Get out of Westgate Resorts

Attempted to "sell" my timeshare to a friend for $.01 since it is paid off and Westgate stepped in to exercise their Right Of First Refusal. Of course their closing costs are higher than the closing costs I was going to pay with the closing company I had chosen 🙄 I'm getting put though so it's all good

After several months of calling various numbers, I found a program is called "Legacy" and the website with information is here: https://www.westgateresorts.com/legacy.

Also, I wrote the Office of Citizen Services, Florida Attorney General's Office PL-01, The Capitol Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050 Telephone: (850) 414-3990 Toll-free within Florida: (866) 966-7226 Website: www.myfloridalegal.com

WESTGATE wrote the Office of Citizen Services and stated a QUIT CLAIM deed had been issued and my account closed.

I am trying to get out of a timeshare that both my mother and I owned together. She passed away in 2014.Since then I have paid off the timeshare mortgage. I am trying to get my mother's name removed from the deed. So I can get rid of the timeshare and move on. The account did qualify for the legacy program but my mother is still listed on the account. Looking for options. Thanks

Are you saying Westgate won't take the unit back while your deceased mother's name is still on the deed?

Do you know what happened with your mother's estate and assets seven years ago?

My mother didn't have any assets.... I notified them upon her death.

Wondering what the next step could be to get out the timeshare.

Whom did "[you] [notify] upon her death"? What did "they" say when you said that your mother has been deceased for about seven years now?

Have you asked the resort's Homeowners' Association if it will take the unit back? Mention that everything is paid up to date. Also, perhaps state sternly that you will not be paying any more maintenance fees so it would be best if the HOA took the unit back now rather than letting it go into foreclosure.

Joe K:

My suggestion would be to have a (likely free) initial consultation with an attorney. When you "notified" Westgate in 2014, did you do so by providing a copy of a death certificate? (hopefully yes). If not, a death certificate (and maybe also an affidavit) will almost certainly be required now in order to pursue a Legacy program "deedback" to Westgate (or to complete any other transfer of ownership, for that matter). I am assuming that your mother's name and your name are the only names on the associated deed.

I am NOT providing (or offering) legal advice here, but I will share some directly related personal experience. Specifically, I bought a timeshare fixed week a few years ago where the husband of the seller was deceased; both husband and wife names were on the deed. The closing company paralegal (not me, as the buyer) required the widow to provide a death certificate and an affidavit regarding her deceased husband in order for her to be able to cleanly transfer ownership of that timeshare week. You may well find yourself subjected to those very same requirements in order to execute a quitclaim deed back to Westgate under their "Legacy" program. By the way, Westgate will still require you to pay for this deedback "privilege"; reports I've seen of the fee seem to range from $900 to $1,800. I have no idea why there is such a wide range there or why there isn't one consistent figure for their deedback / extortion "fee".

If you just don't want to bothered with this matter any further at all, you can choose to simply stop paying Wastegate any further maintenance fees, tell them to go pound sand --- and let them go right ahead and foreclose whenever they choose to do so. I assume that maintenance fees are current (a basic requirement for any "deedback"), since if no one has been paying the maintenance fees since your mother's passing in 2014, foreclosure would likely have already occurred years ago. Have you verified the current status of the ownership account directly with Westgate?

After several months of calling various numbers, I found a program is called "Legacy" and the website with information is here: https://www.westgateresorts.com/legacy.

Legacy Program by Westgate Resorts Web www.westgateresorts.com/legacy/▼ The Legacy Program by Westgate has been created to assist owners in understanding available options for transitioning away from vacation ownership. It is our ... Legacy Program by Westgate Resorts

How to Get Out of a Westgate Timeshare - Westgate Resorts Web www.westgateresorts.com/legacy/how-to-get-out-of-a-w...▼ Whatever your circumstance, Westgate Legacy Program is here to help by ... How to Get Out of a Westgate Timeshare - Westgate Resorts

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Westgate emailed me that I did not sign the attorney disclosure form from 2019 so my property can not be deeded to me. They are asking me to sign this document now. If it is not deeded, should I continue to pay? If they foreclose on this property does the judgement go against me??

I want to get out of Westgate contract. All fees are up to date and I have contacted Legacy program operators. They approved deed back request but stressed that I would have to pay $1800.00 upfront for them to begin legal paperwork. Is that how it works?

Yes, that is EXACTLY how it works, although I was unaware that "Wastegate" has apparently now raised their deedback / extortion fee to $1,800 (about twice the amount they charged just a year or so ago). That deedback / extortion amount borders on larceny, in my opinion, but you really have no other option available to you, unless you decide instead to simply pay nothing further and just let them ultimately foreclose. Unfortunately, Westgate ownerships are literally WORTHLESS in the resale market --- you literally cannot even give them away for free.

kelleya31 wrote:

I want to get out of Westgate contract. All fees are up to date and I have contacted Legacy program operators. They approved deed back request but stressed that I would have to pay $1800.00 upfront for them to begin legal paperwork.

That is definitely cheaper and more effective than paying some of these cancel/exit/relief firms. That being said, what worries me is how you worded the last sentence. "[You] would have to pay $1800.00 upfront for them to begin legal paperwork." Is that a guarantee that they will take it back if you pay the upfront fee?

