KNOWLEDGE IS POWER ... Sir Francis Bacon         

When You No Longer Want To Own your Timeshare at any cost!

 

It's unfortunate when a timeshare investment is no longer viable. If you find that you can't sell your timeshare, here are a few things you might consider.  This is anecdotal advice from other TUG members. TUG does not in any way endorse or provide legal commentary on these or any other situations.  Please note that these are last resort options to try before wasting even more money having someone try these options for you!  Each of these options you can do yourself!

Original Author: Mark Perry - Lifetime TUG Member

Please send any corrections or additions via e-mail to tug@tug2.net

Last Update: 28-April-2009 - B. Rogers

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Give It Back - Timeshare Deedback

This is whats called a Timeshare Deedback to the resort.  While it is a longshot, it only takes a phone call or two to ask, and even if the resort refuses, you are in no worse situation than you are now so why not try!  In order for this to be successful, the timeshare MUST be paid in full and have no back taxes/fees/etc owed to the reosrt.  It is simply a matter of calling the resort and speaking to the appropriate person and ask if the resort is willing to take the week(s) back.  It is not uncommon for the resort to charge a transfer fee for this, but please note that you should ONLY pay this to the RESORT itself.  Also note that the resort does not have to accept the deedback, as more and more owners try this method, there are only so many weeks the resort can simply "take back" and still maintain the level of funds it needs to operate (maint fees).

The following is an example given by a TUGGER describing a successful deedbacks:

Lake Gaston Resort 804-577-2193 (Virginia)

In this case we knew the Lake Gaston Resort would not want to have the property back because they could no longer assess yearly fees. Therefore, we paid the recording fee of $16.50 and had the deed recorded at the county courthouse. Then we took the newly recorded deed to Lake Gaston. They were less than happy but had no recourse. We didn't owe any money on the original note and now we will never owe them another dime on the yearly fees--it's not ours anymore, it's theirs.

You can get a "Quit Claim Deed" form on the Lectric Library in their real estate section, on the internet.  You fill in the information pertaining to your situation, description on the original deed, etc. and record it.  You don't have to pay a lawyer to do this.  It worked for us!

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Auction it off for $1 with no reserve

More than a few have been successful selling their unwanted timeshare at person-to-person online auctions such as eBay Auctions.  Selling your timeshare on ebay comes with a fee of $35 dollars.  Many organizations that charge you significant upfront fees will simply turn around and list your timeshare on ebay for you.  It is far easier, not to mention WAY cheaper to do this yourself!  

This is a relatively cheap and easy way to find out if there is someone out there willing to simply take over your timeshare for you! 

Very few people ever consider their timeshare could possibly be worth little to nothing in the resale market, which is why more and more people feel that timeshares cannot be sold at any price (the reason for this article).  At a very last resort, putting it up for a single dollar in hopes someone will take it over form you is certainly a possibility!  

Selling it for a single dollar is certainly a FAR better deal than paying someone thousands to take it from you!

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Donate It To Charity

Donating your timeshare involves you picking a charity willing to take your timeshare and sell it for you, thus using the proceeds from the sale as the donation itself.  Most charities cannot actually use your timeshare, so the most utilized option is to simply sell it for you.  This of course means your timeshare actually has to be able to be sold for at least some money in order to even be considered for donation.  IE if you can only get a dollar for it on ebay, a charity will have no use for your timeshare and it wont be available for donation.  Your timeshare must have some value and be able to be sold in order for you to donate it to chartiy!  Sadly if this is the case, you likely arent reading this article in the first place!

The following is a TUGGER description of his successful donation process:

I bought two time shares with The Pelican Resort, Saint Maarten in November 1985 while waiting for a plane to bring my wife and me back home after a free-wheeling visit to several islands. We like the West Indies and I had gone to school in Trinidad back in 1948. 

The usual "free" T-shirt and a dinner were waved in front of us at the airport by a hundred touts and we fell for the sales pitch.  They had run out of T-shirts and we were too late for dinner and a scarf that we left in the "goat" car in the parking lot was stolen while we were inside.  Those should have been omens enough, but we had enjoyed our three weeks of island hopping and hoped to return saving money by staying at the Pelican Resort. Actually we are not resort people, getting more enjoyment out of staying at local hotels and guest houses but we enjoyed staying at the Pelican three or four times and made exchanges and put the units into the "Pool".

