Has anyone ever successfully used TimeshareFree.com?

[paddler17]

I am hoping to give away my Planet Hollywood (now Hilton Elara) timeshare. I went to a presentation by TImeshare Guidance (parent company is Timeshare Free). They claim they will put your money(fee/closing costs) in escrow as collected by TImeshare Closing Services, Inc, kept in an account at Seaside National Bank and then distribute the funds when your transfer to a 3rd party LLC is complete. The third party LLC apparently buys the timeshares in bulk, negotiates lower maintenance fees with the resorts and then does various things with the timeshares, from renting to selling. They say the transfer is legally complete and I will be off the deed forever as I want. Any feedback? Fees are quite high. Please help me! Better Business Bureau has B+ to A ratings for Timeshare Closing Services and Timeshare Free. Thanks

 

[Craigvince]

The general consensus is that you should NEVER use any of these companies that "help" you get out of your timeshare. 99% of them will want you to pay them some upfront fee. These are ALWAYS (100% of the time) scams.

If you want to give your TS away, post it here in the Bargain Deals forum for $1.00. Maybe even offer to pay the closing costs and/or transfer fees if necessary to get out of it. You'll still come out of it ahead, plus you might help out someone who might actually be able to enjoy the TS with their family.

 

[ronparise]

not all of these companies are scams..where do you think all the ebay inventory comes from..


Regarding Timeshare Closing Services..If your money actually goes to these guys I think you are all right. Paying too much but at least your money will be safe ; your timeshare will be sold or TSC will return your money

Here is a warning on their website

Do your homework. Has someone contacted you indicating they have a buyer waiting? Has someone told you that they work with TCS and/or TCS will be holding your money in escrow? Timeshare Closing Services, Inc. has worked hard to maintain its reputation and credibility for over a decade. Our legal department has seen a significant increase in the number of unscrupulous “resellers” claiming to work with us and trying to use our good name to establish credibility for themselves. Unfortunately, owners contact us after they have sent money to these “resellers” just to find out that we have no idea who they are and never received any documents or escrow deposits from these “resellers”. Don’t make the same mistake.

If you have any doubt as to the sincerity of anyone claiming to be associated with us, please click the link below to complete and submit a Reseller/Advertiser Verification form and we will respond by email verifying whether or not the party you listed does, in fact, maintain a volume producer account with TCS.

 

[Carolinian]

The ''third party LLC'' is what is known as a Viking ship to some on these boards. Yes, the better value weeks may show up on eBay and enough of the other weeks to keep Ebay resale prices depressed, because depressing ebay prices is part of the business model of the PCC's like this outfit.

They do not ''negotiate lower m/f's with resorts''. That is just a lie. In many cases, it would even be illegal for a resort to do that. They also do not get into the rental business. That is another lie.

What they do is cut loose the LLC at some point and move to another one, leaving the resorts to have to spend money trying to foreclose on the LLC.

Some resorts are starting to push back and have announced that when their members do these sorts of transactions, they will sue both the PCC and the member who conveyed the week to them for Fraudulent Conveyance. Anyone who deals with one of these companies risks finding themselves on the receiving end of such a lawsuit, and I would have to say that they would deserve it!

 

[paddler17]

Thank you all for your rapid replies. I found your forum just a few weeks ago and tonight in the midst of all these documents from Timeshare Free, I finally decided to post here before signing any papers and use the power of your experience to help me. I am very grateful for all the information.

 

[theo]

The "closing company" is NOT the issue here...

Regarding Timeshare Closing Services..If your money actually goes to these guys I think you are all right. Paying too much but at least your money will be safe ; your timeshare will be sold or TSC will return your money

The real issue of concern to the OP is (...or should be) the nature of the "Viking Ship" LLC. --- not the particular closing company utilized in effecting the "sailing".

In this LLC scenario, there is no real "sale" to any legitimate party, but instead just a "dumping" of the ownership into a phantom LLC --- which has no plans or intentions to ever pay any maintenance fees as "owner", thereby increasing the financial burden on the legitimate owners who still have to carry the facility, whatever and wherever it may be.

In short, while the closing company (whether TCS or some other entity matters not at all) may very well be legitimate and competetent, the closing company is not the substantive issue of importance or concern in a "Viking Ship LLC dumping" situation anyhow...

 

[e.bram]

Carolinian:
Are you saying you can be sued if you sell your TS to someone(anyone) who later defaults on their MFs?

 

[jhac007]

Thank you all for your rapid replies. I found your forum just a few weeks ago and tonight in the midst of all these documents from Timeshare Free, I finally decided to post here before signing any papers and use the power of your experience to help me. I am very grateful for all the information.

