Timeshare Ownership – Find Relief In Financially Troubled Times
While timeshare owners are looking for financial relief during these tough economic times, they need to prepare for special assessment fees courtesy of timeshare developers. The current economic climate has created a troubling trickle-down effect. With timeshare corporations no longer able to easily access credit, they are eyeing another source of revenue — all their timeshare owners.
Many timeshare contracts allow the timeshare companies to charge special assessment fees for repairs, emergencies and extenuating circumstances regarding the timeshare resort. Moreover, those fees may have no cap, and many owners do not know their obligations until it is too late.
Reports of $500 to $3,000 special assessment fees being doled out have recently surfaced. These outrageous amounts are hitting owner pocketbooks at the same time personal incomes are stagnant or falling, and as retirement funds drop like rocks thrown into a pond. The financial blow has opened some eyes as to the fragility and milk-them-for-everything mentality of the timeshare industry.
Some owners are wondering what happened to the thousands of dollars paid upfront and the timeshare maintenance fees. Wouldn’t those dollars be enough to weather the economic storm? It’s not in many cases. Timeshare entities use the revenue and accounts receivable to obtain leveraged loans to develop more resort units. In bad times, shortfalls occur in paying these loans, hence owners are assessed the extra fees.
But owners should not think about NOT paying those timeshare bills. Through decades of legal precedence, timeshare companies can and do impose stiff penalties for non-compliance. These include high interest rates on principal owed, collecting debt through employers, and placing liens on assets like homes, bank accounts, etc.
What can timeshare owners do to fight back? There is not much relief if they plan to keep their timeshares. The number of owners that try to resell or rent their timeshares spikes up tremendously during economic crisis. Many charities will not accept timeshare deeds as donations knowing the accompanying liabilities.