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Trying to Get Rid of Timeshare

Almond_Joy

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Hello TUG,

I'm a co-owner on a Pacific Monarch RTU plan @ 155 points biannually with my mom. She says we bought it in 2009....I honestly don't remember, I feel like it's been longer. Since then we have used it once.

My mom is not working, and I barely make enough to cover my own living expenses. I also have a mountain of student debt looming in the near future when I finish getting my Master's. I have no interest in using the timeshare, so I'm looking for options on what to do.

I understand that I can't sell a timeshare that I'm still paying on. My plan is to see if I can get a bank loan to cover the principal of the timeshare loan (hopefully with a lower interest rate, but probably not) and pay off the timeshare loan. I don't know how successful this will be, as my credit is badly damaged by the student loans, even though they're in good standing. Has anyone else tried this in an effort to get rid of their timeshare?

If I can accomplish that task, I plan to just give it away - I don't have the patience to try and sell it, and from what I read I won't fetch a profit anyway. I was confused by an excerpt from this article:

http://tug2.net/timeshare_advice/timeshare_abandonment.html

"Auction it off for $1 with no reserve

More than a few have been successful selling their unwanted timeshare at person-to-person online auctions such as eBay Auctions. Selling your timeshare on ebay comes with a fee of $35 dollars. Many organizations that charge you significant upfront fees will simply turn around and list your timeshare on ebay for you. It is far easier, not to mention WAY cheaper to do this yourself! You can also put your timeshare up for no charge on the TUG bargain deals section here if you are indeed giving it away for free: TUGBBS Bargain Deals"

The part in bold is what's confusing me. Whoever takes this plan will have to pay maintenance/HOA fees right? Also, if no one decides to take it, but I've paid off the loan.....am I still just stuck with the timeshare, or is there any way I can remove myself as an owner once the loan is paid off?

Thanks for reading.....
 
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SOS8260456

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Have you contacted the timeshare to see if they might allow you to deed the timeshare back? It is a long shot, but worth trying.

Good luck.
 

AwayWeGo

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Grandview At Las Vegas

[triennial - points]
Paying Off The Loan Is Just The Beginning.

Also, if no one decides to take it, but I've paid off the loan.....am I still just stuck with the timeshare, or is there any way I can remove myself as an owner once the loan is paid off?
No automatic way.

When you pay off the loan, then you own the timeshare week free & clear, which means you are responsible for ongoing maintenance fees & taxes whether you go there or not -- i.e., you don't have to use your deeded timeshare, but you do have to keep on paying the mandatory fees.

That, plus the fact that so many timeshare deeds are currently worthless, is why so many owners wanting to get out from under are giving away their timeshares el freebo -- assuming they can find people willing to take them.

"Worthless" as a market condition does not necessarily mean that the timeshare itself is worthless as a place to go for a nice vacation. Because of that, it is possible to find willing takers for timeshare giveaways.

Some people accepting free timeshares are willing to pay the costs of ownership transfer -- deed preparation & recording, resort transfer fees, etc.

Some timeshare owners desperate to get out from under, however, sweeten their giveaway offers by paying those costs themselves, so that the new owner pays nothing.

Occasionally the old owner even pays maintenance fees a year or so ahead just to make a timeshare giveaway offer that much more attractive to a prospective new owner.

Those costs are significant, but are less than some of the "relief" & up-front fee hornswoggles & bamboozles out there waiting to snare the unwary.

Good luck.

Full Disclosure: Within the past couple of years, we deeded 1 unwanted timeshare back to the resort (with the resort's permission & cooperation). We also gave away a perfectly good 3BR lock-off floating-week timeshare to a fellow TUG member who paid closing & transfer costs. Then we gave away 2 triennial points-timeshare deeds to non-TUG recipients who paid the transfer costs. That leaves us with 1 USA biennial weeks timeshare & 1 USA triennial points timeshare. Those 2 together don't even add up to 1 full annual timeshare week, but at the moment under current conditions we are OK with that.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

Almond_Joy

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Thank you for the responses.

I haven't called the timeshare company, so I will try that.

Thank you for all the tips on how to give away the timeshare also, Away.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Timeshare Company Is 1 Thing. Timeshare Resort Is Something Else Again.

I haven't called the timeshare company, so I will try that.
Keep in mind that the timeshare company & the timeshare resort are 2 different things.

True, the timeshare's Homeowner Association (which collects maintenance fees & actually runs the resort day to day) is oftentimes under the thumb of the timeshare company, specially when the resort is newish & the units are not yet sold out.

And sometimes the timeshare company hangs on as the controlling force in the HOA long after the resort is sold out & the owners should be in charge of the HOA.

Yet there are independent, owner-controlled timeshare HOAs out there.

If the timeshare company says No to a give-back offer, it is possible the timeshare HOA will say Yes -- & vice versa.

Odds are strong, however, that they'll both say No.

Can't hurt to ask.

Good luck.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

e.bram

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Transfer you part to your mother. You are then personally out of the TS.
As far as your mother is concerned, they can not get blood from a stone.
ps. Don't worry about the pontifications on this board.
 

Rent_Share

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Transfer you part to your mother. You are then personally out of the TS.
As far as your mother is concerned, they can not get blood from a stone.
ps. Don't worry about the pontifications on this board.

If you are on the loan as an debtor, the lendor will not release your liability on the loan based on the "quit claim deed", e.brains's strategy would only avoid further personal liability for maintenance fees from you individually.

I understand that I can't sell a timeshare that I'm still paying on. My plan is to see if I can get a bank loan to cover the principal of the timeshare loan (hopefully with a lower interest rate, but probably not) and pay off the timeshare loan.
 
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