Let’s say they promised that you can make big money by selling a timeshare in a specified period of time, and it sounds pretty short and pretty sure.
What does a timeshare consumer do?
The Abrams Firm Consumer Protection Attorneys, and Consumer Lawyers in general, are greatly concerned about the prevalence of consumer fraud reports from timeshare owners inquiring about specific promises related to timeshare sales and timeshare transfers. These promises in most of the reported cases are blatant timeshare fraud as part of a complex timeshare scam used to trick consumers. In some cases the lie is overt, like doubling your money in a timeshare sale. But in many cases the timeshare scam is subtle and more deceptive.
For starters, you’re probably not going to get everything you paid for a timeshare, or even close. BUT timeshare scams will try to tell you they have timeshare buyers ready and that they can sell a timeshare fast for cash…
This is overtly provable as a lie in most cases, where the owner may have many thousands or tens of thousands of dollars invested in their timeshare, but getting big money back in a very difficult timeshare economy is impractical for most timeshare owners. Some exclusive timeshares are readily salable, but not most, and if yours is part of the most, the deception is that you will get paid cash for your timeshare, when yours is one of the ones not selling.Government protectorates and consumer advocates alike, are all warning you to be careful and do not pay upfront fees to unlicensed persons, or persons fraudulently claiming to have a license. Even in the case of licensure, you should verify everything you read or hear through a neutral resource like a state licensing body. Perhaps you’re getting this blog from one of the various portals throughout the Internet, and as a result you may not have first-hand information about the Consumer Attorneys involved with drafting this blog. So even in this case you should have readily verifiable way to gain transparent insight before you are a believer. For example, the FrontPage of the law firm that authors this blog is linked for immediate verification.
Consumer Protection Attorneys that were involved with timeshare divestment realized…
Timeshare consumers were inundated with choices of various methods and means of to divest a timeshare, Yet very few options are safe and secure, and the industry as a whole is prone to fraud. Sometimes it gets down to what part of the growth curve the owner is on. At first many Timeshare Owners think they may have a timeshare worth a great deal of money. In some cases the owners can gladly get a paycheck, however in most cases this may not be true. Sometimes the value is just not there. Consumers should remember that the marketplace of timeshare sales is difficult to navigate and sometimes no timeshare sales value exists (please get some help from your attorney).
The good news is, licensed real estate brokers who work with select resorts that maintain value, can determine if your timeshare is truly valuable on the open marketplace. The good news is they get paid a flat rate fee after the sale is accomplished, you pay nothing to our trusted Timeshare Real Estate Brokerages, and the proceeds from the sale pay both you and the broker. This is one of the cleanest ways to achieve a timeshare sale. The only way to make this even cheaper, is if you already have a buyer, or can find one on a popular site like TimeshareForums.com which we blogged about as the second largest in the world, but both of them are great choices at various stages of the process when owners may be interested in self-help, and TCPAA.org Blog (Timeshare Consumer Protection Alerts & Advisories) endorsed the whole self-help sales process through the Timeshare User Group and Timeshare Forums network of real timeshare owners who, in some cases would love to add another timeshare to their portfolio or round out in existing one with more points, etc. It’s not a perfect solution for everybody, but if it works for you the solution was best for you!
Another thing that timeshare forums do to help consumers, is to provide a stable resource of timeshare owners who have faced various timeshare fraud scams. Some of these deceptions are not readily apparent to the new timeshare seller, but an experienced community of timeshare owners has probably faced the same company or a similar timeshare scam in the past. They can assist the unexperienced seller with their collective experiences. And in many cases they have provided additional links and information to clarify certain issues with regard to value promises on listings, or even to track down the specific service in question where their past conduct has been questionable.
- Generally, these sites offer consumers a community approach that ends up being a collective mindset, and with some of the moderators who I have read, it appears the consumers are given a very high level of sophistication in timeshare aftermarket fraud. As you know the FTC and FBI have been very busy investigating and prosecuting timeshare fraud. Another problem is when consumers have paid many thousands of dollars just to get out of their timeshare and the timeshare “transfer” company fails to get people out, so consumers must still pay timeshare obligations, at the same time they have lost thousands of dollars (a double whammy).
So you have good clear information from the FTC and other government agencies, and you got involved with one of the two premier timeshare owner groups online, and there is even another resource to round out your information, and that comes from ARDA-ROC the consumer branch of ARDA.org that is the greater resorts association. When it comes to timeshare aftermarket fraud, there is a a lot of information available to consumers at the timeshare consumers website through ARDA, found at ARDAroc.org and there are a couple of tabs in there that discuss timeshare listings and some insights to consider on timeshare transfers with many subtopics and questions answered. So by the end of the day, by understanding all these various levels of consumer information, you know the basics, many of the warnings, and even some of the easy methods used to avert timeshare fraud before it happens to you.
So, to sell a timeshare, a few Consumer Tips…
It is not always as easy as the predators will have you believe. Here’s a few things that will help keep you safe:
…if they say they can guarantee you the world, who can promise that?
…if they say you will absolutely make money by selling your timeshare, then have them wait to get paid later!
[Go Figure! They even reject offers for higher commissions, where consumers have insisted on everybody getting paid by checks after closing]
Or… if anyone tells you that they GUARANTEE the resort will accept your timeshare transfer or timeshare points cancellation from the transfer company or timeshare cancellation company… or can guarantee they will cancel a timeshare mortgage or other timeshare lien… then ask them: How could anyone guarantee that a multimillion or billion-dollar company will automatically do anything? The fact of the matter is, only the timeshare resort or vacation club can let the timeshare owner out of their timeshare interest. That means it is critical who shall approach the resort, how they shall approach the resort, and the level of contact and resolution they shall achieve. Here the level of professionalism and timeshare market expertise is at a premium, and will probably make the difference in your final result.
So if your objective is to secure a safe and legal timeshare divestment, perhaps you should talk it over with a someone who can help: consumer protection attorney free one-on-one consultation.
If anybody tells you your timeshare is worth double what you know it is worth, you must wonder why they don’t just sell it to their relative, their best friend or themselves and pocket the difference… and what you should do is go to TCPAA.org on the Whistleblowers page and file a Consumer Report to curb fraud and abuse in the timeshare aftermarket industry.
Answering the Needs of Timeshare Owners that have been identified by Consumer Protectorates, including Government Regulators from the FTC, Attorney General Offices and Justice Departments.
The Contents of this website, TCPAA.org, and any linked websites, may involve work product of Consumer Attorneys, but nothing shall constitute legal representation nor any legal advisement, and all such content is purely informational.
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