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Re: What happens if you just stop PAYING?

Jayjay, You have challenged me from the first day I posted on this site and you continue to do so up to the present time. You seem to think you are the bold print authority on all timeshare issues. Unfortunately, there are some gaps in your knowledge and I have tried to educate you along the way. Sometimes there are successes as when you admitted that you were wrong about verbal contracts being enforceable but by and large helping you has been an arduous task with few successes. Unlike you, I purchased my first timeshare resale and have been an owner of one or more timeshares for twenty plus years. I have acquired some knowledge along the way that I think can be helpful to new owners and I also have twenty-five plus years of experience in the consumer law field that enables me to address some issues facing those unable to sell or give away their timeshares. I will respond to your latest ranting but I do not plan to continue to interact with you on this topic unless you post something patently false or so egregious that it must be addressed. Your comment: “ It's a given when you buy a resale that you pay the yearly maintenance fees even though it may not be spelled out in your 'resale contract' and YOU WILL be obligated to pay those fees if the week is in your name, period.” My response: I am pleased to see you have finally come around – one of my educational successes with you – and tacitly admitted that you did not sign an agreement on the dotted line to pay the maintenance fees when you purchased your 8 timeshares at resale. Sure it is true that one will lose their timeshare if they default on the MFs as I have said many times. But it is not true that the timeshare owner is personally liable for the debt. The significance to it not being a personal obligation is that a creditor cannot legally ding your credit for failing to pay the maintenance fee. Sure some rogue resorts may do so or at least threaten to do so but you can challenge it and have it removed if you know your rights under Federal law. Your comment: ”Since you've never defaulted, how would you know what procedures a resort would go through in order to collect past due maintenance fees.” My comment: I could turn your question on you by asking you how you know so much about the various resorts’ collection procedures but I think we both know the drill. First the resort sends out demand letters when the fees go into default, followed by letters and calls from collection agencies, and finally the foreclosure. Although I do not have personal experience with the procedure, I have advised many folks facing similar situations. One does not have to commit murder to know what the consequences are. Your comments: ”Everything you have said is purely 'conjecture' because you think paying maintenance fees on vacation timeshare is somehow trivial than making a car, house, credit card, etc. payment. A contract is a contract no matter what kind of contract it is.” My response: Conjecture means to “conclude from incomplete evidence” or “to speculate” and your use of the word here is totally inaccurate. All of the opinions expressed by me are based on Federal statutory or case law. It is not purely conjecture. You do not know what I “think” and I categorically state that defaulting on one’s MFs is not a trivial matter and there are consequences that can end in foreclosure. But, I also full well know that a maintenance fee (in rem) obligation is totally different from a car loan, home loan, or credit card debt where you do sign on the dotted line and personally obligate yourself to pay. The timeshare maintenance fee is not a contractual debt just as the obligation to pay fees to your local neighborhood association in North Carolina is not a contractual debt. Your failure to pay your neighborhood fees, assuming there is a neighborhood association where you live, can result in a lien being placed against your home followed by a foreclosure of the lien. Your comment: ”Do you have examples of people that you've counseled and told to just 'quit paying maintenance fees' and what the results were thereafter? I would be very interested to hear what you have to say regarding this.” My comment: You completely missed the point of my response to Joseph. My advice was intended for anyone who due to financial reverses was unable to pay their MFs and was also unable to sell or give away the timeshare. I have never recommended that anyone just “quit paying maintenance fees” if they are able to do so. You know as well as I do what happens – a foreclosure. My advice was to contact the resort in writing and explain the circumstances and seek a deed in lieu of foreclosure. I am not going to do the work for you but you can go to the deed records in any county where there are timeshare resorts and you will find a multitude of deed backs. It happens all the time but this is one little piece of information the timeshare industry does not want you to know because as you have said, the “maintenance fees are the bread and butter” of the industry. This is definitely my – 30 – on this topic as I have more important matters to work on.