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Canadian seeking help for deed in lieu

Hello I have a florida vistana cascade timeshare. I have 2 years ago paid off my timeshare. Recently I have seen a steady increase of MF and I am really sick and tired of it all and now I am to the point of not wanting it anymore. I have search the internet on how to rid myself of this leach and found many people have had success with deed in lieu documents. My only issue is I am a canadian resident and don't know if that process will work for me. Any ideas? I have also looked at possiblly donating the timeshare to one of the charities that accept them. Is that an option I can look at and What kind of fee do they ask for? Thank you for any and all help received!

Edward R.

I don't see why you being a Canadian would affect whether or not the resort will accept a deed back in lieu of foreclosure. Foreclosure costs the resort the same amount of money, time, and hassle regardless of where you live. It does not hurt to ask the resort's HOA if it will take your deed back in lieu of foreclosure. It might; it might not.

As for donating to charity, keep in mind that charities will charge you a minimum of $2500 to accept ownership from you. And that price is only if the charity feels it can quickly turn around and sell it (or at least easily give it away). That being the case, you're better off just trying to give it away yourself. List it here in RedWeek's Bargain Basement for a dollar and offer to pay the closing costs.

Also, Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com), has a Bargain Deals section where, for free, you can advertise that you want to give your timeshare away. Just follow the directions at the top of that page.

Lance C.

lancec13 wrote:
I don't see why you being a Canadian would affect whether or not the resort will accept a deed back in lieu of foreclosure. Foreclosure costs the resort the same amount of money, time, and hassle regardless of where you live. It does not hurt to ask the resort's HOA if it will take your deed back in lieu of foreclosure. It might; it might not.
As for donating to charity, keep in mind that charities will charge you a minimum of $2500 to accept ownership from you. And that price is only if the charity feels it can quickly turn around and sell it (or at least easily give it away). That being the case, you're better off just trying to give it away yourself. List it here in RedWeek's Bargain Basement for a dollar and offer to pay the closing costs.
Also, Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com), has a Bargain Deals section where, for free, you can advertise that you want to give your timeshare away. Just follow the directions at the top of that page.

One cannot just sign a 'deed in lieu of foreclosure' and send the timeshare back to the resort. It doesn't work that way. A resort would have to agree to take the timeshare back and the vast majority of resorts do not take deedbacks .... the resort will eventually foreclose on your timeshare if you don't pay the yearly maintenance fees and that could affect your credit score since you signed a legally binding contract to buy your timeshare.

R P.

edwardr151 wrote:
I have also looked at possiblly donating the timeshare to one of the charities that accept them. Is that an option I can look at and What kind of fee do they ask for? Thank you for any and all help received!

Depending on the supply and demand of the resort and week you own determines if a charity would accept it or not .... and even if they did accept it most charities now charge a large upfront fee.

They are not going to accept a timeshare that they can't turn around and sell.

R P.

Thanks JayJay

I didn't realize that "charities" charge large up front cost to "donate"! Helpful hints. However if I did opt to not pay my maintenenace fee and did foreclose would they have premise to seek repayments? Since I own in florida and I am a canadian resident would that 1) affect my credit score - which I am not too fussy about, I can always rebuild my credit and 2) would they have a legal leg to stand on to recoup from me (seeing us & canada have different statues). I have visited many sites on people who have opted to quit paying and that process could take years. What would be the TS process if I did stop paying for MF? Thanks again for the feedback!

Edward R.

edwardr151 wrote:
Thanks JayJay
I didn't realize that "charities" charge large up front cost to "donate"! Helpful hints. However if I did opt to not pay my maintenenace fee and did foreclose would they have premise to seek repayments? Since I own in florida and I am a canadian resident would that 1) affect my credit score - which I am not too fussy about, I can always rebuild my credit and 2) would they have a legal leg to stand on to recoup from me (seeing us & canada have different statues). I have visited many sites on people who have opted to quit paying and that process could take years. What would be the TS process if I did stop paying for MF? Thanks again for the feedback!

If you bought an American timeshare at an American resort the fact that you are Canadian is not relevant since you bought the timeshare in America (it would be their statutes that count).

As far as letting your timeshare go into foreclosure and the timing of such (how long it takes) .... it depends on the resort or HOA and how they handle foreclosures.

R P.

edwardr151 wrote:
Thanks JayJay
I didn't realize that "charities" charge large up front cost to "donate"! Helpful hints.

Charities such as Donate For A Cause didn't formerly charge a large upfront fee if the knew they could turn around and sell a timeshare when timeshares and the economy were booming, but in this economy selling is not a given, even for the most popular resorts and times owned.

Charities are not what they used to be when involving timeshares .... doesn't seem like a charity if they charge you to take it, does it?

R P.

The last poster is correct, any debts from a foreclosure will be registered in the state where they occurred - in this case Florida. However, pursuing this debt across international borders (Canada) is difficult, although the TS collector will no doubt hound you. To actually obtain a judgement in Canada they would have to use a Canadian based agency and accrue all the additional costs and hassles this involves, plus staret agin from scratch. Only at this point would the Canadian credit agencies be involved and have a potential negative effect. Bottom line - it's not impossible to pursue you here, but highly unlikely unless the debt is huge - it's just not worth their while. This should give you more leverage for a Deed In Lieu - it's much cheaper for them.

Dave K.