When I worked for UAW Legal Services Plans, very often I would have a client come in with a timeshare that he/she couldn’t afford.  That experience made me really hate timeshares. What I hate worse than timeshares are the scammy companies who get money from desperate timeshare owners and generally do nothing.

Fifteen years ago the scam centered on companies promising to find a buyer for your timeshare, and naturally you had to pay them an up-front fee. Now the scam seems to be a simple problem of “relief” from your timeshare, no promises you will get any cash from the deal, just that you will get out of the timeshare.  Of course, you have to pay them a fee, usually about $3,000.

What the timeshare relief companies generally won’t say int heir advertising  is that to qualify for their program, you have to be completely paid up on your timeshare, with all dues and assessments current as well.  What they also don’t tell you is the  more reputable timeshare companies (and I hate saying that), such as Wyndham, will generally take your timeshare back for FREE if it is completely paid for and dues and assessments are current.  When your timeshare is not current, it’s just a problem to get rid of period, and there is no easy answer. Sometimes the best thing to do is file bankruptcy. Sometimes the best thing to do is default and try to settle up with the company when they sue you.   None of the alternatives are perfect or costless.

I am not takng cases from people who are trying to get out of their timeshares.  I will consider cases from people in Indiana  who were defrauded by timeshare relief companies.  If you are from Indiana and are having a problem with a timeshare relief company, please contact me through the “quick contact” form on my website, http://www.hoferlawindy.com/  If you are from another state and have a timeshare problem, I suggest you talk to a NACA consumer attorney in your state.   You can find one with this link.

If you have a personal experience with a timeshare company or a timeshare relief company that you would like to share, please enter it in the comments.  (If the discussion gets out of hand, I may have to shut it down, but let’s see how it goes.)