Casualty (6)

Casualty (6)

We purchased our annual timeshare in the late 90's. At the time I recall specifically asking the salesperson “what happens if we don't want it for the entire 40 years of the contract?” We were told it would be easy to sell, transfer to a family member, or that the resort would purchase it back for a percentage of the purchase price (a clause stating that percentage was even written into our contract back then, but the more recent contracts do not include that clause).

Fifteen (15) years into our contract, our situation changed and we weren't using it as much as we had previously, so we had some friends offer to buy it from us. In December of 2012 we contacted Sunchaser to arrange the transfer of ownership and they sent the forms required to do so. One of those forms was an “acknowledgement of liability” form that we, the “current owners” were required to sign. It stated “____ hereby acknowledge that if the transferee does not meet the payment obligations that are set out in the Vacation Interval Agreement that I/We remain liable with respect to future payment obligations not made by the transferee”. In other words we were still on the hook if the new owners defaulted on any payments. We noticed that this new document was written in November of 2012 (one month prior to our contacting them). Needless to say, we weren't comfortable with this arrangement, so we requested that Sunchaser offer to purchase our timeshare back from us. We received no response from them, but a couple of weeks later we received a letter from them announcing the renovation and what we would be required to pay for such capital improvements.

It was obvious to us that they had been anticipating the fallout from their announcement in the months prior to making it, by putting things in place for people who may want to just cancel their contract. From them adding “acknowledgement of liability” agreement, to them ignoring our request to sell back our lease . . . in our opinion, it was all calculated. Upon us pressing them again about our contract saying that they would buy it back they maintained that it was up to their discretion, and they were choosing not to exercise that policy. Obviously, they knew they would have lots of people cancelling their contracts with their big renovation demand and they knew they couldn't re-sell those units any longer as the resort was in disrepair and their reputation had plummeted.

We were not prepared to pay the reno fee as we did not want the timeshare any longer, however we felt that we shouldn't have to “pay to relinquish” a timeshare that they could then rent out for profit. And our contract did not say anywhere that we would have to pay them to leave. We have friends and relatives who have owned timeshares in numerous other resorts and when they could no longer use them, they just stopped paying their fees and gave the unit back. No penalty whatsoever, obviously a properly run, reputable resort would be happy to take it back and re-sell it. More money for them!

We were confident that our contract protected us from these fees and from them charging us to give it back, so joined the Geldert group to oppose it. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that the courts would side with them and even allow our contracts to be changed without our permission. It is just so wrong. We also felt that if they bought a resort that was in need of such major improvements that was their choice and they couldn't expect us to make up for their bad investment. I believe they knew from the onset that they could squeeze money out of everyone. They had covered their bases and had some slick lawyers advising them.

We put our faith in our legal system and refused the “settlement offers” but now we are at a point of being worn down, done, disillusioned and fed up. We will find a way to pay our way out never to have to deal with this company again. We are disgusted that they can get away with so many crooked actions and know how to find the loop holes in the system. We hope and pray that somewhere along the way, something good can come of this. We know it is too late for us and it is a very tough pill to swallow but hopefully others in the future will be spared this stress and heartache. We feel for those who “paid to stay” and especially those sucked into the “Legacy for Life” as they have open wallets now and can be charged for pretty much anything the management wants now. We may have to pay for five (5) years of maintenance fees for a resort we weren't able to use, a renovation fee for renos that would never benefit us and a lofty exist fee, but at least we are no longer tied to this nightmare and they can't hurt us again.

 

 The information contained in this blog/video is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of posting. I reserve the right to make changes as new information becomes available.

Any and all  information I share is for informational purposes only, not legal advice, as I am not a lawyer, just a lay person sharing information.