I worked at a timeshare SCAM....I want to tell you about it.

Hey Danp196 So......what do you do for a living?

Charities, by and large, are not taking these any more. They are not as stupid as those of us who were scammed into buying them in the first place.

Marriott Vacation Club stole my Timeshare in Orlando. After 17 years of ownership, they stole my 35,000 USD property because I forgot to pay the 1200 USD maintenance fee one time. I moved and did not receive the notice. They had my phone number and email address, but sent the notice via "snail mail". Who does that in 2018! When I noticed that I had not paid the annual maintenance fee I contacted them to make arrangements to pay it immediately. When I called them, they said "too bad" we took it already! Crooks!!!

I find that this site is the best source of renting the timeshares out (by word of mouth).

Above is a statement from your piece about scamers. Are you saying Red Week is a best source or word of mouth? Is Red Week a scamming site?

I was told that the ultimate responsible party to pay any maintenance fees that have been unpaid is the original owner. Be careful how you exit your contract.

Did you work with Omni Ellis? We just heard their presentation today. Sounded too good to be true but they did list a BBB A+ rating. Let us know ASAP

bog7 wrote:

I was told that the ultimate responsible party to pay any maintenance fees that have been unpaid is the original owner. Be careful how you exit your contract.

I don't know what you were told or by whom, but a more precise and more accurate statement would be that the current official owner of record is ultimately responsible for any and all maintenance fees until such time as the ownership at issue is lawfully transferred to a new legitimate owner and that transfer is then acknowledged and accepted as legitimate by the resort (you can't just transfer ownership to your pet lizard, for example). In deeded ownerships, transfer of legal responsibility occurs only when a new deed is prepared and the current owner ("grantor") transfers ownership and the new deed is officially recorded in the name of a new, legitimate "grantee" (again, pet lizard is not a legitimate "grantee") and the resort acknowledges the transfer and the new "grantee" as legitimate.

RTU contracts, in which no deed actually exists to begin with, transfer of maintenance fee responsibility occurs once a new person takes over a transferable RTU contract and that transfer is recognized and accepted by the developer as being legitimate (once again, no pet lizards as new contract holder). Said recognition and acceptance of RTU contract transfer usually occurs only after the resort / company successfully collects a mandatory contract "transfer fee", whose amounts vary widely throughout the timeshare industry.

maryl1475 wrote:

Did you work with Omni Ellis? We just heard their presentation today. Sounded too good to be true but they did list a BBB A+ rating. Let us know ASAP

Omni Ellis is just another upfront fee "exit" operation, peddling (non-existent) "magical escapes" during their traveling road shows in different locations. I have observed that they sometimes advertise in local papers before bringing their act into town.

"BBB A+ rating" means nothing more than the fact that very few people have filed complaints about them with the (utterly useless) BBB. Omni Ellis has probably even filed a few glowing BBB reviews about themselves to acquire that meaningless "A+ rating".

"A fool and his money are soon parted", as that old saying goes. Forewarned is forearmed --- but it's your money, not mine.

Tax write off. Or maybe they have better resources in renting it out through their member base. As to where an individual might only rent it with friends and family, the organization may have thousands of members to offer it to.

How else do you think they have grown so large and so fast?

Companies large or small scam timeshareowners, even Wyndham and RCI. How many times do you not call RCI and they try to convince you into paying fees you don't even own?

Or how many times does Wyndham keep taking away your original benefits and starts increasing costs year after year to a point where the math no longer adds up, just to later invite you to a "Member Update Meeting" where they simply try to resell you the benefits you originally paid for. I call that extortion.

Look at RCI's new Club365. Now that is a scam. You can easily get those benefits for free by accessing their links directly and not having to login. No need to pay $2000 for RCI Club365

with all the scams and fraud being perpetrated by so many timeshare companies for such a long time, with a litany of complaints from thousands of those scammed and defrauded, we need...........

OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO IMPLEMENT REGULATIONS AND LEGISLATION REGARDING THESE LITERAL CRIMES.

many owners have tried state legislation avenues for relief, to little or no avail. the same goes for retaining private attorneys even as a group or a class action suit, usually useless. what gives here? are these timeshare companies immune from prosecution for their criminal activities? included here are many other related companies charging upfront fees to get you OUT OF your timeshare obligation or those offering to sell your timeshare (again with upfront fees), then disappearing into thin air.

................comments are welcome.

Can it be any more obvious . The timeshare industry has a strong lobby and owners don't . They get whatever laws they want passed . We have the best politicians money can buy .

don,

you're so right...............DAMN IT!!

yes, the timeshare lobby is strong; owners probably have no lobby at all. even the timeshare owners' associations appear not to offer any help in giving us owners a voice as strong as the timeshares' top management. can you offer any creative suggestions to get us LOWLY timeshare owners/subscribers some strong governmental voice in competing with the opponents' lobby? perhaps others in this redweek forum can come up with plans to combat the shams and fraud most of us have experienced due to timeshare ownership, e.g., exorbitant maintenance fees (often up close to 500%) or not being able to get desired reservations, or problems with RCI............the list goes on ad nauseum.

donp196 wrote:

Can it be any more obvious . The timeshare industry has a strong lobby and owners don't . They get whatever laws they want passed . We have the best politicians money can buy .

The solution is to minimize your losses . First find out if there is a policy for them to take it back . If not contact the home resort and plead your case directly . A lot of resorts take hardship cases on a case to case basis . I negotiated two deed backs in 2011 on my own without the help of an exit company , Apparently I convinced them that it was in their best interest to work with me .

