Any lawyers here? Timeshare trap/scam related

MrsT0514 · July 2014

At the risk of looking ignorant and stupid, here goes. If anyone has experience/knowledge with this, i would love some advice/direction.

Back in 2010 (before we got married/had kids), DH and I got roped into one of those ridiculous timeshare seminars where they pressured us to buy for 6 hours and finally somehow tricked us into signing a contract for a floating week, beachfront unit on Cape Cod.

So we started making our payments and when we went to book our first trip the resort owners started coming at us with all of these restrictions/lockout dates that werent made clear to us at the time of signing. Needless to say we were pissed and felt scammed. I made numerous phone calls to the resort expressing our dissatisfaction and the fact that they failed to explain all of these details upfront/pressured us into signing, and they soon just started avoiding my calls and never called me back. So we said "fuck you" and stopped paying.

Naturally, they (the company we had the loan through) sent us to collections and banged up our credit (we figured this would happen, but we sure as hell dont have the extra $$ sitting around to pay for something we cant use). Ive consulted over the phone with an attorney (faxed him the contract), who advised me that my option is to either pay up and deal or not pay and wait for them to possibly sue us for nonpayment.

He did say that we COULD hire our own attorney and sue them for pressuring us into a contract/not divulging all of the details at the time of closing and claim that we signed the contract while under duress (due to their high pressure sales tactics), but just the attorney/litigation fees would probably cost more than we actually owe in the first place, so it'd probably just make more sense to wait for them to possibly sue and then just counter sue.

This whole situation sucks and we've been putting it "out of sight, out of mind" for the last 4 years (plus its all confusing as hell bc apparently this resort has changed owners a shitload of times as well) But now that we're getting older and have kids, I realize that ignoring this was probably not the best decision and something needs to be done. But it certainly doesnt change the fact that this entire fiasco angers me (not to mention its fucked up my previously awesome credit) & we certainly dont have extra cash just laying around to pay maintenance fees/payments on a timeshare that we never even got to use.

Sorry for the ramble, but anyone have any knowledge on this topic?

BluepointToasted · July 2014

I'll ask dh tomorrow. He is a lawyer, and I know he is dealing with a similar situation right now for my friend's mom.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

@AuburnGirlSC‌ Thats the shit part of this whole thing. We were under the impression that it was a floating week. Part of the "details that weren't disclosed to us at the time of closing" was that its supposedly only floating during the winter months. So when we went to book our floating week in the summer (naturally...hello, who wants a week in cape cod in the winter?), thats when that came back at us with the "restrictions". Such bullshit. So really, our chances of seeking this thing are slim to none.

I would Look into a deed in lieu of foreclosure, but technically the loan is in default (we stopped paying them shortly after the closing, so this was obviously before the loan was paid off), so I doubt they'd go for that.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

@BluepointToasted Thank you so much! I'd love to hear some feedback, since it seems like YH knows what he's dealing with with this type of situation. I appreciate it.

kaf266 · July 2014

Lurker here. My aunt was in a similar situation. My husband (a lawyer) wrote a few letters to the company's legal department and went the deed in lieu of foreclosure route. They did let her walk away but we were all shocked it worked so easily. I'm not sure of the exact details but I do think she had quite a bit of equity in it already. She just wanted out any way she could, she really couldn't afford the fees that they had increased dramatically.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

@kaf266‌ thanks for sharing. I was just telling MH that it may be in our best interest to try settling with the collection agency to get the balance of the loan paid off at least, this way we may have a chance of going the deed in lieu of foreclosure route, but it burns my fucking ass to pay these people a penny more than we already have for a bunk timeshare that we never had the chance to use (nor will we ever).

BluepointToasted · July 2014

Dh had no great answers for you. Basically you know your two options...you sue them, it's gonna cost you money, but you will clear up your credit. Or, wait until they sue you, and counterclaim, but in the meantime it stays on your credit. Sorry, what a PITA

MrsT0514 · July 2014

BluepointToasted said:
Dh had no great answers for you. Basically you know your two options...you sue them, it's gonna cost you money, but you will clear up your credit. Or, wait until they sue you, and counterclaim, but in the meantime it stays on your credit. Sorry, what a PITA

Ugh. Shitty. I figured there was no easy way out this mess. Thanks for looking into it.

isurewill · July 2014

Those aren't your only options. You say it is 4 years old already - so 3 more years and it will fall off your credit anyway. I

Paying it up now will bring it back up on your credit and it will stay there another 7 years.

They know they are a scam so that is probably why they have not sued you after all this time.

You don't have to believe me. A reputable credit doctor type person can better tell you.

Search the company online. Report them to the BBB and FTC. The FTC is cracking down on these companies. I would not pay them a dime of my hard earned money.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

@fredalina‌ I was wondering if there was some sort of statute of limitations for this stuff. We have not moved and have received the letters/phone calls from the collections agency, so I know we're receiving any/all correspondence from them.

Ive sent letters via certified mail to to this company (as well as the collection agency and billing office for the timeshare resort) disputing the validity of the debt bc of how we were pressured into a contract and then told of these "restrictions" after the fact (at rhe advice of the attorney we consulted with), and no one even bothered to contact us. I was also wondering how long they would just let it sit before acting on it (considering they've been trying to collect on it for 2 years now and we havent paid them anything in at least 3 yrs, I cant even remember bc its been so long. It seems weird that its sat for this long, but I can only hope that nothing else comes out of it.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

@isurewill‌ thanks for the info. I have already reported them to the BBB, and heard nothing back about it, which is frustrating. But I hopeyour right I regards to the statute of limitations....best case scenario the debt expires and thats that. Either way, I certainly dont want to give these fucks a dime more.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

Yeah, thats the awful thing about it (had we known this whole thing was such a an awful shit show, we would've never signed up for it. But ignorance is bliss, I guess. We got fooled.

LittleFish1 · July 2014

Lurking in, is there a consumer tv reporter within either your state or that state? You cannot be the only one that this occured with.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

@LittleFish1‌ not sure, but I do knoe that we are certainly one of many unfortunate people that got roped in. I stumbled upon a website called sellmytimesharenow.com (or something like that) and there's are at least 25 other units within the same resort for sale. Some people trying to sell for as little as 5 dollars, which means people are trying to get rid of them, but have been unsuccessful.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

fredalina said:
I won't even go to those seminars where they promise you free Disney tickets or whatever if you sit through it, because I don't want to risk being there 12 hours and signing something to get out of the thing. I've heard some of them are borderline kidnapping.

I always wonder how much my ILs pay for their Wyndham membership + fees with the point system. They seem at least more legit but I'm sure they pay a pretty penny.

Yeah...literally, they are borderline kidnapping. It was awful. They lured us right in with "free airline vouchers" and kept us there for at least 6 fucking hours. Ugh. It makes me so god damn angry to even recall.

angelalansbury · July 2014

Also check with your state cause they may not even be licensed to do business or collect (the collection agency) in your state.

My friend found this out about someone before.

MrsT0514 · July 2014

Hmm. I just did some more searching around, and apparently the resort's marketing company (the company named in our contract) is no longer in business according to thw BBB website. I cant find anything on them to indicate that they are still active.

I wonder what this means regarding the validity of this contract.

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Any lawyers here? Timeshare trap/scam related

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