Giving timeshare back to resort

There was a thread on giving back your timeshare when you can't sell it, but I can't find it.Some help anyone ?

I can't seem to find it either. What resort is it, as someone hopefully will have experience with that particular resort.

I think the tread was mainly about flamingo. Mostly explained how they quit paying maint. fees and gave unit back to resort. I own @ belair though. ANyone want a week 1 ?

OK, I finally found this thread, which I guess is mostly about Sapphire?

Thanks !

ronwald,

While I don't know what timeshare resort you're talking about, I'm guessing they're all pretty much the same so if it helps at all, the following is what the management at the Towers recently told me.

You have to let them know via telephone and follow up with a fax BEFORE the next years AMFs come out, assuming your return will be effective for next years usage. They will send some kind of a letter which should be signed and witnessed by a notary and returned to them ASAP.

If you wait until after they levy next years assessment, they say they will hold you responsible for the newly assessed fees.

I've paid for and plan on using my November 2015 week so my return will be effective for the year 2016.

pat

Pat--wow, you're returning a unit to the Towers?? Surprising.

And Ron said it was Belair, in another note.

Carol,

Yes, we're giving back our late November week and keeping our three consecutive April weeks. One side of me is unsure as to whether this is a good move or not, but we weren't planning on using it in 2016 as you know, and if we still want to come down twice a year in the future, we can use an April week as an internal trade and rent an extra week somewhere.

I did make a half-hearted effort to sell the week since it's a really nice one bedroom unit, high up and with a great view, but I'm not into making the effort to list and sell, and it's pretty easy to just give it back so I'm taking the lazy way out. And in all honesty, much as we've enjoyed all our weeks over all the years we've had them, the two trips a year thing is starting to get to be an effort. Who knows, maybe I'll be sorry. Or not....... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

OK, that will give you the opportunity, if you want, to be able to come down a totally different time of year also, if you like. We have never been interested in timeshare, for many reasons, but one of them was being locked into a specific week or time period.

Carol,

That's the really nice thing about timeshare - or at least timeshare at the Towers - you really aren't locked in at all.

We bought the April time having been visiting that time of the year for fifteen years already but with occasional trips done at other times of the year, too.

We picked November up much later because that is our second most favorite island time. But I can trade those three weeks in April for any time of the year I'd prefer to use them, if I want to come during the holidays or whenever, and the November week is tradable for roughly forty out of fifty two possible trade weeks.

Without getting into another timeshare debate, I've had no regrets owning any of my weeks and I have had them almost 29 years and used them every year as I chose. Perfect for us, but we knew what we wanted when we bought and to this day, we have no regrets. And at the same time, I fully respect its not a good option for everyone. Tomato, tomahto?! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Sounds like Pat could have been doing internal exchanges for different weeks moving her November week and one of he consecutive weeks to back to backs already.
We do that with our July week by moving it internally to add on to our three consecutive may weeks. But we would also sell that week too.

Don't know from personal experience, but all I see is people whining that they can't get the weeks they want, etc. Regardless I know it's not for us..

WHAT? You may not be sorry, but we sure will be! Even though we usually only see you and John once or twice during our overlapping time, it's still nice to see you there.

TY, Georgia, and we will be there this year and will look forward to seeing you, too. We have been thinking of other plans for Fall, 2016. And we can always do internal exchanges if we're of a mind to.......

I just purchased our tickets for April, 2016 and I'm psyched!! We're bringing our Granddaughter and we are really excited about that trip.

Aloha Pat,
Completely understand, we stopped our spring trips to try other places and are just going with our three November/December weeks.

See you two on island in November, and possibly again some year in April. Who knows, with Katie moving to New Zealand that adds another location that we plan on visiting and we still only get so many weeks away from work.

My only suggestion to people purchasing, watch the AMF amounts going in and don't pay much for the purchase, at least no more than you can walk away from with a smile.

Cheers,
Todd

In my opinion, all resorts should allow timeshare owners to give back their timeshares without any kind of hassle.

Hi, Todd and aloha to you, too.

Too bad you already own a week 48 - you would have loved our 706 one bedroom.....

John and I will miss the camaraderie of all of you in the Nov/Dec timespan but there are only so many vacation weeks in the year and there's so much we still want to see and do so limiting the island to April seems like a good thing at this point. Down the road - who knows?

New Zealand is a long time in the air but I'm betting you will be heading that way sooner as opposed to later. Enjoy it when you do....and as with GaK - we'll look forward to seeing you at some point in the Fall, I'm sure.

No question. I had five weeks... have gotten rid of four of them and the fifth is going on sale now. Never had to give back any...

