How to get out of a timeshare???

[aja8888]

One clever individual I talked to had placed his TS into a trust. The only asset in the trust is the TS. Each year he provides the trust with enough income to pay the fees. Upon his death, if the beneficiaries of the trust disclaim because they do not want the TS, then the trust will cease paying the fees. At that point, the only option for the TS company is to foreclose on the property in the trust. Meanwhile the rest of his estate will be unaffected and none of his beneficiaries are saddled with a TS that they might not want.

I wonder if it's possible to name the TS Company as the sole beneficiary of the Trust?

 

[Southern Geek]

I wonder if it's possible to name the TS Company as the sole beneficiary of the Trust?

Or make them the contingent. If the primary disclaims, it goes to them.

 

[imoldernu]

Great thread to read... nothing intelligent to add, but triggered one of the fondest, funniest moments in my life...

Back in the 70's, received an invite (w/ free gift offer)to a new lake property sale... a development with homes to be built on the shore... timeshare homes. Big meeting room 40 people sitting at tables... waiting, waiting, waiting... half hour, and a few people got up to go...

Suddenly... from the four corners of the room 20 salesmen come bursting out, to the blare of music... each salesman grabbing a couple, and saying... loudly... "Come one with me.... We're gonna have FUN!....
Hustled into his car for a whirlwind half hour tour of the lake sites, and a quick trip into one of the three model homes... (nothing else built yet).
Back to the main building for a very intense sales presentation by your (private) sales person... Ours was really great... He actually cried and talked about his wife and children and how this was his last chance to be successful...
With the final "No... sorry" we were ushered into the main office... White haired gentleman in a Palm Beach suit and wearing a huge Rolex... Pressure... like no one should ever have to go through... all but Hell and Damnation... then finally... turned over to the guy whose job it as to user us out.
Back door... leading to the parking lot where our car was parked close by, down about 5 steps...
The salesman is waving goodbye... red face and obviously mad... we're in the car and backing out when DW... stops.... Opens the window and says to the guy.... HEY!!! What about our free gift?
Smoke pours out his ears... face even redder... and he goes back into the building, and comes out with this 35MM camera in a box... and...
Honest to goodness... from15 feet away, throws the camera into our car through the open window... missing DW by inches and going into the back seat... turns on his heel and back in to the office.
We laughed for hours... and to this day, the mere mention of the event brings us to tears...
Sorry for the interruption, but thanks for the memories!

 

[robnplunder]

How about selling TS for a $1 to someone who is just about to file bankruptcy? Let the person go delinquent on payment. Serves those TS pushers right!

 

[NW-Bound]

As said in earlier posts, I still keep my Mexican timeshare because I am getting something worthwhile out of it. When I get tired of it, I think I can just stop making yearly fee payments.

I don't think they will come pursue me here in the States, or how the law would apply. Can they have me arrested if I set foot in their country again?

 

[aja8888]

As said in earlier posts, I still keep my Mexican timeshare because I am getting something worthwhile out of it. When I get tired of it, I think I can just stop making yearly fee payments.

I don't think they will come pursue me here in the States, or how the law would apply. Can they have me arrested if I set foot in their country again?

Maybe they will "send" someone?

 

[jon-nyc]

How about selling TS for a $1 to someone who is just about to file bankruptcy? Let the person go delinquent on payment. Serves those TS pushers right!

I wonder if they have to approve the transfer. If not, it would seem pretty easy to get rid of, just give a homeless guy $50 in cash to take it.

 

[Hermit]

We stayed in a friend's TS years ago almost every summer. Paid them the annual fees. They wound up giving it to us. The fees have gone up from about $80 to about $130 a quarter for an efficiency in Vail over the 4th of July weekend. There is a lot to do in Vail in the summer and DW and I liked to hike in the area. Now days I usually give it to friends or family to return a favor. I have contemplated giving it back to the TS company, but the kids are getting old enough that they want to use it. It will cost a year's maintenance to give it back. The annual fees aren't so high that it makes me uncomfortable, so it just sort of rolls along. I think eventually I will get hit with a large maintenance bill. Got one several years ago when they had to put in a new fire sprinkler system and convert the fire places to gas. We have a specific unit in the lodge.

