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Should I deed back my timeshare to Westgate?

J

JeffWinter

TUG Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
12
Reaction score
10
Location
Haines City, FL
My wife and I have had our timeshare with Westgate for 15 years. We have never liked it and want to end our timeshare experience. We can deed back our timeshare for $3,000. Is this reasonable? Are there other hidden costs? Is there another way to unload this timeshare besides deeding it back?
 
JeffWinter said:
My wife and I have had our timeshare with Westgate for 15 years. We have never liked it and want to end our timeshare experience. We can deed back our timeshare for $3,000. Is this reasonable? Are there other hidden costs? Is there another way to unload this timeshare besides deeding it back?
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What do you specifically own?
 
I'd do it. WG rips away al the perks for resale buyers, removing any value. $3K isn't cheap, but likely less than an exit company would charge with no guarantee of getting out.
 
whew, 3k is one of the highest amounts ive seen reported...though im guessing since we are now essentially at the end of 2023 this is a "double charge" to include both the 2024 and 2025 maintenance fees. had you inquired earlier in the year id bet it would have been the usual 1500 or so.
 
JeffWinter said:
I'm thinking of just not paying my maintenance fee and then have the bill collectors hound me for not paying. At 73 years old I don't care if I get a bad credit rating.
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That is a possibility seeing that $3000 is quite high for a deedback.
 
JeffWinter said:
I'm thinking of just not paying my maintenance fee and then have the bill collectors hound me for not paying. At 73 years old I don't care if I get a bad credit rating.
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If you do that, would you please write about the experience of walking away? People act as if walking away from a timeshare is like committing a capital crime. For someone with nothing to lose (not caring about credit rating), you are in a position to help a lot of people who feel "stuck" with a financial millstone around their neck
 
It makes me sick how these companies overcharge $3000(!) Highway robbery. You paid a lot to get in. You paid faithfully for years. Now this?

Where is deed located? If Florida deed it is a non judicial, anti-deficieny state. You can walk if you DO NOT OBJECT to foreclosure. Call them tell them that you paid faithfully for years and you will not object to foreclosure which will cost them a lot more to recover than allowing you to deed back for free right now. If they say no then screw them.
 
ScoopKona said:
If you do that, would you please write about the experience of walking away? People act as if walking away from a timeshare is like committing a capital crime. For someone with nothing to lose (not caring about credit rating), you are in a position to help a lot of people who feel "stuck" with a financial millstone around their neck
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Might take a few years to pan out.
 
I have never seen evidence of a timeshare taking the additional step to obtain or enforce a judgement on an owner after foreclosure, though I have no doubt its probably happened somewhere....especially for owners who defaulted on a large loan balance.

not saying the risk is zero, but its a significant rarity especially when talking about just maintenance fees.

heck ive seen more reports of timeshare maintenance fees NOT going up if that puts it in a better perspective!
 
CalGalTraveler said:
It makes me sick how these companies overcharge $3000(!) Highway robbery. You paid a lot to get in. You paid faithfully for years. Now this?

Where is deed located? If Florida deed it is a non judicial, anti-deficieny state. You can walk if you DO NOT OBJECT to foreclosure. Call them tell them that you paid faithfully for years and you will not object to foreclosure which will cost them a lot more to recover than allowing you to deed back for free right now. If they say no then screw them.
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Thanks for what you shared. Yes, we live in Florida. The deed is here. Not sure what “non-judicial, anti-deficiency“ means.
 
ScoopKona said:
If you do that, would you please write about the experience of walking away? People act as if walking away from a timeshare is like committing a capital crime. For someone with nothing to lose (not caring about credit rating), you are in a position to help a lot of people who feel "stuck" with a financial millstone around their neck
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I can do that, write something about the experience. We owe nothing for our time share. We have nothing to lose by walking away from Westgate.
 
JeffWinter said:
Thanks for what you shared. Yes, we live in Florida. The deed is here. Not sure what “non-judicial, anti-deficiency“ means.
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Anti-deficiency means they can’t get a money judgment against you as part of the foreclosure action, also known as a “deficiency judgment.”
 
@JeffWinter There is an entire sticky in this forum which explains state by state laws on timeshare walking.

tugbbs.com

Links to Official State Timeshare Laws and Guides/Manuals

@TUGBrian @DeniseM @CalGalTraveler take a look. This weekend, I’m creating a spreadsheet with official links to states’ timeshare laws, as well as their statuses as to non-judicial, anti-deficiency foreclosures. In the meantime, I will just keep adding notes. * Legal Disclaimer: This list...
tugbbs.com tugbbs.com

If you hire a Florida real estate lawyer for an hour to assist you. Show the lawyer these Tug and legal sections to save everyone time. Most real estate lawyers do not know about TS laws. DO NOT pay an exit company or a company up-front to get you out because this is exactly what they will do with same result. Exit companies are a rip-off.

However I hope Westgate will come to their senses and deedback the timeshare for free because foreclosures cost a lot of money. (shame on those greedy money-grubbers.)
 