Belair won't agree to a quit-claim deed give back, so put unit up for sale. What would be the hit on my credit if I just walk away in Jan. when my yearly fees are due ? Or is there another option? I also have unit up for rent if it doesn't sell.

Just a thought.
Since we already own weeks 52 and 1 @ Belair, we are not prospects for this but perhaps before you return your week 1 to Belair, we will get the word out to some of our family and friends that might be interested but are not on this board.
We will PM you if anyone wants to follow up with you.

Thanks Tom,
I appreciate that. Will Rent it for our Maint fee or sell for $1500

Unless Belair has your social security number, which I doubt they do, they cannot report your default to any US credit bureau.

Read your contract thoroughly. Pelican told me we could not give it back, then I found the paragraph that allowed me to give written notice ,with up to date paid AMF. We invoked our contractual rights under the appropriate paragraph and notified them in writing that we would NOT be continuing our written agreement.....We paid very little for our studio and the aggravation under the management at the time was too much! Never looked back and we go now in November, we owned in April. We rent and have found nicer places for about the same amount or less! Without the drama! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />

If you have thoughts of giving back your timeshare do it now. Many timeshares are charging $5000 to do this. We gave back Pelican and Sapphire a few years ago with no regrets.

Who is charging $5000 to do this?

They may try to charge you $5,000 to give it back, but hopefully no one would be foolish enough to pay. If they don't want to take it back, just send them a letter and stop paying the maintenance fees.

Think I might send them notarized letter relinquishing any and all rights to the timeshare. By the way ours is a lease til 2091. Don' think I'll be be around then. Maint. fees arent due til Jan.

Having your letter notarized really accomplishes nothing, other than the notary certifies that your signature is indeed yours. Perhaps a registered letter so that you have proof that they've received it is a good idea.

Have you contacted them? At least with the Towers at Mullet Bay, I contacted the accounting department and they just asked for a letter signed by us stating we were turning it in. Very simple, it may needed to be notarized or if you were at the resort it was ok if it was on their letterhead. Not sure why that was, but a very simple process.

We had two timeshares, one at Oyster Bay Beach Resort and the other at Simpson Bay Resort in the Marina Building. We literally tried to give them away with no luck, much less sell them. We stopped paying the AMFs. We were only contacted by SBR, and when we told them we were giving it up they just said something like, "OK, as long as you understand you can't use it without paying the AMF". It's been two years now, as we did not pay in 2014. I haven't run a credit report but otherwise, we have not received any letters or contact from the resorts. My husband looked back at our paperwork when we purchased the timeshares ( second hand off of Ebay) and no social security numbers were involved, so we felt safe just letting them go. Love SXM, but don't want timeshares anymore!

Thanks for the info. Will call them soon and see what they say.

Has anyone walked away from their timeshare at Royal Palm or Flamingo ? any repercussions from Diamond Resorts if you have ? Contacted Diamond Resorts they will not take it back.

I'm no attorney and you may want to speak to one about your timeshares, but having read many threads and spoken to folks that have done it, timeshare resorts are bluffing when they claim you have no choice. Unless you purchased timeshare in the US (regardless who owns the company), it was a SXM buy. I've never heard of any ts buyer being prosecuted for timeshare termination by SXM courts.

Just got an email from Belair that they would let us out of our lease if we paid them $1500. That's not going to happen.It would be cheaper if we paid our 2016 maint. fee, used the unit in Jan., then would have another year to get rid of the lease or just walk away now and let them try to sue us. Anybody have any thoughts on what we should do ?

ron,

Just my humble opinion, but I'm thinking I'd tell Belair to kiss my big toe (or something?) and exercise either of your option choices as mentioned.

Assuming your Belair time/unit is yours outright, I doubt they'd pursue you in the States in the first place, but even if they did, for that minimal amount I think they'd just rather be done with you and after a dunning letter or two, they would probably write it off and save their legal costs. The only caveat to that statement might be 'unless Belair is actually a US based corporation' but I'm thinking that's probably unlikely and for the amount involved......I'd personally be willing to take a shot.

Good luck and, if you don't mind sharing, let us know what you decide to do and how you make out with them. Its a point of interest to so many....<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

What really gets my goat is that we paid our unit off at least 20 years ago and have never been late with a maint. fee payment , or been demanding of anything when we used our unit. We will not be sending them any cash, that's for sure.All we want is to let them have the unit back.

Were I a timeshare owner there I would not be happy with that offer at all. Our experience so far regarding selling timeshare weeks has been positive. Although we lost money on all of them [we had bought them from the resorts, which I would never advise anyone to do] we did sell them directly and the transfer process was smooth. I would not "give it back." I'd rent it out until you sell it. Lately more for-sale units are moving but it's still a buyer's market, even for Simpson Bay which is almost completely renovated. [N. B., my comments are based on what we're seeing on the sales/rentals page of my site... whether that is statistically significant I have no idea. Rentals are moving faster now than in the prior 10 years. I'm wondering whether others are seeing that as well? If so it is a huge positive indicator for future SXM tourism, for this coming winter anyway.]

Got updated email today and Belair dropped their payment demand from $1500 to $1000. Big whoop. Don't think they'll get anything.

redweek.com has units listed for sale or rent at Belair Beach Hotel SXM.

They have a button to click if you want to sell or rent.

Just found out that Belair charges $575 to transfer a lease if you can find someone to assume it.

I'm sorry that you feel $1,500 is too much but is below the average amount charged by timeshare resorts to take weeks back. Please call my office. I am more than happy to discuss your situation.

Mr. Rosen,

With all due respect, we own at the Towers and they charge nothing to take one of their units back. The transfer fee to another entity is only $300.00 so your numbers seem way out of line to me.

If I were a company who had been dealing with an owner for many years, which it sounds is the case here, and that owner had been responsible in meeting his financial obligations to the timeshare entity over all those years, and IF the property being returned is a viable and profitable property, in the name of good will and good relations, I'd think the Belair would treat the manner in the same way as the Towers.

But that's just my opinion and I have no pony in this race.

I might be wrong but what happens if everybody decides to give something back that they don't want anymore. You bought the timeshare shouldn't it be your responsibility to keep or sell it yourself. Walking away from it is the same problem we had in the states a few years ago when people just stopped paying for their homes.

I've noticed in many cases at the Towers they are more than happy to have them back. They can then rent that week on the open market, use it as a hotel/condo room by the night. They have entered into agreements with airlines to put aircrew up, the Starz casino for events lodging, and cruise lines when employees (or fired employees in the case I witnessed) have to be put off the boat.
They will make their money on the room, and are happy to have control over it again.

Jaialai,

I guess we can all look at the same thing and see it from different viewpoints.

In this particular situation, the timeshare property has long since been paid for in full and the actual timeshare entity -owner/developer/manager - continues to collect annual fees. Beyond this, many timeshares offered to act as reasonable agents should the need for a resale arise down the road, though in fairness, I don't know if this property made that assurance as part of their timeshare sales spiel or not.

As far as the owners having to sell the timeshares themselves, had so many of the St. Maarten properties in particular not made such a mess of the handling and treatment of their owners - ie Pelican and Caravanserai immediately come to mind - and the crazy AMFs so many have managed to inflate, it might not be so difficult to sell a unit as a resale and more would be able to do so. It's done but as often as not, people end up giving them away because most who have heard of timeshare in general, and in relation to ownership on St. Maarten in particular, few will buy there today unless the purchase is of particular value to them - like a back to back week to something they already have, or the price is so low, it feels like it's a gift.

IMHO, that's a lot different from people walking away from homes and mortgages they purchased and are unable to pay for and in the end, thanks to Freddie and Fannie - we end up paying for them. But again, that's just my opinion. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Well said. No comparison.

Jim,Be glad to dicuss situation. Give me a number and best time to reach you

Would be glad to talk to him,however I don't know his office number and he hasn't been employed at Belair in a few years. He used to be in charge of timeshare there. (I called timesshare relations @ Belair to get this info )

Sapphire accepted our 2 weeks back
with no charge.
That nightmare is over!

Lucky You !!

Another option to get rid of your Belair week is to sell it for $1.00 and for you to also agree to pay the $575 transfer fee. Someone will snatch it up. I bought all my Belair weeks that way. It is a great place with a wonderful beach and pool, decent restaurant, long time caring staff, and loyal following. Being able to move your week for a nominal fee is also a plus.
Good luck.

I think the point was that ronwald didn't want to pay anything to give it back. Can't say that I blame him.

I'd give it away and split the transfer charge with anyone who would take it !

Just don't pay the MF or the turn in charge and walk away. What can the Belair do? Their hands are tied not being a US company.

Yep, that's the next step. Attorney's I have talked to all said the same thing.Just trying to avoid the hassle and bad feelings, because we really do love it there. Just can't do the trip anymore for a few reasons.

Ronwald1 and I have corresponded via PMs. We bought TSs from Belair a year or 2 before they did for the same time period. I cannot imagine why Belair would not want to take back week#1 for no charge since that's about their busiest time of the year.

My take.....totally unfamiliar with timeshares. You have owned the lease on the unit for your weeks for a long time. The maintenance fees can basically go up at their discretion (only thing limiting the fees is the marketplace of turning owners/future owners off), the release fee is totally made up and the justification of such a fee is two fold: as a deterrent to leave so that you keep paying maintenance fees AND if you do end up leaving and pay a money maker for the resort. I'd walk away and wouldn't feel the least bit bad about it.

It is not at all like walking away from a mortgage. If your maintenance fees and this made up fee were locked in on your original contract way back when then there could be an analogy but I would assume that the maintenance fees always have a tendency to go up and that this made up release fee is a new trend and wasn't even around back then.

Maintenance fees were $240 when we bought, now about $1100

Sounds about right. When we bought Flamingo in 1999 our two bed was 540. Now its around 1350-1400.

And I can understand that the maintenance fee should go up with the cost of labor, utilities, products purchased for the property, insurance, etc but I doubt they share the total number of dollars collected per unit or as a property as a whole OR where the money was actually used (other than profit margin)...zero auditory transparency...I just feel like some timeshares have your wallet on a leash and only market conditions dictate how tight they tug at it.

Just to clarify. Maintenance fees are paid to a New York City address for Belair (Paradise Beach Hotel). The key point is that it is a Sint Maarten business, governed by Netherland Antilles law.

Yep,states right on the lease "This lease will be governed and construed according to the laws of the Netherland Antilles."

Looked at the Belair web site and the nightly rental rates for Jan 2016 are 1 bdrm $359 and 2 bdrm $419
If you pay $1100 per wk MF, if I was the Belair and I could rent your unit I would want it back!
J&B

sent you a PM

$1,400??? You're sure?
That's what mine were in 2013. $1,425.77 to be precise.
$1,524.62 in 2014 and 2015.
The 1st year we paid them, in 2001, they were $598.70.
I just went through the MFs bills since day 1 to reply to your post.
Same 2BR/2BA lock-out unit as yours.

I think your right. I just pay all four of them all at once and don't put too much thought to it. It is what it is. Matter of fact I already paid all of next years just to get it out of the way. One studio and three two bed units adds up.

DRI gave you the amount of the 2016 MFs yet ?

No. I just paid what they charged last year. They said there would be no increase but if they do I'll just pay the difference. I wanted to pay early for the miles and a promo for 50,000 AA miles on a new card if I spent $3.000 in three months. My wife did the same so we picked up 100,000 AA mile between us plus the miles for the payment charged to the acct. Couldn't pass it up.

Many timeshares have low mf to start, to make them more attractive to purchase. As facilities age the low fees are not adequate to maintain the property, then they rise or in the case of Diamond buying Flamingo and RP, there were inadequate reserves, insurance etc., so they were increased significantly. At least that's the company line. I can't say they haven't improved a lot since Diamond took over, but it is a little pricey.

Works for me. I have no regrets. Love the Flamingo and the weeks units we have.

I'm with Scuba on this one.
I'm actually more upset with airline fees than TS fees. We just booked our flights and they cost now as much as the MFs for a 1 week stay.
I will add that the MFs at Flamingo increased but the amenities and service improved noticeably. It's the complete opposite with the airlines. We pay more every year for less options (# of flights) and less service.

Ditto!
And don't forget LESS SPACE! Crammed into smaller and smaller seats, so uncomfortable. Used to be you had to be able and willing to open an exit door to sit in exit aisle....now you just pay.
My hubby is 6'2" and for our upcoming trip, they want to charge for regular aisle seats too! All For priveledge of being able to occasionally stretch a knee, and to have everyone else in your row disturb you going to/from potty, and every single person walking the aisle doing the same....along with the beverage cart. He'd rather suffer than give them more money.

Yep! And to add insult to injury, you're not even guaranteed to arrive not only on-time, but even the day you expect! We missed 2 days of vacation one year due to bad weather, problem with the crew having already worked enough hours, technical problem etc.... You think we got a discount for arriving Monday PM instead of Saturday PM? Nothing!

Airline should have done something. When things go wrong on my flights I call the airlines, get a customer service supervisor and always get something. Usually a chunk of miles that I end up using. Last year I got 5,000 just because my ear jack didn't work on my seat in First Class for one flight that was on miles to begin with.

Scuba, no free mileage will compensate for 2 lost days in SXM, maybe for you but not for me.
Even without taking into account this unfortunate ordeal, the fact of the matter is airlines nowadays cost way too much for the service they provide, compared to what it was not too long ago.

"Scuba, no free mileage will compensate for 2 lost days in SXM, maybe for you but not for me."

Since you didn't get any compensation, miles would have been something. That is providing the airlines has a miles program. In my case it was US/AA on a USair flight with AA miles. In any case the airline should have done something.