Sticky - DRI now accepting deedbacks - Give back your Diamond Resorts Timeshare

[TUGBrian]

glad you found us in time and were so successful!

hope you leave a review of TUG on google to help others find us like you did!

 

[diamand_time]

I requested a sell back via Customer service and got this response. I've gotten a ticket number via the Loss Mitigation email, so I will update as soon as I hear back from them on that.

=============
Thank you for your email and we are sorry to note your wishes to end your agreement with us.





As Diamond Resorts International® does not participate in resale or buyback schemes, ARDA-ROC (American Resort Development Association – Resort Owners’ Coalition) can offer you further advice as to selling your ownership.




We would suggest you visit them at www.ardaroc.org and click on Timeshare Resale’s where you can access information about how and where to resell your timeshare, some best practices and view a list of frequently asked questions. You may also want to view a list of licensed real estate brokers who specialize in handling timeshare products. There are three basic types of timeshare resale companies to consider: (1) Resale Advertisers - These are companies that only help you market or advertise your timeshare. Typically they don't help you close a sale or rental. (2) Licensed Resellers - They employ licensed real estate agents that can assist in all aspects of selling and renting. (3) Other independent companies who may offer to buy your timeshare interest, take it away for a fee or help you donate it to charity or other potentially worthy cause. We would strongly advise that you are cautious when dealing with companies in this category because of potential fraud activities that take place. Verify the company is an ARDA member and check past customer reviews before agreeing to proceed or indeed pay any money up front. For more information visit their website as detailed above and click on ‘Selecting a Resale Company’.



We hope this helps, if you do require any further assistance please do let us know.




Thanks




Ben






Reason For Contact
Reason: General Inquiry
Date of Request: 27-Nov-2017
Comment: What do I need to do if I sell my timeshare? What forms need to be filled to complete the transaction? Thank you.

 

[nomoretslt]

glad you found us in time and were so successful!

hope you leave a review of TUG on google to help others find us like you did!

I just went to do that, but can't because I don't have a google account. I'll try to remedy that soon.

 

[TUGBrian]

I requested a sell back via Customer service and got this response. I've gotten a ticket number via the Loss Mitigation email, so I will update as soon as I hear back from them on that.

=============
Thank you for your email and we are sorry to note your wishes to end your agreement with us.





As Diamond Resorts International® does not participate in resale or buyback schemes, ARDA-ROC (American Resort Development Association – Resort Owners’ Coalition) can offer you further advice as to selling your ownership.




We would suggest you visit them at www.ardaroc.org and click on Timeshare Resale’s where you can access information about how and where to resell your timeshare, some best practices and view a list of frequently asked questions. You may also want to view a list of licensed real estate brokers who specialize in handling timeshare products. There are three basic types of timeshare resale companies to consider: (1) Resale Advertisers - These are companies that only help you market or advertise your timeshare. Typically they don't help you close a sale or rental. (2) Licensed Resellers - They employ licensed real estate agents that can assist in all aspects of selling and renting. (3) Other independent companies who may offer to buy your timeshare interest, take it away for a fee or help you donate it to charity or other potentially worthy cause. We would strongly advise that you are cautious when dealing with companies in this category because of potential fraud activities that take place. Verify the company is an ARDA member and check past customer reviews before agreeing to proceed or indeed pay any money up front. For more information visit their website as detailed above and click on ‘Selecting a Resale Company’.



We hope this helps, if you do require any further assistance please do let us know.




Thanks




Ben






Reason For Contact
Reason: General Inquiry
Date of Request: 27-Nov-2017
Comment: What do I need to do if I sell my timeshare? What forms need to be filled to complete the transaction? Thank you.

geez DRI couldnt provide worse advice to selling their product if they tried....so sad.

 

[CoryB]

I used the template from this board to request a takeback of my points on 11/22. I received an automated email with a ticket number and a statement that DRI will contact me in 1-2 business days. I suspect that the Thanksgiving holiday may have them backlogged, but the posting of 2018 maintenance fees makes me nervous. I’ll update my story as it happens.

Thanks to those who are sharing their experiences. And, congratulations to those with success stories!

