Timeshare deedback offer [St. Johann Alpenland (in Austria) run by American Resorts International.]

[jamcclure1044]

I'm trying to get rid of a timeshare at St. Johann Alpenland (in Austria) run by American Resorts International. I've owned it since 1988 and it's fully paid for, but I no longer use it and want to avoid maintenance fees. I called ARI and learned that because of my advanced age and long tenure, I can exit my timeshare by paying five years of maintenance fees, or $5,000. Is this reasonable, or is it just another ripoff?

I offered the timeshare free of charge on TUG a few years ago and got no takers. Do I have any other option, or is the $5,000 exit fee my best choice?

 

[Patri]

Since it is Austria, just stop paying. Why do they need all that money? They can just resell or rent out if they think it is so great. Tell them it is theirs for free!

 

[TUGBrian]

5000 to surrender an ownership back seems ridiculous to me yes...

however i expected resorts to begin implementing deedback charges as a multiple of maintenance fees years ago, 5x just seems like alot!

wonder if you can offer less.

 

[jamcclure1044]

Since it is Austria, just stop paying. Why do they need all that money? They can just resell or rent out if they think it is so great. Tell them it is theirs for free!

It's an American company, so stopping payment probably is not an option.

 

[Patri]

It's an American company, so stopping payment probably is not an option.

I caught that later, but people do it all the time. You would just get pesky calls, etc. Especially at an ‘advanced age’, you have less to lose if you have to go that route. There are threads on the topic on TUG. For many reasons, sometimes people just have to let timeshares go.

 

[rjrsmr]

5000 to surrender an ownership back seems ridiculous to me yes...

however i expected resorts to begin implementing deedback charges as a multiple of maintenance fees years ago, 5x just seems like alot!

wonder if you can offer less.

Brian,

We just had a group sit-down with the general manger of our home resort (now part of Capital Vacations) this spring and the topic of deedbacks came up. We were told 2 years of maintenance fees plus a $250 transfer fee to get out. This amounts to about $2250 (today) for a 2-bedroom unit in a resort Sedona AZ that is typically at 100% occupancy. The unit is paid off in full and we've had it almost 30 years. Does this amount seem excessive to you? I'm curious to know, where do YOU draw the line between reasonable vs. "ridiculous/alot?" Don't get me wrong, when we're ready to let it go, we'll put it up on TUG, but in the event of a life-altering situation, I'd like to know your take on a reference point.

 

[TUGBrian]

its a good question, and one thats difficult to answer just looking at the number itself.

while if you asked "is 2250 a reasonable number for a deedback" my initial response would have been no and id personally consider that rather high.

however if you asked "the resort wants 2 years worth of maintenance fees to give my ownership back" I would be less offended by that and in the grand scheme of things would consider it at the very least a viable option to consider. (now if you owned at the Manhattan club, or your dues were 4-5000 a year...we area back to being rather high again)

I honestly expected the major resort systems to go to this model much sooner as an easy solution to combat the exit companies who are charging much more than that and their strategy of defaulting hurts the resort even more. Its almost comical that some systems have stuck by their guns in not offering ANY deedback programs that simply funnel thousands of owners right into the hands of exit company scams year in and year out.

The best answer I give to people in this situation is "how much is your credit worth"...or "how much is your time worth in terms of having to deal with annoying collections efforts"?

for under $1000 bucks to know id be completely out of my timeshare and working directly with my resort, I think that would appeal to the vast majority of owners.

more than that and it really does come down to each individual situation and the two questions above. I think getting into the 2 to 3k range is pushing into an area where owners still consider it, but are still hesitant to move forward given the amount...but its still far less than exit companies charge!

I think its sickening that a resort or system still in active sales does not have a reasonable exit option for paid off ownerships they know are unsellable on the resale market....and we can quibble about if 2200 bucks is reasonable but at least its an official option you can use and if you ask some owners in different systems I bet they wish they had that option to at least consider so in that regard its "Reasonable" simply because it exists where others dont.

if you dont do it and try to sell, youd likely have to pay the 2025 maintenance fee either way...so if they are asking for 2025 and 2026 you might consider it just 1 years worth of maintenance fees "extra" to get rid of it.

 

[twistedrav]

Brian, thanks for the informative detail you provided as I am sure that is helpful to many.