How to cancel a Villa del Palmar/ResortCom timeshare? (Purchased in Jan 2012)

[GetMeOut1052]

I'm new to this community and have read a few posts so I thought I might get a knowledgeable response. Short version of my story: my father purchased a timeshare from Villa del Palmar in Jan 2012 (I strongly advised him against it) but he succumbed to the high-pressure sales tactics. Now he wants to get out of it. He's been paying on time and doesn't owe anything, he just wants to no longer be on the hook for the maintenance fees. What is the best way to do this? I'd prefer to hear from someone who has successfully done this.


Long story:
This was our first experience traveling to a Mexican resort so we didn't know what to expect. Around the time we checked into our room we were introduced to a salesperson asking us to sit in on a short timeshare presentation in exchange for free activities. I didn't want to do this AT ALL, we were there for 3 short days, I wanted to enjoy the beach and the town as much as possible- I didn't come to Mexico to waste my time on a presentation. My dad though was too nice and accepted. They used high-pressure sales tactics, and kept us around for about 3 hours. I was fed up and wanted to leave, but my dad, again, was too nice to say "ok guys, thanks, but not thanks, we have to go." Eventually he agreed to buy a timeshare through Villa Del Palmar/ResortCom/some other entity (that is another red flag, you don't even know exactly who you're dealing with). I don't know the exact nature of the agreement but I believe we have 1 week/year and a "bonus week" every other year. My dad pays about ~$500 in maintenance fees every 6 months and everything else is paid off. Now he wants to get rid of it (and is having me help him do so, which is ironic because I never wanted him to buy it to begin with).

He recently received an email from "The Law Firm of Amanda S. Abbott" offering to facilitate a sale to an entity called "Best Travels Deals" based in Jalisco, Guadalajara. They're willing to pay us $29,480 to purchase the timeshare off of us. That sounds too good to be true so I'm assuming it's a scam. I've read too many posts about how big of a pain in the ass it is to get out of a timeshare agreement, so I figure the real solution is more nuanced.

• Is the best approach simply to contact Resortcom/Villa del Palmar directly and ask about cancelling? I'm not holding out hope about this because it's not in their interest to just let someone get off the hook, but if they have us pay some sort of reasonable termination fee, than I guess that's acceptable, all things considered, although I've read elsewhere that the amount might be 10 years' worth of maintenance fees, which is ridiculous.

• Otherwise, I'd like to just stop paying the maintenance fees, but then we'd be looking at dealing with collections, a default, etc., so that's not a good option.

I know the process isn't going to be easy, but I'd like to hear from the community, particularly folks who have successfully gotten rid of their timeshare in the most efficient, least time-consuming and least-expensive manner.

I greatly appreciate your help!!

Thank you.

 

[Karen G]

Welcome to TUG. Please don't let your Dad become the victim of any outfit that promises to get him out of his ownership if he'll pay them a hefty upfront fee to do so. Unfortunately, those operations are scams.

Your Dad has a couple of options available. He can offer to give his timeshare away right here on TUG. Click here for instructions on how to do so.

You might try to find a Facebook page for owners of Villa Palmar timeshares. I don't know if there is one, but there is a very active Facebook page for the Mexican timeshare I used to own, Pueblo Bonito. I was able to sell my timeshare to another owner who was very familiar with the property and wanted another week at the resort where I owned. Don't expect to get a high price for a Mexican timeshare--if you can get an amount equal to or a little over the transfer fee charged by the resort you'll be doing well.

It would be good to contact the member services department at Villa Palmar and ask them what the procedure is for transferring ownership. Mexican timeshares are generally right-to-use properties and are not deeded like property in the U.S. Consequently, there is no deed to transfer--it's just a matter of the resort changing the name on the ownership certificate and notifying the entity that collects the annual fees. There is usually a transfer fee involved and it should state the amount on the original ownership certificate.

 

[PamMo]

Do not fall for the scammers who say they will pay a small fortune for your timeshare! They'll take your money and you'll never hear from them again (but you'll hear from other scammers who know you're an easy target).