 

[JustMelissa]

Success!! My deedback is complete and I am no longer a timeshare owner, thanks entirely to TUG. After joining in Jan 2017 and attempting to sell my unit for $1 without success, I found this thread in April. It's taken a while, and there were many hoops to jump through, but in the end, it was completely worth the headache. Here's my timeline (all 2017 dates) for others who are thinking of taking this approach. For background, I own(ed) the week outright and am up to date with my annual dues. I also moved out of the US in January of this year, which may have helped my case since it would be harder for DRI to collect from if I were to default.

Apr 11: I emailed lossmitigation@diamondresorts.com, explaining that I was no longer able to keep the unit due to financial hardship and change in personal circumstances. I had already paid my 2017 dues but hadn’t done anything with my 2017 week. I told DRI that I wanted to give that week back to them as part of my deed back.

Apr 14: DRI wrote back letting me know that they don't have a voluntary surrender program, however they review requests on a case-by-case basis and they were accepting my request and I would hear from their title company within 60 days.

May 29: Their title company contacted me to begin the title transfer process.

Then we discovered there were multiple issues with the deed transfers from the past (I had received the unit from a family member and it had changed hands a couple of times before it came to me). This took months to fix.

Sep 20/Oct 10: The documents came to me for signature/notarization and were returned to the title company along with my $250 fee. I had to travel to the US to get the docs notarized so there was a delay at my end until my next scheduled business trip to the states.

Nov 29: The deed was filed with the local county registrar and I am no longer an owner.

The title company I was working with says I may get some documentation from DRI, but even if I don’t I am no longer the legal owner and don’t have to pay my 2018 dues. I still have three earlier weeks deposited in RCI so I’ll get to take a few more trips even though I’m out of the timeshare ownership business.

Through the year, I was receiving regular calls from a rep from a timeshare resale company with a hard sell promise that he could fix my problem. I kept putting him off without saying no in case this plan fell through. When it all worked out and I told him I simply gave my unit back to DRI at no cost except the paper work fee he was speechless for a minute, then said I was “lucky.” I explained that nope, I was a motivated consumer who found the smart and helpful people at TUG - luck had nothing to do with it.

Thank you, all!

 

[CoryB]

I used the template from this board to request a takeback of my points on 11/22. I received an automated email with a ticket number and a statement that DRI will contact me in 1-2 business days. I suspect that the Thanksgiving holiday may have them backlogged, but the posting of 2018 maintenance fees makes me nervous. I’ll update my story as it happens.

Thanks to those who are sharing their experiences. And, congratulations to those with success stories!

 

[Freedom17]

Called again. Basically, DRI said they will response when they get to it. The 1-2 days reply is just a standard reply. They receive 80+ emails a day. It will take a while to get to my email. They will response after they have reviewed my case. If they accept the request, it will take another ~180 days to complete the paper work and processing if all go smoothly.

 

[jch928]

Just sent my request to the loss mitigation email address. I hope to get a quick response. I'll post updates as I get them.

I've tried searching this thread but it's so many pages... Please forgive me if this was asked and answered already. Since I submitted my relinquishment request today (12/11/17) and 2018 maintenance fees are not technically due yet, do you think they will force me to pay for 2018's fees? My reason to relinquish is financial hardship (no exaggeration) so I hope the answer is no.

 

[Freedom17]

I sent my deedback request to DRI on Nov 20. No answer yet. As discussed with the staff, it will take months to complete the deedback process even though they approve my request. I have just made the 2018 mtce fee payment this morning to prevent any delay or rejection since one of the condition for deedback is everything paid up.

 

[tstora]

Just sent my request to the loss mitigation email address. I hope to get a quick response. I'll post updates as I get them.

I've tried searching this thread but it's so many pages... Please forgive me if this was asked and answered already. Since I submitted my relinquishment request today (12/11/17) and 2018 maintenance fees are not technically due yet, do you think they will force me to pay for 2018's fees? My reason to relinquish is financial hardship (no exaggeration) so I hope the answer is no.

I sent my deedback request to DRI on Nov 20. No answer yet. As discussed with the staff, it will take months to complete the deedback process even though they approve my request. I have just made the 2018 mtce fee payment this morning to prevent any delay or rejection since one of the condition for deedback is everything paid up.

If they accept the request and the deedback process has started, that probably means you're current enough with your payments. When asked, Diamond has told people they didn't have to pay the maintenance fees for the following year.

