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It ain't that simple... (by KC):

deborah733 wrote:

I actually think that it should be illegal to sell someone a timeshare for the rest of their lives, its ridiculous because no one knows what is going to happen to them after 20 years. Perhaps after 20 years owners should be able to have to the option to renew their MF payments if all is going well for them and renew in 10 year increments. There wouldn't be so many problems with people who cant travel any more. Perhaps there should be some insurance one can purchase. You cannot rely on your children to want your timeshare either.

Illegal? Really? I believe that your intentions are good and I can empathize with your logic. Unfortunately however, what you propose just plain doesn't work from a legal perspective. Let me elaborate...

A deeded timeshare purchase (unlike a RTU contract, which involves no ownership of anything) is literally a purchase of real estate. It's like buying a house, except that a timeshare is only fractional ownership, not sole ownership. Like buying a house, the deed makes it legally yours until such time as you later decide to sell it or give it away to a willing new owner ("grantee"). You even pay real estate taxes.

The huge difference of course is that even when someone no longer wants to travel, their deed-owned home is still real estate which has inherent monetary value and which they can almost certainly sell at some price, if they so desire. Sadly, that is not necessarily true for a deeded timeshare ownership, which might literally have zero value in the resale market, potentially with no one interested in becoming the new owner, even if given to them for free. I have always firmly believed that the only real "value" in timeshare ownership lies is in its' actual use and enjoyment and the guaranteed access to vacation lodging that it provides. As a financial investment however, there are very few (if any) things worse than timeshare ownership.

The timeshare model of yesteryear is clearly flawed, to be sure, but there is no "insurance" (or any other procedure) that can magically alter the underlying, fundamental legal facts of deeded ownership.