TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #142, Jul/Aug 2015 | Page 8

TimeSharing Today

Page 8

it is time to seriously consider ending the
desires to continue to travel as we have in
the past.
We will always have a good feeling
about our experiences and travel as timeshare supporters, because you can pay a
good sum for tours or cruises, have fun,
and then it is over. With a timeshare, you
still have it, and it will be ready for you to
go again on a future trip that costs less than
that tour or cruise. You also have the time
to yourselves and you don’t have to jump
up at 6 AM and do a time-set program. Isn’t
that even better than buying an expensive
car that doesn’t hold its value very long?
I need to warn you however, as you
will be spoiled rotten because no hotel
equals the condo type timeshare with all
the amenities it possesses.
We have received many phone calls,
e-mails, postcards, and letters from so
many wanting to “Take your maintenance
fees away” or “We have a buyer for you”
etc. What do you think about this recent
one? Legit, or not?
Ruth and Ron Moore
Reply from Shep Altshuler, Publisher:
Thank you so much, Ruth and Ron, for your

Jul/Aug, 2015

longtime support and comments.
Many companies are soliciting timeshare owners about getting out of their
timeshare obligations by paying upfront
fees to do so. The companies often change
names and locations and we cannot comPHQWDERXWVSHFL¿FFRPSDQLHV
There has been ongoing concern
that certain companies will take title to a
timeshare and transfer that title to entities or individuals who have no intention
to use the timeshare or pay the maintenance fees. Non-paying owners can result
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hurt the owners’ association and the
dues-paying owners.
Many resorts are adopting more stringent transfer policies to help cut down on
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SD\WKHWUDQVIHUFRPSDQ\PD\¿QGRXWODWHU
that the transfer was rejected by the resort
and that they still owe the ongoing maintenance fees. They can also suffer the loss of
the fee they paid to the transfer company.
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to check with their resort’s owner services
department and an attorney before entering into any agreement with solicitors. I
trust this information is helpful.

Kudos
We are renewing a subscription we
have been receiving for years.
We appreciate staying on top of issues concerning our timeshares, reading reviews of possible future timeshares to visit, and learning how others
have successfully (or not) enjoyed their
timesharing experiences.
Marge Lawrence

Looking for Help
My husband and I have purchased
timeshare weeks via resale. We are curUHQWO\WU\LQJWRSXUFKDVHDZHHNDW3DFL¿F
Grove Plaza in California. We have found
a seller, agreed on a sales price, all the paperwork has been done, and an escrow
opened. Below is an email from the seller
describing a problem that we have come
up against.
“We have a bit of problem with the
sale. The title company did the title search
and found that there is a bank loan on the
property from 30 years ago that was never
reconveyed once it was paid off. To further
exacerbate the problem, the bank that took

over the loan was sold and then that bank
went out of business. The title company
said in situations like these you can petition
the FDIC to cover the insurance on it and
they did that, but FDIC came back and said
no. Generally you need some kind of paperwork to show the loan was paid off and
as you can imagine, no one has paperwork
from 30 years ago.
“Not sure what to do as this point. Obviously there is no loan on the property but
the proper paperwork was never done 30
years ago.”
I’m hoping that someone at TimeSharing Today can give us some advice on how
to proceed. Obviously this problem has to
be resolved at some point or the current
owner will never be able to sell the week.
Thank you in advance for any wisdom
you can share with us.
Susan Skipp
Reply from Dave Heine, vice president, Closemytimeshare.com®:
The buyer should seek the advice of
a California attorney who concentrates
his/her practice in real-estate law. Most
states have a statute of limitations on such
matters and the mortgage or deed of trust
may self-extinguish after a certain period
of time.
Title can still issue a title policy to the
buyer. They would take an exception