I didn't really know that when I started the process in September of 2016, so I prepaid the 2017 fees just in case. Thanks to others in this thread, I found out you can call them after the deedback process has completed and request a refund. It took almost two months and 3 or 4 calls, but I did eventually get the refund. Just be persistent.

Anyway, congrats to everyone who's started the process! This was the first year in a long time that I didn't get one of those dreaded maintenance fee letters in the mail, and I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present!

And a reminder that, if you're financially able, consider supporting TUG after your deedback has completed. I'm not exaggerating when I say this place changed my life, and I'll always be grateful I stumbled on this thread.

 

[Freedom17]

Just got an email. Deedback approved. Thanks to this website and all people feeding me information and tips. Now, I hope that the process will go smoothly.

 

[TUGBrian]

glad you found the site and it gave you the information you needed to help with your Timeshare.

 

[jch928]

Just want to post an update. I emailed Loss Mitigation for the first time in December 11th. I got the automated reply with a ticket number. I didn't get any responses or emails after that. So about 2 weeks later, give or take a day or two, I called them. The agent told me it was approved and that an email was sent in this regard on December 14th. I never received the email and it wasn't in spam/junk. While on the phone she forwarded it to me. Apparently, they approved it quickly. Yea!

I expected to wait up to 60 business days for the paperwork to arrive. I use a PO box but don't check it very often. Well, I checked it last week and discovered the paperwork had already arrived! I am thrilled!! I didn't realize there would be a date by which the papers must be returned, Jan 13th in my case, so I'm sure glad I went to check the mail. I was actually surprised that the papers came by regular postal service; I expected delivery by UPS or FedEx. At any rate, I'm super happy and excited this has worked out.

Thanks to all in this thread for sharing all the info and how-to info. It made a huge difference for my family.

 

[tatvan]

With the information given in the TUG forum, we gave back our deed December,2016. We had weeks. Can't thank TUG community enough for the information shared ...specific information shared. We paid $250 plus whatever to have documents notarized. It took a few weeks starts to finish. I also asked them to send me conformation of the deed back which we got within a few weeks.
I am going to try to attach a screen shot of an email they sent which will include their email address and mailing address.

We are now trying to give back our week with Westgate. We are praying its will be just as easy. Anybody in the TUG community with tips for Westgate deed back? Has anybody recently been able to give back their weeks to Westgate? We have one paid week left with Westgate so we want to use that week then give back the deed..if possible.

 

[tatvan]

Edit/Update:

As of December 2017 DRI now officially has a name for this program called TRANSITIONS.

Information (including who/how to contact) is available here in this thread:

https://www.tugbbs.com/forums/index.php?threads/transitions-is-finally-announced.267181/




The financial dept apparently Voluntary Surrender Program:

In order to qualify, the HOA (MFs) must be up-to-date and the owner must have a zero balance on the loan.

To start this process, the owner must send an email to: lossmitigation@diamondresorts.com and or leadcollector@diamondresorts.com with the subject line stating: Inventory Takeback.

In the email itself the owner must include:
-Resort Name
-Owner(s) Name(s)
-Account Number
-Inventory owned (ie. weeks, points, etc)
-any other important information regarding the deed

within 7-10 business days, the Diamond Resorts will send an action required correspondence, where the owner will have 15 days to return.

Note: the owner is responsible for any fees associated with the paper work, such as notary, postage etc.

Edited to add phone number: You can call 877-497-7521, option 1 English, then 3 is direct to Loss Mitigation.

We gave our deed back. I just now posted the deed back information..... I sent a screenshot with cost, email and mailing address. Have no idea where it is in this thread...obviously, I'm not good with technology ....if you don't see the detailed information and want it, just let me know!

 

[TUGBrian]

its right above the post you just made =)

also yes there is a deedback program for some westgate ownerships, but a much higher fee is involved if im not mistaken.

someone even posted the deedback form on another thread in the BSR forum iIRC.

