Inheriting a timeshare - Club La Costa

[spirty]

My mother sadly passed away. She owned a timeshare in a Sunningdale Village resort (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain), owned by Club La Costa, now this resort is renamed to

Wyndham Residences Golf del Sur.

She paid the full amount right away. I remember she paid annual RCI fees for some time, but hasn't been paying anything to RCI or Club La Costa for the last 6-7 years.

Questions:
1. Is there any value in this timeshare?
2. I live in USA, if I take it over - will I have use of it here? I am not planning to travel to Canary Islands.
3. I read some resorts can be used as deposits to be exchanged to other places. Does it makes sense to do given I'll have (I assume) to pay annual maintenance fees.
4. I read that Club La Costa was taken over by Windham. Does it mean that I'll automatically get into the Windham system? Will I still own a week in the new rebranded Wyndham resort?
5. Main questions - on this forum people are trying to get rid of timeshares for free. IS IT WORTH IT AT ALL TO INHERIT IT? I have a choice to not pursue this.

Thank you!

 

[JeffC]

My mother sadly passed away. She owned a timeshare in a Sunningdale Village resort (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain), owned by Club La Costa, now this resort is renamed to

Wyndham Residences Golf del Sur.

She paid the full amount right away. I remember she paid annual RCI fees for some time, but hasn't been paying anything to RCI or Club La Costa for the last 6-7 years.

Questions:
1. Is there any value in this timeshare?
2. I live in USA, if I take it over - will I have use of it here? I am not planning to travel to Canary Islands.
3. I read some resorts can be used as deposits to be exchanged to other places. Does it makes sense to do given I'll have (I assume) to pay annual maintenance fees.
4. I read that Club La Costa was taken over by Windham. Does it mean that I'll automatically get into the Windham system? Will I still own a week in the new rebranded Wyndham resort?
5. Main questions - on this forum people are trying to get rid of timeshares for free. IS IT WORTH IT AT ALL TO INHERIT IT? I have a choice to not pursue this.

Thank you!

1. There’s little to no resale value for a CLC TS.
2. & 3. Is it in the CLC points system or a deeded week? CLC points can used in II and trade fairly well. CLC ended its affiliation with RCI a few years ago. CLC also has resorts in Florida, Encantada and Regal Oaks. If there’s no record of payments are you sure they haven’t foreclosed on it already.
4. CLC was taken over by Windham hotels, not Travel & Leisure, so it has nothing to do with the Windham TS system.
5. You don’t have to accept this. If you’re unsure simply refuse to inherit it.

CLC has a program for deeding back points. IIRC you can notify them by a certain date, I think sometime in September, that you no longer want the TS. As long as all fees are up to date they let you surrender the deed. I would check with CLC, let them know your mom has passed away AND NO ONE WANTS the TS. You may need to locate and return the documents associated with the TS. Good luck and condolences.

Jeff C

 

[ScoopKona]

Adding to the above, all things being equal it is better to own a timeshare which you will cheerfully visit often. If you vacation the Canary Islands every year or at least every other year, absolutely take it. A free timeshare -- as long as the maintenance fees are low and you plan to use it, you are good to go.

If you don't visit the Canary Islands often, I'd steer clear. You can always find an inexpensive timeshare in a location you enjoy more and get that instead.

There are people who own a timeshare just to trade it. I'm one of them. But it's nowhere near as easy or convenient as booking a hotel room. And the vast majority of people aren't going to like the experience. It takes a different perspective and quite a bit of flexibility to make trading timeshares work every year.

 

[HudsHut]

Welcome to TUG, @spirty

I send my condolences on your Mother's passing.

Decline the inheritance of this timeshare. It is not worth $1.
If you actually want a useable timeshare, you would be better off buying a resale Marriott timeshare week, which would give you a significant advantage when exchanging via Interval International.

 

[silentg]

You don’t have to inherit a timeshare. Did you see any paperwork saying your mother was delinquent in payments? Any chance the resort foreclosed the week?
Sorry for the loss of your mother.

 

[rjwehr]

"She paid the full amount right away. I remember she paid annual RCI fees for some time, but hasn't been paying anything to RCI or Club La Costa for the last 6-7 years."

If she hasn't paid any maintenance fees to Club La Costa in the last 6-7 years, I'm surprised they haven't taken it back as a default.

As the others have stated above, you're probably better off declining the inheritance of the timeshare. Good luck.

 

[spirty]

Thank you for all the answers. Couple of outcomes and follow-ups:

1. Points or Deed - that is unknown, the only document I have is Membership Certificate, which indicates that she's paid and has a right to occupy certain villa number during certain week. I don't have a Deed or a contract.
2. After 6-7 years of not paying fees to CLC it should have been foreclosed - I'm verifying this with CLC.
3. If it was not foreclosed - what are the fees? If the fees are low (btw, what is considered a low fee?) - I'll evaluate if this property has value in exchange (through RCI or II) and how cumbersome it is to do the exchange.
4. Most recommendations - decline the inheritance.

Thanks again.

 

[geist1223]

Even if they have not foreclosed Club La Costa would probably require payment of all past due MF to use.

 

[ScoopKona]

Thank you for all the answers. Couple of outcomes and follow-ups:

3. If it was not foreclosed - what are the fees? If the fees are low (btw, what is considered a low fee?) - I'll evaluate if this property has value in exchange (through RCI or II) and how cumbersome it is to do the exchange.

Most timeshares trade the same way through RCI or II -- you deposit a week, you book a week, you get a week. There are exceptions with various point-based systems. And those with lockout units. But in general, trading works the same way.

So if you're on the hook for all those unpaid maintenance fees, you would be better off taking a free timeshare from someone here and using that instead.

Most timeshare owners are unhappy. If you don't want to join their ranks, decide what constitutes a great system for you (nobody can help you with this). And then go shopping.

 

[JeffC]

Thank you for all the answers. Couple of outcomes and follow-ups:

1. Points or Deed - that is unknown, the only document I have is Membership Certificate, which indicates that she's paid and has a right to occupy certain villa number during certain week. I don't have a Deed or a contract.
2. After 6-7 years of not paying fees to CLC it should have been foreclosed - I'm verifying this with CLC.
3. If it was not foreclosed - what are the fees? If the fees are low (btw, what is considered a low fee?) - I'll evaluate if this property has value in exchange (through RCI or II) and how cumbersome it is to do the exchange.
4. Most recommendations - decline the inheritance.

Thanks again.

I'd wait to hear back from CLC regarding the status of the account. If it's still active, inquire about the deed back program. If it's in arrears decline the inheritance.
Good Luck
JeffC