At first, inheriting a timeshare from your parents may have seemed like a great opportunity. However, after receiving the first maintenance fee bill, you might have second thoughts. Even if the timeshare was already paid off before it was passed down to you, the supposed savings may not actually exist. So, what options do you have if you want to dispose of a timeshare inherited from your parents?
If you’re in a situation where you’ve inherited a timeshare from your parents, you’re not alone. Many people find themselves in this predicament and don’t know what to do next. In this article, we’ll provide you with all the information you need to get rid of a timeshare inherited from your parents.
First and foremost, if you haven’t yet inherited the timeshare, you can refuse to take it. Some timeshare contracts are written in ways that will make you think you have to take it, but that’s a lie. Any experienced estate lawyer will advise you on ways to refuse the timeshare. If your estate lawyer says you must take it, your parents may have put your name on the deed when they originally purchased the timeshare. Or, your lawyer may simply be inexperienced with timeshare law.
One of the most common ways to refuse the timeshare is by issuing a “Disclaimer of Interest.” Your estate lawyer should be able to help you complete all the paperwork. If you refuse to take the timeshare, it will go to the next person in line so make sure to tell them to file their own Disclaimer of Interest if they also do not want to take the timeshare.
If you’ve already inherited the timeshare and now would like to get rid of it, you can attempt to sell the timeshare on ebay or craigslist. However, most timeshares are never sold on the resale market because no one wants to buy them. Most charities won’t accept a timeshare donation because they don’t want to take on the timeshare’s yearly maintenance fees. You can attempt to give the timeshare back to the resort, but that rarely works as well, especially if there is a mortgage balance on the timeshare. The resorts want to keep collecting yearly maintenance fees from you so they usually don’t take timeshares back. So what are your options?
This is where timeshare exit companies come in. These companies work with lawyers to attempt to get your timeshare cancelled. Some timeshare exit companies are only able to help timeshare owners exit their timeshare if those owners feel they were deceived when purchasing the timeshare. If you inherited the timeshare, these companies won’t be able to help you because you didn’t buy the timeshare. You inherited it.
Fortunately, there are a few timeshare exit companies that will still be willing to work with you even if you inherited the timeshare. These exit companies will typically advise you to stop making payments on the timeshare and let it go into foreclosure. They will use a credit blocking service to minimize any negative effects made to your credit. Sometimes these credit blocking services work. Sometimes they don’t.
When choosing a timeshare exit company to work with, it’s important to do your due diligence. Look for a company with a proven track record of success in cancelling timeshares. Check out their website, reviews, and any certifications they may have. Our advice is to try and choose one that offers an escrow payment option. When you pay with escrow, the timeshare exit company is only paid in full after your timeshare has been cancelled. This is important because some timeshare exit companies in the past have taken money from owners promising to cancel their timeshare, and then either went out of business or never cancelled the timeshare.
