Why are your Timeshare Maintenance Fees so High?
If your timeshare maintenance fees keep climbing every year, you’re not imagining it – and you’re not the only one wondering if there’s anything you can do about it.
Quick Answer: Timeshare maintenance fees rise mainly due to inflation, rising resort operating costs, and other owners defaulting on their payments — which shifts the shortfall onto everyone else. In some cases, unscrupulous companies make it worse by transferring timeshares into shell companies that are later abandoned. If fees have become unaffordable, selling, transferring, or using a legitimate exit program are the main ways out.
Are you seeing a steep increase in your annual timeshare maintenance fees? Steve and Lainey realized just how much they were paying when they tried to trade their fixed week for a different one. They weren’t able to make the trade, so they went online to rent. Fortunately, they found the same unit as their own in the week they wanted. Ironically, though, the cost to rent the unit was much cheaper than the maintenance fees they were paying for their own unit. “That totally burned me,” Steve said. “I made up my mind right then to get rid of my timeshare.”
Understanding escalating timeshare maintenance fees
Maintenance fees at resorts across the country are skyrocketing. Contracts that started at a reasonable $400 a year have doubled—in some cases, tripled. Why so much? The reasons go far beyond inflation.
Here are the main factors contributing to rising timeshare maintenance fees:
Defaulting on Payment
One big factor is that other owners default on their payments. This can happen when, say, the original buyer “gifts” their property to a friend or family member who doesn’t fully understand the obligations of ownership. The new owners think they’re getting a free vacation property and are taken by surprise when maintenance fees come due. They either can’t afford to pay them or simply refuse to do so. That leaves the remaining owners to pick up the difference—and the defaulting ones to deal with ruined credit and potential litigation since maintenance agreements are legally binding contracts.
Unscrupulous Companies
Another factor for rising fees is unscrupulous companies that take timeshares from owners and then deed the properties wholesale into fake holding companies designed to go bankrupt. These companies leave unsuspecting owners thinking they have responsibly divested when, in fact, they have brought hardship on all of the remaining owners.
What happens if you stop paying your timeshare maintenance fees
Many timeshare owners become so overwhelmed and frustrated that they often contemplate walking away from timeshare maintenance fees. We strongly advise against such a decision – you need to understand what happens if you don’t pay timeshare maintenance fees.
If you simply decide to stop paying your maintenance fees after missing multiple payments, the resort will likely send the debt to collection agencies, which will significantly damage your credit report.
This could result in foreclosure proceedings, whereby the resort takes possession of your timeshare and sells it to recoup the owed fees. Consequently, not only will you lose access to your timeshare ownership, but your credit score will also suffer from the negative impact of foreclosure and outstanding debts.
What can you do about rising timeshare maintenance fees?
Taking control of maintenance fees
One way you can better control your maintenance fees is to become more active in the management of your timeshare. Just as condo owners regularly participate in their homeowner associations, you should do the same with your timeshare, whether it be reviewing financials or organizing fellow owners to influence the company that manages your resort.
Use our timeshare cost calculator to find out the true cost of timeshare ownership.
Selling or transferring your timeshare ownership
Selling your timeshare allows you to offload the financial responsibility and burden of maintenance fees onto a new owner who may find value in the property. Alternatively, transferring ownership to a willing individual can provide relief from ongoing fees while ensuring that the timeshare is put to good use.
At Timeshare Specialists, we offer divestment services to help you sell or transfer your timeshare ownership properly. We’ll find the best solution for your situation and guide you through every step of the process, from assessing the market value of your timeshare to finding qualified buyers or recipients.
We are here to help
If you need more advice or if your maintenance fees have become too great a burden and you are wondering how to get out of timeshare maintenance fees, give us a call. We’re BBB A+ accredited, ethical, responsible, and trustworthy.
Not only will we help you find the best option to get rid of your timeshare, but we won’t hurt other timeshare owners in the process. Call one of our specialists today at 1-800-965-6565.
FAQs
Maintenance fees rise due to inflation, resort operating costs, and other owners defaulting on their payments, which shifts the shortfall onto everyone else. Some unscrupulous companies also contribute by transferring timeshares into shell companies that are later abandoned, leaving remaining owners to cover the gap.
Increases vary by resort, but fees commonly rise several percentage points a year, and some owners have seen their fees double or even triple over the life of their ownership.
Missed payments are typically sent to collections, which damages your credit, and continued nonpayment can lead to foreclosure, where the resort takes back the timeshare.
Direct negotiation is rare, but getting involved in your resort’s homeowners association, reviewing the annual budget, and organizing with other owners can sometimes influence how fees are set.
The main ways to stop paying maintenance fees are selling your timeshare, transferring ownership to someone else, or using a legitimate transfer program if the timeshare has little or no resale value.
In most cases, yes. Maintenance fees typically increase annually, and the longer you keep an unwanted timeshare, the more you’ll pay in fees you may no longer be getting value from.
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About the Author
Brent Maggio
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