Timeshare owners who regret their purchases will often try a variety of timeshare exit strategies. One that is often discussed is the possibility of a timeshare transfer. While resale is often difficult or impossible (due to the lack of a serious timeshare resale market), transfer to a friend or family member can sometimes be a more realistic scenario. If this is the exit strategy you’re interested in, you’ll need to understand how to transfer a timeshare to someone else.
Since it’s very unlikely you can make money from reselling your timeshare, the benefit of a transfer is that it takes away your burden of paying annual maintenance fees, special assessments, and exchange company fees. It also removes the pressure to use your timeshare every year, which will force you to use arcane and user-unfriendly systems for sparse vacation reservations.
This article will look at the basics of a timeshare transfer, when it can be accomplished, and how you can go about it. Keep in mind, though, that timeshare companies didn’t make all their money by letting owners out of their timeshare contracts easily. Like other timeshare exit strategies, this one can be tricky, which is why it’s a good idea to have experts like those at Centerstone Group by your side.
In most cases, yes, a timeshare can be transferred to another person. There are different kinds of timeshares out there, and they all have different rules attached to them. In almost all cases, though, you won’t be able to transfer a timeshare if you have an outstanding or unpaid mortgage on it.
It’s different in every case, but no, you probably can’t just give your timeshare away to someone who wants it. The reason why is the same reason for most unpleasant things about timeshares: your contract.
If you want to give your timeshare to a friend, you’ll need to go through the transfer process. But most timeshare purchase agreements specifically restrict how and when you can transfer a timeshare so that the developer has the final say about who the owner will be and who has to make the payments.
Even if the contract doesn’t say specifically that you can’t make the transfer, you might have a deed restriction that does the same thing. Whether and how such a restriction works is a complicated matter that should be reviewed by an experienced professional, who can look at what you are allowed to do with your timeshare.
Finally, even if you can legally make the transfer, you should think carefully about whether you even want to. A study by the University of Central Florida showed that 85% of timeshare owners regret their purchase. Transferring a timeshare to a loved one who doesn’t fully understand what they are getting into could damage your relationship. Your timeshare has already hurt your finances. Don’t let it destroy your relationships too.
Assuming your mortgage is paid off, the type of timeshare you have will be important when getting out of timeshare ownership through a transfer. The main question you will have to answer before getting started is whether:
Traditionally, timeshares were an interest in real estate. For example, 52 people might all have the same deeded timeshare property, with each of their timeshare deeds referring to a specific week out of the year. In most states, having a real estate deed means that you can transfer that deed by recording a signed version of it — either as a warranty deed or quitclaim deed — with the county clerk’s office or recorder.
Keep in mind, however, that timeshares are not the same as other real estate, and their transferability is different from standard real estate in many places.
Another key thing to think about is your timeshare agreement, which likely restricts how and when you can transfer your timeshare. Developers, after all, don’t want you turning over a timeshare to just anyone, who might then fail to pay their fees.
Another potential problem is deed restrictions. A deed restriction is a legal obligation that has been recorded against the land. It may limit whom you can transfer your interest to or give someone else (likely the timeshare company) the final say in whether you can make the transfer.
In sum, transferring a deeded timeshare is possible but tricky. It differs from case to case.
Things get even murkier when you deal with point systems and vacation clubs, which are the more modern version of timeshares. Rather than having an interest in real estate, you buy a membership with points, which are an internal currency that you use to make vacation reservations.
How and whether you can transfer points will largely be determined by what your timeshare contract says. Because the points are something that is created by the timeshare company (as opposed to being deeded real estate), the developer has much more power. In any case, very few companies do transfers and few owners can find someone willing to take one of these transfers.
In this case especially, it is important to have a team of experts like those at Centerstone Group advising you about how best to proceed. Chief among the issues with a transfer is finding someone willing to receive the transfer. Centerstone Group is able to match owners with people who are seeking timeshare transfers, ensuring that you don’t have to risk your family relationships and friendships.
It depends. Just as there are many different kinds of timeshares and companies, there is a wide variety of timeshare fees. You might hear from timeshare owners on internet boards that they only spent $100 or $200 to transfer their timeshares, but be very cautious about believing those stories. They are probably referring to the costs to prepare and record deeds, which could very well be low.
What those stories don’t include are the transfer fees imposed by timeshare resorts and developers, or fees for escrow, title services, recording fees, finding a receiver, etc. Again, look at your timeshare contract. There is almost certainly a fee of at least thousands of dollars for the ownership transfer. It likely also makes a difference whether the transferee is a friend or a family member.
As the top timeshare exit company, Centerstone Group has helped thousands of unhappy owners find all kinds of legal, ethical exits from their contracts. That number includes hundreds of timeshare transfers across all major timeshare development companies.
Our decades of experience in the timeshare industry has shown us virtually every timeshare transfer process and exit scenario out there. It’s our mission to use that expertise for you — whether we’re helping you through a transfer or a timeshare cancellation, or assisting you with getting legal advice from a qualified attorney.
You shouldn’t just take our word for it, though, We are an accredited A+-rated company with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Plus, our customers have given us a 4.8-out-of-5-star customer satisfaction rating. We are confident that we can help you find a way out of your timeshare.
Contact us today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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