The Correct Steps to Ensure Successful Timeshare Cancellation

by Legal S. Real Estate Attorneys in CA and NV

Feeling burdened with the huge costs of timeshare membership? Exiting a timeshare sounds like an attractive solution.

However, due to contract stipulations and legalities, cancelling may not be a straight forward, easy process. Also, the timeshare resale market is flooded with con artists. Here’s how you can ensure successful outcomes and exit the timeshare for good.

Understand Details of Timeshare Contract

Most timeshare contracts include conditions around reselling and cancelling a timeshare membership. For example, the timeshare company may have the first right to resale or put conditions about specific qualifications that resale buyers should have. The contract may claim that a cancellation done without the knowledge of the timeshare organization is not legitimate, or worse, illegal. Most timeshare developers will not allow use of facilities if cancellation is not done in accordance with terms of the original contract. To avoid these pitfalls, it’s smart to consult a timeshare exit attorney that can assist you in your case.

timeshare exit attorney

Prepare Documents with Care

A timeshare contract is essentially a real estate contract, and document preparation is an important part of cancelling timeshare membership. The owner should have all documents related to the timeshare as well as information about the buyer. This includes the original deed to the timeshare, official contact details of the timeshare resort, documents related to maintenance fees, etc. Although rare, some timeshare companies do allow cancelling timeshare membership to the resort company, in which case, having all documents on hand is even more important. A professional timeshare exit company can draft the documents necessary for timeshare cancellation.

Be Skeptical of Upgrade Offers

One timeshare owner reports: I am a member of a major timeshare resort based in Florida. After my husband's passing in July 2018 and my move to California, I made reservations with the developer to stay at their Carlsbad resort. During my 5-day stay in 2019, the management offered me a free gift to sit through a presentation. Afterwards, I met with an agent, named Frank.

Even though I told them wasn't interested, and explained my spouse had recently passed away and I had recently moved, he reduced the "discount price" to 10,200 dollars, which was the only price I saw or he discussed, with additional incentives. The sales rep said, with the upgrade, I would be upgraded to premium status. That seemed reasonable and affordable. He never revealed nor discussed the true full payment of the upgrade, which was 18,000 dollars.

On his resort office computer, I personally signed and initialed the documents. He discussed and showed me which indicated the cost of the upgrade, and before leaving, I received a copy of the contract, which I reviewed much later when I got home. I had no reason to dispute the contract that I personally signed, but when I began receiving invoices from both the resort and PayPal Credit for the sam timeshare upgrade, I was confused. I then reviewed the contract documentation which including a number of pages never seen, and the fine print showed the bills were supposedly signed by me, showing I owed 18,000 dollars - not 10,200 dollars.

I never saw the nor did I ever sign any contract documents. In fact, I never heard the term Docusign until I very recently purchased a condo, a secured method of signing documents electronically. I more than confidently suspect that the resort's agent deliberately and criminally defrauded me. I believe he or another one of the staff set up a Docusign account and deliberately signed or initialed my signature and initials to the timeshare contract.

I have contacted resort management to try to simply to cancel the contract, but to no avail. They have repeated that I signed the contract so there is nothing they can do. I need legal action on the timeshare.

Post Deed and Save it on Record

If you’re successful in finding a trustworthy buyer, you will need to create a deed. This deed is proof of membership and the contract should have vital information such as legal description of timeshare, the full name of the timeshare buyer, who will pay future maintenance fees, who will have access to timeshare points, who will pay the exchange fees and what will happen if the buyer fails to make future payments. You will have to notarize the deed and it must be recorded at county office where the resort is located. You may be need to provide more affidavits by the county clerk’s office.

Timeshare Contracts Get Larger

William, a timeshare owner, recently said, "I have a contract with Wyndham that over the years has become larger and larger. I called and asked about getting out of the contract because we can not afford the loan and maintenance fees. I was told that the contract could not be cancelled and that I have to find a buyer. If I do not find someone to buy this timeshare or if I can not get out of the contract, I will have to allow foreclosure or possibly file bankruptcy. John is retired and has had back surgery which limits his ability to work. I will be retiring in February and that will reduce my income significantly. We just cannot afford to continue paying this money each month. To add to that, we have been upgraded so many times and now have so many points that we cannot even use them yearly."

"We are banking points and then the points are expiring in the bank. Places we want to go are often not available which makes it even harder to use the points we have. We were told that we could list points for rent to pay for some of the fees but the money we receive is so little that it really does not help. We bought so we could have nice places to vacation but more and more we are finding that there are more people staying in the resorts that are not members than there are members. What is the point of being an owner if I can go online and rent the same property, in most cases for less than what I am paying monthly in maintenance and special assessment fees? I am just so disappointed with the whole system and the fees. Is there any way to get help in this situation?"

Seek Timeshare Attorney Help

When you try to cancellation a timeshare privately without third-party assistance, you may encounter unscrupulous individuals or reselling companies that promise to get the timeshare off your hands for a large upfront fee. However, if a cancellation does not happen, you will not be able to get the fee back - and you’re still stuck with the timeshare. The silver lining is there are respectable third-party companies that connect timeshare owners with good timeshare cancellation lawyers. They have affiliations with other service providers such as timeshare transfer companies. They can provide you with the help to achieve the goal of exiting a timeshare.

It’s obvious that cancelling timeshare membership is a complex process. It’s best to get in touch with a professional timeshare attorney from a timeshare exit company for expert counsel and assistance.