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Since 2016, our partners have focused primarily on holiday property cancellations and claims. Over time, we have pushed the boundaries and advocated for legal frameworks to ensure consumers can be compensated in cases of mis-selling. Thanks to the innovative work and perseverance of our legal partners, we have secured over £28 million in legal compensation for clients who have been victims of holiday property mis-selling.We have helped thousands of UK owners free themselves from unwanted holiday properties around the world and recover their money where possible.
The natural evolution of our partners, supported by our strong experience in consumer claims, has led us into the third-party holiday club repossession sector, a business that has grown rapidly in recent years.
To get out of a timeshare legally, consider these options:
If your rescission period has expired and your timeshare developer doesn’t offer a buyback program, take matters into your own hands by selling your timeshare on the resale market. Keep in mind that this option may only apply to those who have completely paid off their timeshare. Timeshares still tied to loans will be listed as “encumbered.”
Here is a step-by-step process for how to get rid of a timeshare that’s paid off:
.Check if your purchase agreement allows you to sell directly to a new owner or if your timeshare developer has first dibs on buybacks via a “right of first refusal” (ROFR) clause.
.If it is eligible for resale, find out how much it’s worth by looking at the price of timeshare listings similar to yours. Pay close attention to similar locations, square footage and amenities
What’s the problem?
The problem is that over the years most timeshare resorts could not resist taking advantage of the fact that they could increase the cost of fees without disclosing the exact expenditure of the resort. For this reason they could keep increasing management fees to customers who were tied in to a long term contract and obliged to pay the fees without question. Furthermore, failure to pay the maintenance fees can result in management companies resorting to aggressive and threatening methods to collect outstanding payments and even passing the debt over to debt recovery agencies. It can therefore be risky to cease paying fees and ignore these demands without advice and or protection from a professional organisation.
Some resorts that had a boom in the beginning, but who then saw a slow turn in sales then relied on maintenance fees as their source of revenue. Even if consumers do not use the timeshare, they are liable for “maintenance fees”. One consumer bought a timeshare in 1997 and paid initial costs of £175 per year. After some upgrades, their yearly maintenance fees increased to £1,669.
What is Right of First Refusal (ROFR)?
In the world of timeshares, the Right of First Refusal is a clause in many timeshare contracts that allows the timeshare developer the option to purchase the timeshare back from the owner before they sell it to a third party.