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[ 2021 ] What is an Estoppel

scoutings

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I hate to be redundant, but it wasn't easy to find this information so I'll post it here.

I'm trying to acquire a timeshare offered by a generous TUG member (@littlestar).

In the process, I learned that information on what an estoppel is and why one would need one was hard to find. So here's my contribution, directly quoted from the trusted LT Transfers:

An Estoppel is a document that resort management provides that confirms the account information.

It is the current status available at the time of the request, detailing if there are any outstanding fees, such as loans, maintenance fees, taxes, additional assessments, and when the next use period is available. The Estoppel also describes the unit type and verifies usage as a fixed, float, and or points ownership. The detailed information provided varies from resort to resort. It confirms the timeshare that is being transferred to a new owner agrees with what is described in the sales contract.

In lieu of the estoppel, the seller can also provide us with screenshots of their account. However, it may not provide complete details. But it will be acceptable in place of an estoppel.
 

artringwald

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Estoppels usually don't cost much, depending on the developer. I'd insist on getting one for any purchase or give away. Depending on the state, deeds are also low cost and easy to obtain.
 

scoutings

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Estoppels usually don't cost much, depending on the developer. I'd insist on getting one for any purchase or give away. Depending on the state, deeds are also low cost and easy to obtain.
Apparently, VRI isn't providing them free anymore. They cost $100. If I should insist, then I'll do so.
 

theo

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An Estoppel is a document that resort management provides that confirms the account information.

Some eBay resellers have been known to gin up their own document “internally” and then inappropriately attempt to portray that document as an estoppel (which it clearly is not, having no actual resort management origin or input).

Thanks for posting LTT’s succinct definition and summary regarding estoppel.
 
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theo

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Apparently, VRI isn't providing them free anymore. They cost $100. If I should insist, then I'll do so.

I’m not sure that VRI ever actually provided estoppels free of charge. I recall that their fee was $75 about twelve years ago when I last obtained one from them.
 

noreenkate

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Some eBay resellers have been known to gin up their own document “internally” and then inappropriately attempt to portray that document as an estoppel (which it clearly is not, having no actual resort management origin or input).

Thanks for posting LTT’s succinct definition and summary regarding estoppel.

just curious is there a list anywhere that keeps track those sellers?
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
I'm so dense -- I thought estoppel was a fancypants legal term roughly translated as Hey, Cut That Out !

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

T_R_Oglodyte

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I'm so dense -- I thought estoppel was a fancypants legal term roughly translated as Hey, Cut That Out !-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
That's what I thought also. And estoppels are legal writs issued by a court. So when I first saw people talking about getting an estoppel from the resort in connection with a sale, it made no sense to me. What is the action that is being prevented and how can an estoppel be issued by a resort?

So estoppel in a sale must be something totally different. Maybe like hearing a boarding announcement in an airport and getting on what you think is your flight, only to discover midflight that you are heading to Auckland instead of Oakland.
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Maybe like hearing a boarding announcement in an airport and getting on what you think is your flight, only to discover midflight that you are heading to Auckland instead of Oakland.
I hate when that happens.

But it reminds me of a guy at the Interior Department who transferred from the National Park Service to the Office Of Strip Mine Reclamation.

At home, he told his wife, "Guess what, honey. I'm getting transferred to Charleston."

"Great," she said. "I've always wanted to live in South Carolina."

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

The Colorado Kid

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Here is an estoppel I was furnished by the seller as part of a resale that looks totally made up....View Type is "Excellent" really?

1634156141698.png
 

dioxide45

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Here is an estoppel I was furnished by the seller as part of a resale that looks totally made up....View Type is "Excellent" really?

View attachment 40951
I have not seen an estoppel in Excel spreadsheet format before, but I have never got an estoppel for a Marriott resale purchase.
 

WackyLucy

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Here is an estoppel I was furnished by the seller as part of a resale that looks totally made up....View Type is "Excellent" really?

View attachment 40951

Ironically, this contrived document fails to address at all the most important details sought in a estoppel letter, which is the status of the current owner's account (i.e., maintenance fee payment status, existence of any liens or encumbrances) as reported by resort management (letterhead of which is conspicuously absent in this case).

But.......it's nonetheless good to know that the unidentified view is "excellent". :LOL:
 

The Colorado Kid

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Ironically, this contrived document fails to address at all the most important details sought in a estoppel letter, which is the status of the current owner's account (i.e., maintenance fee payment status, existence of any liens or encumbrances) as reported by resort management (letterhead of which is conspicuously absent in this case).

But.......it's nonetheless good to know that the unidentified view is "excellent". :LOL:
IKR?! The seller is sticking to that view description!
 

pierrepierre

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I would not purchase "anything in timeshares" without an estoppel. It protects the buyer, and in a round about way, the seller too - knowing where they stand on the balance owed.
 

Lakeshore

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Here is an estoppel I was furnished by the seller as part of a resale that looks totally made up....View Type is "Excellent" really?

View attachment 40951
I actually just received an estoppel from the closing company being used (which was a recommended one here on Tug) for the Marriott timeshare we are in the process of purchasing, and it looked very much like this one(although there was more above what your picture shows), but this spreadsheet is the same. It also has written “excellent“ in the view type. Was this a scam? I was going to ask the closing company about it was why it didn’t show if the seller‘s maintence fees were all paid up. My goodness, I hope this is not a scam….everything has been very good and seemed to be on the up and up so far.
 

altiste1

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I actually just received an estoppel from the closing company being used (which was a recommended one here on Tug) for the Marriott timeshare we are in the process of purchasing, and it looked very much like this one(although there was more above what your picture shows), but this spreadsheet is the same. It also has written “excellent“ in the view type. Was this a scam? I was going to ask the closing company about it was why it didn’t show if the seller‘s maintence fees were all paid up. My goodness, I hope this is not a scam….everything has been very good and seemed to be on the up and up so far.
Marriott Vacation Club gives two different estoppels for different purposes (why this is, I don't know). There is a usage estoppel, which would provide the unit type, season, view, etc. This appears to be what you received. The other is a financial estoppel, which will show the amount of the maintenance fee, whether it is paid current, and loan information (i.e., outstanding balance, paid off, etc.). You might reach out to the closing company to see if the financial estoppel has been requested.

If you're using a closing company recommended here (LT Transfers?) then you are in good hands. I own a couple of resale Marriott weeks and the process of purchasing and transferring is fairly smooth, if somewhat lengthy.
 
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