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Re: TimeShare by Owners (by Beck):

jayjay wrote:

If this is the case why aren't licensed real estate brokers the only people that CAN sell timeshares just like they sell and list houses with absolutely no upfront fee involved ... they get their commission after they sell.

Anyone can set up a timeshare sales site without any licensing whatsoever and they get away with it by calling it a listing fee or advertising fee taking millions of money from their clients with no intention of selling anything .... all they want is the upfront fee. You say that timeshares are real deeded property as are homes, so how do timeshare upfront fee resellers get away with their scams if timeshares are indeed real deeded property?

The difference is an unlicensed agent can offer listing services similar to classified ads, but can't represent the owner or customer. At least not for the sale of deeded real property. Maybe I or someone can find a website(s) to help clarify what a licensed agent can do that an unlicensed agent can't. Either a government site with the legal text, and article from a reporting agency, or a legal website.

I think the scam companies get away with what they are doing because few people sue and in the rare cases someone sues or an AG investigates, the scam company can show they have some form of advertising and they included the subject "scammed" customer and thus they met the minimum criterion for what they agreed to provide in the contract the owner signed.

The bigest problem for owners is they provide a credit card over the phone without written agreement what they are paying for. Then they do not have evidence they were scammed. Others sign the contracts without reading and understanding the contracts they sign. All but one contract I've seen in the last 2 years builds loopholes for the scamming company allowing them to charge the owner for listing services without any true assurances of getting the unit sold. Same goes for the refunds. My favorite is the contract which says if you can prove you sold your unit for no more than 20% less than the price listed with the scam company you will receive a full refund. The scam company agrees to list your unit for $20,000 but you can only sell it for on your own $2,000. They get to keep your money.

My point initially made though is that there are legitimate companies which charge up front fees. Their services might not work out for you. But just because your unit didn't rent doesn't mean they scammed you. It means their advertising services or your price/dates failed to result in securing a customer.

Telling the difference between a scammer and a legitimate service can be difficult, if not impossible. When in doubt, don't spend too much. But please do not call all companies charging up front fees scammers. SellMyTimeshareNow and VRBO charge fairly large fees and they are completely legitimate even if their sales people are a bit snakey!