Has anyone ever defaulted on paying maintenance fees?

[milo0071]

I'm tired of throwing away money every year, and no one wants to take it off my hands. Just wanted to know the impact on my life if I default payment.

 

[DeniseM]

They will turn you over to collections, and report you to the credit bureaus for defaulting. It will damage your credit.

Have you made an earnest effort to give away your timeshare to another individual?

There are two places on TUG where you can give away your TS's for free (no charge for the Ads.) There are other cheap and free sites on the internet, as well.

TUG Marketplace - the only cost is your TUG membership - $15 (List it for $1 and it will automatically go in the Bargain Basement Ads.)

Bargain Deals - Totally FREE! - just write a simple post with all the pertinent info. In your post, include the following info.:

-resort name
-unit size
-season owned
-maintenance fee
-current reservations​

To make it more attractive I would:

1) Pay 2010 (and possibly 2011) maintenance fees and don't ask for reimbursement.

2) Pay for the title transfer (you can get a simple professional transfer for about $100) I've used this licensed document Prep. company and the owner is a Tugger. - Note, this is my personal recommendation, not as a representative of TUG.

3) Reserve a popular holiday week in 2010 or 2011 for the new owner​

Good luck!

 

[milo0071]

Thanks Denise. I'll give it a try.

 

[dundey]

Contact your resort and ask if they'll take the deed back.
Some do.

 

[John Cummings]

Damaging your credit is not something you want to do. It affects far more than just your ability to get credit. Many employers use your credit rating as a criteria in hiring.

 

[mjm1]

As others have shared, I would not default due to the damage to your credit rating. We had two similar situations.

The first one was a resort that was difficult to sell as it wasn't a resort with high demand. The resort did not have a resale program and after trying to sell it for next to nothing, I asked the resort if they would take it back from us since it was fully paid for. They did and they took care of the paper work.

In the second situation, we own a resort in Hawaii that we decided to sell. It is a nice resort with premier status in II. We listed it for sale on TUG with no action given the economy. I called the resort to discuss our options. They would take it back and if we did it before Dec. 31, we wouldn't have to pay the MF for 2011. They also have a resale person and I listed it with them. They also referred me to another resale company on the islands and I listed it with them as well. I made sure that neither company was exclusive with our unit. They agreed. The typical commission both of these companies charge is the greater of 20% or $2,500. Somtimes they will negotiate if you have something they want to move and think they can. I am happy to say that we received an offer that we negotiated and it is currently in the recission period for the buyer. We aren't netting a lot out of the sale, but we are getting something and won't have to pay the MF for 2011. Hopefully the sale goes through. Fortunately for us, we owned this unit for over 20 years and enjoyed the vacations we took there and through trades. Of course, we feel the value is more than what we will receive, but given the economy and glut of units for sale, we are happy to move on and enjoy the resorts we still own.

Good luck with your situation.

 

[Cheryl20772]

Damaging your credit is not something you want to do. It affects far more than just your ability to get credit. Many employers use your credit rating as a criteria in hiring.

After your dead credit is over rated.

 

[LannyPC]

Does anybody know any statistics about defaulting? For instance, what do other non-delinquent owners suffer as a result of delinquent owners? How many or what percent of owners default on their MFs and mortgage payments? etc.?

Just curious as I am a non-delinquent owner paying huge MFs.

 

[DeniseM]

Maintenance fees must be paid, so other owners absorb them. Right now, just about everyone is paying MF for owners in default. At one of my resorts, it was over $300 this year.

 

[LannyPC]

Was that $300 specifically listed in your MF bill? I know in our assessment bill, it lists the year's operating expenditures (or is that expenses?), operating reserves, voluntary contributions, and local/state property taxes.

Nothing is specified about picking up delinquent owners' share of the whole resort's operating expenditures. Maybe when the next budget is put out, I'll more carefully examine the details.

 

[DeniseM]

Was that $300 specifically listed in your MF bill?

It was either in the bill or the letter that came with it.

 

[MALC9990]

I asked the Advisory Board Chairman at one of my European Marriott Resorts about delinquent MFs. Since these are RTU resorts and not deeded, it seems that after failure to pay MFs for 18 months - so now two years outstanding - the RTU is rescinded and the unit is returned to MVCI. MVCI then pick up the MFs but can resell the unit !!!

Delinquency rates are very low and only 29 weeks have been rescinded in the last two years.

Failing to pay your MFs mean you cannot use the week - so if you book it 12 months out when you turn up to checkin the fact that the MFs are outstanding means you are denied at checkin. Not that it ever gets that far.

 

[DeniseM]

After your dead credit is over rated.

Please clarify?

 

[Cheryl20772]

Please clarify?

It means "credit rating" is relative to where one is in life. If one is struggling to put kids through college and keep a job and pay a mortgage, etc, it's much different from how someone perceives their credit rating if they are 100 years old and living in a nursing home with no one wanting the timeshare. When I die, I doubt St. Peter will look at my credit rating before he ushers me somewhere beyond the gate.

I still value my credit rating, but the closer I get to 100, the more over rated it seems.

 

[DeniseM]

It means "credit rating" is relative to where one is in life. If one is struggling to put kids through college and keep a job and pay a mortgage, etc, it's much different from how someone perceives their credit rating if they are 100 years old and living in a nursing home with no one wanting the timeshare. When I die, I doubt St. Peter will look at my credit rating before he ushers me somewhere beyond the gate.

I still value my credit rating, but the closer I get to 100, the more over rated it seems.

Ah - that makes sense - "After you're dead, credit is over rated."

I agree! Except, it can make for a messy estate, if you have heirs.

 

[timeos2]

Was that $300 specifically listed in your MF bill? I know in our assessment bill, it lists the year's operating expenditures (or is that expenses?), operating reserves, voluntary contributions, and local/state property taxes.

Nothing is specified about picking up delinquent owners' share of the whole resort's operating expenditures. Maybe when the next budget is put out, I'll more carefully examine the details.

Look for bad debt or an allowance for it. Then what that line means to your annual fee. It can be a shocking number.