But all is not lost. There are a lot of people who really like the Villa Group timeshares, so perhaps someone has already read your post and is interested in it. I used to own a Gold Holiday week at the Villa Del Palmar in Cabo, and was able to give it away VERY easily. The new owner paid the transfer fee, and was absolutely thrilled with it. The Villa Group will send you and the "buyer" all the transfer paperwork to fill out, and take care of the transfer. It was very easy. I recommend you gather all the information on the timeshare (detail the type of ownership, annual MF's, etc.) and post it on the TUG Bargain forum.

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[beach.bar.bob]

As the others have mentioned do not use some third party organization to help you get rid of this timeshare. Please! You will avoid an experience that is far more expensive than you need.

I would guess you are unlikely to hear from someone who has actually done this...if they've successfully gotten rid of their timeshare membership they are unlikely to be reading a timeshare message board

UVC will generally allow you surrender your membership. This a little know fact and for obvious reasons certainly not actively advertised/marketed by UVC.
In order to be surrendered, the membership must be paid in full (i.e., no loan outstanding) and all maintenance fees must be current. They will also likely require that you pay the current years maintenance fee as well in order to surrender the membership.

Know who you are dealing with so you can approach the right organization:
1) Villa Group is the developer and owner/manager of the physical resorts. They are a Mexican company and governed by Mexican laws. Once you have bought a timeshare from Villa Group your membership is then managed by:
2) UVC = Universal Vacation Club. Which is based in Las Vegas. They are a US company and governed by US laws. UVC contracts to a third party organization to collect payments, maintenance fees, handle reservations and other transactions. The company UVC uses is called:
3) Resortcom. Ultimately, they handle the paperwork involved.
All three companies are very tightly related...but it helps to know who is who and what they are responsible for.

You need to reach out to UVC member/client services to make this request. All of the phone numbers on the UVC website will take you to a Resortcom call center. Make the call, explain your situation and request to surrender your membership. Expect that this first call will not likely go well. After all, the objective of the call center isn't really to un-sell memberships...it's to make reservations and the like - the representative might not be trained in on surrendering a membership or even know it is possible. If you don't make progress ask to speak to a manager...or request a number to talk to someone in UVC member services about your situation. Keep at it...sooner or later you'll reach someone that can help you. You can also try emailing the UVC member services email address: clubmail@myuvci.com

Good luck!!

bbb

 

[GetMeOut1052]

Welcome to TUG. Please don't let your Dad become the victim of any outfit that promises to get him out of his ownership if he'll pay them a hefty upfront fee to do so. Unfortunately, those operations are scams.

Your Dad has a couple of options available. He can offer to give his timeshare away right here on TUG. Click here for instructions on how to do so.

You might try to find a Facebook page for owners of Villa Palmar timeshares. I don't know if there is one, but there is a very active Facebook page for the Mexican timeshare I used to own, Pueblo Bonito. I was able to sell my timeshare to another owner who was very familiar with the property and wanted another week at the resort where I owned. Don't expect to get a high price for a Mexican timeshare--if you can get an amount equal to or a little over the transfer fee charged by the resort you'll be doing well.

It would be good to contact the member services department at Villa Palmar and ask them what the procedure is for transferring ownership. Mexican timeshares are generally right-to-use properties and are not deeded like property in the U.S. Consequently, there is no deed to transfer--it's just a matter of the resort changing the name on the ownership certificate and notifying the entity that collects the annual fees. There is usually a transfer fee involved and it should state the amount on the original ownership certificate.

Thank you for this!

 

[GetMeOut1052]

Do not fall for the scammers who say they will pay a small fortune for your timeshare! They'll take your money and you'll never hear from them again (but you'll hear from other scammers who know you're an easy target).

But all is not lost. There are a lot of people who really like the Villa Group timeshares, so perhaps someone has already read your post and is interested in it. I used to own a Gold Holiday week at the Villa Del Palmar in Cabo, and was able to give it away VERY easily. The new owner paid the transfer fee, and was absolutely thrilled with it. The Villa Group will send you and the "buyer" all the transfer paperwork to fill out, and take care of the transfer. It was very easy. I recommend you gather all the information on the timeshare (detail the type of ownership, annual MF's, etc.) and post it on the TUG Bargain forum.

I wish you the best of luck!

