Original Message:
Exit... (by KC):
rhondar175 wrote:Is it possible to just " give back", walk away, or stop paying? I want out of mine and would gladly give it to someone who wants to take over payments.
Don't shoot the messenger, but here are the straightforward and accurate facts, answering your questions in the order you have posed them above:
1. If you took out a loan, the timeshare is not yet yours to "give back" until / unless that loan is fully paid off. You may not even be able to "give it back" then, depending on the developer. Wyndham, Westgate and Diamond all have "deedback" programs, but only for fully paid off ownerships and with no outstanding maintenance fee bills.
2. Timeshare loans cannot just be "transferred" to someone else, but that doesn't really matter, since no one on planet Earth would be interested in taking over someone else's debt obligation for a timeshare anyhow, particularly when there are always plenty of inexpensive (even free) timeshares available.
3. Yes, you can certainly choose to "stop paying" and "walk away" anytime you wish. Just understand very clearly before making that decision that there will be negative credit report consequences, which will remain a matter of record on your credit report for 7 years after you default on the loan. This consequence may be of some concern if you have plans to apply for other loans (or a home mortgage) anytime during that time period. Lenders do not really get a warm and fuzzy feeling when a loan applicant has already defaulted on a previous loan. By the same token, you should ask yourself if it makes sense to keep pouring money into something which may already be of little or no resale value, even if / when fully paid off. If you don't intend to use and enjoy what you signed up for via a legally binding contract, then you have some difficult personal decisions to make. No one "needs" a timeshare; it's a luxury --- and perhaps a luxury that you cannot afford.