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I would take the $3,000 and make a donation to my favorite charity before the end of the year in their name. I would then send them the documentation of the donation and let them know of all the good the money is making for the less fortunate. I would then smile with ever default letter and notice I receive. Being the $&& I can be in situations like this, I would probably send a copy of my donation to them each and every time I get any communication from Westgate. The charity will also send one notice to the mean timeshare company notifying them of the donation. No one there will care but it would make me feel good.

Making you pay $3,000 to get out of something you have not enjoyed or liked is only more salt in the wound of timeshare ownership.

Since you probably aren't a pain in the side of someone who treats you wrong, I suggest you simply walk away and come back to TUG on a regular basis with updates to help others who find themselves in your situation. Your updates on TUG will be about the best revenge on Westgate you can get right now.

Good luck!
 
HedonisticEpicurean said:
I would take the $3,000 and make a donation to my favorite charity before the end of the year in their name. I would then send them the documentation of the donation and let them know of all the good the money is making for the less fortunate. I would then smile with ever default letter and notice I receive. Being the $&& I can be in situations like this, I would probably send a copy of my donation to them each and every time I get any communication from Westgate. The charity will also send one notice to the mean timeshare company notifying them of the donation. No one there will care but it would make me feel good.

Making you pay $3,000 to get out of something you have not enjoyed or liked is only more salt in the wound of timeshare ownership.

Since you probably aren't a pain in the side of someone who treats you wrong, I suggest you simply walk away and come back to TUG on a regular basis with updates to help others who find themselves in your situation. Your updates on TUG will be about the best revenge on Westgate you can get right now.

Good luck!
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You surely are a creative person with what you wrote to me. Thanks for taking the time to communicate. Much appreciated.
 
JeffWinter said:
My wife and I have had our timeshare with Westgate for 15 years. We have never liked it and want to end our timeshare experience. We can deed back our timeshare for $3,000. Is this reasonable? Are there other hidden costs? Is there another way to unload this timeshare besides deeding it back?
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Seems like a lot of $$$$? I am deed backing one of my weeks to Jackson Hole Towncenter for $600
 
LMD said:
Seems like a lot of $$$$? I am deed backing one of my weeks to Jackson Hole Towncenter for $600
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Timeshare developers haven't gotten the memo that people will pay that kind of money to be out from under their timeshare. I expect most places will jack their deedback prices through the roof. And they'll also make transfer fees so egregious that the deedback program is the "best" way out. Then they can keep selling the same units in perpetuity, making money on both ends of the transaction.
 
ScoopKona said:
Timeshare developers haven't gotten the memo that people will pay that kind of money to be out from under their timeshare.
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Oh, I think they've "gotten the memo", alright. I'm sure they can see that for a few years now, owners have been paying resorts' HOAs and exit companies hundreds and thousands of dollars "to be out from under their timeshare". Although, I wouldn't say developers are "making money on both ends of the transaction". The resorts' HOAs are making money on the deedbacks while the developers are making money on sales.

Does it seem unethical? Perhaps, but hey, it's legal and that's the free-market capitalist society in which we live.

Also, if you "expect most places will jack their deedback prices through the roof", well, that's possible but that's a dangerous road for various resorts' HOAs to go down. If they significantly raise prices for deedbacks, then owners who want to end their ownership but who don't want to pay the deedback prices will either default or go seeking the "services" of these various exit/cancel/relief companies. That will lead to more complications for the HOAs.
 
I believe these high fees are also a deterrent to prevent a flood of deed backs. If deed backs were free at Westgate, there would be a deluge and they couldn't sell them again fast enough.
 
LannyPC said:
Oh, I think they've "gotten the memo", alright. I'm sure they can see that for a few years now, owners have been paying resorts' HOAs and exit companies hundreds and thousands of dollars "to be out from under their timeshare". Although, I wouldn't say developers are "making money on both ends of the transaction". The resorts' HOAs are making money on the deedbacks while the developers are making money on sales.

Does it seem unethical? Perhaps, but hey, it's legal and that's the free-market capitalist society in which we live.

Also, if you "expect most places will jack their deedback prices through the roof", well, that's possible but that's a dangerous road for various resorts' HOAs to go down. If they significantly raise prices for deedbacks, then owners who want to end their ownership but who don't want to pay the deedback prices will either default or go seeking the "services" of these various exit/cancel/relief companies. That will lead to more complications for the HOAs.
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I disagree with most of this. Here's why: "Should I mail $5,000 in small, non-sequential bills to 'Honest Abe's Totally Legit Timeshare Exit Company?' I heard they're good!"

We see some variation of the above posted far too often. People will send a scammer five large rather than do 10 minutes of homework. As long as this is true, timeshare developers will keep raising the rates until they reach optimum [censored] level. These deedback weeks go back to sales, which can then either sell them again as-is; or turn them into their new-and-exciting points-only program and sell them.

At many resorts, the HOA and the sales department are best described as incestuous. So long as they can keep the cash flow positive, some resorts can be sold until they collapse. And then the developer will find a way to make off with all the insurance money on their way out of the country.
 
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