Exiting Bluegreen - positive experience

[seekingalways]

Thought I would share my experience with exiting Bluegreen timeshare to help anyone else who might be exploring this option. We purchased this timeshare 3 years ago, and almost immediately regretted it. Only used it one time and with the annual fees plus the restrictions on places due to number of points we had, it just seemed like a huge waste of money. We began seeking out information on how to get out of it, sell it, stop paying dues and maintenance fees, possibility of getting involved with a company that we could pay to get us out of it, etc...
Ultimately we found the best solution right here on this website and it was so simple and didn't take much time at all!
On November 28, 2023, I called 1-844-757-6932 which is the number listed on the Bluegreen website for the responsible exit program. The woman who answered was so helpful and very kind. She told me what we would owe to exit, which ended up being 18 months worth of maintenance fees. We agreed and paid right there with her on the phone. She told us to expect documents to sign via email within a couple of weeks. Took maybe a week to receive them. We signed electronically and sent them back. We received confirmation with the documents all signed and sealed via email 3 days later. I called back yesterday to confirm we are finished and "exited" from the timeshare and she assured me the process is complete and we are officially removed with no more obligations.
Looking back on it all, I wish we had not bought it in the first place - lesson learned, but the experience of exiting out of it was surprisingly a very positive one. We had talked to a company that offered to do it for us and didn't feel it was legit and would cost more money and trouble than anything. We talked to a couple that said they stopped paying their fees and dues, but we didn't want to take a hit to our credit and didn't want to deal with collection agencies. So in the end, we are glad we went straight to Bluegreen for the responsible exit program.

 

[TUGBrian]

very happy to hear you were successful in surrendering your bg ownership back even if they did charge you for the process.

was this a regular points ownership?

 

[seekingalways]

very happy to hear you were successful in surrendering your bg ownership back even if they did charge you for the process.

was this a regular points ownership?

Yes it was a regular points ownership. I wasn’t happy about the 18 months of fees we had to pay, however 12 months of that was already in our budget since we knew we had to pay a years worth in January, so for us it didn’t hit too hard. Just so happy to be out of it, knowing for years to come we won’t be paying the fees again.

 

[GT75]

@seekingalways, congratulations, and thanks for sharing. Maybe I missed it but was your BG TS purchase paid off before initiating the process?

 

[RX8]

Congrats on your successful exit. That other “company” would have charged you 4X to 8X your maintenance fees and, if they did anything at all, they would have done exactly what you did. The only difference being is that they would have pocketed the many extra thousands of dollars as their profit.

 

[VacationForever]

I have the same question, was your ownership fully paid up, i.e. no loan, before exiting Bluegreen?

 

[seekingalways]

@seekingalways, congratulations, and thanks for sharing. Maybe I missed it but was your BG TS purchase paid off before initiating the process?

We never had a mortgage on it. Paid cash up front. Not sure if that made a difference in the exiting process.

 

[seekingalways]

I have the same question, was your ownership fully paid up, i.e. no loan, before exiting Bluegreen?

Yes it was fully paid.

 

[seekingalways]

Congrats on your successful exit. That other “company” would have charged you 4X to 8X your maintenance fees and, if they did anything at all, they would have done exactly what you did. The only difference being is that they would have pocketed the many extra thousands of dollars as their profit.

Oh definitely! They were sketchy, so after talking to them once we decided that was not the route to take.

 

[GrayFal]

Yes it was fully paid.

Glad you are happy with this solution .
The greediness of Bluegreen is unbelievable.
As most know, Wyndham takes your ownership for free and lets you keep two years of usage.
Marriott/Vistana also does not charge their owners and sometimes even pays the owners for their ownership.

May I ask how many points you owned?

And Good timing on your part to do this before you had to pay your fees. If you had waited until January, you would have paid your fees in November and then still have to pay 1.5 yearly fee again

For others interested, Here is an example of what this would cost.
And you must be up to date with your MFs

All owners pay a base fee of $373 plus club dues $179 = $552
and a per point fee of $0.0985

so…..
5,000 points 552+442 = 994x1.5 yrs MF = $1491
10,000 points 552+985 = 1537x1.5 yrs MF = $2305
20,000 points 552+1970 = 2712x1.5 yrs MF = $4068
30,000 points 552+2955 = 3507x1.5 yrs MF = $5260

 

[GrayFal]

@seekingalways, congratulations, and thanks for sharing. Maybe I missed it but was your BG TS purchase paid off before initiating the process?

BG will not allow anyone to pay to exit until their ownership is paid off.

 

[harris1ac]

I called Blue Green today. I was afraid to trust that Blue Greens responible timeshare exit team would follow through with cancelations after I paid them the 18 months of maintenance fees. The timeshare has been paid in full for years. I have till Jan 2 to call them back to follow through with this offer. I just pray my timeshare will be completely canceled after I pay them.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

I called Blue Green today. I was afraid to trust that Blue Greens responible timeshare exit team would follow through with cancelations after I paid them the 18 months of maintenance fees. The timeshare has been paid in full for years. I have till Jan 2 to call them back to follow through with this offer. I just pray my timeshare will be completely canceled after I pay them.

