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Original Message:

Re: Anyone know anything about Finn Law Group? (by Irene P.):

Excerpt from the Monterey article below. Dying with a loan balance can complicate an estate. I know this family, They are very worried about it. Diamond sold Diane's father $250,000 in points between the ages of 85 and 88, after he wrote to them asking to take back his first purchase. He now lives in a nursing home. Diamond issues a 1099 c on loan defaults. An estate would have to deal with that. The 1099c can be disputed, but the estate must address it.

ConsumerAffairs recently contacted Burkhart again to find out if her complaint did, in fact, result in a solution “built with [her] best interests in mind.” Burkhart replied that Diamond offered to forgive the loan on her father’s most recent and especially questionable Diamond purchase -- a points contract that he bought in late 2017 for $116,000. The purchase was made possible with a loan issued by Diamond and Barclays credit card, also issued by Diamond.

Before she signed the forgiveness agreement, Burkhart told ConsumerAffairs that Diamond agreed to forgive the $116,000 loan on the condition that the family agree to a “non-disparagement” clause. The family must also waive their right to pursue the other timeshare contracts.

Burkhart asked Diamond to modify the agreement so that she could possibly get the other timeshare loans cancelled. She also requested that the $116,000 loan be completely rescinded and cancelled, rather than forgiven. Otherwise, she fears that her father will still owe taxes on it.

“The big issue is the 1099 in my mind,” Bukrhart wrote.

In a more recent statement, a public relations agency working on behalf of Diamond tells ConsumerAffairs that “we learned that they had already been working directly with Diane and had resolved this matter.”

The agency did not respond to follow-up questions about whether Diamond is reevaluating its sales tactics.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/diamond-resorts-still-cant-explain-why-it-sold-250000-worth-of-timeshare-points-to-an-88-year-old-032919.html

In case the link doesn't work, this is an excerpt from the Monterey article about inherited timeshares:

Dying with a timeshare in your estate will complicate things for your heirs. Leaving your timeshare to your heirs means you also bequeath to them the obligation to pay the annual maintenance fees. An heir can disclaim the inheritance, but the estate is still liable for the maintenance fees. Since the executor of an estate is responsible to pay all claims on an estate before the final distribution of the assets, settling the estate may be drawn out until the disclaimed timeshare can be sold or given away. With this in mind, if you have a timeshare in your estate, you may want to have a conversation with your heirs regarding how the timeshare might complicate their lives.

What is the solution? The best strategy is to stay clear of timeshares. If you already own a timeshare, you have three choices: 1) try to sell it using a broker or a website like Redweek.com; 2) try to rent it; or 3) contact the owner services department of your timeshare to see if they will buy it back. If these options fail, you may benefit from engaging a timeshare cancellation firm. But be careful! There are plenty of timeshare exit scammers that promise a lot more than they deliver. With timeshares, it seems like the scammers get you coming AND going.