Timeshare in a Estate

Ou father passed away leaving his timeshare in Hawaii in his estate. None of the family wants it. Before he died he had contracted with a resale company who never sold it, therefore over $2000 down the drain. We have contacted the resort asking them if they would buy it back and they said no. We are very leary of the timeshare resale companies out there due to their scams. Is there any legitimate ones?? Can we just deed the resort back to the resort or just "default" on it, as we are not the ones who have the contract with them. We have been paying the taxes and fees these past three years and no longer want to be oligated to do so. Any suggestions?

My best suggestion would be for the executor (or whoever has selling authority for property in your father's estate) to list the timeshare for sale on a reputable resale listing website such as here on RedWeek, My Resort Network, or E-bay. List it for a selling price of $1 (or even free).

Also, Timeshare Users Group (aka TUG; tugbbs.com) on its forum has a section where you can list a property for free. Just follow the directions at the top of the forum entitled "Bargain Deals".

Also, learn from your father's mistake and never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to sell, rent out, market, or "get rid of" a timeshare.

janetp199 wrote:

None of the family wants it.... We have contacted the resort asking them if they would buy it back and they said no.

Just out of curiosity, when you contacted the resort asking if it would take the timeshare back, did you mention that the owner is deceased and absolutely none of his heirs or friends want this timeshare?

If you mention that, then the resort MIGHT be a little more willing (albeit still rather begrudgingly) to take it back.

Yes, they know he is deceased. I don't recall if they stated that they are no longer selling or if I just assumed it. It seems me that something was said that they don't even have a sales department at the resort anymore.

janetp199 wrote:

Yes, they know he is deceased. I don't recall if they stated that they are no longer selling or if I just assumed it. It seems me that something was said that they don't even have a sales department at the resort anymore.

Are they billing the estate for maintenance fees? If so, as lance stated, your best bet would be to give the timeshare away on Ebay, Redweek's or Tug's bargain basement IF it is even giveable at all (depends on the supply and demand of the resort and time owned).

I found myself in the same situation and used a company to do a deed transfer. jayjay why don't you ever suggest this?

jamesb1029 wrote:

I found myself in the same situation and used a company to do a deed transfer. jayjay why don't you ever suggest this?

A deed transfer to whom/what ..... if you're speaking of transferring the timeshare back to the resort without the resort's permission .... you can't just transfer it back unless the resort is willing to take it back.

jayjay wrote:

jamesb1029 wrote:

I found myself in the same situation and used a company to do a deed transfer. jayjay why don't you ever suggest this?

A deed transfer to whom/what ..... if you're speaking of transferring the timeshare back to the resort without the resort's permission .... you can't just transfer it back unless the resort is willing to take it back.

Oh they were willing......as long as they were paid a fee and the next use years MF bill. It is out of my name. You should do some homework prior to advising anyone, you don't have all the facts...or you are a SHILL for the resorts.

jamesb1029 wrote:

Oh they were willing......as long as they were paid a fee and the next use years MF bill. It is out of my name. You should do some homework prior to advising anyone, you don't have all the facts...or you are a SHILL for the resorts.

As DonP and I have advised many times in these forums to always contact the resort to see if they will take your timeshare back .... most don't accept deedbacks ... you were lucky.

Resorts accepting deedbacks are legit ... not scams like I go after in these forums, so stop your childish jibberish and namecalling.

jayjay wrote:

jamesb1029 wrote:

Oh they were willing......as long as they were paid a fee and the next use years MF bill. It is out of my name. You should do some homework prior to advising anyone, you don't have all the facts...or you are a SHILL for the resorts.

As DonP and I have advised many times in these forums to always contact the resort to see if they will take your timeshare back .... most don't accept deedbacks ... you were lucky.

Resorts accepting deedbacks are legit ... not scams like I go after in these forums, so stop your childish jibberish and namecalling.

I did use one of the companies you are paid to bash. I paid a fee to them to do the deal and it is gone. I DID take your advice and contacted the resort and they told me they do not accept returned units. As far as the name calling is concerned, who started that?

