Westgate stole our timeshare

[mikeben]

We own a 1 bdrm loft unit at Westgate Park City. Bought it through a broker as a used unit. Purchased in 2011 and have deed, estoppel and all other necessary paperwork. Westgate refused to buy it as ROFR and we have had an account with Westgate and faithfully been paying the maintenance every year on time and using the unit every year. In checking online for our previously reserved unit for summer 2018 use the account is gone. Called Westgate and they said we did a quit claim deed and the unit is not ours anymore!! We did not do anything of the sort. In checking with the Utah county records they show the property/week was never recorded.

Westgate has been trying for years to get this unit back as it really goes to a 2 bdrm design but they sold it as a 1 bdrm. But they never offered anything of value to get it back. We know this because we meet with them annually while staying there as an "owner meeting" where they try to pitch you other sales.

Of course getting nowhere with Westgate so we may have to take legal action. Anyone ever hear of such a thing after 7 years of ownership they just delete you and falsely claim you have a quit deed?

 

[Braindead]

The first thing I would do is call the Utah county recorder and see if you can file a deed with seven year old signatures.
If you can get it filed. Can you search to see if Westgate has a current deed filed from the seller you purchased from.
If Westate has a deed filed due to foreclosure or from the seller you may not have any legal right to the property and your only recourse would be from the seller and broker you purchased from
I’m not an attorney and don’t know Utah laws specifically

 

[bogey21]

.In checking with the Utah county records they show the property/week was never recorded.

What was never recorded, your original purchase or the phantom Quit Claim Deed?

George

 

[Jimster]

If you didn’t record your deed, you may be SOL. Recording is the process whereby you notify the world that you are the owner. 50 deeds could be out there but the one that is recorded is the owner. Similarily, an unrecorded QC deed is also worthless until recorded. Now if they record it, it would have to have valid signatures or legal action is possible.

Yet another possibility is if you didn’trecord it, then the original owner could give Westgate a QC deed to transfer ownership to them. This would probably mean Westgate will own the property but you MAY have legal recourse against the original owner.

Having said that, If neither are recorded, then get it to the recorder as fast as possible. Can you say FEDEX Overnight? I suspect there is nothing unique about Utah law that would be inconsistent with this because this is basic real estate law.

 

[Passepartout]

Of course, you MIGHT thank your lucky stars that you are no longer Wastegate victims, you got 7 years of vacations for your resale's cost and now, while people are paying others to take Wastegate weeks or paying them thousand$ to turn in the deed, you're free to buy another resale with a more honorable outfit. Just a thought.

 

[VacationForever]

Of course, you MIGHT thank your lucky stars that you are no longer Wastegate victims, you got 7 years of vacations for your resale's cost and now, while people are paying others to take Wastegate weeks or paying them thousand$ to turn in the deed, you're free to buy another resale with a more honorable outfit. Just a thought.

Park City is probably quite valuable,,,

 

[VacationForever]

Did you ask for a copy of your quit claim which Westgate said they have?

 

[CalGalTraveler]

+1 ask for a copy of the quitclaim and find out who signed it. Either Wastegate is mixed up, or someone impersonated your signature on the quit claim (fraud) or you have a claim against the prior owner.

The fact you have account statements and paid the maintenance fees and used the unit indicates that you had ownership rights.

However most Wastegate units are not worth much resale (and if you did not pay much for it resale) perhaps it is a blessing to be rid of Wastegate.

 

[Jimster]

“ask for a copy of the quitclaim and find out who signed it. Either Wastegate is mixed up, or someone impersonated your signature on the quit claim (fraud) or you have a claim against the prior owner.

The fact you have account statements and paid the maintenance fees and used the unit indicates that you had ownership rights”

The fact you get statements so you have ownership rights is just NOT true. Absent a recorded deed you have nothing. Every year thousands of pieces of property in the USA have their taxes paid by someone who have no ownership without ripening into any type of ownership- the same would be true for maintenance fees and unit utilization. The best you could get from Westgate at that point would be an action for unjust enrichment but I wouldn’t hold my breath attempting to recover especially since you got the use of the property during that time frame.

