One might ask how could anyone complain about having a deed to a place in paradise, right? Wrong. For the majority of people, timeshare ownership is sold as an idyllic dream, but turns out to be more of a nightmare.  The deeds only indicate rights of usage, not ownership of real property, and it requires annual maintenance fee payments whether it’s used diligently or never. Read the fine print, and it’s easy to see how timeshare owners are disillusioned with empty promises, difficult in trading, and rapidly increasing maintenance fees, tax bills, and special assessments. Jane Bryant Quinn, a journalist for “Newsweek” wrote an article called “The Trap in Timeshares.” She highlights the consequences of a timeshare purchase, such as, “When your lifestyle changes, a timeshare can hang around your neck like an albatross. In almost all cases there is no way of getting out of the ever escalating maintenance fees.”

Out of every three timeshare owners, there is generally only one who happily uses his timeshare every year. The remaining two timeshare owners have an entirely different experience. These folks who never use their timeshares—(for myriad reasons including unavailable weeks, inability to travel due to illness, and even the death of a spouse), continually pay fees every year regardless, and frequently pay outrageous up front listing fees to try and resell or rent their weeks.

Don’t forget these vacation interests are forever. As Quinn warns in her article, “The biggest red flag is the perpetuity. At some point in your life you will not want this holiday anymore…but you can’t store a timeshare in your basement next to the dusty exercise bike. Dying, incidentally, does not help. Your heirs will inherit the timeshare and along with it the ever escalating maintenance fees.”

According to Quinn’s article, “Some timeshare owners become so disenchanted they try to make the problem go away by not paying. Big mistake; the developer will ruin your credit and track you down with a default judgment. This simply means they will attach your personal property to collect all fees and dues along with the inevitable attorney and court costs.”

With most alternatives exhausted, perhaps selling or renting the time to someone else is possible? Here again, the timeshare owner is thwarted, and deceived. Despite being told that these resorts are in high demand, the resale market offers little hope for people desperate to get out of the eternal contract.  Quinn noted in her Newsweek article that, “With the resale market decimated by developers renting your units out to prospective buyers for a fraction of what you are paying in fees, there are no options.” Journalists and bloggers are not the only ones with dire warnings for timeshare owners. Florida’s Attorney General has a page on the website at www.myfloridalegal.com cautioning consumers.  Concerning timeshare

resales it states, “The company’s salespeople are likely to claim that the market in the area where your resort is located is “hot” and that they are being overwhelmed with buyer requests

for your resort. In some cases, the salespeople may even tell you that they have a buyer waiting in the wings who wants to buy your timeshare. Be skeptical of these types of claims. Remember the timeshare market is not “hot” and it is unlikely that there is a buyer ready and willing to buy your timeshare.”

What all this boils down to for the average timeshare owner is the reality they  have purchased a liability for themselves, and their heirs also. Certainly, the best option is to not buy into the timeshare sales pitch at all, and find more suitable vacation packages that truly  cater to the individual travel needs.