Stop paying maintenance fee almost 4 years at Club Sunset Mexico.And I got this email today. Any suggestions what’s my next move?

[LannyPC]

I paid all in full, just stuck with MF. I've received letters and my husband already received a few calls already.

Those calls and letter are usually just all bark and no bite. The senders hope that you will feel threatened and then cave in.

 

[jules54]

Ignore all contact from Sunset. There is nothing they can do to you. Good scare tactic, some folks pay because they fear the phony repercussions. Mexico timeshares took a huge hit in 2020 and 2021 I’m certain Sunset is trying anyway possible to obtain any funds from everywhere they can. I own several contracts with Sunset Fishermens and I’ve dealt with different issues through the years. It’s usually torture. The resort is fabulous my favorite place on the planet.

 

[shorep]

Today we got an email like this:

Send back an email, ask them to hold their breathe until they get the money,that should stop the emails!

 

[Passepartout]

Send back an email, ask them to hold their breathe until they get the money,that should stop the emails!

NO! Don't reply to email. email has no legal weight, and only serves to tell the creditor that it's your valid email address, opening you to further harassment.

Jim

 

[RTVA]

mine is the vacation club membership too, I thought I bought a timeshare, but I've researched and read the posts here (thank god I found this site), I know the difference now, I bought a membership instead and stuck with MF, now keep getting calls and letters.

I see you posted this a few months ago, but how has it worked out? We have a deceit-laden Mexican vacation club ourselves, which is fully paid, and we walked away from the maintenance fees. Sure enough, the US collection agency they hired managed to get on the credit report, 100-point drop. We're disputing it now. Will let people know how it goes

 

[Passepartout]

I see you posted this a few months ago, but how has it worked out? We have a deceit-laden Mexican vacation club ourselves, which is fully paid, and we walked away from the maintenance fees. Sure enough, the US collection agency they hired managed to get on the credit report, 100-point drop. We're disputing it now. Will let people know how it goes

Force them to produce documentation that you actually own and signed for perpetual MFs. Sorry for the score drop. You can document (via eBay or other) sales records that show similar memberships have no value and have them included in any credit inquiries to mitigate the hit. Please keep us in the loop.

 

[Patricia9]

We bought a TS (no deed so I guess we bought a membership) with Sunset Resorts (Fishermans Village) about 20 years ago. It is only every other year (even years). We actually like the place, but age and health issues are now making us leery to be in Mexico. If an emergency pops up, last place I want to be if one of us has to go to the hospital is Mexico, so we prefer to stay in the States now for vacations. We have been paying our MF and trading with RCI but the cost of that is getting ridiculous (MF, plus RCI membership, exchange fees and resort fees) and we can't find opening when/where we want to go or there is no RCI resort where we want to go.
Our original purchase price was paid in full years ago, so all we pay now is the MFs and a smaller periodic fee about every 5 years. I want to just walk away from the TS and RCI and start using all that money to go when/where we want. I can't even read what our contract says it is so faded, I'm not even sure if there is a time frame this expires.
Would it be better if we wrote them and just say that we are relinquishing our membership back to them before we just stop paying the fees? Our 2022 MF will be due by the end of this year.

 

[StbrnRoz]

I was gifted a vacation club membership by my mother. She thought she was buying a timeshare. It was paid many years ago with little usuage and I've been paying the MF yearly. I've tried contacting the contract office of the resort and leaving messages with the info they've asked for in a recorded message. I wanted to know if there was an exit program and what needed to be done if it were possible. Because of COVID I understand they would have closed their office, but it's been nearly 2 years and I still have not received a response. Has anyone been successful with an exit program?

 

[Patricia9]

Today we got an email like this:

It's been almost 9 months since you first posted this. Any Update?

 

[Patricia9]

I see you posted this a few months ago, but how has it worked out? We have a deceit-laden Mexican vacation club ourselves, which is fully paid, and we walked away from the maintenance fees. Sure enough, the US collection agency they hired managed to get on the credit report, 100-point drop. We're disputing it now. Will let people know how it goes

RTVA how has your dispute been going? Update please.

 

[Huck55]

I am in a similar situation. What was the outcome of the email sent to you?

You membership is about to be sent to the legal department and to an International collection agency. I suggest you to contact me to reach an agreement of payment before is to late, At the moment you have a pending balance of $xxxx please let me know your answer and avoid to be send to a collections agency.

 

[Hmaldo]

We bought a TS (no deed so I guess we bought a membership) with Sunset Resorts (Fishermans Village) about 20 years ago. It is only every other year (even years). We actually like the place, but age and health issues are now making us leery to be in Mexico. If an emergency pops up, last place I want to be if one of us has to go to the hospital is Mexico, so we prefer to stay in the States now for vacations. We have been paying our MF and trading with RCI but the cost of that is getting ridiculous (MF, plus RCI membership, exchange fees and resort fees) and we can't find opening when/where we want to go or there is no RCI resort where we want to go.
Our original purchase price was paid in full years ago, so all we pay now is the MFs and a smaller periodic fee about every 5 years. I want to just walk away from the TS and RCI and start using all that money to go when/where we want. I can't even read what our contract says it is so faded, I'm not even sure if there is a time frame this expires.
Would it be better if we wrote them and just say that we are relinquishing our membership back to them before we just stop paying the fees? Our 2022 MF will be due by the end of this year.

Good morning, we have Sunset as well, first at Royal Sunset then moved to Tres Rios. We’re in a similar boat as to the purchase back in 2004. I just emailed them asking if I can just surrender it back to them. We are on a fixed income now and just cannot afford the MFs. Have you had any progress or learned anything that you can share?? I appreciate your time.

 

[Passepartout]

Good morning, we have Sunset as well, first at Royal Sunset then moved to Tres Rios. We’re in a similar boat as to the purchase back in 2004. I just emailed them asking if I can just surrender it back to them. We are on a fixed income now and just cannot afford the MFs. Have you had any progress or learned anything that you can share?? I appreciate your time.

I'm assuming there is no deed, and it's a 'Right to use' membership. If so, there is nothing they can foreclose, and the only thing you are surrendering is the membership, and that's what you want to do anyway. I suppose a letter telling them you're surrendering might be courteous, but unnecessary. They'll figure it out. As to transferring the ownership to someone else, you might ask how much the transfer costs, but often Mexican TSs charge several multiples of MF to do that, and it's just not economically sound to do.

 

[Patricia9]

Good morning, we have Sunset as well, first at Royal Sunset then moved to Tres Rios. We’re in a similar boat as to the purchase back in 2004. I just emailed them asking if I can just surrender it back to them. We are on a fixed income now and just cannot afford the MFs. Have you had any progress or learned anything that you can share?? I appreciate your time.

I have listed it for sale here on TUG to establish a history showing that it has no resale value. Have managed to give our 2023 week to someone for just the maintenance fee, so haven't had to take the final step to walk away. I will keep trying to do that until that fails to work. Then my plan is to contact Sunset and let them know I've tried for X # of years to sell it with no luck and want to surrender it back to them for the $50 transfer fee that is stated in our contract. If they aren't willing then I will walk.

 

[Patricia9]

I'm assuming there is no deed, and it's a 'Right to use' membership. If so, there is nothing they can foreclose, and the only thing you are surrendering is the membership, and that's what you want to do anyway. I suppose a letter telling them you're surrendering might be courteous, but unnecessary. They'll figure it out. As to transferring the ownership to someone else, you might ask how much the transfer costs, but often Mexican TSs charge several multiples of MF to do that, and it's just not economically sound to do.

I finally got a readable copy of our contract and it says our transfer fee is $50, but I suspect that they will attempt to get more.