Lawyer vs advocacy group to get out of timeshare contract

[cmdm]

I have a timeshare that was a mistake for me from the beginning. I didn't know about the cancellation period and missed out on it. I've had it for about 2 years and have not used it once. I signed up with a couple resale companies and realized, quickly, that they wouldn't be doing anything for me besides taking my money.

I've contacted Professional Timeshare Services and Finn Law Group to try to find a way out of this. Both say the other is a scam. I don't know who to trust in the industry in general, especially these two. Is there anyone that has used either of these? Or was sucessful in getting out of the contract??

 

[DeniseM]

In a nutshell - you don't have any legal grounds to get out of the contract, unless there was fraud involved, and you are going to sue them.

Most of the Recovery Companies are not reputable and just want to take more of your money. Most of them don't even have attorneys on staff. Most of them provide form letters for you to send to the timeshare to try to get out of your purchase. They aren't going to go to court on your behalf, because you don't have a case.

There is a simple rule of thumb with timeshare business offers:

Never pay an upfront fee - period. ALL of the scammers charge upfront fees.

Is the timeshare completely paid off?

Please consider giving your timeshare away to a private individual who would like to own it, before you spend a cent with a company like this.

Why?
-You can give it away yourself for nearly no cost.
-You can control the transfer process to make sure it is truly transferred out of your name.
-You won't have to deal with companies that may or may not be Legit.
-You can transfer it to a private individual who will be happy to have it for their own use.
-You will have the satisfaction of knowing that you ended your ownership legally and ethically.

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 2011/12 maintenance fees and don't ask for reimbursement.

2) Pay for the title transfer (you can get a simple title transfer with no escrow or title search for about $100.) Many people have used Tugger TTT (Alan) at Time Travel Traders for this service in the past, but he is retired and is referring most business to Lisa Short for this service - 1.706.969.8906 readylegal@gmail.com Lisa has been receiving good reviews on TUG.

3) Reserve a popular holiday week in 2012 for the new owner​

Good luck!

 

[timeos2]

Unless you are looking for another way to lose MORE money on the "deal" don't sign up or pay one penny to this group. There is no real grounds / case to get your money back unless as Denise says you stand ready & armed with proof of a fraud.

Do you have that proof? Not "he told me" but written documents to prove what was said vs what you got in the legally binding contract.

Of course you don't have that - they have the only valid version and it commits you to ownership & paying.

If it's paid off sell it or give it away if you can. If it isn't paid off stop paying the loan & be prepared for a serious financial hit to your credit (but only id you REALLY can't afford to pay down your obligation). Take it as a life lesson.

Throwing more money on a wasted attempt to "get out" now is a total waste.

Good luck.

 

[Passepartout]

You bought something without understanding what you bought. Then you didn't read the contract you signed. Then you didn't use what you bought for 2 years.

Unfortunately, until you find someone to buy (or accept for free) the property you bought, you own it and are responsible for any payments you owe and for the annual maintenance fees.

Others will chime in here, but the short answer is don't pay anyone to take it off your hands. Any upfront 'fee' is a scam. Timeshares today have little or no value. To see what yours may be worth, sign on to eBay, enter your timeshare in the search window. Down the left side, you'll see, 'completed auctions' click there and see what similar TS to yours have actually sold for. Warning, it isn't much.

The best way to realize any benefit for what you bought is to use it. Hang around TUG. Join if you wish. Learn about the ins- and outs of your system- they are all a little different. Go on vacation. You obviously saw value in it or you wouldn't have bought.

If you still want to divest, just list it on eBay, or TUG. You'll have to have it paid for, MF paid and maybe a desirable week booked to make it attractive to a buyer, but that beats paying an upfront fee to someone who will just rip you off and you'll still own the TS.

So far, we have not seen anyone have an attorney 'get them out' of a TS contract, short of proving fraud. That isn't easy. Those contracts are crafted to protect the developer and ownership in the hands of you, the buyer. You were given a small number of days (3-5-7 or so) to review the contract and rescind if you want to. The terms are buried in the fine print, but whatever they are, that time is long gone and you are a timeshare owner. Congratulations.

And Welcome to TUG!

By the way, many owners here came by their TSs in exactly the same way. You are among friends.

Jim Ricks

 

[cmdm]

it is not paid off. unfortunately it is something a friend and i went in on together. she was invited to the presentation and asked me to come along. i got suckered into it. i saw the value in it that night only, regretted it on the drive home but figured i'd wait a couple days and see. hindsight is 20/20 of coures.

we still owe too much money on it for someone to want to buy it from us. so basically i'm stuck with this timeshare.

 

[bnoble]

I didn't know about the cancellation period

Sure you did. It was in the documents you signed. You didn't read those documents. That's not anyone's fault but yours.

I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but that's the situation you are in. So, now you have two options.

Option one is to try to get rid of it. If you owe anything at all on it, you will have to pay that off first. After that, there's lots of advice here about how to do that without being ripped off again, and we can help you do that.

Option two is to actually make use of it. We can be of even more help there. So, yes, you are stuck with the timeshare, but you are also stuck taking the vacations it represents. Honestly? There are worse things.

 

[DeniseM]

It is a shame to let it stand empty. Here are some options you may not have thought of:

1) Exchange the timeshare for one closer to home for a more convenient vacation/cheaper travel.

2) Reserve a prime holiday week and rent it out (yourself) to recover some of your fees.

3) Donate the yearly usage (not ownership) to a reputable charity, like the Make A Wish Foundation.

4) Let friends or family use it for the cost of the maintenance fee - or free.

5) If allowed, convert it to points for hotel stays or airfare.