Quote:

jamesb1029 wrote: I found myself in the same situation and used a company to do a deed transfer. jayjay why don't you ever suggest this?

jayjay wrote: A deed transfer to whom/what ..... if you're speaking of transferring the timeshare back to the resort without the resort's permission .... you can't just transfer it back unless the resort is willing to take it back.

jamesb1029 wrote: Oh they were willing......as long as they were paid a fee and the next use years MF bill. It is out of my name. You should do some homework prior to advising anyone, you don't have all the facts...or you are a SHILL for the resorts.

You said above that the resort was willing to take the timeshare back if you paid a transfer fee and one years maintenance fee.

All I know is what you wrote yourself.

Let's please keep the tone in here civil since we are all trying to help each other. This forum is hopefully for the purpose of advising other owners of the scams and options out there. My theory is that it is in the best interest of every resort to utilize deed backs. I am sure that every resort has experienced owners defaulting on their maintenance fees and have had to take back ownership eventually. This costs them legal fees and unpaid maintenance fees for sometimes years. I will be attending a meeting of the National Timeshare Owners Association in The Villages in Florida next month and I will bring up the subject. A representitive from ARDA is usually present at the meetings. I plan on speaking with him or her to see if we can get the ball rolling and work with HOAs to get them to go along with more deed backs.

My thought on this week in an estate that no one wants is that the executor of the estate (sometimes called the personal representative) can simply notify the resort that Smith passed on as of a certain date and provide a copy of the death certificate. As a general principle, heirs can refuse to accept an asset even if a will bequeaths "my Village week to my son," for example. Certainly a trustee can refuse to find an heir to to an unlimited debt. What is the timeshare management to do? Sue the deceased for non-payment? Threaten his credit record?

donp196 wrote:

This forum is hopefully for the purpose of advising other owners of the scams and options out there. My theory is that it is in the best interest of every resort to utilize deed backs.

The pros and cons of possible resort deedbacks have been discussed on other timeshare forums.

My view is that if everyone that merely wanted out of their timeshare ownership by deeding it back to resort is that the resort would implode from within. There are millions of people, with no underlying financial or health problems, that would take advantage of a deedback offer just to rid themselves of such. I've seen such testimonials many times (ie: we just don't use it anymore, we're tired of it etc). Maintenance fees are the bread and butter of any resort.

Now, for people with financial or health problems that can't afford their ongoing maintenance fees due to such, then there should be a plan in place by HOA's or developers that includes proof (financial records, health records etc) that they are in such a dire situation and be presented to the HOA or developer.

I really don't believe across the board deedbacks are the answer.

wise_al wrote:

My thought on this week in an estate that no one wants is that the executor of the estate (sometimes called the personal representative) can simply notify the resort that Smith passed on as of a certain date and provide a copy of the death certificate.

I am in total agreement of such.

Quote:

As a general principle, heirs can refuse to accept an asset even if a will bequeaths "my Village week to my son," for example.

From what I've read, an heir doesn't have to accept a deed, but the estate will have to somehow either sell or give away the timeshare before the estate can be closed.

Then I read somewhere else that if the estate pays the debt of that year's maintenance fee that's already been billed to the deceased then the estate is not responsible for future maintenance fee bills.

Just like a piece of furniture that nobody wants after an estate is settled the timeshare gets tossed in the garbage. If nobody wants it it's just trash. You can't hold up an estate just because someone doesn't want a useless piece of paper.

I wish someone here would consult an attorney about this question to get a definitive answer. It is my understanding that if all the heirs to an estate refuse to accept an asset, then the executor can simply "abandon" that asset prior to closing the estate. It would make sense that any MF owed PRIOR to the closing of the estate would be a legitimate debt, but if the MF fees are paid up when estate is closed, then just tough luck developer!

The unit isn't necessarily a wasted asset and thrown away when back with the management. It's often the case that MF are billed for future use. If the executor explains that the week is not going to be used next year, that collection is impossible, and that the manager is free to assume this week, possibly rent it until such time and the title is cleared, then the association is compensated and can get rent in lieu of MF and that's not inequitable. If the week in question has been held without payment of MF, then that is a different matter. Prior MF obligations are an indebtedness. It would be criminal, IMO, for a fiduciary to attest that all estate debts have been paid and stiff an association. The association was expecting that prior MF and has no way of recovering prior payments. If it has an inventory of current weeks for sale and now comes an estate week owing a prior MF, it can't sell the new week at a premium. (In some states it's illegal to try to attribute past-due MF.)