Just be very sure you have everything in writing.........



.

 

[seekingalways]

I called Blue Green today. I was afraid to trust that Blue Greens responible timeshare exit team would follow through with cancelations after I paid them the 18 months of maintenance fees. The timeshare has been paid in full for years. I have till Jan 2 to call them back to follow through with this offer. I just pray my timeshare will be completely canceled after I pay them.

We had the same reservations but truly it was on the up and up, easy, and quick. When I called I spoke with a woman named Kelley. She followed the process and kept us updated the whole way through. It took less than 3 weeks since we chose to receive and sign the paperwork electronically.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Why wouldn't Bluegreen do this? Sweet deal - they sell for $20k (?) upfront 3 years ago no mortgage so all cash, get 3 years of MF + an 18 month runway to sell this all over again. This is what gives timeshares a bad name.

OP I am glad this worked out for you but (sigh) what an expensive and painful lesson with your hard earned cash! The value in timeshares is in using them. I am sorry you couldn't find a good way to use this to extract more value and had to learn the hard way. Good luck.

 

[harris1ac]

We had the same reservations but truly it was on the up and up, easy, and quick. When I called I spoke with a woman named Kelley. She followed the process and kept us updated the whole way through. It took less than 3 weeks since we chose to receive and sign the paperwork electronically.

Thanks so so much for the reassurance.

 

[GrayFal]

I called Blue Green today. I was afraid to trust that Blue Greens responible timeshare exit team would follow through with cancelations after I paid them the 18 months of maintenance fees. The timeshare has been paid in full for years. I have till Jan 2 to call them back to follow through with this offer. I just pray my timeshare will be completely canceled after I pay them.

I also agree that you can trust the Exit Team. You will receive everything in writing and be sure to read thru everything and then sign.

I am selling some of my Bluegreen contracts. I paid the transfer fee and submitted my contract online with their form.
45 days ( they have 30 business days) after I submitted my transfer form I received a call from the Talcott Law Office in Boca Raton who was sending me the transfer forms as BG exercised their ROFR.
The next day I received the forms via email, I printed them, notarized them and mailed them off to the law firm.

Next step is to receive my payout from BG

 

[seekingalways]

Why wouldn't Bluegreen do this? Sweet deal - they sell for $20k (?) upfront 3 years ago no mortgage so all cash, get 3 years of MF + an 18 month runway to sell this all over again. This is what gives timeshares a bad name.

OP I am glad this worked out for you but (sigh) what an expensive and painful lesson with your hard earned cash! The value in timeshares is in using them. I am sorry you couldn't find a good way to use this to extract more value and had to learn the hard way. Good luck.

Yes, such a disappointment for us to realize how much money we spent. Believe me, the waste has not been lost on us! Like I said, lesson learned. At first we were told we could use the BG credit card points to pay our annual fees so we tried that but there was just no way we could accumulate that many points in a year. Then they say you can refer friends and family, but we wouldn’t wish this on our worst enemy let alone friends and family so that was a no-go too. We have chalked the whole thing up to one big learning experience, and hopefully be able to educate others as we move forward.

 

[harris1ac]

I also agree that you can trust the Exit Team. You will receive everything in writing and be sure to read thru everything and then sign.

I am selling some of my Bluegreen contracts. I paid the transfer fee and submitted my contract online with their form.
45 days ( they have 30 business days) after I submitted my transfer form I received a call from the Talcott Law Office in Boca Raton who was sending me the transfer forms as BG exercised their ROFR.
The next day I received the forms via email, I printed them, notarized them and mailed them off to the law firm.

Next step is to receive my payout from BG

All the comments have been so helpful.

 

[Beth_Curt]

May I ask if you did receive money back from BG? I didn't know if they would do that.

 

[GrayFal]

May I ask if you did receive money back from BG? I didn't know if they would do that.

If you cancel your contract within the 5-10 day rescind window you get your money back, after that no.

This thread is about someone who used the Bluegreen Exit Program - you PAY BG 18 months/1.5 years of maintenance fees to take back your ownership.
You get no money, but you are out of your financial obligation and no longer have to pay MFs.
You can only do this if your ownership is paid off, no loan owed.

 

[theallens5]

I have the same question, was your ownership fully paid up, i.e. no loan, before exiting Bluegreen?

I wondered the same, sounds like it was paid off. I need to know if there are options if you still owe on a loan?

 

[GrayFal]

I wondered the same, sounds like it was paid off. I need to know if there are options if you still owe on a loan?

See my post #21 right above this

NO options at all from anyone or anywhere without a paid off contract.

NONE (other than defaulting on the loan)

 

[GrayFal]

I have the same question, was your ownership fully paid up, i.e. no loan, before exiting Bluegreen?

You can not have a loan

Must be paid off.

 

[theallens5]

Good to know!
We have had companies reach out to us stating they are able to help us get out of Bluegreen because of lies and deceptions told to us when we bought more points. We have a loan currently, and they are aware of this and yet still claiming to be able to help us.