What Will Happen If I Stop Making Payments On My Timeshare?

If you’re tired of your timeshare and can’t seem to unload it, you may have considered a radical solution: Why not just stop making payments? If this type of thing has crossed your mind, you’ll be left with something else to consider. Could you ever get away with such a thing?

In the first place, don’t think that the timeshare resort will let you walk away scot-free. Once they stop receiving your monthly fees or maintenance payments, management will begin sending you letters one after the other, informing you in no uncertain times that you are now in default of the payments to which your contract has bound you so tightly.

You can expect these letters to keep arriving. You can also plan on losing access to your unit when your allotted time comes due. You can make the trip if you want, but don’t expect them to let you in once you arrive, and forget about any hopes of renting out your unit to someone else or depositing your allotted time with an exchange company. Once you’re in default, you’re in default, and you no longer have any rights.

When the Timeshare Resort Takes Legal Action

It shouldn’t be too long before the timeshare management company considers its legal options. Depending on how much you owe, the type of timeshare involved and whether you carry a mortgage, the company could:

• Call in the collection experts. In their zeal to recover the fees you owe, many timeshare resorts will have no qualms about turning over your account to a collection agency to recover what you owe them along with any penalties and late fees they feel like adding on.
• Undermine your credit. When enough time has passed, you can almost always expect the resort to report your delinquencies to the biggest credit agencies. Furthermore, if you took out a separate loan to cover your down payment, you will find yourself in double trouble. Most such third-party lenders have no connection to the resort itself, and if you stop payments to those as well, your credit rating is due to take an even heavier hit.
• Sue you in civil court. Whether you’ve stopped payments on a right-to-use timeshare or failed to pay maintenance fees on the deeded variety, you could end up in court. If you lose your case, the timeshare management company is likely to garnish your wages or put a levy on your bank account.
• Foreclose. With a deeded timeshare, this is always a possibility. Although it will cost them money to do this, timeshare management won’t be too concerned. You should be, though, since they intend to tack the total of filing fees, court costs and attorney’s compensation onto the amount that you already owe.

Alternative Ways to Avoid Making Payments

Although just stopping payments is never a good idea, there are other ways of getting out from under with your timeshare. You could always try:

• Renting it out. If you’re lucky, the rent you collect will cover most of your annual timeshare dues. You are now stuck with paying for something that may not be covered by rent and not being able to use it to vacation.
• Selling it. Modern timeshares are extremely difficult if not impossible to sell. Most of the timeshare developers make it very difficult for secondary buyers to use their ownership which protects their sales centers. Most timeshares are worth nothing the day after your purchase and many are listed on ebay for $1 will no willing takers.

Getting Legal Help of Your Own

The attorneys at O’Grady Law Group can help you get free of your timeshare contract once and for all. Many people believe that this type of contract can never be cancelled. This is rarely the case, particularly if your salesperson acted in a coercive manner, subjected you to an overlong sales pitch, made false claims about the timeshare’s future value or behaved in a fraudulent manner.

At O’Grady Law, we focus on providing the legal counsel you need to get out of your timeshare for good. Don’t be stuck with an unwanted timeshare. Call O’Grady Law Group today.