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

Good morning, I've been considering unloading my timeshare for quite some time. I used it when I was working and could only take one week off at a time. Now that I'm retired, a one week vacation and airfare are ridiculous. I just want to GET RID OF IT and stop paying the maintenance fees.

Anyone know an avenue to "gift it" or somehow just (legally) unload it?

Thanks, SP

What is the name of the timeshare you own?

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

stevep603 wrote:

I've been considering unloading my timeshare for quite some time. I used it when I was working and could only take one week off at a time. Now that I'm retired, a one week vacation and airfare are ridiculous. I just want to GET RID OF IT and stop paying the maintenance fees.

Anyone know an avenue to "gift it" or somehow just (legally) unload it?

Not much info or detail to work with here to provide specific recommendations. Don't know if what you have is deeded or "points", "chain" or independent --- or even what country it's in. Nonetheless, here are a few generic suggestions:

1. Contact the resort HOA and ask if they will accept a "deedback". If so, this is a quick, clean and lawful exit and probably the best bet for the situation you describe.

2. If "deedback" is not an option (most resorts still will NOT accept deedbacks), you can offer to give the timeshare away for free in the "Bargain Deals" section of Timeshare Users Group (see http://www.tug2.net). SOMEONE will have to pay closing costs and resort transfer fees, so give some thought to whether you are willing to pay those costs yourself in order to get rid of the timeshare. Transfer fees vary widely in cost; around $100 at most independents, $299 for Wyndham, $695 for Hyatt, sometimes several thousand dollars to transfer RTU contracts in Mexico. For a deeded, U.S. timeshare, you can figure on about $200 to a closing company for new deed preparation and recording (this is a different and separate cost from resort-imposed transfer fees) once you find a willing new recipient.

3. DO NOT pay a penny to ANY of the (far too many) completely useless and obscenely expensive upfront fee "escape / relief / exit / rescue" parasite operations. If you do so, that money will be gone forever and you will STILL own the timeshare --- you'll just own it with a significantly lighter wallet.

Good luck.

I own a Gold Membership with Raintree Vacation Club (RCI). 50,000 points every other year.

Unfortunately there are no good ways to sell or even give away a smaller Raintree contract.

So, back to the original poster's question: If he can't sell it and can't give it away, how does he get rid of it?

philiph92 wrote:

So, back to the original poster's question: If he can't sell it and can't give it away, how does he get rid of it?

I don't see any indication from the OP that he attempted to get Raintree to release him. This is apparently a "vacation club membership" (as opposed to a deeded ownership). It's certainly no skin off their nose to release him from his contract and they have already collected plenty of money from him over the years. He's fully paid up (presumably with his annual fees as well). He is in a good position to at least ASK for contract cancellation --- he'll never know the answer until and unless he first asks the question.

If that effort fails, since this product really has zero value or appeal in the open resale market, OP can simply make the choice to STOP paying anything further. Just STOP. The vacation club membership will obviously be terminated at some point thereafter --- so what? There is no unpaid loan, so "default" (and subsequent negative credit report) is not an issue of concern.

If I was in the OP's shoes (considering the product involved, his age, his solid account status), I would contract Raintree and politely give them TWO very simple, black and white choices --- release me from this contract now, or this is my goodbye call. Pick one. Conversation over.

For the record, I have called and emailed Raintree. They do not have any type of buy back or release policies. If I simply stop paying the maintenance fees, I'm afraid it could affect my perfect credit rating. Thanks

I have an idea . Why don't you read your contract . If it's a vacation club then you are not committed to a lifetime agreement . There has to be an exit option .

donp196 wrote:

Why don't you read your contract . If it's a vacation club then you are not committed to a lifetime agreement . There has to be an exit option .

Maybe --- but it's not necessarily that clear cut.

Many RTU "membership" contracts do indeed have date-defined lifespans (typically 15-30 years in Mexico), but many U.S. based "club" operations do not. Some just contain vague descriptions like "for as long as the club remains operational", or words to that effect.

For a specific example, I had a RTU "membership" in the late 90's / early 2000's with Perennial Vacation Club (based in Nevada); I purchased the membership for peanuts in the resale market. I still have a copy of the contract and there is no expiration date or "exit option" reflected therein, other than "at the determination of the club owners" . After I had used PVC for a few years, I was fortunate enough to find a willing recipient to whom to transfer my "membership", by basically giving it away for free.

Suggested sites on which to attempt to give such a membership away are RedWeek.com, MyResortNetwork.com, the "Bargain Deals" forum on Timeshare Users Group (http://www.tug2.net). I cannot envision a scenario where anyone is going to pay anything for this Raintree "membership", so I stand by my earlier observations and suggestions. I also cannot imagine that Raintree would ever bother to initiate a negative credit report for someone walking away from a fully paid off membership of long standing. It is conceivable, but highly unlikely. Your decision, your choice.

When I recently called Raintree Vacation Club to try and "give it back"... I was told that my membership has an expiration date of 2046. Incredible!!! I did throw it up on Facebook and offered it for sale for $500, which I mentioned is basically the cost of the title transfer. I have a buddy at my gym that is interested. He's a perfect candidate, just retired, single and no kids.

