Selling Your Timeshare
The Question is do you want to sell?
Have you tried to sell your timeshare?
If you haven’t tried, then there are a variety of places where you can attempt to sell and you might have success, there are a few on this website.
On the other hand you might not be able to and are at loss as to how you can dispose of the timeshare and the annual commitments you are bound too.
If this is the case, have you thought of a “Reverse Premium Broker”? Whereby you offer someone a reward to take the timeshare off your hands and secondly take the liability off you permanently. You can also ask them for a bid which you will consider.
There are such companies who are called Reverse Premium Brokerages. They, in short, take bad assets off your hands, however do require a fee to do so. This will give them a reward for taking on the timeshare (in monitory terms) but they will inherit the task of taking on your timeshare company so as to exit the newly acquired contract (lawfully) or else the liability will remain with them until the terms ends.
No doubt they will have to take on the might of the timeshare companies, but will have the aid and facility of the cash they received for the acquisitions to formulate a costly defence on multiple numbers of identical timeshare contracts which will have the same terms, conditions and issues, then a group action.
Disputing contracts and perusing timeshare sales companies can be a very expensive exercise and can sap money from your purse over years in litigation. For instance, one timeshare contract (belonging to you) and its litigation costs are say £20,000 in legal expenses, the same cost will apply to 20 contracts as the same issue is run by each delinquent contract. So a reverse premium broker acquires a contract for say £3,000, times 20 contacts equals £60,000 against costs of £20,000, the broker is in pocket but with the possible liability of an adverse cost order in losing the case and a continuance of the timeshare contract. Of course I am sure they will win some and lose some, dependant on the particular clauses in the timeshare contract and no doubt some brokers will do well and some will perish. But for the consumer you will gain finality to your situation, to get an exit, a permanent exit and a guarantee the problem is now someone else’s.
So selling in the reverse premium market is an option to some sellers and might be worth some consideration.
My advice is to try and retry to sell your timeshare before considering a reverse premium broker. We do however know of a firm who promises not to take a penny from the consumer until the contracts have been completed and the resort has accepted the transfer (be wary of those that don’t offer this protection and want money upfront). To ensure that the process complies with all the legislation, this type of selling is always done by a representative who acts on behalf of the consumer, usually a Solicitor. If these conditions have been met then the entire process is completely safe from the tricksters and scam artists who have infected the industry.
Rachael
(For and on behalf of the Timeshare Consumer Association ltd)
27th of May 2014
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk