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How to Navigate a Timeshare Transfer and Escape Ownership

Timeshare transfer: two people exchanging keys and cash

If you’re in the process of exploring options for escaping your timeshare contract, you’ve probably heard that timeshare transfers may be a valid way of getting out of your timeshare. Finding someone else to become the new owner of your property can allow you to move on with your life knowing you won’t have to pay maintenance fees anymore, right? 

 

Timeshare transfers aren’t usually that simple. After all, getting out of a timeshare is typically a very challenging task to accomplish. Timeshare companies can make it extremely difficult to escape your contract without ruining credit or suffering huge financial losses. Some companies also make the timeshare transfer process difficult to maneuver. But if getting rid of your timeshare has proven to be challenging, transferring it to someone else may be one of your last remaining options. We’re here to take you through the process of managing a timeshare transfer so that you can decide whether this is a suitable route for escaping your contract. 

 

How Do Timeshare Transfers Work?

Just like any other procedure involved in timeshare exits, the transfer process is neither quick nor easy to navigate. Carrying out a timeshare transfer is a much more tedious and time-consuming process than most timeshare owners would probably anticipate. Here are the steps you must take in order to achieve a timeshare transfer.

 

1. Notify Your Timeshare Provider

Timeshare transfer: entrepreneur on the phone

Contacting your timeshare company is absolutely necessary if you want your timeshare transfer to go through. We understand that if you are in the process of trying to get out of a timeshare, it may be because you’re fed up with your timeshare provider and want nothing to do with them. However manipulative, deceptive, or fraudulent they’ve been, attempting to carry out a transfer without consulting your timeshare management company first may result in serious legal trouble. 

 

If your timeshare provider agrees to a transfer, be prepared for one of two scenarios. Your provider may claim that your timeshare contract only allows for deed backs, which means that you can only transfer ownership back to them. Alternatively, your provider may have certain requirements for who you can transfer your timeshare property to. 

 

Ownership transfers are usually easier to navigate when they’re between family members rather than between you and someone who’s offering you actual money for the transfer. If a timeshare company is aware of any financial gain you could potentially make from the transfer, they may place a price cap for how much you can get from transferring your timeshare to a new buyer.

 

2. Provide the Papers

If you have found someone to transfer your timeshare to, whether that be a relative or an interested buyer your timeshare company has agreed to, it’s now time to gather all the necessary information that your transfer party needs to know about the property. Because if you were buying or receiving a timeshare transfer from another person, wouldn’t you want to know everything you are agreeing to before taking on a financial obligation as big as a timeshare? 

 

The documentation you will provide to your transfer recipient is often called an earnest money contract. Similar to a traditional real estate contract, this is an agreement given in the form of a legal description with all of the following information:

 

  • The location and unit number of your timeshare resort
  • The dates of your floating or fixed weeks
  • Breakdown of your timeshare points system
  • Special assessments, delinquent fees, and annual maintenance fees owed
  • Consequences of defaulting on payments
  • Names, signatures, and contact information of all transfer participants
  • Agreement on who will pay leftover fees, interests, or real estate dues on the property

 

Any information on your original contract and estoppel letter should be relayed into the legal information you give to your transfer recipient. Because if you feel as though your timeshare company left out vital information during the timeshare sales process, you should already know that being thorough and honest about the responsibilities of timeshare ownership is vital. 

 

3. Proceed With the Legal Transfer

Woman handing piles of paperwork

Now that your transfer recipient is aware of everything they will be responsible for in their timeshare ownership, it’s time to proceed with the legal side of a timeshare transfer. This starts with creating the official timeshare deed that both you and the new owner of the timeshare must sign in the presence of a notary. You’ll want to make sure the deed is in accordance with local and resort regulations, so hiring an attorney to write up the deed may be helpful. 

 

The notarized deed must include the full legal name of the new timeshare owner and must be sent to the county clerk’s office in the county where the timeshare is located. Once this is done, you must send your timeshare management company a letter that details the transfer and provides them with the new owner‘s phone number and other contact information. If this step is not taken, your resort will not accept the transfer of ownership, and your name will remain on the deed. Once they receive this letter, you’ll be charged a transfer fee that can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand depending on your timeshare. Once this fee has been paid, the transfer process will be complete. 

 

Issues With Timeshare Transfers

If this process sounds manageable, think again. Finding a person to transfer your timeshare to may be more challenging than you think. Consider why you want to get rid of your timeshare. Is it because you no longer have the funds, time, flexibility, or patience to maintain and enjoy timeshare ownership? Have you realized that the value of your timeshare is not increasing like you expected it to or that renting a property online is much cheaper than paying annual maintenance fees? 

 

If owning a timeshare has become more of a hassle than a luxury, why would you want to pass on that burden to someone else — especially a family member or friend? Imagine the next family get-together or BBQ!

 

If you can’t find someone to transition timeshare ownership to, transferring your property back to your timeshare company isn’t always a viable option either. Up to 95% of timeshare companies do not provide a deed-back program. Even mega-successful developers like Marriott and Disney seldom take timeshares back. If your company does provide a buyback program, you will rarely make a profit off the transaction and will likely have to pay a transfer fee. 

 

Many timeshare companies don’t take back timeshares from their customers. If this is the case for you, the only option you have left is to stop paying your maintenance fees and go through timeshare foreclosure. Unfortunately, this is going to negatively affect your credit score and will likely result in even more fees and stress than you had when you owned the timeshare.

 

What if a Timeshare Transfer Isn’t an Option?

Stressed woman working

Finding a new person to take on the responsibilities of timeshare ownership may be trickier than you think. If owning a timeshare has become a liability to you, why would anyone else want to suffer the same emotional and financial strains that you’re trying to escape? And after all your timeshare company has put you through, do you really want to surrender your timeshare back to them and have to deal with even more fees and frustrations? 

 

If you’ve had enough with your timeshare developer and are unsure if a transfer is even possible, Centerstone Group may be able to help. We are a one-stop shop for clients seeking both transfers and exits from their timeshare contracts. Centerstone Group can determine if a timeshare transfer is an option for you. If you are eligible, we will manage 100% of the transfer paperwork with the timeshare company, receiver, and county recorder’s office. With extremely low fees and an average transfer rate of 90 days, Centerstone Group efficiently counsels eligible clients on the best, quickest, and most affordable way to get out of their timeshare.

 

If navigating a timeshare transfer no longer appeals to you, Centerstone Group also specializes in solving timeshare contracts for clients seeking escape from timeshare ownership. Our team of timeshare relief experts have decades of experience within the industry and will provide you with the most comprehensive contract resolution process in the timeshare exit industry. If you’ve been faced with fraudulence, high-pressure sales tactics, or misrepresentation during the timeshare sales process, contact Centerstone Group today.

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