Thank you. I was prepared to just surrender it but it might be worth a shot putting it out there and see what we can fetch for it. I'm not expecting much, if at all, but it's worth giving it the ole' college try.

 

[GetMeOut1052]

As the others have mentioned do not use some third party organization to help you get rid of this timeshare. Please! You will avoid an experience that is far more expensive than you need.

I would guess you are unlikely to hear from someone who has actually done this...if they've successfully gotten rid of their timeshare membership they are unlikely to be reading a timeshare message board

UVC will generally allow you surrender your membership. This a little know fact and for obvious reasons certainly not actively advertised/marketed by UVC.
In order to be surrendered, the membership must be paid in full (i.e., no loan outstanding) and all maintenance fees must be current. They will also likely require that you pay the current years maintenance fee as well in order to surrender the membership.

Know who you are dealing with so you can approach the right organization:
1) Villa Group is the developer and owner/manager of the physical resorts. They are a Mexican company and governed by Mexican laws. Once you have bought a timeshare from Villa Group your membership is then managed by:
2) UVC = Universal Vacation Club. Which is based in Las Vegas. They are a US company and governed by US laws. UVC contracts to a third party organization to collect payments, maintenance fees, handle reservations and other transactions. The company UVC uses is called:
3) Resortcom. Ultimately, they handle the paperwork involved.
All three companies are very tightly related...but it helps to know who is who and what they are responsible for.

You need to reach out to UVC member/client services to make this request. All of the phone numbers on the UVC website will take you to a Resortcom call center. Make the call, explain your situation and request to surrender your membership. Expect that this first call will not likely go well. After all, the objective of the call center isn't really to un-sell memberships...it's to make reservations and the like - the representative might not be trained in on surrendering a membership or even know it is possible. If you don't make progress ask to speak to a manager...or request a number to talk to someone in UVC member services about your situation. Keep at it...sooner or later you'll reach someone that can help you. You can also try emailing the UVC member services email address: clubmail@myuvci.com

Good luck!!

bbb

Thank you for clarifying this. It's not at all clear when looking through the packets and paperwork they give you when you purchase the timeshare. I did send a message to a few email addresses and did get a response indicating that it was possible to surrender the timeshare. I may look into selling it on here or through a Facebook group if I'm able to find one, otherwise I'll go the surrender route and keep pounding away, asking to speak to a manager continuously until I find the right person I need to work with. I'm fully prepared to deal with uncooperative sales types given the amount of negative posts I've read regarding terminating timeshares, but so far it seems I've started off on the right foot.


Thanks again to everyone who has provided input so far!

 

[Pirate200]

Hello. In 2020 I documented that my membership was paid in full and that my maintenance fees were paid in full and then sent a letter (with that documentation) to UVC stating that I no longer wanted to be a member of their "club." they sent me a response telling me I needed to send them all the info I'd already sent them plus another year of maintenance and another significant sum in order for them to process the paperwork. (they got everything they wanted except for the $$$).

Further, I would suggest reading UVCs Amended and Restated Articles and Bylaws 11-5-19. It's online https://myuvci.com/images/content/club-info/uvc/Amended and Restated Rules Articles and Bylaws 11-5-19.pdf

Section 1.43 Member
"...means the owner of a Membership in the Club who has purchased the Membership for the purpose of exercising the lodging rights and services..."

Section 1.46 Membership Purchase Agreement
Member purchases a Membership in the Club..."

You did not purchase anything tangible, you paid to be a member of a club.

Section 6.06 Payment Default
"... Once the First Delinquent Notice has been delivered, and after compliance with any other requirements under the Governing Documents and Applicable Laws, the Club shall no longer have any obligation to assure the Member’s right to reserve lodging rights and services at any Project, even if the delinquent payment and any Late Charge are thereafter received by the Club."

Here is the best part...
"In addition, the Second Delinquent Notice shall notify the Member that the Club may cancel the Member’s Membership..."
~
"...the Member is given 15 days’ prior notice of the expulsion, suspension or termination of Membership privileges and the reasons therefore; and (2) the Member is provided an opportunity to be heard, orally or in writing, not less than five days before the effective date of the expulsion, suspension or termination by a person or body authorized to decide that the proposed suspension not take place."

You've been expelled from the club - Which is probably what you wanted in the first place.