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Walking Away From Timeshare Maintenance Fees

If you own a timeshare that you no longer want, you may have found yourself wondering what the consequences are of walking away from your timeshare maintenance fees. Perhaps you’ve tried to sell your timeshare in the past and couldn’t find a buyer. Or, maybe you’re not interested in getting anything from the timeshare and simply want it to go away to stop the fees. Whatever your desire, we can help guide you in the right direction.

5 Consequences of Stopping Payment on Your Timeshare

 

Selling Your Timeshare

If your timeshare is paid in full, you may want to try to to sell the timeshare on the resale market before walking away. Selling a timeshare can be very difficult and time consuming, but it is a better option than walking away because your credit won’t be negatively affected if the timeshare sells.

Sites like ebay and Craigslist are low cost options available to you to help you advertise your timeshare for sale. The problem is, hardly anyone wants to buy a timeshare. Even if you advertise your timeshare for sale for $1, you’ll likely still have a hard time finding a buyer. In many cases, you can’t even give your timeshare away for free!

If you do somehow find a buyer, you’ll likely need to pay additional fees to complete the transaction. These can be transfer fees imposed by the resort and fees to a timeshare broker to help you navigate the sale. So, not only will you likely get $1 or less for your timeshare if you are able to sell it, but you’re also going to need to pay around $500 in additional fees to get rid of it. This certainly makes the idea of walking away from your timeshare maintenance fees a more attractive option, but there are consequences to this of course that we’ll go over shortly.

If you owe a mortgage on the timeshare, your chances of selling are very low.

Walking Away From Your Timeshare Maintenance Fees

If you’ve tried to sell with no success or owe a mortgage, you might wonder if walking away from your timeshare maintenance fees is the only option left. Before ignoring that maintenance fee bill, know that there will be consequences if you choose to not to pay it. Some of these consequences include:

Your Credit Will Likely Be Negatively Affected

Just like any other bill, if you choose not to pay it your credit may be negatively affected. A low credit score can make it more difficult for you to obtain a loan to purchase a home or car in the foreseeable future. Even if you are able to obtain a loan with a low credit score, you will likely have a higher interest rate. A higher interest rate means you’ll be paying significantly more for whatever new home or car you choose to purchase.

If you’re at a point in your life where you do not plan to make any large purchases in the foreseeable future, a low credit score may not be important to you. There are other consequences though.

You Will No Longer Be Able to Use Your Timeshare

This may be a given, but if you stop paying your timeshare maintenance fees your resort will no longer allow you to use your timeshare. You won’t be able to exchange it with RCI or II either.

You May Be Called Repeatedly For Payment

Similar to any other bill, if you stop paying your timeshare maintenance fees there’s a very good chance your resort will make every attempt it can to collect from you. 

At first you may receive calls from your resort directly. After a certain period of time of non-payment, your resort may turn things over to a collection agency. Either way, you’re likely going to be getting a lot of calls and scary things in the mail asking for payment.

You May Be Sued

Some resorts have sued owners who have chosen to walk away from their timeshare maintenance fees. If this happens, you’re in for a wild ride. You’ll have lawyer fees and court costs. It’s not pretty.

You may be thinking that your timeshare resort doesn’t care enough about you to come after you in court for your maintenance fees, but stop and think for a second how much your maintenance fees are worth to them. The average timeshare owner pays maintenance fees for about 30 – 40 years. The average maintenance fee is about $1,200 per year. 35 years x $1,200 per year = $42,000 in lost revenue for your resort. But that’s not all. Most timeshare contracts include a “perpetuity” clause which means your heirs may be required to acquire your timeshare upon your death. That’s another potential $42,000 in lost revenue for your resort.

Still Want To Walk Away From Your Timeshare Maintenance Fees?

Now that you know the consequences of walking away from your timeshare maintenance fees, you may be having second thoughts. If you can’t sell, can’t walk away and can’t give it back to your resort directly, what can you do?

This is where a timeshare exit company comes in. A timeshare exit company may be able to help you cancel your timeshare with minimal effects to your credit. Many of these companies have cancelled thousands of timeshares for their clients. They know how the resorts work and can guide you along during the exit process.

We here at TimeshareExitCompanies.com recommend working with timeshare exit companies that offer an escrow payment option so the timeshare exit company does not get paid in full until AFTER your timeshare has been cancelled. Learn more about escrow and why it’s important here.

Still have questions about how to get rid of your timeshare? Submit a contact form on the right side of the page or initiate live chat for your free consultation. You may also call us using the number at the top of the website.

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TIP

Always contact your resort or timeshare developer first before contacting a timeshare exit company. Some have exit programs of their own that can assist you with a timeshare cancellation

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