Since you are a resale buyer, they would have NO obligation to provide you with anything if they don’t recognize you as an owner. You can contact the appropriate Recorder and get a certified copy of the deed. If I were to hazard a guess, the QC deed has no relationship to you at all but rather was signed by the original owners. If that is true and you didn’t record your deed, you are again SOL.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I disagree - consider the contra situation: e.g. if Westgate messed up the deed recording i.e. it was never recorded, had the wrong names, missing signatures (BTW...this has happened to us twice now with another developer and a resale closing company)...Would you be able to walk? I don't think so because they would cite the signed purchase agreement, payment for the unit, maintenance fees and usage as proof that you owned it.

If this were true then we would all try to ensure that that our deeds were recorded incorrectly - or not at all, so we could all simply walk away when the time comes to get rid of the timeshare. I don't think the lawyers at the developer would let this happen.

FWIW...If the OP really wants to keep the timeshare, adverse possession may be considered because you paid the property tax and maintenance for several years. I am not a lawyer but this could be explored.

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/adverse-possession-trespassers-become-owners-46934.html

 

[Jimster]

Let me make an initial observation which I should have stated at the beginning. I assumed that the resale transaction was made WITHOUT using a title company. I assumed that because a title company would make sure that his ownership was properly recorded and placed in the chain of title. If a title company was used, the solution is simple-make.a claim on the title company. The title company should pay his claim or recover his ownership. The reason I assumed this is because many resale transaction occur and no one is willing to foot the cost of the title insurance. So when problems arise, they often have no recourse. If I were putting up big money for a TS, there is no way I would purchase it without title insurance. It should also be noted that a closing company may not be a title company. If you don’t get title insurance, all they did was facilitate the deal.

Calgal asks if the developer made an error in recording or didn’t record the deed would you be able to walk? No, but then you wouldn’t own anything either. The reason you wouldn’t be able to walk is as she states, you still have a contract and possibly a note. Those would be easily voidable because no transfer of property has taken place which should be an element of the contract. Of course, it is the buyer’s duty to get it recorded and not the seller. The problem is the buyer would have to take affirmative action to void the contract and that would probably not happen but it could. More likely when the error was discovered it would simply be corrected and the contract would once again become enforceable. The recording process protects the buyer not the seller. This whole process is also why the TS developer usually has a closing department-to insure their interests- not yours. If the deed is not recorded in the transaction by the developer, then it stays in the developers name. That is the buyer’s problem not the seller. If it is recorded in the wrong name, that is the buyer’s problem too but maybe extrinsic evidence could be produced to clarify that. So there is little incentive to do what Calgal suggests.

As to adverse possession, there are 7 elements to adverse possession in most states. The first of which is color of title which assuming the resale buyer (our poster) has probably met if he has a copy of the deed. In Illinois, color of title must be coupled with 7 years of adverse possession. WIthout color of title, it is 21 years. The other six elements to adverse possession are undoubtedly missing. For example, the use is not hostile or adverse or exclusive. Given the elements of adverse possession I think it would be highly unlikely to be available in a TS situation.

To sum up, you own NOTHING unless it is properly recorded. That is the whole purpose of recording-to tell the world you have ownership. It is not like a car title where the transfer occurs and you own it. Sometimes there are many deeds to a property out there, but it is only the one recorded first that counts. Would you like a deed to the Sears Tower? I could write you one but that doesn’t mean you own the Sears Tower. You could even try to record it, but it would be outside the chain of title and therefore be invalid. Realize a Right to Use (RTU) is somewhat different.

 

[presley]

Bought it through a broker as a used unit. Purchased in 2011 and have deed, estoppel and all other necessary paperwork.

Is your deed notarized? Have you been paying property taxes each year since 2011? If it was never recorded, you should have never been billed for property tax. If you never paid property tax, you never owned it in the eyes of the county.

AFAIK, resorts don't recognize you as an owner until the deed has been recorded. Somewhere, someone screwed up. If the deed was never recorded, there would be no reason for a quick claim deed that I know of. I thought they only did quick claim deeds if you weren't paying your MFs anyway. Have you been paying your MFs on time? Sounds like a pain. I hope you get to the bottom of it.

ETA: If it was never recorded and the property taxes were never paid, Westgate could have bought it at auction. That would probably involve a quick claim deed.

