My timeshare is paid in full, but I just don't want it anymore

elained54 wrote:

I had mine at Westgate for 20 years. Tried selling, couldn't even give it away. Found out that they had a deedback program. Cost me $750 to give it back.

Westgate currently charges $950.00 for deedbacks under what they now call their "Legacy" program, for ownerships that are paid in full (no unpaid loan balance, maintenance fees completely paid up to date). That's the most expensive deedback fee in the timeshare industry, as far as I know (by comparison, Wyndham charges nothing at all for their "Ovation" deedback program), but $950.00 is still worth every penny to get out of Wastegate easily and permanently, since Westgate timeshares are essentially completely worthless in the resale market.

I have a timeshare at Grand Seas in Daytona Beach, currently owned by Exploria Resorts. I have had it for sale for 10 years for low prices, no offers. It has been under construction because of hurricane damage since October 2017, so there is little possibility that it will sell while closed. I contacted Exploria, they have an "Inventory Surrender Program" that will charge $2200 to take back my timeshare. They will also wait until they have need for it - I requested a call last summer - nothing yet. You mention $950 as the highest deedback program you have heard of - any ideas for me?

ken1193 wrote:

elained54 wrote:

I had mine at Westgate for 20 years. Tried selling, couldn't even give it away. Found out that they had a deedback program. Cost me $750 to give it back.

Westgate currently charges $950.00 for deedbacks under what they now call their "Legacy" program, for ownerships that are paid in full (no unpaid loan balance, maintenance fees completely paid up to date). That's the most expensive deedback fee in the timeshare industry, as far as I know (by comparison, Wyndham charges nothing at all for their "Ovation" deedback program), but $950.00 is still worth every penny to get out of Wastegate easily and permanently, since Westgate timeshares are essentially completely worthless in the resale market.

There are ways to get out of them. There are firms that use attorneys to get you out of the contracts. I used one to get out of mine although it did cost me 2000$ It was well worth not paying 1500$ a year in maintenance fees!

jillk231 wrote:

I have a timeshare at Grand Seas in Daytona Beach, currently owned by Exploria Resorts. I have had it for sale for 10 years for low prices, no offers. It has been under construction because of hurricane damage since October 2017, so there is little possibility that it will sell while closed. I contacted Exploria, they have an "Inventory Surrender Program" that will charge $2200 to take back my timeshare. They will also wait until they have need for it - I requested a call last summer - nothing yet. You mention $950 as the highest deedback program you have heard of - any ideas for me?

Westgate (slimy though they may be) is likely not actually the highest "deedback" charge in the U.S., merely the highest I personally know of. Some independent resort HOA's (with no "chain" affiliation) reportedly demand the monetary equivalent of 2-3 years maintenance fees in order to accept a deed back. In Mexico, there are several entities that charge several thousand dollars (although those are really "contract terminations", not "deedbacks", since you don't actually "own" anything in Mexico and there is no deed --- just a "right to use" contract).

I cannot advise you and I know nothing about "Exploria". I'll just state that if I found myself in the situation you describe, I personally would likely choose to just walk away and pay not another cent. Under no circumstances would I choose to pay money (neither maintenance fees nor a $2,200 "exit extortion" charge) to get out of a resort that isn't even open and has been closed for two years now. Are you even confident that they will ever successfully open again in the future?

You have a difficult situation and personal decision that you need to make on your own and / or with input from legal counsel. Good luck.

NEVER pay anyone money upfront that claims they can get you out of your contract !!!!

If you want any potential takers to contact you, you will have to post an ad here on RedWeek or some other reputable timeshare-related website.

Also, is Raintree deeded property, a Right-to-Use (RTU), or just a vacation club membership? I have a feeling that it is one of the last two. If so, you can usually terminate your membership by simply stopping paying. Your contract should clarify this.

Thank you.

This has been an interesting discussion. I too have a timeshare that I would like to sell. It's paid off except for monthy fees. It's a deeded property in the Silverleaf/Tyler, Tx resort. Since I'm planning to retire at the end of the year I would like to get away from the maintenance fees since we haven't used it for years except to parlay with RCI for other destinations. So where do I start? Thanks

Check your owner and ask.do they have a deed buy back program. I got rid.of mines at Westgate for $750

jillk231 wrote:

I have a timeshare at Grand Seas in Daytona Beach, currently owned by Exploria Resorts. I have had it for sale for 10 years for low prices, no offers. It has been under construction because of hurricane damage since October 2017, so there is little possibility that it will sell while closed. I contacted Exploria, they have an "Inventory Surrender Program" that will charge $2200 to take back my timeshare. They will also wait until they have need for it - I requested a call last summer - nothing yet. You mention $950 as the highest deedback program you have heard of - any ideas for me?

Jill, is this still in limbo? I have one there as well. I tried this years ago (before Exploria I think) and there was no mention of the program. at 2200, I'd take it in a second.