The maintenance fee is due at the end of January, ($1300). I'm going to call RTVC one more time and basically tell them that I can no longer afford the maintenance fee and can also no longer use it. I'm going to TRY and go as HIGH as I can (ie... supervisors). If my buddy doesn't take it off my hands... I'm going to tell RTVC not to expect any further $$ from me. See what happens. It may hurt my credit for 7 years, but my wife has perfect credit as well. Thanks

stevep603 wrote:

The maintenance fee is due at the end of January, ($1300). I'm going to call RTVC one more time and basically tell them that I can no longer afford the maintenance fee and can also no longer use it. I'm going to TRY and go as HIGH as I can (ie... supervisors). If my buddy doesn't take it off my hands... I'm going to tell RTVC not to expect any further $$ from me. See what happens. It may hurt my credit for 7 years, but my wife has perfect credit as well. Thanks

You might want to consider sending your "ultimatum" in writing, where it will internally make its' way up the food chain to the right people. It's not likely that you'll make much headway just talking on the phone with administrative underlings who may not help you to successfully reach anyone "higher up" who actually has decision-making authority. The administrative personnel may, in fact, have been specifically instructed NOT to move such calls "upward". Persistence on your part may yield results, but not necessarily via phone conversations with administrative and clerical personnel. Your situation is very different from dealing with a independent resort with finite numbers of people and a HOA BoD whose President you can easily specifically identify and contact directly. It's a very different game when trying to work through the bureaucratic maze of a "vacation club", where it's much more difficult hard to specifically identify (or communicate directly with) those with actual decision-making authority. Hence, my recommendation to present your case in writing.

I wouldn't lose any sleep over the (highly unlikely) prospect of a negative credit report. Again, an abandoned fully paid "membership" is really no skin off their nose at all. You own NOTHING; you just have a "membership". All they can really do is cancel that membership --- so what? If there was an unpaid outstanding loan balance, that would be another matter entirely; defaulting on a loan is guaranteed to have negative credit report consequences. However, it's likely just simply not worth the time, legal effort or expense to create negative credit report for a fully paid off but now abandoned "paper membership". Good luck, whichever way you choose proceed.

That's an interesting point . If you default on payments then they have to take you to court to get a judgement before they could report it to the credit agencies . If they went through all that then you might have a problem . I know you can dispute negative report and the credit agencies have been more sympathetic to the consumer in matters like this . That may give you some leverage to negotiate an exit from your contract .

Like Ken said it might be worth the effort to contact someone at Raintree and make an offer . It might even consider paying a local attorney to send the letter for you . Good luck .

donp196 wrote:

That's an interesting point . If you default on payments then they have to take you to court to get a judgement before they could report it to the credit agencies . If they went through all that then you might have a problem . I know you can dispute negative report and the credit agencies have been more sympathetic to the consumer in matters like this . That may give you some leverage to negotiate an exit from your contract .

Like Ken said it might be worth the effort to contact someone at Raintree and make an offer . It might even consider paying a local attorney to send the letter for you . Good luck .

A few relevant points may be worth mentioning. Many states now provide for "non-judicial" foreclosure --- greatly expedited proceedings which involve much less time, effort and legal expense than the historical long-ball court proceedings route.

That said, abandoning a MEMBERSHIP, in which nothing is actually "owned" to have to be "retrieved" in the first place, probably does not fall into the category of "foreclosure", per se. It would merely be a "membership cancellation". In any event, I frankly don't think or believe that many (if any) "vacation clubs" would exert one iota of effort toward negative credit reporting for a fully paid off (but now abandoned) "paper membership", since there is no value or ownership to be "recovered" anyhow (as would be the case, by contrast, with a deeded timeshare ownership). OP should perhaps consider consulting a licensed attorney is his own geographic area. The Internet is really no place to just blindly accept advice from unknown others in any matter of potential legal consequence.

Thanks everybody. The main reason I threw this out here is actually because the Raintree person I talked to suggested Redweek. The other reason is, I thought I might get lucky and find one of you who has already "abandoned" their paper membership. I'm not the type to walk away from commitments or responsibility, but there is "no end" to this rape of maintenance fees. I hadn't even considered walking away from it until a couple of days ago. I'll be 94 when the "paper membership" runs it course.

Very impressed with all your thorough responses.

Thanks again.

you may have to post to sell and sit on this.....list for as cheap as you want.

kellyb248 wrote:

you may have to post to sell and sit on this.....list for as cheap as you want.

Interesting suggestion but the problem with that is that such a membership has zero resale value. The people at Raintree, like they probably did before, are trying to convince him that these memberships have thousands of dollars in resale value. As well, I'm guessing that they want him to "sell" it to someone who will continue to pay membership fees as opposed to just abandoning it and not having any incoming fees.

With RTUs and travel club memberships, usually the best and fastest way out is to simply stop paying fees.

Have you or anyone you know stopped paying fees with Raintree? If so what happened.

Now I'm getting nervous. We are looking to purchase two weeks at the Marriott grande vista from two separate sellers. We have been going there every year for the past 10 years and really enjoy the property. When we balance out the makntence fees vs what we would ou for our stay the maintenance fees are still lower. After reading all of this now I am reconsidering. Thoughts