts Owned
HGVC Elara
Welcome.
From your post, it sounds like you still owe money on the purchase. If this is the case, then I'm afraid there is not much you can do to get the property off your hands. Once it is paid off, you can give it away (TUG has a bargain section where such ads can be placed for free). I don't know Hilton well enough (there are experts here, though), but some companies will allow you to pay them to buy back their own property - but only if it is fully paid off and you owe no outstanding fees. See this section of TUG regarding that. However, until then, since you have never even visited, why not rent out your week to at least offset the yearly fees? At a bare minimum, you should be doing that.

You also always have the option of stopping any further payments - which will result in harassing phone calls and ultimately damage to your credit history for a period of time. That is a personal decision you need to make based on how much is still owed.

Honestly, coming to TUG for advice was the wisest first step you could have made. One thing every person here will tell you - DO NOT deal with any company that promises to get you out of your timeshare contract. They are ALL scams, and will take your money and leave you worse than you are now. I don't care what guarantee they offer or how nice they sound. They are all scammers and should be avoided. If you are solicited by mail, email or phone by one of these companies, toss it. TUG is flush with threads started by people who were scammed by these companies. If you have the stomach for it. scan through some of these:
Thread 1
Thread 2
Thread 3

It may help to provide some additional information - unit size, view, week, etc so the value can be gauged (although I am betting the value is near $0). Also, if you don't mind, about how much is still owed?

Very sorry about your dilemma. Take some degree of comfort that you are certainly not alone.

-Brian
 

CCP

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HGVC Elara
Thanks for your reply Brian, I really appreciate it. I still owe $8300. I have not missed a payment, I do not mess with my credit, it's just a financial burden. My unit is a one bedroom at the Elara in Vegas. I receive 3400 points every even year/gold season, whatever that means. HGVC recommended that I try to refinance it for a lower payment, pay it off and try to resell it to their resale department. I called their number but they tell you to email them and they will get back to you within 16 days. That sounds promising, not.
I already made the mistake a couple of years ago of trying to sell it thru one of the "sellmytimeshare.com" websites that cost me about $500. Huge mistake. Then was also called by attorney's who claim they can get you out of the contracts for about $6,000!! Nope.
Honestly, I just feel like this whole thing was one big scam and we were caught during a very vulnerable time.
 

Passepartout

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You're kind of between the proverbial rock and hard place. Is the loan through HGVC or some other financing outfit. THAT's the key. I really think that you could do a hardship plea with HGVC- they don't want to ruin you, but a finance company might. $8300 is probably not worth taking a hit on your credit though it may not be that big a hit in the overall scheme of things. You know, every 'ding' on your credit report allows you to file a letter to rebut the credit ding. You may actually be looked upon favorably for a default of an impulsive timeshare purchase- though you're never going to see the 5 years of payments and down payment you made. 'Course that's already gone and do you really want to throw another $8300 with it?

I guess the question is what are you going to need really good credit for in the next 7-10 years? School? Car? House down payment? Can you make that purchase now? If you default (stop the financial bleeding), can you? I think you've got three choices. (1)Get a second job and pour all your effort into paying this loan off. (2)Default and take whatever comes- it may not be so bad. Or (3) If you have other significant loans and expenses, a bankruptcy can erase the timeshare bill and restructure other debt to give you a fresh start. Many people, post divorce, need to wipe the slate clean(er) and start over.

We wish you good luck!

Jim
 

Jan M.

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Wyndham Presidential Reserve at Panama City Beach
Club Wyndham Access
Grandview Las Vegas and Discovery Beach Resort - Both in RCI Points
Woodstone and Summit at Massanutten - Both in RCI weeks used as Wyndham PICs
The Elara is a hot property and I think you could easily rent there. I don't know about HGVC but if you have an underlying week that those points are based on or can book a good week, some resorts will handle renting for you. Of course they take a cut but they typically get more for the stay than individuals get for their rentals.

If you can book less than a full week look at the events taking place in Vegas and book those weekends. If there is a big fight or concert those weekends usually rent for more money. Long holiday weekends are also in higher demand. For full weeks March Madness weeks and holiday weeks are good.