 

[heirloom]

I just made reservations to see TS in Orlando. Hilton called and we stay 3 nights, 3 days for $147. We get 10K points towards our Holiday Gardens card and a $200 cert, for any Hilton owned motel/hotel.

I told her we were too old to invest into something like this, but she still wanted us to go. Since we go to Fl. every Feb., I told her it had to be the first or last 4 days in Feb. We'll get there Sat., listen to sales pitch on Mon. morning and leave Tue. morning. On the way to the west coast we'll use the certificate to stay somewhere.

This is a good way for us to see if we would like Orlando or not. We are going to a different place every Feb. for a month until we find a place we both like. Once we find an area we agree with, we'll then have to find a place we can rent every yr.

But I can't complain about $147 stay, plus there isn't ant way my husband could be talked into it...

 

[Sarpy]

If there's a bank loan then obviously a credit hit would happen ... but most timeshares are not DEEDED ownership. So there is nothing to foreclose. More like breaking a lease. The chain just peddles the product to the next in line.

FWIW I've had little luck hitting a tenants credit for a lease violation.

Actually, my understanding is the opposite...that most timeshares are deeded. There are RTU (right-to-use) here and there like Disney, and they're very common in MX for instance.

US-based timeshares can get very aggressive in pursuing for maintenance fees, and it can hit your credit rating if you care about that. I've never found any solid advice re. MX RTU and what happens there if you just skip out, but some people believe if the resort has a stateside presence it's more likely they'll try to collect.

 

[bUU]

Anyway, when my kids were small, we went to Walt Disney World and Disneyland several times so we bought into the Disney Vacation Club. ... Anyway, after a few years of this we decided we wanted to go to other places so we sold our unit on the secondary market. We sold within a matter of days for more than we had paid for the share. ...
This was some years ago so I don't know if they still do it the same way or not.

Yes - nothing has changed in that regard. We still own a timeshare interest at the BoardWalk resort, and just sold our timeshare interest at Wilderness Lodge for more than we paid (practically zero gain after accounting for capital improvements). So effectively we got twelve years of vacation accommodations for the cost of maintenance, i.e., at times paying effectively $130 per night (tax effectively included) for rooms that, with the very best discount ever available would be priced at $250 (plus tax) or more a night.

I was sort of amazed by it because a DVC timeshare was not forever. It was basically good for, I think, 40 years and we had used some of the years.

The DVC timeshares are lease-hold arrangements, the initial contracts set to terminate in early 2042. I think such arrangements actually bolster the value of the timeshare. Because the developer will be getting the property back at the end, it behooves them to exert the control that will keep it valuable. The limited term is effectively baked into the initial (and therefore resale) prices, so it isn't like the owners are losing something they had.

The big thing that held prices up was that if you get an offer to purchase your share Disney had a right to match the price and purchase the shares and Disney would do it if the price was low.

Disney's right of first refusal may have propped up prices at Old Key West, Vero Beach and Hilton Head, and may prop up prices at Saratoga Springs over the long-term, but I don't think our BoardWalk properties benefited all that much from ROFR. Being able to wake up in your hotel and take a short stroll into either of two of the four theme parks did most of the work.

 

[robnplunder]

Oh, how timeshares have fallen!

Saw from Ebay ... a lot of $1 (start bid, no reserves) timeshare listing for Hawaii, many with closing & transfer fee paid by seller, a few offering $200 - $500 pre-paid credit card upon closing. One TS I looked at, I can buy it for $1 and get $500 in Amex credit. No closing or transfer fee. So, I make $499 by buying the TS. All I need to pay is yearly $680 maintenance fee.

 

[Chuckanut]

Oh, how timeshares have fallen!

One TS I looked at, I can buy it for $1 and get $500 in Amex credit. No closing or transfer fee. So, I make $499 by buying the TS. All I need to pay is yearly $680 maintenance fee.

You also need a desire to visit Hawaii now and then. And the guts to wait out the broken timeshare market until it gets back to 'normal' (whatever that is for the timeshare market.)