Get out of Westgate Resorts

From what I understand, a forgiven debt is taxable.

That's essentially what we did with property we had in Orlando (we inherited it. Didn't "buy" it). We paid $750 for the warranty deed and yes, our fees were already up to date. Once started, the process went pretty smoothly. I know it hurts to pay more money but believe me, we were SO HAPPY to have that albatross off our neck. If they had not cooperated, we were prepared to walk. The only other thing in our favor was that the property was actually held in a trust, not directly by us so there would not have been a hit to our credit. At the same time, we wanted to close the trust and didn't want the Westgate thing hanging out there. Bite the bullet and just do it.

Make sure you're clear on what is "debt". If you talking about the annual maintenance fees, that is NOT debt.

is not only maintenance and taxes. I still owe on the timeshare itself and I stopped paying. So in that case will it affect me?

The lender on the timeshare mortgage might come after you. Also, it's possible that you will face a hit on your credit score or rating. Have you faced any collection calls or letters?

as of right now, we havent received any collection letters, nor has it affected our credit.

I haven’t paid since December 2019. I have gotten a ton of collection calls but I have ignored them. I’ve gotten maybe 2 letters and also ignored those. Nothing in my credit. It sucks cause this is the first time I’ve ever had anything in collections but I’m not paying them anymore! I also owe on the regular timeshare. It was financed through westgate. My ex was supposed take it off my hands and I paid for all of that then he disappeared! He lives in another state so I couldn’t just go find him. Since you worked there, any insight?

it was financed through westgate. they are so desperate to sell you the timeshare they even gave me a credit card for the down payment. I did paid off the credit card and then closed that account

If Westgate is willing to take back for a fee, accept it. Five WG owners reached out to me. WG took back three no questions asked for $1000. Two they would not take back because one a 1BR and the other in Branson. The first an African American, age 69, four surgeries due to repetitive motion injuries incurred as a pipe-fitter. She is single. Her company would pay for the surgery but not lost wages. They used the timeshare twice in 15 years. The other a couple both diagnosed with cancer. In a Resorts Trade article, they pat themselves on the back for being a founder of ARDA's Coalition for Responsible Exit. The cancer patient called the Legacy department, got transferred around and ended up with a supervisor who said, "We don't have an exit and that's not our website." After exposure, they took it back and waived the maintenance fees.

Alvelo, I would love to talk to you. I'm easy to find. Have you seen the documentary The Queen of Versailles about their 90,000 square foot home in Orlando with 30 bathrooms, an ice-skating rink and Jackie's clothes closet 5,000. My African American owner is Jackie too. Took best documentary at Sundance.

99% of members disputing the 1099 have been successful. I don't want to give accounting advice, but I have written articles about this.

Hi Ken! You’ve been so helpful. My friend and I bought a timeshare back in November through some slimy folks and regretted it immediately (like everyone else). We’ve only been paying the mortgage since we purchased the timeshare but have not spent a cent on the maintenance fees. Can you confirm that by paying the loan but not paying the maintenance fees will unlikely affect credit? Thanks in advance!

Unfortunately, there is no "one size fits all" answer to your question. Policies and practices differ among the many different timeshare systems. Additionally, within any given system, policies and practices can always change without notice. In short --- no, I cannot (nor can anyone else, if they are being truthful) "confirm" the intentions or likely actions of any given timeshare developer or system regarding various non-payment situations.

I'm actually puzzled by your proposed approach. If you do not pay maintenance fees, then you will obviously have no access to the property at any time. At some juncture, foreclosure will still follow. If you know that you are going to permanently forfeit any and all access to the property, why would you then continue to pay on a loan for something that you will never get to access or utilize in any way?

GENERALLY SPEAKING, if maintenance fees are the ONLY non-payment issue and there is NO unpaid loan balance, very few developers ever bother to file negative credit report; most simply foreclose and call it a day.