Next you can rent out your weeks to defray your maintenance fees until you dispose of your timeshare . Just price it reasonably and you may not get all your expenses paid but you can limit your losses .

Then you could always use your property yourself . Most people just want to exchange but using your own resort is a lot easier . Remember you purchased it because you were enjoying a relaxing vacation when you signed the contract . I just got back from a week in Las Vegas at my home resort . They treated me like a king . My room was reserved when I got there and it was a great week . I purchased my timeshare to use every year at their resort not for exchanging and I have never had a problem getting my reservation .

You might have to be creative when dealing with your resort but be persistent , The squeaky wheel gets the grease . Be a thorn in their side and maybe they will take it back to get rid of you . Whatever works for you . I made it my priority to get rid of those two timeshares in 2011 and I have been maintenance fee free since then .

Good luck and let us know how you make out .

Chris V We have an organized effort and two lobbyist working towards timeshare reform. Both are volunteers who knows more about timeshare than any of these guys with pockets padded.

As to renting, Diamond members have had their accounts suspended, terminated and issued a cease and desist, even one member who only posted one add on RedWeek, totally devastated. They expected her to pay $2,300 a month in loan payments and $26,000 in maintenance fees while they rented out her points for the year suspended. She is a VP with a major financial firm and had been up-sold points for reasons that did not exist. She used to give her points to her clients and friends. Other resorts have restrictions on renting as well. Diamond does not allow renting via a third party website like TUG or RedWeek, never mind there are hundreds of ads. They pick and choose who to target.

Our efforts helped to defeat two bills proposed in Nevada and Florida that on the surface looked like they were pro-consumer with ARDA and developers saying they were concerned about their members experiencing unfair and deceptive sales practices. The bill proposed that buyers get 24 hours before signing a contract with exit service providers. Exit companies said fine, but what is good for goose is good for Gander. Allow timeshare buyers 24 hours before signing as a "cooling off" period, not to be confused with a rescission period that is the period you have to review a contract after it is signed. Representatives at the Florida legislative workshop I attended on March 12 shared how they had experienced unfair and deceptive timeshare sales practices. Rep Newton (R) even said he had to file for bankruptcy in the 90s to be rid of his timeshare. If you would like to join our efforts, let me know. I'm easy to find. A comic book illustrator and animator is launching a petition asking for 24 hours for timeshare buyers before signing, looking for a lawmaker to sponsor for 2021 legislative session.

On the flip side, the timeshare lobby ARDA ROC worked vigorously to defeat a pro-consumer timeshare bill in Nevada. One of the lobbyists was from the Arizona AG's office. Even the AG of Arizona got nowhere despite the bill passed in three separate committees. Senator Rita said that these are adults who came to a meeting of the mind and signed a contract. We have to wait until one of her kids gets duped as the representative sponsoring the bill got duped by a timeshare sales agent.

hello irene p,

if i can............................. "If you would like to join our efforts, let me know"...............i'm letting you know. i will do what i can considering my time and new york location.

can you give details here? keep in mind, "plants" have been known to spy here on redweek.com, so avoid direct strategies,

please respond.

thanks, chris

To the person who said something about getting a membership company every 2 weeks? What do u mean? I myself work for a timeshare marketing company. Not at all like the same company the woman who started this conversation... Im sure that was terrible!

Like I mentioned I'm in the business where I talk to owners daily... Just be very careful who you're doing business with. There are options that aren't thousands of dollars whether u want to exit your ownership or continue to keep it and pass it down. Timeshares aren't going anywhere ever... So owners just have to be extra careful who they deal with or do business with. I don't sell timeshares , but I do try to help owners and stear them towards companies that will actually help them not scam them out of money and do nothing for them. It shouldn't cost more then $2000-$4000 per deed , That being on the higher side... typically a few factors depending on a couple things , maintenance fees , etc. Or if u wanna keep it so family can use it but fees are a lot.. Or availability is an issue... Option for that to. That doesn't and shouldn't cost u thousands... Or involve a crazy unreliable rental program. It it free , No. But guarantee its less then the majority of owners pay a year in fees... and will be a wise deal that would help. If you're wanting to go that route... There are a lot of vultures out there and scam artist... Both in resorts and out. Not all of them. But unfortunately ppl don't know what they're getting exactly when they're subjected to these ppl. Idk how they sleep at night , honestly!

donp196 wrote:

The solution is to minimize your losses . First find out if there is a policy for them to take it back . If not contact the home resort and plead your case directly . A lot of resorts take hardship cases on a case to case basis . I negotiated two deed backs in 2011 on my own without the help of an exit company , Apparently I convinced them that it was in their best interest to work with me .

Next you can rent out your weeks to defray your maintenance fees until you dispose of your timeshare . Just price it reasonably and you may not get all your expenses paid but you can limit your losses .

Then you could always use your property yourself . Most people just want to exchange but using your own resort is a lot easier . Remember you purchased it because you were enjoying a relaxing vacation when you signed the contract . I just got back from a week in Las Vegas at my home resort . They treated me like a king . My room was reserved when I got there and it was a great week . I purchased my timeshare to use every year at their resort not for exchanging and I have never had a problem getting my reservation .

You might have to be creative when dealing with your resort but be persistent , The squeaky wheel gets the grease . Be a thorn in their side and maybe they will take it back to get rid of you . Whatever works for you . I made it my priority to get rid of those two timeshares in 2011 and I have been maintenance fee free since then .

Good luck and let us know how you make out .