Getting rid of your timeshare

"get a real job"

I'm around a lot of timeshare people. A lot.

I think that every time I see one.

yes, tell me how to Getting rid of my timeshare

1. Get a magic wand.

2. Wave it.

Insert smilie here

Call your home resort and ask them if they will take your timeshare through a " deed back ". If they agree you will have to be current in your maintenance fees and assessments. They may require you to pay the next years taxes and maintenance fees but it's more than worth it. I got rid of two timeshares that way.

tand6 wrote:

yes, tell me how to Getting rid of my timeshare

In addition to Don P's suggestion above, another suggestion is to advertise that you want to give it away.

RedWeek has a Bargain Basement section where you can advertise. You can also try E-Bay and Craigslist with a starting bid of one dollar. My Resort Network is also a reputable resale site.

Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tugbbs.com) has a Bargain Deals section where you can advertise for free that you want to give away your timeshare. Just follow the instructions at the top of that forum.

Be aware that many units are worth zero dollars or less. If you're a motivated seller, you might want to offer to pay the closing costs and even the next year's maintenance fees for the new taker.

Just never pay anyone a large upfront fee to "cancel" or sell your timeshare.

I must be different.

I seem to be the only person that finds it offensive that the industry is still selling, and for thousands of dollars, stuff that those who have already bought them can't even give away. & that does not seem to bother them in the least.

I learned that DRI will take back time shares if you are 75 or over. So I contacted them, they gave me instructions to apply, and I did. The process took a few months, but they did approve the surrender. I paid $250 in closing costs.

How can we go about confirming that DRI takes weeks back? Do you have a link to a website?

Call their financial services office. They will instruct you wyou will have to send a letter.

Just wondered because people on other forums say they don't.

Well, they did mine. I had to write them a letter. It took about 3 months for them to give approval. then I had to fill out a couple of docs (deed transfer, etc.) and have notarized. They charged me $250. But it was worth that.

Hi I am in Arizona, had a lot of trouble selling my millstone around my neck (timeshare) thru the years. Read here some time back to use Donate for a Cause, which I did. For my cost of my next maintenance fees I sold my timeshare. I had bought into points thru Diamond resorts thinking that would help sell my timeshare, but only added to my fees. Shame on me. But when I first approached Diamond they said they would not take it back, but that I had 2 contracts now to exit from. So thru Donate for a Cause I sold my Deed. And after that came off my account, I sent a letter to Diamond ( Registered ) that I no longer had a deeded timeshare in their club, and I wanted out. With NO reply, some months later not paying or using my points, I no longer have an account or a millstone, with Diamond. So for 2 years now have saved my maintenance fees 3400.00 and will be using that money to go to Italy in April.

I checked out Donate for A Cause. It's a good operation, but they do charge a lot to take your time share. They wanted $1800 for mine or over $3000 if I wanted the tax writeoff. It was much cheaper to just give it back to DRI. But it is definitely another way to go if you have no other options!

Donate for a cause has many negative posts. Be very careful before dealing with them. NEVER pay anyone money upfront to get rid of your timeshare. If they agree to take their fee after the transaction than just maybe it would be safe to deal with them.

donp196 wrote:

Donate for a cause has many negative posts. Be very careful before dealing with them. NEVER pay anyone money upfront to get rid of your timeshare. If they agree to take their fee after the transaction than just maybe it would be safe to deal with them.

As JayJay already pointed out, Donate For A Cause is not a good company, they are part of Resort Closings in Bozeman, MT and you will find many many very negative reports, even AARP is warning the members to stay away.

I probably wouldn't use Donate for a Cause because they are very expensive and in most cases you can find a legitimate new owner by prepaying MF's and paying closing costs for less than the DFC costs. There are more negative reports about buying a timeshare from Marriott or Wyndham than there are from those who used DFC to get rid of a timeshare. I read the AARP "warning" and it was about the tax break claims and the fact that you aren't helping any charitable organization by "donating" .

This is the quote: "So DFC may be able to help you escape your time-share (at a cost of a few thousand dollars), but don't count on safely claiming a big tax write-off. And note that the average donation generates only about $400 to downstream charities, according to DFC. If philanthropy is your priority, just write a check directly to a charity of your choice."

Yeah, but the object is to get rid of an unwanted timeshare, not support a charity.

In the Old Days, before most timeshares became totally worthless (actually, worse than worthless), I/we did that, got rid of timeshares and supported a charity.

Not any more.

There is absolutely no guarantee that you will be rid of your timeshare once you give them money upfront. NEVER pay anyone money upfront to get rid of your timeshare. They will promise you the world to get your money even claiming that you can write off $ 5,000.00 on your taxes which is a lie. The IRS is wise to the phony tax deductions. They confirm the value that is $ 1.00 selling on Ebay. Anyone dumb enough to take the deduction deserves to get audited.

Besides losing your upfront money you risk penalties and interest fighting the IRS if you take the deduction. The scammers rely on you to believe their claims to get your money. Once again..... NEVER pay anyone money upfront to take your timeshare off your hands.

Just like the original scammers relied on you believing their claims when you bought.

donp196 wrote:

The scammers rely on you to believe their claims to get your money.

So, I check these posts from time to time and nothing EVER changes. If you made the mistake of being suckered into a timeshare you get to suffer for the rest of your life. Nobody wants your mistake & you have no legal recourse. The satelite scammers orbitting the industry are all crooks, and thowing good $$ after bad will just make you a bigger loser. Since you can't trust anyone, you just give up & let the maintainance fees pile up. For decades the timeshare industry in Florida has been the largest financier of our Att. Gen.'s election campaigns and a major source of tax revenue, so they will never be regulated. With any other rip-off, you can take your lumps & throw the product in the trsash. I wish I could tell my "home" resort that I no longer wish to maintain this product that I supposedly "own". If it was an actual home I'd have the option of letting it go to hell, but this isn't about owning anything. Well, thanks for the platform on which to rant, but I'm afraid it's about all this blog has to offer...

jlb wrote:

Just like the original scammers relied on you believing their claims when you bought.

donp196 wrote:

The scammers rely on you to believe their claims to get your money.