Eighty-five percent of timeshare owners want out of their contracts. On any given day, hundreds of owners can be found urgently trying to sell their shares on sites like eBay for as little as $1. Few find any takers.
Worse, many owners who do find a buyer are later blindsided by maintenance fees and other charges when the buyer stops paying and ownership reverts to the original owner. Getting out of a timeshare contract, these sellers learn, is much harder than it seems.
That’s where timeshare cancellation companies come in. If you want out of your timeshare for good, you need professional help. Keep reading now to learn what cancellation companies are, how they work, and how to choose the one that’s right for you.
Why Getting Out of a Timeshare Is Such a Challenge
Most of the time, when you own something that you no longer want you have a variety of options for getting rid of it. Items that cannot be thrown away, such as property, can be sold, gifted, or donated. While this is true of traditional real estate, it does not hold true for timeshares.
There are several reasons for this.
First, timeshares have no legal value. When you buy a timeshare, you buy the right to use a property but you gain no physical rights to the property itself. This means that when you attempt to sell your share, it is worth only what another person is willing to pay for it.
With a glut of second-hand timeshare properties available for pennies online at all times, finding a buyer is nearly impossible.
Second, many timeshare contracts restrict owners’ ability to sell their shares. Even if you can find a buyer, the sale is an agreement between the two of you. It does not, however, change the terms of your original contract.
This means that if the buyer at any time stops paying the maintenance fees, annual fees, and other costs of the timeshare, the responsibility for those costs legally reverts to you. The same is true when you donate or gift a share to another person instead of selling it. If at any time they stop paying, you are back on the hook thanks to the terms of your original contract.
Unless you are able to take advantage of a “cooling off period” law to change your mind at the time of purchase, the only way to permanently rid yourself of a timeshare is to get the timeshare company you bought the shares from to cancel your contract.
Why the DIY Approach to Cancellation Rarely Works
For owners who have purchased a new timeshare within the last few days, the answer to “can you cancel a timeshare purchase?” is often yes. Recission or “cooling off period” laws make it possible to change your mind and annul the contract. For buyers who have had their timeshares for more than a few days, the answer becomes “yes, but it won’t be easy.”
Canceling a timeshare requires convincing the timeshare company to release you from the contract. Understandably, this is not something they are willing to do unless the costs of keeping you in the contract become higher than the costs of releasing you.
In most cases, to create that set of circumstances, you have to be able to:
- Prove that some form of law or regulation was broken during the sale process
- Prove that you understand your rights and how they were violated
- Demonstrate your willingness and ability to take the timeshare company to court to prove the sale was inappropriate and get it annulled
Timeshare companies routinely sell timeshares using questionable sales practices. These include misrepresenting costs, failing to inform buyers of their rights, and employing misleading and high-pressure sales tactics to close the deal.
The problem lies in the fact that most buyers do not know enough about the law to use these facts to their advantage. Even if they did, the sheer amount of time and energy required to work through the legal process and force the timeshare company to give in is prohibitive.
Defaulting
Some buyers are misled into thinking that they can escape their timeshares by defaulting on their payments. While in some cases this can result in getting out of a timeshare, it almost always comes at a steep financial cost.
First, you will get hit with heavy fees and fines that accumulate before the timeshare is repossessed or canceled. These costs do not go away when the contract is canceled and you remain responsible for them.
Second, defaulting on your timeshare to force the timeshare company to reclaim it is considered a form of foreclosure. As such, it will devastate your credit score and remain on your credit report for up to seven years. It may also complicate your ability to purchase other properties of any kind in the future.
If you cannot manage the legal process alone and defaulting is not a viable option, how do you get out of your timeshare contract?
How Timeshare Cancellation Companies Can Help
Timeshare cancellation companies understand timeshare law backward and forward. They know the most viable grounds for timeshare termination and how to prove them. They also know how to present that information to timeshare companies in a way that makes them sit up and pay attention.
Timeshare cancellation companies also have full-time staff who specialize in getting contracts canceled. This enables them to easily manage the intensive work at every step of the cancellation process. What would be overwhelming for a single timeshare owner is far more feasible for a team of experienced professionals.
How Affordable Is Hiring a Timeshare Cancellation Company?
Owners already deeply in debt due to their timeshare often hesitate to hire a cancelation company over fears of racking up additional costs. While these concerns are understandable, they are unfounded. Once timeshare owners learn the real costs of hiring a timeshare lawyer, they almost always wish they’d hired one sooner.
Timeshare Cancellation Companies Can Be Very Affordable
The actual cost of canceling your timeshare will vary. This is because it depends on the circumstances unique to your situation, such as:
- Where the property is located
- What company you bought the timeshare from and its policies and practices
- How much you owe (if any) in back fees and fines
- If you have attempted to sell or transfer ownership of the property previously
To get an accurate idea of the costs you can expect, you should meet with a timeshare attorney to discuss your case.
Canceling Is Less Expensive That Waiting
The longer you hold onto your timeshare, the more money the timeshare leaches from your wallet. Maintenance fees tend to go up at least four percent every year. If you wait to cancel your contract these and other associated costs only go up.
If you fail to make your payments, you can face heavy fines, late fees, and other costs on top of the annual expenses.
The sooner you invest in canceling your timeshare, the sooner you are free of that financial burden and able to focus on your future.
How to Choose a Timeshare Cancellation Company
Not all timeshare cancellation companies are the same. In fact, scammers may pretend to represent a timeshare cancellation company in order to prey on desperate timeshare owners. So how can you find a quality timeshare cancellation company and avoid timeshare scams?
First, check the company’s ratings and endorsements. Quality companies will have strong customer reviews and be rated or recommended by established financial professionals.
Second, ask questions. Quality companies should offer free consultations and be able to explain their process, what to expect, and what kinds of costs you can anticipate.
Third, look for guarantees. Good companies offer money-back guarantees that kick in if they are not able to get your contract canceled. These guarantees provide accountability, which is the hallmark of a cancelation company worth your trust.
Fourth, look for documentation. Quality companies will provide you with copies of their guarantees and costs in writing.
Fifth, keep in mind that quality companies are unlikely to cold-call you. If you are cold-called or contacted by mail by a company courting your timeshare cancelation business, consider it a red flag. While the company may be legitimate, that tactic is most commonly used by scammers.
Finally, remember that you have the right to shop around. Feel free to look at several companies and compare their rankings, terms, and success rates before choosing one to represent you.
Get a Quote
Quality timeshare cancellation companies can get you out of your suffocating and costly timeshare contract, even if you have tried to cancel it yourself without success in the past. Schedule a consultation today to speak to one of our legal professionals. Let us provide you with the information you need to get started on the cancelation process now.