 

[Mike966]

My wife and I purchased through Sunterra back in 2001 on our honeymoon. We bought 5000 points and soon found out that it would not be enough to use our timeshare each year, so a few years later purchased another 5000 points. In both cases we financed through Sunterra then rolled it over into a home equity credit line, then our mortgage. Then Sunterra was bought up by Diamond. We then decided in 2016 that the cost of the maintenance fees were becoming high and there were some years we were unable to use all our points even after rolling them over and began looking on how to get out. Also, some resorts were cheaper to rent as an outsider than use the points through Diamond (I guess these were the affiliate resorts). After finding this blog in late 2016, and already paying our 2017 fees, we decided to take one last vacation through Diamond making sure to use all of our points. We then initiated the process as described in this blog. We got the return email stating that they usually do not do buybacks, but in our case they approved it and were sending us paperwork in 7-10 days and had to return them in a specified amount of time. The email stated that it would cost $250 per account to start the process. To our knowledge, we only had the one account. 7-10 days later, we received 2 mailings from Diamond....it was two sets of paperwork. One for each 5000 point purchase, which the paperwork said were two different accounts. We would need to have both sets filled out and notarized, as well as write out two separate $250 checks...so $500 total. We did just that and sent them both in the same priority envelope back to Diamond. Diamond received them in about 6 days (September 30). On October 5, both checks were cashed. Continued logging onto the our account on the Diamond website until about 14 days later it showed no account existed. We did not receive an invoice for 2018 dues, so we are officially out. Made copies of all my paperwork and will file them away with my taxes, holding onto them for 7 years....just in case. Anyway, I thank you all for the advice and wish everyone the same luck we had.

 

[JoelCool]

So glad I came across this thread about a year ago. Finally pulled the trigger and followed the advice here. Took a couple of months but I'm now Time Share Free.

Big thanks to all the contributors here!

 

[TUGBrian]

thrilled that so many are still finding this thread and getting out of their DRI ownerships for nearly 3 years now!

 

[gypsygirl1]

Just want to post an update. I emailed Loss Mitigation for the first time in December 11th. I got the automated reply with a ticket number. I didn't get any responses or emails after that. So about 2 weeks later, give or take a day or two, I called them. The agent told me it was approved and that an email was sent in this regard on December 14th. I never received the email and it wasn't in spam/junk. While on the phone she forwarded it to me. Apparently, they approved it quickly. Yea!

I expected to wait up to 60 business days for the paperwork to arrive. I use a PO box but don't check it very often. Well, I checked it last week and discovered the paperwork had already arrived! I am thrilled!! I didn't realize there would be a date by which the papers must be returned, Jan 13th in my case, so I'm sure glad I went to check the mail. I was actually surprised that the papers came by regular postal service; I expected delivery by UPS or FedEx. At any rate, I'm super happy and excited this has worked out.

Thanks to all in this thread for sharing all the info and how-to info. It made a huge difference for my family.

Dis you notice a clause that says you can't write or say anything disparaging about Diamond Resorts ? I am curious as to why DRI is becoming so friendly about deed backing the timeshares. Can't help but wonder why.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Dis you notice a clause that says you can't write or say anything disparaging about Diamond Resorts ? I am curious as to why DRI is becoming so friendly about deed backing the timeshares. Can't help but wonder why.

Because it's tremendously profitable. Instead of having to build new resorts to generate points to sell, they take them back in for free. In Hawaii, for example, they will take back a deeded week for free, then turn around and sell the points associated with that deed for about $80,000.

The big question is why all developers don't do this.

 

[Hubble]

We have a deeded week in Beach Quarters, VA Beach, originally purchased from DRI's predecessor, Gold Key. Our 2018 Maintenance Fee is paid, and the week was deposited in Interval and an exchange for next September made. If we give back our week (all paid for) via Transitions, will they take this year's vacation away from us?

 

[tschwa2]

We have a deeded week in Beach Quarters, VA Beach, originally purchased from DRI's predecessor, Gold Key. Our 2018 Maintenance Fee is paid, and the week was deposited in Interval and an exchange for next September made. If we give back our week (all paid for) via Transitions, will they take this year's vacation away from us?

You have to ask them that. What is more likely is that they will not accept the deed back in 2018 since the usage is not available and to reapply in 2019 or they could say that is fine. I don't think they can pull the week out of Interval once it is deposited.

 

[jch928]

Dis you notice a clause that says you can't write or say anything disparaging about Diamond Resorts ? I am curious as to why DRI is becoming so friendly about deed backing the timeshares. Can't help but wonder why.

No, I didn't see any clauses like that. It was very straight-forward. I agree this program is great for the soon-to-be former owners as well as the resort. A real win-win for once!