Hi i am new to this forum and timeshare ownership. A year and half ago my husband and i bought into the melia vacation club on our honeymoon after hours of presentations. I put a good amount of money down and it is 224 monthly and 800 yearly for maintenance. Unfortunately my husband lost his job a few months ago and it doesnt look like he will be working anytime soon. We cannot afford the timeshare and now the yearly maintenance fee is coming due. I called the melia company and the girl on the phone very nastily reminded me i signed a valid contract. I was just asking to deed the timeshare back. I didnt want any money refunded. I am afraid that i will default and i dont wish to do that. I contacted a lawyer and she said to write them a letter of hardship and address it to someone in authority like the financial officer. I will do that although i have never written a letter such as that one. My husband and i take care of my mother in law also who is very sick and has alot of medical debts. Has anyone been in this position? I could use some advice, this is a very stressful situation.. thanks vickie
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melia vacations club
- Thread starter vicpap31
- Start date
Are you sure there is even a deed to give back? Most 'vacation clubs' are just that, a club in which you share assets (resorts) owned by the club. You just have the 'right to use' certain week(s). Is this club in Mexico? That's even more indication that it's a RTU.
If this is the case, the only leverage they have over you is this 'valid' contract. If you default, yes, they can file unfavorable reports against your credit- which you can contest- and it probably will affect your credit score, but without a deed, they can't foreclose anything. There may be a hit, but it would be a much lighter hit than a bankruptcy. Of course, if you ever consider bankruptcy, this worthless debt can be discharged.
We wish you well.
Jim
If this is the case, the only leverage they have over you is this 'valid' contract. If you default, yes, they can file unfavorable reports against your credit- which you can contest- and it probably will affect your credit score, but without a deed, they can't foreclose anything. There may be a hit, but it would be a much lighter hit than a bankruptcy. Of course, if you ever consider bankruptcy, this worthless debt can be discharged.
We wish you well.
Jim
Jim thank you. We signed in the dominican republic and i think you may be right it is shares. We can use every other year for 2 weeks and will be paying for a good long time. We owe about 7 thousand on the shares and i do not really want to go into bankruptcy. I asked if we could give it back and the girl on the phone said no. THis is not a property we bought but shares? its so confusing to me
Rent_Share
TUG Member
IMHO stop paying, they won't go to the expense of suing you in the USA, If they turn it over to a collection agency, file a complaint under the FDCPA It's not enforceable, without them spending more than you owe.
I agree with David. Just stop paying. You may get letters, and possibly threatening phone calls, but it's highly unlikely that you'll be sued in the U.S., and obviously you won't be vacationing in Dominican Republic anytime soon.
I just discussed this with my (attorney) wife. She concurs. Stop paying. $7K is not enough money for them to file suit for, and eventually, they WILL give up.
You have enough other problems without this.
Best Wishes
Jim
P.S. You might write them a letter to enclose with your unpaid MF bill that they can expect nothing moe from you and would be welcome to cancel your contract. They won't do it, but that would at least serve as notice.
I just discussed this with my (attorney) wife. She concurs. Stop paying. $7K is not enough money for them to file suit for, and eventually, they WILL give up.
You have enough other problems without this.
Best Wishes
Jim
P.S. You might write them a letter to enclose with your unpaid MF bill that they can expect nothing moe from you and would be welcome to cancel your contract. They won't do it, but that would at least serve as notice.
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I think David may have been referring to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Here's a summary of your rights: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/pdf-0096-fair-credit-reporting-act.pdf Basically, the pertinent bits here are that you have the right to know who files an adverse credit report and you have the right to contest it.
Jim
Jim
Color me dubious...
In your very first post on your very first day of TUG registration, you appear out of the blue, generously offering to "help out" a troubled vacation club buyer.
Call me cynical, but color me dubious.
To the OP: Proceed with caution and be very wary of strangers bearing "gifts". Don't divulge any personal or financial information during this imminent phone call.
Personally, I would be strongly inclined to regard any such sudden interest from someone appearing out of a clear blue sky as likely to be just a "phishing" ploy.
Btw, just to clarify, you don't actually own anything in this arrangement. You have instead made a down payment on a "club membership" offering you a periodic "right to use" (commonly abbreviated as RTU here on TUG) for a defined and finite period of time, typically 20-30 years, sometimes as long as 40+ years.
To "Reyme": With $7K unpaid on OP's membership contract, Melia certainly won't allow its' transfer to anyone else without satisfaction of the existing debt.
Why would they consider such a thing? Think about it; it would be against their own financial interests to allow transfer unless you also took over the existing debt.
Back to the OP: Defaulting on a "vacation club membership contract" executed in the Dominican Republic wouldn't be the end of the world. Unless this "Melia" entity has a business base or operational presence here in the U.S.A. (which does not appear to be the case in my brief search), there isn't much of anything they can do if you default (although your deposit and all other money paid to date will obviously not be returned). They will ultimately just give up and forget you --- and then keep on selling these same RTU "club memberships" over and over again to starry-eyed gringos innocently venturing into their lair.
All that being said Vickie, you should consider obtaining face to face (i.e., more than via Internet site forum) U.S. based legal advice, which my personal input here does not constitute and for which my personal comments here are neither provided nor intended to in any way substitute) before you conclusively decide to simply default.
Good luck.
In your very first post on your very first day of TUG registration, you appear out of the blue, generously offering to "help out" a troubled vacation club buyer.
Call me cynical, but color me dubious.
To the OP: Proceed with caution and be very wary of strangers bearing "gifts". Don't divulge any personal or financial information during this imminent phone call.
Personally, I would be strongly inclined to regard any such sudden interest from someone appearing out of a clear blue sky as likely to be just a "phishing" ploy.
Btw, just to clarify, you don't actually own anything in this arrangement. You have instead made a down payment on a "club membership" offering you a periodic "right to use" (commonly abbreviated as RTU here on TUG) for a defined and finite period of time, typically 20-30 years, sometimes as long as 40+ years.
To "Reyme": With $7K unpaid on OP's membership contract, Melia certainly won't allow its' transfer to anyone else without satisfaction of the existing debt.
Why would they consider such a thing? Think about it; it would be against their own financial interests to allow transfer unless you also took over the existing debt.
Back to the OP: Defaulting on a "vacation club membership contract" executed in the Dominican Republic wouldn't be the end of the world. Unless this "Melia" entity has a business base or operational presence here in the U.S.A. (which does not appear to be the case in my brief search), there isn't much of anything they can do if you default (although your deposit and all other money paid to date will obviously not be returned). They will ultimately just give up and forget you --- and then keep on selling these same RTU "club memberships" over and over again to starry-eyed gringos innocently venturing into their lair.
All that being said Vickie, you should consider obtaining face to face (i.e., more than via Internet site forum) U.S. based legal advice, which my personal input here does not constitute and for which my personal comments here are neither provided nor intended to in any way substitute) before you conclusively decide to simply default.
Good luck.
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Even if not explicitly stated somewhere in writing within your contract documents, it stands to both reason and logic that you cannot just unilaterally transfer a membership contract with associated debt, unless the recipient is overtly willing to knowingly assume all of the remaining debt --- and that ain't ever gonna happen.
Also, most RTU operations in Mexico and Dominica have their own specific internal processes and paperwork for contract transfers. Most also impose a "transfer fee", often a hefty amount of money, but any such mandatory transfer fee is not particularly relevant to you at this juncture, with a $7k loan obligation to be addressed (unless you choose / decide to default, in which case neither the $7k note balance nor a potential transfer fee will be of any particular concern to you anyhow).
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