I think you are heading in the right direction at this point. People like the ones you considered dealing with are just a tad better than the fee up front folks. Just last week (because the curiosity was killing me) I decided to contact one of those (Timeshareout.com) just to see how they really convince people to pay them. Well, to make a long story short, I listened in on a webinar as an invited customer and even thou they had some truths about the down side of owning timeshares, it was totally a joke! I even got the feeling I was sitting thru a timeshare presentation in reverse. Their lying was on par with their shark cousins! Anyway, the bottom line was they wanted (in escrow of course) $3995, $4995, $5995, $6995, 7995, or $8995 to "help" me out. The fee depended on the yearly MF. The unit I allegedly put up would have put me giving up $7995. I can take my time and give away while paying several years of MF's for that kind of money. They ticked me off so bad I hung up on the webcast and they started e-mailing/calling. Perhaps there are some that might find this as an out but I found it to insult one's intelligence but imagine some of these idiots were TS salemen at one time. So now they are doing us a favor by righting the wrong! My advice .....stay away from them all "the up front" or "the no money up front" (escrow). Now as for TCS, I having nothing but good reports for them. They have just closed on my two Marriotts (Ko Olina and Ocean Pointe) and I found them to be very professional, accommodating and prompt! It's a shame that they also deal with the sharks but then I guess there will always be the good, the bad and the ugly!.

Jim

 

[paddler17]

You are 100% correct!

I think you are heading in the right direction at this point. People like the ones you considered dealing with are just a tad better than the fee up front folks. Just last week (because the curiosity was killing me) I decided to contact one of those (Timeshareout.com) just to see how they really convince people to pay them. Well, to make a long story short, I listened in on a webinar as an invited customer and even thou they had some truths about the down side of owning timeshares, it was totally a joke! I even got the feeling I was sitting thru a timeshare presentation in reverse. Their lying was on par with their shark cousins! Anyway, the bottom line was they wanted (in escrow of course) $3995, $4995, $5995, $6995, 7995, or $8995 to "help" me out. The fee depended on the yearly MF. The unit I allegedly put up would have put me giving up $7995. I can take my time and give away while paying several years of MF's for that kind of money. They ticked me off so bad I hung up on the webcast and they started e-mailing/calling. Perhaps there are some that might find this as an out but I found it to insult one's intelligence but imagine some of these idiots were TS salemen at one time. So now they are doing us a favor by righting the wrong! My advice .....stay away from them all "the up front" or "the no money up front" (escrow). Now as for TCS, I having nothing but good reports for them. They have just closed on my two Marriotts (Ko Olina and Ocean Pointe) and I found them to be very professional, accommodating and prompt! It's a shame that they also deal with the sharks but then I guess there will always be the good, the bad and the ugly!.

Jim

You are 100% correct!!!! Not only did I sit through about 2.5 hours in a hotel presentation from one company, I spent another 40 minutes a few weeks later in an online webinar, as you did, investigating another company that seemed to do the same thing (as you all call them, post card companies). I thought I'd shop around. The hotel presentation wasn't high pressure, but it preached to the choir. None of us in the room needed to be convinced we wanted to divest of our timeshares, yet the 90 minute presentation poured salt and more salt on our wounds so to speak. I thought one couple would start crying when they saw on the screen that they would have to pay nearly $12000 to transfer their 3 timeshares. But they let us take the papers home for our attornies to look at if we wanted to. No pressure....until I realized they rejected my attorney's clauses anyway, and gave me a deadline on the price they quoted me. They claim that the "forbidden list" of properties is growing each week. It was a scare tactic that almost worked on me. But then I went I online, found another postcard company, set up a webinar, was "screened" to make sure my property wasn't on the forbidden list and listened to just about the idenitcal presentation online I had sat through in the hotel. Different parent company, different presenting company, but same exact presentation. This one was higher pressure, however. I had a one on one phonecall after the webinar and the person could not wait to get me off the phone and get to others in the webinar once he learned I needed to have attorney review the paperwork. He was doing a bulk transfer "tomorrow" and they didn't know when the next one would be. "The bulk transfers get you the best discount...." THe knots in my stomach led me to the internet again, this time to find TUG. All I can say is thank you so much to all who posted responses to my question so quickly and so honestly. I was too trusting and you all brought me back to reality. TUG is terrific!

 

[Carolinian]

Carolinian:
Are you saying you can be sued if you sell your TS to someone(anyone) who later defaults on their MFs?

Certainly not, but when selling to one of these PCC scam LLC's, that is not a legitimate sale. You have a risk of going down with the Viking ship yourself if you try to use it to get rid of your week.

 

[e.bram]

Carolinian:
Suppose someone is not a poster or reader of TUG BB. How are they suppose to know the intentions of the transferee. Are all the buyers of TSes you sold vetted by you. Is any one who sells or gives away a TS suppose vet that entity? How?
Would they have to prove you know or should have known about TUG to go after you.