Aren't you able to book other HGVC locations with your points? Casa Ybel on Sanibel Island, FL is always in high demand January-March. Same thing with the Plantation House at South Seas Resort on Captiva Island, FL. We've stayed at both and they are great. Haven't you taken a single vacation since 2013 that you could have used what you own? Spend a little time finding out more about what you own and how to use it.

Have you contacted the resort to see if they will take it back? It is a shame that after you've already paid so much that you have to walk away from everything you've paid so far.
 

brianfox

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I don't think the OP has any idea how to even use the resort if she wanted to.
She has been getting points deposited into her account, and I'm sure a good deal of them have expired.
One thing she needs is a very basic primer telling her what she even has.

CCP:
TUG has an entire section on Hilton.
I think that giving it two hours of your time, you can have a much better understanding of how the Hilton system works.
Two people have now told you that you can offset some of the financial pain with rental income.
You might have a lot of points in your account, which you could use to reserve a couple of very good weeks at in-demand resorts that you could rent out.
Might bring in a couple of thousand dollars or more if you seek some advice from other members. You can put that directly toward paying off the purchase.

When we read that you get 3400 every other year "whatever that means", we all cringe a bit.
Since you are paying so much, it behooves you to learn about it, because right now you are losing potential income from not using those points. They have value and they do expire.

Start with this thread
You will no doubt have questions.

Your goal should be:
1) Find out how many points you have (some have no doubt expired)
2) Know when the points you have expire
3) Post on the HGVC section that you have X points and want to know how to maximize those for renting
I don't know Hilton. Maybe you can rent the points directly to people. Maybe it's better to reserve weeks against those points and rent out the weeks.
At this point, you might have enough points to book a prime week in Hawaii and rent it out. Or two or three weeks in Las Vegas at the resort itself.

In any event, there is some lemonade to be squeezed from this lemon. Renting will take a bit of work, but everything worthwhile does.

EDIT: While you are looking up your points with HGVC, might want to triple check that your Ex is not on the deed or loan in any way. We are all assuming he is NOT on it - which places the financial burden in your lap. But who knows...
 
Last edited:

SmithOp

TUG Review Crew
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She has lost two use years of points (2014 and 2016).

The 3400 points for this year are still viable, and can be saved into 2019 for a small fee.

Learn to use what you own and refi the loan somehow, enjoy a vacation or rent one out. Hard to get a good week to book in gold season, finding a hot convention week might work, its a short hop on the monorail to the convention cener.

-or-

Stop making any more paymentsnd go in to default, long process. Your ex will have to be involved, a sure bet he’s still on the deed and the account.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

brianfox

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-or-

Stop making any more payments and go in to default, long process. Your ex will have to be involved, a sure bet he’s still on the deed and the account.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

If her Ex is still on the deed, going into default could land her in court.
Very important for her to know if he is on the deed, loan, or Hilton account.
If he's on the deed or loan, you may never be able to get rid of the property, but you could take him to court for his portion of the payments you made.
If he's on the Hilton account, you may not be able to even use your points without his buy in.

Best possible outcome: You check the deed and find out HIS name is the only one on it. It's a public record that anyone can check online.
 

dayooper

TUG Review Crew
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HGVC: The Flamingo, The Boulevard
If you are able to, the 4th of July is a gold week in Las Vegas. You should be able to rent that week out and get enough to cover your MF’s at least. Vegas puts on quite a show for the day and it’s pretty popular. It’s week 26. I’m sure there are Tuggers here who could assist in renting it out.
 

dayooper

TUG Review Crew
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Can a mod move this to the Hilton forum? That might get some more responses from long time Hilton members.
 

CCP

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HGVC Elara
You're kind of between the proverbial rock and hard place. Is the loan through HGVC or some other financing outfit. THAT's the key. I really think that you could do a hardship plea with HGVC- they don't want to ruin you, but a finance company might. $8300 is probably not worth taking a hit on your credit though it may not be that big a hit in the overall scheme of things. You know, every 'ding' on your credit report allows you to file a letter to rebut the credit ding. You may actually be looked upon favorably for a default of an impulsive timeshare purchase- though you're never going to see the 5 years of payments and down payment you made. 'Course that's already gone and do you really want to throw another $8300 with it?