However, with an associated loan (financing of which which may be "in house" in some instances or by a third party lender in other instances), then all bets are off. I won't give you incomplete or inaccurate information, so I will simply and honestly say that I just don't know about the situation you describe, as I have never before heard of anyone actually employing your proposed approach of "make the loan payments but don't pay the maintenance fees". It seems to me that, in this course of action, you might succeed in "buying some time" regarding a negative credit report hit, but foreclosure would ultimately still occur for non-payment of maintenance fees. It seems (to me, anyhow) like a complete waste of money to continue making loan payments for something that you will never be allowed to utilize in ANY way once you stop paying the associated maintenance fees, but that is of course your own personal choice and decision to make.

Does anyone have the snail mail [USPS ] address for the Westgate Resorts Developer Services?

The Legacy Program by Westgate does not provide the address.

Being an old quality auditor, How many people working with exit companies have been asked to submit a FALSE AFFIDAVIT stating they are not working with an exit company? A sample size of 1 is not valid.

When asked Developer Services Department said the affidavit was sent in-error. RAISING THE QUESTION: How many times does this error happen?

I do not at all understand the intended point of the post directly above.

I have NO use for the slimy and deceitful likes of Westgate, but I can nonetheless understand and appreciate that any timeshare entity which would entertain processing "deedbacks" (whether it's a developer chain or an independent resort) would want (...demand, actually) clear assurance that it will be a "clean" process and not a time consuming headache. "Clean process" goes right out the window if or when an owner is already involved with a exit / relief / escape / rescue operation, which can muddy up the title and transfer process in various ways. Among those ways, perhaps most noteworthy and most common is an owner signing a Power of Attorney, thereby authorizing and enabling the (so called) "exit" entity to try to "dump" the unwanted timeshare for the owner (after collecting a substantial upfront fee, of course). The developer or resort does not want to waste its' time considering processing "deedbacks" on ownerships already in legal limbo as a result of previous owner actions involving a (so-called) exit company.

I do not understand the point of the post above, but if I was at the developer or resort end of things, I would not consider or proceed with any deedback if / when the owner is already involved with an exit company. I would instead say "Sorry, but you should have contacted us to initiate a clean and simple "deedback" BEFORE you got mixed up with a (so-called) exit company".

Well made point.

I have a great fear of signing and notarizing a document with easily provable false statements.

Signing and filing a knowingly false affidavit is actionable by law, so your concerns are certainly well founded --- but I remain confused...

Are you (...not very openly) saying that you are ALREADY INVOLVED with a so-called "exit" company --- and now (understandably) don't want to falsely deny that now inconvenient fact in a signed and notarized affidavit?

If you are ALREADY involved with a so-called "exit" company, you can reasonably assume and expect that the "deedback" door is ultimately going to be slammed shut on you once that fact is inevitably discovered. No developer (or individual resort) needs or wants the headache and / or unnecessary time expenditure of having to address and / or clear up any "muddied title" issues. They want ONLY a clean, straightforward quit claim deed signed over to them --- with NO side issues or complications of any kind (and no unpaid fees) when they agree to accept a "deedback". That "clean and straightforward" deedback ship sails away once a so-called "exit" company is involved. I'm guessing that you are actually already involved with a (so-called) "exit" company. If so, unless you can now permanently extract yourself from whatever arrangement you may have unwisely entered into with the so-called "exit" company, Westgate is likely to (appropriately and completely understandably) say "Nope, sorry --- no Legacy program deedback for you. You should have contacted us for a clean and simple deedback BEFORE you got yourself involved with a so-called "exit" company". That is a completely reasonable position and frankly, it is exactly the position that I too would take if in their shoes.

Yes, I am working with Switch=it.

Yes, Westgate is slow-rolling the process.

What is Switch=it? What is this company charging you? What is this company promising to do for you? How did you come to know about this company?

Lance what happens if i don't pay maintenance fees ? does it really ruin your credit ?

I'm not Lance, but the only truly accurate answer is --- it depends. If there is no unpaid loan balance and only unpaid maintenance fees, it is possible (but not certain) that there will be no negative credit report impact. However, if there is also an unpaid loan on which you default, it is reasonable to assume and expect that there will be negative credit report impact at some point and, once filed, it will remain a matter of record on your credit report for 7 years.