 

[Jimster]

We own a 1 bdrm loft unit at Westgate Park City. Bought it through a broker as a used unit. Purchased in 2011 and have deed, estoppel and all other necessary paperwork. Westgate refused to buy it as ROFR and we have had an account with Westgate and faithfully been paying the maintenance every year on time and using the unit every year. In checking online for our previously reserved unit for summer 2018 use the account is gone. Called Westgate and they said we did a quit claim deed and the unit is not ours anymore!! We did not do anything of the sort. In checking with the Utah county records they show the property/week was never recorded.

Since you never recorded it, then as far as the county is concerned, you never owned it. You are not in the chain of title. Who did own it? Maybe your seller owned it or maybe a earlier reseller owned it. Maybe Westgate still owned it. Only a title search will reveal the true owner. Frankly, they don’t need a QC deed from you.

After you bought it, you should have received your deed with a recording number stamped on it. I suspect that you or the closing company never submitted the deed to the recorder. Whether it is notarized or not is irrelevant. In fact, it may well be in your closing papers. Often these are accompanied with a letter telling you that you must record it. There is a.fee associated with the recording and the closing company may not have recorded it but rather told you to record it. This is not uncommon but it is unfortunate.

 

[Jimster]

[QUOTE="presley, post: 2130056, member: 54772"If it was never recorded and the property taxes were never paid, Westgate could have bought it at auction. That would probably involve a quick claim deed.[/QUOTE]

For the record, it is a QUIT CLAIM deed not a quick claim deed.

 

[tschwa2]

Also with the exception of California and maybe a few other states/counties, property taxes are billed directly to the resort/HOA and then added onto the MF bill. They are not paid directly by the owner.

 

[mikeben]

Also with the exception of California and maybe a few other states/counties, property taxes are billed directly to the resort/HOA and then added onto the MF bill. They are not paid directly by the owner.

thanks everyone for your input. Actually we did use a Title company and we are now trying to work with them but of course they have no record...fortunately we have all the documents and emails from 2011 so will have to see what they will do ( Title company is different name now but same people !). Westgate has gotten back to us telling us they have a quit claim deed...but they can't find it !! They are quickly realizing there never was one.

 

[Jimster]

i would just add one final thing. There is a difference between a closing company and a title company. I don’t see how a title company would not have records. THey should have isssued a policy of title insurance. It would have been subsequent to a title search and review. Among other things, I am an agent for one of the biggest title insurance companies, so I should know.

With all due respect, it sounds like you dealt with a closing company, but nevertheless they may solve your problem. Good luck.

 

[dioxide45]

One thing to clear up. Not having a deed recorded with the county doesn't mean you don't own the property. I can convey title with a deed and the new person owns it even if the deed isn't recorded. Proving ownership may be more difficult and there are other risks involved. Of course, recording the deed protects your ownership and would prevent the prior owner from conveying title to someone else with another deed. This is why you always want to have deeds recorded. I also find it very unlikely that any timeshare company today would recognize a new owner without having a copy of the recorded deed. None of the big names do it and I doubt that Westgate would have transferred ownership to you in their system without seeing that recorded deed.

Have you done a public records search at the Summit County Recorders website? We need more details about what isn't recorded. Your original deed or the deed that Westgate is claiming that they have?

 

[Jimster]

One thing to clear up. Not having a deed recorded with the county doesn't mean you don't own the property

I beg to differ. That is exactly what it means!! That is standard real estate law. Check out a hornbook on real estate or Kratival a standard text on real estate and my instructor in law school. There can be hundreds of deeds out there for a piece of property but if yours is not recorded you are SOL unless you get it recorded before any others. You will be out of the chain of title and the one of the ways you may get. redress might be a suit for fraud.

Do you want a deed to a property? Tell me which one and send me the legal description and I can draw it up, but that doesn’t mean you own the property. It is not a car title! That’s how cars are transfered not property. It is a deed. Deeds must be recorded to manifest ownership. It that weren’t true, every title company in the country would go out of business in 6 months.

If you did a closing and told the mortgage company the deed would not be recorded. Guess what? The mortgage company would not lend funds. Why? Because if it wasn’t recorded, they wouldn’t have a secured interest in a piece of property.