The Real Truth About Terminating Timeshare Contracts

by Legal S. Real Estate Attorneys in CA and NV

Timeshare resort developers often suggest the idea that a timeshare owner's contract is not able to be exited. The truth is that even though a timeshare contract is a legal document, it can be cancelled for many reasons under general contract law.

Beware of Shady or Fraudulent Resale Companies

Most timeshare owners scratch their heads in disbelief when trying to accept the fact that a timeshare can have little or no real value. And when the timeshare inevitably becomes a financial hardship, their first instinct is to get out of the timeshare.

Sure enough, many timeshare resale companies have sprung up over the last several years that promise top dollar for preowned timeshares units.

timeshare exit

These companies generally fall into two categories, the shady con artist types that say they can help the timeshare owner by selling or renting the timeshare, and the fraudulent type that claims to have a buyer "just waiting to buy"and to "pay upfront now".

Both types are fully aware that the odds are extremely low of a willing consumer buying or renting the timeshare. The bad odds exist due to thousands of timeshares on the secondary market at any given time available for under 10 dollars.

The Legal Timeshare Exit Technique

According to prominent timeshare attorneys, the smartest way a vacation consumer should terminate a timeshare contract is to legally and legitimately cancel the timeshare.

The timeshare owner needs to hire a results-driven timeshare attorney to negotiate directly with the timeshare resort and convince them to issue an official release of the contract. Timeshare cancellation companies do this by holding timeshares accountable for misleading and fraudulent claims and deeds of their sales representatives, which includes FTC and FDCPA violations, omissions of fact, and outright lies. In reality, the major timeshare resort companies plan ahead for the probability that the consumer will eventually want to exit the contract.

Here’s what happens. Timeshares companies are very aware that their owners will figure out how to cancel a timeshare, as many exit firms are merely an Internet search away for upset timeshare owners. So they know that a certain percentage of customers will eventually figure out how to go about cancelling their timeshares, which is why they encourage the timeshare owners to sign up a new credit card to be able to pay the sizable down payment.

Once that is done, the resort developer is guaranteed to receive the money right away, before the owner realizes that purchasing the timeshare was a big mistake and decides to contact a timeshare exit lawyer.

The new owners of the timeshare membership can also expect a very high interest rate, even if they have good credit, and hope that they will secure a home equity loan at a lower rate in the near future, which pays them off before they figure out how to cancel the timeshare.

At well-known timeshare exit law firms, thousands of emails and phone calls come in from distressed timeshare owners with questions about their timeshare memberships. The majority call after after they sign the contract and after the cooling off period is over — when the exuberance of their vacation has waned — thinking that they did the probably did wrong thing.

A good timeshare attorney can put their fears to rest, deal with their clients concerns and financial burdens, and guide them through the complexities of timeshare contract law to successfully get them out of their timeshares.