I guess the question is what are you going to need really good credit for in the next 7-10 years? School? Car? House down payment? Can you make that purchase now? If you default (stop the financial bleeding), can you? I think you've got three choices. (1)Get a second job and pour all your effort into paying this loan off. (2)Default and take whatever comes- it may not be so bad. Or (3) If you have other significant loans and expenses, a bankruptcy can erase the timeshare bill and restructure other debt to give you a fresh start. Many people, post divorce, need to wipe the slate clean(er) and start over.

We wish you good luck!

Jim
I don't think the OP has any idea how to even use the resort if she wanted to.
She has been getting points deposited into her account, and I'm sure a good deal of them have expired.
One thing she needs is a very basic primer telling her what she even has.

CCP:
TUG has an entire section on Hilton.
I think that giving it two hours of your time, you can have a much better understanding of how the Hilton system works.
Two people have now told you that you can offset some of the financial pain with rental income.
You might have a lot of points in your account, which you could use to reserve a couple of very good weeks at in-demand resorts that you could rent out.
Might bring in a couple of thousand dollars or more if you seek some advice from other members. You can put that directly toward paying off the purchase.

When we read that you get 3400 every other year "whatever that means", we all cringe a bit.
Since you are paying so much, it behooves you to learn about it, because right now you are losing potential income from not using those points. They have value and they do expire.

Start with this thread
You will no doubt have questions.

Your goal should be:
1) Find out how many points you have (some have no doubt expired)
2) Know when the points you have expire
3) Post on the HGVC section that you have X points and want to know how to maximize those for renting
I don't know Hilton. Maybe you can rent the points directly to people. Maybe it's better to reserve weeks against those points and rent out the weeks.
At this point, you might have enough points to book a prime week in Hawaii and rent it out. Or two or three weeks in Las Vegas at the resort itself.

In any event, there is some lemonade to be squeezed from this lemon. Renting will take a bit of work, but everything worthwhile does.

EDIT: While you are looking up your points with HGVC, might want to triple check that your Ex is not on the deed or loan in any way. We are all assuming he is NOT on it - which places the financial burden in your lap. But who
You're kind of between the proverbial rock and hard place. Is the loan through HGVC or some other financing outfit. THAT's the key. I really think that you could do a hardship plea with HGVC- they don't want to ruin you, but a finance company might. $8300 is probably not worth taking a hit on your credit though it may not be that big a hit in the overall scheme of things. You know, every 'ding' on your credit report allows you to file a letter to rebut the credit ding. You may actually be looked upon favorably for a default of an impulsive timeshare purchase- though you're never going to see the 5 years of payments and down payment you made. 'Course that's already gone and do you really want to throw another $8300 with it?

I guess the question is what are you going to need really good credit for in the next 7-10 years? School? Car? House down payment? Can you make that purchase now? If you default (stop the financial bleeding), can you? I think you've got three choices. (1)Get a second job and pour all your effort into paying this loan off. (2)Default and take whatever comes- it may not be so bad. Or (3) If you have other significant loans and expenses, a bankruptcy can erase the timeshare bill and restructure other debt to give you a fresh start. Many people, post divorce, need to wipe the slate clean(er) and start over.

We wish you good luck!

Jim
Thank you Jim ;-)
 

CCP

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Joined
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Messages
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HGVC Elara
I don't think the OP has any idea how to even use the resort if she wanted to.
She has been getting points deposited into her account, and I'm sure a good deal of them have expired.
One thing she needs is a very basic primer telling her what she even has.

CCP:
TUG has an entire section on Hilton.
I think that giving it two hours of your time, you can have a much better understanding of how the Hilton system works.
Two people have now told you that you can offset some of the financial pain with rental income.
You might have a lot of points in your account, which you could use to reserve a couple of very good weeks at in-demand resorts that you could rent out.
Might bring in a couple of thousand dollars or more if you seek some advice from other members. You can put that directly toward paying off the purchase.

When we read that you get 3400 every other year "whatever that means", we all cringe a bit.
Since you are paying so much, it behooves you to learn about it, because right now you are losing potential income from not using those points. They have value and they do expire.

Start with this thread
You will no doubt have questions.

Your goal should be:
1) Find out how many points you have (some have no doubt expired)
2) Know when the points you have expire
3) Post on the HGVC section that you have X points and want to know how to maximize those for renting
I don't know Hilton. Maybe you can rent the points directly to people. Maybe it's better to reserve weeks against those points and rent out the weeks.
At this point, you might have enough points to book a prime week in Hawaii and rent it out. Or two or three weeks in Las Vegas at the resort itself.

