Timeshare developers sell timeshare contracts in perpetuity. Financing a timeshare purchased at 12% to 19% can spell a recipe for financial disaster if your life takes an adverse turn. With ever-increasing maintenance fees, members who simply can’t afford the timeshare are often left with little choice but to default. Selling a timeshare with a loan outstanding is impossible. Your credit score can drop up to 200 points for up to seven years.
Steps can be taken to dispute a negative credit report if there is a credible report of deception. I don’t have a basis to recommend Lexington Law, but their website is informative. The firm, established in 2004, focuses on credit score repair.
- https://www.lexingtonlaw.com/
Wall Street Yahoo reporter Abigail Fisher recommends timeshare stocks because they are evil. She likens timeshare stocks to the money made on Phillip Morris, despite cancer caused by smoking. As a former stockbroker, I can’t imagine pitching a stock, “Buy this timeshare stock because the harm done to those who sign complicated contracts while on vacation can make you a lot of money!”
In this article, we are going to look at another set of evil companies that use high-pressure sales tactics to trick consumers into signing complex long-term contracts that they don’t understand: timeshare marketing companies.
Articles submitted by timeshare members and owners have helped point others in the right direction. Send After Inside Timeshare your experience, good or bad. The following Facebook pages may provide some answers, but unfortunately, there are well-meaning posters that cannot be relied upon for accurate advice. Reach out to one of our volunteers, Charles Thomas, or me.
Self-help, member-sponsored Facebook Pages and Other Resources:
After Inside Timeshare offers worldwide input.
Diamond Resorts Hilton Grand Vacation Advocacy
Gold Key Resort Owner’s Forum
Bluegreen Class Action Facebook (except there is no class action).
In 2014 there was a class action against Bluegreen, Experian and Equifax challenging the labelling of a timeshare default a foreclosure.
The Finn Law Group was the principal law firm that represented the class. Managing Partner Michael D. Finn said, “I’m absolutely delighted with this resolution, which deletes the harmful ‘foreclosure’ categorization from over 11,000 individuals’ credit reports!”
Timeshare Users Group (TUG)
Westgate Timeshare Hostages
Justice for Manhattan Club Owners
LinkedIn – Connect with Charles, Wayne Robinson and me on Linkedin
Rarely does anyone need to pay someone to be released from a timeshare. Our volunteers answer questions about regulatory filings. We have been joining this Facebook to urge followers to carefully consider before retaining just anyone who solicits on a Facebook page. Timeshare Cancellation Information’s rules are NO ADVERTISING, but solicitation is rampant.
The good thing about the Timeshare Cancellation Information Facebook is that frustrated members, posting about all resorts, illustrate industry-wide problems. I continually explain to those who reach out to me that their complaint may be about “their” resort, but problems concerning their resort are often industry-wide.
So when does self-advocacy not work to resolve a dispute? To start with, when there is no deception and you just can’t afford the timeshare. You can’t go to your home mortgage lender and ask them to cancel your home loan because you can’t afford it. Some exit providers will not accept you as a client unless they sense a credible complaint of unfair and deceptive sales practices. Second, self-advocacy is admittedly time-consuming. Some people are too busy. Others may not have the time, temperament, persistence and determination required.
The good news is that some resorts are listening. We work hard to reach out to resorts to establish channels of communication, hoping to find resort representatives that will do more than just flick a complaint away like a fly, with “You signed a contract, you didn’t say anything on the recorded closing, or you didn’t cancel during the rescission period.” Record your sales presentation in states where legal. Report the name of your sales agents. Multiple complaints against the same agent offer a form of proof, especially if there is a recording of deception. There are many honest sales agents and managers as alarmed as we are about unfair and deceptive sales practices. Do due diligence, check both pro and con social media sites. BE:
That is all for our first week, we hope that you have found some of the information useful, do contact us if you have any questions or leave a comment.
Have a great weekend and join us again next week.
Francine Dygulski
Thank you so much for this article! There is a wealth of information here to help timeshare owners resolve their issues. It is such an outrage that lawmakers and attorney generals won’t go after these companies and punish the salespeople that lie! There also needs to be reform where people have a 24-hour cooling off period before signing a contract to purchase and a way to get out of their timeshare if they no longer want it, without having to spend a fortune!
Timeshare Insider
It seems that this is a problem for both sides of the “Great Lake”.
Irene Parker
Some attorneys general have acted, like CA AG fining Welk Resort $5.5 million, but other settlements sound good, like the NY AG fining The Manhattan Club $6.5 million, but 14,000 owners were offered $100 to $300 for timeshares they paid $23,000 to $53,000. The developers took in over $100 million just in a percentage of maintenance fees paid to a shell company with no employees, not counting rental income when owners had no availability. TMC was unique in that they admitted fraud. Settlements are financial speed bumps in a massive revenue stream. Thanks for reading!
Irene Roberts
If you have an issue with your timeshare purchase, file a complaint. You have to be diligent, state only facts, and be persistent. This article has excellent information on how to do this, and some have been resolved. Reform of the timeshare purchase process also needs to happen, including the 24 hour cooling off period. Thank you for this article.