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Should I do nothing or contact some company to Exit my Timeshare?

rdavis

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I bought a Mexican Timeshare about 20 years ago. It was a hard sell and they convinced me to buy 4 weeks for $18,000. If my memory is correct I think it was something like a 45 to 50 year lease type contract. I have no idea where I put the paperwork so I can't look at the paperwork now. I paid off the original $18,000 but after about 8 years I stopped paying the maintenance fees. I stopped for 2 reasons. One I never used it and Two - every 4 years they said I had to pay an extra maintenance payment to upgrade the unit (new furniture, etc...). The first 4 years I went along.....The 2nd 4 years when they wanted a double payment on the 4th year (one to cover upgrading furniture) I said forget it and stopped paying. I felt they were ripping me off and I never even used the Timeshare.

So after the first 8 years they would continue for about 3 more years sending me a bill for maintenance fees which I didn't pay (maintenance fee was about $1200 per year at this time for the 4 weeks). Then they stopped sending a bill. So it's been 9 years now I haven't received any maintenance fee bill or any other paperwork from them (and I have not moved). I have not received any threatening letter from my Timeshare Resort saying I owe X Amount of money and if I don't pay such and such will happen. My Timeshare Resort has not sent me anything in the mail for the past 9 years.

However, I do every year get phone calls and letters from people all over the U.S. claiming they can help me get out of my Timeshare. I have never responded to any of them. A couple phone calls have been nasty threatening legal action if I did not call back. I knew these phone calls were a scam. It was several different Indian guys. The other phone calls just say they can help me get out of my Timeshare. I did not answer any of the phone calls. I probably get 40 phone calls a year and 30 letters a year. However none of them are directly from the Timeshare Resort I bought. Evidently my Timeshare Resort put my Name, Address, and Phone number on a bunch of lists so other people can bug me.

At this point...I want some advice what I should do now. Should I do nothing and ignore the whole thing or should I contact some company to get me out of the Mexican Timeshare?

Thanks.
 

Passepartout

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Ignore the whole thing. They have obviously written you off. In Mexico, all you get is a 'right to use' (RTU). No deed. You OWN nothing. So you have nothing to sell. Relax and go get a drink. Oh, and if you ever get the urge to go back to Mexico, go ahead, but I don't think I'd go back to that resort.

Jim
 

VacationForever

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The the scam calls have nothing to do with what you own. They are irrelevant. You Mexican timeshare weeks have long been forgotten by the HOA/Developer. They are all behind you.
 

Iggyearl

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Your name is on a list. Don't worry about it. They can't come through the phone line. I got 2 calls today regarding how my computer is giving off bad signals to the Windows security team. I have a land line. Part of the new reality.....:shrug:
 

rdavis

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Thanks guys for the comments. I just received a phone message from someone who says he has someone interested in buying my Timeshare membership in Mexico at "X" Resort. I replaced the actual name of the Resort with "X". He actually said the correct name of the Resort I have so it makes me feel like the Resort still has me on the books and did not write me off. I have not called this guy back. I imagine if the Resort still has me on the Lease then they would probably make me pay 9 years of unpaid maintenance fees plus penalties before I could transfer the remainder of the Lease to someone else.

Does anyone have any comments based on this new phone call I just got since this guy referenced my actual Resort?
 

VacationForever

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Thanks guys for the comments. I just received a phone message from someone who says he has someone interested in buying my Timeshare membership in Mexico at "X" Resort. I replaced the actual name of the Resort with "X". He actually said the correct name of the Resort I have so it makes me feel like the Resort still has me on the books and did not write me off. I have not called this guy back. I imagine if the Resort still has me on the Lease then they would probably make me pay 9 years of unpaid maintenance fees plus penalties before I could transfer the remainder of the Lease to someone else.

Does anyone have any comments based on this new phone call I just got since this guy referenced my actual Resort?
It is a scam. I have a buyer who wants to pay 20K (or whatever high numbers) for your timeshare. You said "Yes!". I will then tell you that for the transaction to be completed, there are fees and taxes that have to be paid to the Mexico authorities first and it will be $4K (or whatever arbitrary number), but don't worry, you will get them all back after the transaction is completed. This is a very common scam. Ignore it and get on with your life.

There are many ways one can find out who owns what, including the folks that sold you the timeshare... it is suspected that they sell client list to scammers.
 
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Egret1986

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Agreed. Scam. I get these calls all the time, even for timeshares that I once owned and no longer own. If you believe that there's a buyer or this person is legit, then you're setting yourself up for a losing proposition. There is no buyer.

As stated previously, "Ignore it and get on with your life."
 

