Time sharing scams

[Rodneykrantz]

My mother in law has lost thousands of dollars in time share deals she can't afford to keep it and they tell her they have a buyer for it she sends
them closing cost money and nothing happens We are trying to help her get out of this mess they sent another letter today saying she owes $2200.00 more for maintenance fees and if not paid they will come after her. Can she just let it go and not pay anymore? Can they really take her house? DON'T EVER BUY A TIMESHARE this is killing her

[Lightseekers]

Timeshares are a real problem to get rid of - and any contacts saying they have a buyer are scams. There are companies that will take the timeshare off your hands, but most want to be paid somewhere around $2,000 or so to process the paperwork. The annual fees continue forever. The owner's estate will have to continue paying the fees unless a major one time fee is paid.

We had 2 timeshares and ended up paying $2,400 to a company to take them off our hands when I lost my job.

[RickO]

Very bad. When one purchases a timeshare they are purchasing a liability rather than an asset but that's hard to see at the time. My understanding is that most timeshare contracts limit the liability of the owner to the timeshare itself and they can't go after other assets.

I know someone who recently "walked away" from two of them. They received all the standard threats from collections, etc and the company went through foreclosure process to regain title to the timeshare. No adverse reports have been made to his credit rating at this time... about 9 months after the foreclosure.

We all have to make our own calls on "moral" decisions but my advice would be to have her just walk away from them and not talk to the collection callers anymore. It may in fact eventually hit her credit rating but maybe, like my friend, she is at a point in her life where that isn't all that important to her.

Best of luck...

Rick

[Rodneykrantz]

Thanks for the info it gets alot worse I will post what we find out

[Gary - K7GLD]

I would guess these harassments will only get worse as our economy spirals downward out of control, and these companies get desperate for $$$. We had 2 California Ownership/membership setups prior to moving here in eastern Oregon - one accepted our abandonment of membership with no problems, and we managed to find a buyer for the ownership in R-Ranch - otherwise, they too were threatening - and known to - get aggressive in recovery process.

We were greatly relieved someone else wanted the RR one - and DID pay all the transfer fees just to get out from under their flak barrage - at time of purchase, they had stated they would actively assist owners in disposing/selling unwanted shares, but since they had never been able to sell all their own remaining shares, they weren't about to help existing owners sell theirs, usually at a lower price than they wanted for their own...

[Rodneykrantz]

They have been taking money out of her account for advertising and closing cost about $45000.00 that is right forty five thousand they call her everyday and she thinks they are trying to help her I might have to make a trip to Florida and meet these people I turned them in to the
Attorney General in Florida they said they have alot of complants and they are trying to shut them down but they keep poping up under another name this is a lady who has never hurt anyone worked all her life for these
scumbags to take her life savings.The timeshare people says the maintenance fees are due and they will come after her assets until the bill is paid they also told her that we (Her kids ) will have to pay it when something happens to her We don't want it and she has no money left

[Paul R. Haller]

The newest timeshares are sold "in perpetuity" meaning your heirs will pay after you die unless you unload it somehow. The bottom line is look at ebay under timeshares. They are selling there for pennies because no one wants a liability for your life and your kids life.
-Paul R. Haller-

[AFChap]

Quote:

They have been taking money out of her account for ...

Close that account, have her set up a new account, and NEVER give ANYONE access to automatically pull money.

We had one in Florida that we were finally able to simply sign over to the corporation via a quit claim process. We got nothing but freedom from future maintenance fees. The corporation then finds a new buyer and pockets all as profit.

[melvonnar]

Just another reason to ---never buy a time share; their yearly maintance fees go on forever.
And their fees can go up yearly.

[2912N]

You need to talk to a qualified attorney about this.