It became obvious that we were spending money, not benefiting from our "investment" and we tried to sell.  We were approached by telephone and foolishly sent four hundred dollars to one of these "I have a buyer for you"  outfits and I keep getting postcards from a persistent Texas one (ERA* Stroman--the most respected resort re-sale broker in the world!) and others who want a bunch of money up-front.

I tried to donate the two weeks to a local non-profit horticultural group that I belong to and is always fund-raising but they shied away from the gift because of complications about something that was not a piece of real estate and in a foreign country subject to Dutch laws.

I stayed one more time at Pelican and scouted around the other resorts offering "bargains" to learn the current situation and changed my weeks so they became "back-to-back" (of a fee, of course) and thereby had greater vacation value (or so I was told). I then learned  about TUG and joined, and advertised but the response was not good and I spent a lot of time answering detailed questions  about room size, color of paint, stairs, position on the property, view from the room, and so on.  I did get some offers but they were ridiculously out of line. Then I got an e-mail that asked whether I would donate my week(s) to a charitable organization.  This was sent  by Jesse Alexander, the Executive Officer of the Latino Marrow Donor Program in San Francisco and we hit it off  immediately.  I checked out the organization and they were registered and approved and so on.  There is a Government list of approved Charities that has a web-site.

To cut a story a bit short, I informed ISCO in Ft Lauderdale, Florida (the managing group for Pelican) what I wanted to do and found them obliging and helpful.  They needed the original contract, current payment of maintenance fees, a transfer fee of sixty dollars, the address of the recipient, my authorization--- and the deed was done.  They sent a new deed to the organization and  I took a $4900 deduction.  This can be spread over five years.  A valuation above this figure requires an appraisal, which will cost a lot of money, especially in a foreign country.

As far as I am concerned, I felt that I had "sold" my time shares for a good figure. I am free of further expense of annual maintenance fees, increased "development" charges (Pelican has called for more assessments to "safeguard my valuable investment") or something that is too far away for me or my children to use.

I recommend this way to dispose of a time share and giving it to an organization that can use it.  Latino Marrow Donor program uses timeshares to give "rest-and-recreation" to recovering patients and their families, and to raise money by renting them out.

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These organizations that have expressed interest in receiving your timeshare donation:

The Children's Home 243 Pine St Mt Holly NJ 08060 E-mail: kids@chbc.org phone: 1-877-TLC-KIDS (in NJ 609-267-1550 x184) Fax: 609-261-5672 Web: http://www.childrens-home.org/

Florida Veterans Assitance 8310 Thatcher Ave Tampa, FL 33614 Email: fvarep@verizon.net Phone: 1-800-969-VETS Website: http://www.veteransassistance.usus

Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge 239 Turpentine Creek Lane Eureka Springs, AR 72632 Email: tigers@turpentinecreek.org Phone: 479.253.5841 Website: http://www.turpentinecreek.org/donations.html

Here are some additional TUG advice pages about donating your timeshare for tax purposes:

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57760  (tugbbs online forums topic about donating your timeshare...must read!)

Taxes and Timeshares article (Written by DaveM....Tugs resident tax expert and online forums administrator!)

 
 

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Give It Away

When all else fails, you can always post it on the bargain basement classified section of the Timeshare Marketplace for free click here or you might try one of the following web sites:

The Timeshare Dump at: http://ww3.choicemall.com/timeshare

Why become a TUG member? There is an extended TUG resort reviews database here on this web site available only to TUG members. There are over 4000 resorts covered by this database now and growing weekly. The reviews also include pictures of the resorts, general resort information and a list of owners' email addresses who are willing to answer additional questions regarding the resorts not covered by the detailed reviews.   This is a quick way to see how our members rate the resorts which they have actually stayed at. It has become a valuable source of information to use when planning for exchanges.   JOIN TUG TODAY  and post Free Timeshare Classified ads (for individuals) in the  Timeshare Marketplace -Click to learn more-

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