DAKOTATEX

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Agree with other posts on this matter. We had a paid-for studio with Fiesta Americana for several years. After a few years the 1600 pts were not worth much and the MFs kept going up. I called their office and was told I could send them a letter stopping our membership with them. They tried to charge the MF on a credit card, (twice) but after getting a refund over a 3month period I cancelled the card and never heard from them again. Credit still great!
 

pittle

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We have received numerous calls about selling our timeshare and I would always ask which one are they wanting to know about. Generally, it is the very first one that we bought in 1991 and sold in 2005. Once I tell them that, they ask if we have others and I say yes we do, but always go to them - please take us off your list. Of course that does not happen. I have found that the best thing to do is to not answer calls from numbers that you have no idea who is calling. We started doing this a few months ago. If it is important, they will leave a message. :)

Count your blessings that you have not been harassed by the place you originally purchased. :)
 

taffy19

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We have received numerous calls about selling our timeshare and I would always ask which one are they wanting to know about. Generally, it is the very first one that we bought in 1991 and sold in 2005. Once I tell them that, they ask if we have others and I say yes we do, but always go to them - please take us off your list. Of course that does not happen. I have found that the best thing to do is to not answer calls from numbers that you have no idea who is calling. We started doing this a few months ago. If it is important, they will leave a message. :)

Count your blessings that you have not been harassed by the place you originally purchased. :)
Same here. I answer with "What is a timeshare" and they hang up right away. Time is money so not waste anymore time.
 

Poisson

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We have received numerous calls about selling our timeshare and I would always ask which one are they wanting to know about. Generally, it is the very first one that we bought in 1991 and sold in 2005. Once I tell them that, they ask if we have others and I say yes we do, but always go to them - please take us off your list. Of course that does not happen. I have found that the best thing to do is to not answer calls from numbers that you have no idea who is calling. We started doing this a few months ago. If it is important, they will leave a message. :)

Count your blessings that you have not been harassed by the place you originally purchased. :)
May I ask how you sold your timeshare in 2005?
 

TheTimeTraveler

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May I ask how you sold your timeshare in 2005?


Assuming you own in Mexico you only own the right to use (RTU) for a specified period of time. Basically, a "membership". You do not own an actual Deed to the property. Basically there is nothing to sell.

I'm assuming your question is for your quarter share at Grand Mayan.



.
 
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pittle

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May I ask how you sold your timeshare in 2005?

This one was in Hawaii and had a Deed, so we could not sell it on eBay like we did others - you needed an attorney to sell it. The resort would sell it for you and handle all of the paperwork to get the Title changed to a new owner. We paid $8250 originally for the unit, they sold it (I have no idea for how much) and we got $2216 back. The main thing is that we no longer get anything from them. :)

We used it 14 times - 4 times there and 10 times we exchanged it. We had 14 weeks of vacation for $948 per week including exchange fees, purchase price, maintenance fees, and one special assessment. It was a one bedroom unit and we generally got 2 bedroom units with exchanges.
 

jmvan32

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Agree with other posts on this matter. We had a paid-for studio with Fiesta Americana for several years. After a few years the 1600 pts were not worth much and the MFs kept going up. I called their office and was told I could send them a letter stopping our membership with them. They tried to charge the MF on a credit card, (twice) but after getting a refund over a 3month period I cancelled the card and never heard from them again. Credit still great!
Did you finish paying off the balance? Currently made with mistake with FAVC and 3 months in. Thinking about canceling card and all future payments.
 

Passepartout

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Did you finish paying off the balance? Currently made with mistake with FAVC and 3 months in. Thinking about canceling card and all future payments.
You don't actually own anything. You are a member of a 'right to use' club. When you get tired of paying and no longer wish to use the resort, just stop paying. They may wrote/call with purported late charges or penalties, but the only teeth they have is denial of use, and that's what you want anyway. You have lost what you paid them. Just don't let them have any more. Yes, it may take cancelling the card.
 

jmvan32

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You don't actually own anything. You are a member of a 'right to use' club. When you get tired of paying and no longer wish to use the resort, just stop paying. They may wrote/call with purported late charges or penalties, but the only teeth they have is denial of use, and that's what you want anyway. You have lost what you paid them. Just don't let them have any more. Yes, it may take cancelling the card.
So just to clarify I'm not referring to maintenance fees. If there is still a balance on what we financed can I still walk away? I don't care if they keep my down payment, I just want out.
 

Passepartout

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So just to clarify I'm not referring to maintenance fees. If there is still a balance on what we financed can I still walk away? I don't care if they keep my down payment, I just want out.
Not saying that you won't get letters/phone calls and veiled threats to ruin your credit, etc, but eventually, they will stop and erase you from their member rolls. There is nothing to foreclose, so don't answer calls and pitch their junk mail. You might need to cancel the credit card they're accessing- maybe even change issuers, but you will be free of their clutches.
 
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