BEWARE!!! Well, keep in mind Marriott has the first right of refusal... since they are only selling point now and many of them are backed by air ( meaning there may NOT be actual inventory to back up points. they need inventory at high demand resort that have been sold out for years . I personally know this because I live in Orlando and that is where MVCI it’s located and many people I personally know have worked for MVCI in sales or upper management. couple things to keep in mind ... The highest maintenance fees in the country are at their Orlando resorts & Hawaii. again I personally know this because the four timeshares that we owned were in Orlando and Hawaii. again said upper management or prior sales people that I know do not personally own Marriott timeshares. Hmmm...We were Chairman’s Club owners & Paid an additional fee for that “privilege“. ( this man we had an average of 16,000 VCP every year) what a joke !!! I owned 2 EOY timeshares @ Ko’olina & Waiohai beach Clubs & even that 13 months out - enabling me to book at Ko’olina did not get me Christmas week ... they claim I needed to be a platinum owner at Ko’olina !! 😧 😧😧!! Grande Vista is an older property I am when there are assessments you as an owner will pay them 😧😧😧 ... it is built out ... we no longer are Chairman's Club members... Why??? because we GAVE are two timeshares in Orlando Sabal palms and Lakeshore reserve - back to Marriott . I took them that day but no money 😧 Again why?? Because they need the inventory and the points to sell other are fools like ourselves Who additionally bought 8200 trust points. in addition they didn’t give us a minimal amount of money for or over price Hawaii timeshare properties...Both in purchase price and maintenance fees. our yearly Orlando properties were almost $2000 a year & Sabal palm was the long built out & lakeshore reserve NEVER began the long promised PHASE 2. each Hawaii timeshare was over $2200/yr & as an EOY we paid $1100/yr each. many HAWAII particularly Maui & multiple week owners have not bought into Marriott vacation club so their inventory will never be available to VCP owners!! my advice to you is don’t buy it. rent it every year like from Red Week !! or somewhere else !! You will not automatically be an MVCI owner till you do so with Marriott and be advise if you ♥️ Grande Vista and you are only going to use Grande Vista you don’t want to be an MVCI owner!! if you purchase from Marriott you will just have points !! they need the inventory !! you will overpay on cruises, u will not get the properties you want with air points, & you will never command the rental should you decide to rent it that Marriott gets!! trust me I know this we are on our for properties in 2010 & what are some of the first Marriott destination club points owners because we had a friend who sold it to us June 24, 2010. We’ve used it for a cruise just to get rid of the too many points we had & royally overpaid compared to we had bought it outright. I could go on but I won’t ... I know the point system work for Hilton because they have had it since the very beginning and have not tried to sell point without inventory to back it up 😮😮 My rant ... BEWARE!

My LONG reply was actually meant to respond to kellyb248 ...

TRY GIVING IT BACK TO THE PLACE YOU OWN.

I sent an email to DR in February and they said it was $750 per contract but as we were going in July I didn’t go ahead with it because I knew they would take my weeks off me I emailed them Saturday and it’s now gone up to $1000 per contract I don’t understand because when I look on my account I have 1 contract no but there’s 4 contracts,2 with odd weeks at 52 and 2 with even weeks at 19 but we only own 2 weeks in a 2 bedroom so I’m hoping they don’t want $4000 off us 😭😭

Am in the same boat...we owed a lot of back maintenance fees and worked out a deal to pay half of them...we own the week btw. Unfortunately, it's not a great week (every other year) and not the best week in NH, we want to dump it so that our kids don't have to deal with it when we're gone. I see someone here is giving away a great week for zero at our resort, so, doubt we'll be able to sell.

What are typical closing costs as a rule for a deeded time share? Ball park figures are fine... Haven't called the resort yet to see what our options are once we've paid off the back fees...

juliea353 wrote:

What are typical closing costs as a rule for a deeded time share? Ball park figures are fine... Haven't called the resort yet to see what our options are once we've paid off the back fees...

It varies from closing company to closing company. One highly recommended one is Legal Timeshare Transfers. If there is no money changing hands and, hence not need of escrow, LTT will charge about $200. However, if you and the resort agree to a deed back, the resort might use a closing company of its own which will likely be significantly more than what LTT charges.

I contacted my resort yesterday and was emailed a form letter that stated the buyback fee was $2k + $500 in doc prep/recording fees. Sheesh, what a rip off. They want about 3 years dues as a buyout fee. I am tempted just to have a Quit Claim Deed drawn up, record it and tell the resort to go pound sand. I wonder if they can get a judgement or file a collection account for back dues when I quit paying them?

I too no longer want my Diamond Interval points (3500) based out of Hawaii but tradable anywhere, I have paid up maintenance fees ($1100) and placed it on sale (for $1) at Redweek (on advise of Diamond and at a cost of $300) , did this last October 2018... These points are so flipping valuable (eye roll) I can't even give them away, unless of course Redweek is in bed with kickbacks from Diamond, advising people to use their 'for fee' service to sell for you...and I got scammed? I smell a rat.

James you can't just file a quit claim and walk away or everyone would just do that . If you look at the big picture it's actually not a bad deal . You might be able to negotiate a lower fee but consider being free from maintenance fees and assessments for the rest of your life . The phony exit companies want five thousand and up just to promise they will get you out of your contract . This way you are dealing directly with the resort .

I gave back two timeshare in 2011 through quit claims . You need the resort to sign off on that . Now my money market account is well over six figures . Look at the big picture . In the long run you will look back and be glad you got rid of it now .

You're correct of course. After doing some more research, it became apparent that a foreclosure will crush my 800 credit score, and it is possible for the owners of the project to come after me via judgement / deficiency judgements for back dues and cost of foreclosure.

I will call them tomorrow and try and get the cost down.