[WSBARP] Time Share Questions

[Eric Nelsen]

I am re-posting here a colleague's thorough response to this question on a different listserv, back in November of last year:

I am not aware of anyone who currently (and legitimately) assists owners in getting out of timeshares in Mexico.  And, I haven't really looked into this for a while.  However, here is what I have said to others in the past.
Generally, once someone buys a timeshare, they own it for the duration of its "life" (for example, if it is a perpetual timeshare, you own it forever; if it only for a stated number of years, you own it for that period). There generally is no formal mechanism to relinquish the timeshare nor is there a legal requirement that the original developer, owners association or timeshare program repurchase a timeshare, and it is usually up to the owner to sell it or otherwise transfer it to someone else. Further, an effective transfer usually requires recording the transfer on the books of the association or timeshare program, which can effectively give them a veto over the transfer or the party to whom it is transferred.
Nevertheless, the first thing I would recommend is to contact the owners association or timeshare program (unfortunately, there may not be such for a Mexican timeshare, although some larger US timeshare organizations recently have announced programs for relinquishment of their timeshare upon payment of fees - often fairly large fees; for what it's worth, Vacation Internationale allows any owner who no longer can use or wants their timeshare to relinquish it without charge).
If a relinquishment or similar program does exist, the organization may have a repurchase program or maintain lists of interested buyers and sellers, and they can tell the owner what will be required to transfer the timeshare to someone else (although I have never heard of such for a Mexican timeshare organization).
If an owners association or timeshare program does not exist or otherwise cannot help in selling a timeshare, the owner can try to sell it him or herself. A lot of people list timeshares for sale on eBay, Craig's List, and the like. The downside is that it can be very time consuming, may generate a lot of crank responses (or responses from scammers), and it can be difficult to come up with a realistic sale price. One mistake people often make is to assume that their timeshare still holds a lot of value, which unfortunately is seldom true. To try to determine a realistic sale price, one can try searching the Internet for other timeshares for sale in the same resort, program or organization (making sure that it any resales are comparable in terms of size of unit, use period, etc.).
In any event, if one advertises a timeshare for sale, one will likely get calls from scam timeshare resale or transfer companies. Beware of anyone who wants an up-front fee to help a sell or otherwise get rid of a timeshare - more often than not, it is a scam.
There are some reputable timeshare resale companies, including SellMyTimeshareNOW.com (probably the leading timeshare reseller at this time, at http://www.sellmytimesharenow.com), and TimesharesOnly.com (http://www.timesharesonly.com). However, they typically have hundreds or thousands of timeshares listed on their websites at any given time. Other web sites that may be of interest include: RedWeek.com, which has listings for timeshare resales (http://www.redweek.com/), and the Licensed Timeshare Resale Brokers Association (http://www.licensedtimeshareresalebrokers.org/).
In any event, before using any third-party resale company, do a thorough Internet search and beware of anyone who asks for a fee up front.
Another excellent resource is the website for the American Resort Development Association (the principal timeshare industry organization, better known as ARDA, at www.arda-roc.org<http://www.arda-roc.org>). ARDA has put a lot of effort into providing information on timeshare resales, including tips on how to best go about re-selling a timeshare. You could also check a popular timeshare owners' bulletin board maintained by Timeshare Users Group at http://tug2.net/.
Finally, if an owner just wants to get rid of a timeshare and the owner does not care if the owner gets anything in return, the owner could look into giving it back to the original seller/developer, or the current owners association or timeshare program. They may or may not be willing to take it back, or they might require payment of all current assessments and fees before they are willing to accept the timeshare.
If all else fails, the owner could try simply mailing a deed for the timeshare to the owners association or timeshare program. They might still try to collect any unpaid dues, fees or assessments, but if only a relatively small amount is owed, it might not be worth their while to try to collect. However, they could bring legal action against the owner and/or file a negative report with the credit reporting agencies, which could harm the owner's credit. Accordingly, an owner should not undertake this lightly, and make sure the owner understands all the risks before doing so.
Finally, as alluded to above, anyone who wants help in selling their timeshare is "never give anyone cash up front to sell your timeshare" and "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."
There are a lot of scammers.  In particular, beware of any "timeshare exit" individual or team.  We have a particularly egregious Timeshare Exit Team operating in Washington.  They typically charge thousands of dollars, and very seldom deliver on their promises (in fact, Timeshare Exit Team has been the subject of investigation by the Washington Attorney General's office, among others).


Sincerely,

Eric

Eric C. Nelsen
Sayre Law Offices, PLLC
1417 31st Ave South
Seattle WA 98144-3909
206-625-0092
eric at sayrelawoffices.com<mailto:eric at sayrelawoffices.com>

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From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Laurel Brown
Sent: Tuesday, September 1, 2020 3:51 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv (wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com) <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBARP] Time Share Questions

Hello all,

I have clients who wish to get out of a vacation timeshare contract.  Is there someone on our listserv/hivemind that would be willing to share some information with me regarding this?

Thanks in advance,

Laurel Brown

--
Laurel Brown
Attorney and Counselor at Law
5071 SW Waite St.
Seattle, WA  98116
425-361-6286
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