In any event, there is some lemonade to be squeezed from this lemon. Renting will take a bit of work, but everything worthwhile does.

EDIT: While you are looking up your points with HGVC, might want to triple check that your Ex is not on the deed or loan in any way. We are all assuming he is NOT on it - which places the financial burden in your lap. But who knows...
Thank you Brian!! My Ex is definitely NOT on the deed and I only have 3400 points currently.
I don't think the OP has any idea how to even use the resort if she wanted to.
She has been getting points deposited into her account, and I'm sure a good deal of them have expired.
One thing she needs is a very basic primer telling her what she even has.

CCP:
TUG has an entire section on Hilton.
I think that giving it two hours of your time, you can have a much better understanding of how the Hilton system works.
Two people have now told you that you can offset some of the financial pain with rental income.
You might have a lot of points in your account, which you could use to reserve a couple of very good weeks at in-demand resorts that you could rent out.
Might bring in a couple of thousand dollars or more if you seek some advice from other members. You can put that directly toward paying off the purchase.

When we read that you get 3400 every other year "whatever that means", we all cringe a bit.
Since you are paying so much, it behooves you to learn about it, because right now you are losing potential income from not using those points. They have value and they do expire.

Start with this thread
You will no doubt have questions.

Your goal should be:
1) Find out how many points you have (some have no doubt expired)
2) Know when the points you have expire
3) Post on the HGVC section that you have X points and want to know how to maximize those for renting
I don't know Hilton. Maybe you can rent the points directly to people. Maybe it's better to reserve weeks against those points and rent out the weeks.
At this point, you might have enough points to book a prime week in Hawaii and rent it out. Or two or three weeks in Las Vegas at the resort itself.

In any event, there is some lemonade to be squeezed from this lemon. Renting will take a bit of work, but everything worthwhile does.

EDIT: While you are looking up your points with HGVC, might want to triple check that your Ex is not on the deed or loan in any way. We are all assuming he is NOT on it - which places the financial burden in your lap. But who knows...

Thanks Brian!! I will definitely read up on it. Wish I knew about this site sooner. My ex is definitely NOT on the deed and I only have 3400 points. If I can rent it out and pay off the loan, that would be the best option. Going to tackle this now. Thanks for the info. Any other info you remember would be great. Thanks again!!
 

CCP

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If you are able to, the 4th of July is a gold week in Las Vegas. You should be able to rent that week out and get enough to cover your MF’s at least. Vegas puts on quite a show for the day and it’s pretty popular. It’s week 26. I’m sure there are Tuggers here who could assist in renting it out.

Thanks for your reply and wanting to help!! What is MF? Who and where would I contact to rent out my unit??
 

dayooper

TUG Review Crew
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Thanks for your reply and wanting to help!! What is MF? Who and where would I contact to rent out my unit??

MF's are your maintenance fees. You pay those yearly. You can rent the timeshare out yourself or hire a broker to facilitate. The broker will, of course, take a percentage or flat fee once its rented. Here is the link for TUG's advice articles with a whole section on renting. They even have sample contracts you can download. Websites like Redweek.com have listings for rentals as does the TUG marketplace. TUG has a listing of reputable resale/rental sites that may Tuggers have used with good results.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

CCP

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MF's are your maintenance fees. You pay those yearly. You can rent the timeshare out yourself or hire a broker to facilitate. The broker will, of course, take a percentage or flat fee once its rented. Here is the link for TUG's advice articles with a whole section on renting. They even have sample contracts you can download. Websites like Redweek.com have listings for rentals as does the TUG marketplace. TUG has a listing of reputable resale/rental sites that may Tuggers have used with good results.
Perfect. Thank you!!
 

Talent312

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HGVC & GTS
If you haven't already, go to the members' website and set up an account.
https://club.hiltongrandvacations.com/en/login#/index
That way, you can see how many points you have (will have), and reserve a stay.

Only rent a "home week" -- some rent club bookings, but that's against the rules.
You'll need to order a Guest Certificate for your renter.

There's a "Resource" section where you can read the rules.
Do that about 4x end-to-end to learn what you don't know.
.
 
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