BE WARNED CONCERNING MAINTENANCE FEES

I thought this post deserved a thread of it's own by warning people that when they purchase a timeshare, even resale, they are responsible for maintenance fees and special assessments forever or until the week is sold.

Can anybody help me?

I purchase 6 timeshares in an auction in San Francisco, CA. I contacted the developer or the resort finding out more info about it. No reply. I went overseas for a few months. when I returned, I had $3,600 bill for maintenance fees. I asked for their Declaration or Conditions, Terms, etc. Nothing. I was sued. Collection Agency is billing me for approximately $67,000. what can I do?

Also, they put a lien on our property in Sacramento, CA, not in our Nob Hill ts in SFO.

They destroyed my credit report.

Pls. advise or help or email me at... Angelica.M.Mitchell.CIV@msc.navy.mil

Thank you so much!

I agree with Jons that this is a debt that she must pay if she wants to restore her credit rating and keep her home.

Many people don't realize that when buying a timeshare that yearly maintenance fees are like any other bill you are responsible for. Many people believe that they can just walk away from their timeshares and maintenance fees with no repercussions whatsoever. The above is a drastic example of such.

Even if she pays the back maintenance fees and the collection agency debt she is still stuck with the 6 weeks at the resort and is responsible for future maintenace fees and possible special assessments unless the resort will let her relinquish her ownership back to them after all debts are paid.

On another note, I would think Nob Hill would be a very popular resort since there are not that many timeshares in San Francisco and SF is a popular destination.

My suggestion would be to pay your debts and try to sell the 6 weeks here on Redweek, Ebay or other internet listing sites setting a reasonable price to try and replace some of the money your debt has caused you.

As a last resort, and you don't care to go through all of the above, you can file personal bankruptcy since your credit is already demolished.

Good luck to you in this situation whatever you decide to do. I honestly feel your pain.

NOTE: LET THIS BE A WARNING TO ALL THAT WHEN YOU PURCHASE A TIMESHARE, EVEN RESALE, THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTENANCE FEES AND SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS FOREVER, OR UNTIL YOU SELL IT.

Nob Hill Inn has a very high popularity rating of #10 out of 233 hotels in San Fran on Trip Advisor. The two reviews on Redweek are also very positive.

While it is wise to call the resort and find out if there will be special assessments or planned increases in the maintenance fees, it is a lot harder to get a straight answer than you might expect. Just this week I called Marriott to inquire about a timeshare that I was interested in purchasing from a third party. The Marriott person I spoke with pretended that he couldn't find any of the pertinent information. He would not even confirm the 2007 maintenance fee until I told him the amount. Basically I had to tell him what I knew about the unit and then he would tell me if that was correct. Does it trade red? Yes. Are those weeks x -x? Yes. Shockingly he told me that he had no idea what 2008 fees would be and had no way of knowing whether a special assessment had already been announced. It is impossible to conduct due diligence with unhelpful management. I passed.

tesora wrote:

While it is wise to call the resort and find out if there will be special assessments or planned increases in the maintenance fees, it is a lot harder to get a straight answer than you might expect. Just this week I called Marriott to inquire about a timeshare that I was interested in purchasing from a third party. The Marriott person I spoke with pretended that he couldn't find any of the pertinent information. He would not even confirm the 2007 maintenance fee until I told him the amount. Basically I had to tell him what I knew about the unit and then he would tell me if that was correct. Does it trade red? Yes. Are those weeks x -x? Yes. Shockingly he told me that he had no idea what 2008 fees would be and had no way of knowing whether a special assessment had already been announced. It is impossible to conduct due diligence with unhelpful management. I passed.

It's true that some resorts will not give out information concerning maintenance fees and possible special assessments and that makes it difficult for a prospective buyer to make a decision.

tesora wrote:

While it is wise to call the resort and find out if there will be special assessments or planned increases in the maintenance fees, it is a lot harder to get a straight answer than you might expect. Just this week I called Marriott to inquire about a timeshare that I was interested in purchasing from a third party. The Marriott person I spoke with pretended that he couldn't find any of the pertinent information. He would not even confirm the 2007 maintenance fee until I told him the amount. Basically I had to tell him what I knew about the unit and then he would tell me if that was correct. Does it trade red? Yes. Are those weeks x -x? Yes. Shockingly he told me that he had no idea what 2008 fees would be and had no way of knowing whether a special assessment had already been announced. It is impossible to conduct due diligence with unhelpful management. I passed.

Marriott as well as any other resort that refuses to give out information to a stranger is protecting the privacy of the owner and rightfully so. You can secure a release from the owner of the timeshare authorizing the release of the information. The following format is suggested:

To: Name of Resort From: Name of Owner Date: Re: Unit 304/Week 40

Resort Acct # 9994999

We hereby authorize you to provide the prospective buyer named below the maintenance fee schedule, assessments current and/or pending and we further authorize you to confirm that we are the owners of record of the above named unit and week.

Prospective buyer: Name

Sincerely,

Your Name

This approach protects the resort and allows them to release the information to the person you name