We have owned since 2010 and have attempted the deed back through the Legacy Program. Westgate denied. Since then, I have been filing complaints with as many websites as possible. I believe the more complaint these websites receive the more likely they will eventually see there is a problem. Please take the time to go to these websites and fill out the complaint forms. Even if it doesn't help me, I hope it will eventually help someone in the future. Better Business Bureau (Start a review and File a complaint) https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/ocoee/profile/timeshare-companies/central-florida-investments-inc-0733-101774

Florida Attorney General (Westgate is headquartered in FL) http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Citizen_Services

Federal Trade Commission https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/

Tennessee Attorney General (for Westgate of the Smoky Mnts) https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/working-for-tennessee/consumer/file-a-complaint.html

FBI (If enough complaints are filed they will investigate) https://tips.fbi.gov/contact

ARDA-ROC (American Resort Development Association–Owners Coalition click on Submit a ticket at the top) https://consumer.arda-roc.org/support/home

Lori Please contact me to join our efforts to affect change at the federal and state level. One person alone can do very little. Since 2016 we have amassed an army of volunteers. My personal Facebook address is Facebook/irene.parker.7923. Below are a few notes I learned about the agencies you mentioned. I wrote an article on Linked-in called Senior Defaults. Westgate is one of the founders of ARDA's Coalition for Responsible Exit, but a couple both diagnosed with cancer were denied because their week was in Branson. They called Legacy, were transferred around and a supervisor said, "We don't have an exit program and that's not our website." A Resort Trades article listed them as a founder. Another senior, a female pipe fitter, scheduled for her fourth surgery, lost wages, denied because her unit was a one BR. That's responsible?

I have been collecting resorts with no responsible exit, the most recent Tahiti Soleil Management, despite the owner age 80, in Stage 5 kidney failure. At the Tallahassee legislative workshop I attended, ARDA-ROC Chairman testified, “most of the developers I know and certainly most of the timeshare managers I know, and I managed timeshare properties for thirty years… every single resort had a dissolution policy, every single (one). There was a way to get out. You had to come to your management company, and based on what the board of directors instructed us (the management company) to do in the terms if they had to pay a fee or if they had to be current, whatever those situations were, we did not have a one that did not have a dissolution policy and a hardship policy….” In Forbes he was quoted, "The answer is judicial foreclosure, ruin their credit."

(BBB you can file a complaint or a review not both. A complaint you can log in and file rebuttals. BBB will attempt to mediate. Know that a terrible company can have a A Rating because they only rate how efficiently the company responds to complaints. One company leaves you a message - time sensitive! You can never reach them but they get a gold star for responding promptly to BBB "We reached out but were unable to connect with the member." It only takes a minute to say "No" so another gold star for efficiency)

Better Business Bureau (Start a review and File a complaint) https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/ocoee/profile/timeshare-companies/central-florida-investments-inc-0733-101774

(I have had 1000 word emails back and forth with the supervisor of DBPR. They operate like the FBI in that they regulate licenses but do little for the victim. It's important to file with the FL AG even though they ignore all but a handful of complaints. At the same legislative workshop I attended in 2019, these figures were presented: "At the Florida HB 435 workshop held in Tallahassee March 12, Victoria Butler, from the Florida Attorney General’s Department of Consumer Protection, reported a figure of about 1,500 timeshare complaints in 2017 and 1,600 in 2018, with about 50% involving senior citizens. She said the majority of complaints were in regard to the initial sales presentation. There have been 700 complaints filed so far in 2019. Ms. Butler stated that the Florida timeshare division engaged only 42 complaints, the majority concerning resale." A better organization is Seniors Vs Crime, a Special Project of the OAG. I was briefly the manager of the Florida Duval County Office until Diamond Resorts demanded I step down accusing me of being biased against timeshare. We have owned timeshares since 1984 and loved them until we had a horrific experience in 2015. I've been writing ever since.)

Florida Attorney General (Westgate is headquartered in FL) http://myfloridalegal.com/contact.nsf/contact?Open&Section=Citizen_Services

(The FTC just listed Timeshare Sales as #7 on their Top Ten Scam list followed by Timeshare Resales at #10. All you will get back is a Top Ten Tips for Timeshares, but that doesn't mean they are not listening. I just submitted a proposed changes report like: When the closing session is recorded, the device should not be turned off and back on when the sales agent re-explains a lie.) Section 5 is about unfair and deceptive practices, like telling the consumer it's not a sales session, I couldn't sell you anything if I wanted to, then proceeds to sell points.) An article by one of our volunteers: https://tarda.org/f/ftc-stats-explain-why-we-need-john-collick-in-congress

Federal Trade Commission https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/#/

(They are a more pro-consumer AG, having settled with one developer for $3 million)

Tennessee Attorney General (for Westgate of the Smoky Mnts) https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/working-for-tennessee/consumer/file-a-complaint.html

(FBI - You file with IC3.gov and you can call the field office but they are kind of busy right now. I spoke with a US Attorney who promised he would speak to the head of their FBI office. The problem with the FBI is the same as DBPR. They go after bad guys, but do little for the victim. The good thing about the FBI you can link complaints by having others give them the phone number and name they used when they filed their complaint. One member actually met with her FBI agent. Also, if you get updated information, you can start a new complaint and check the box that says you are filing an update. Another US attorney told me the problem is jurisdiction as state AGs regulate TS. Still good to file. You get no response because they don't work like. I've spent hours on the phone with them.

FBI (If enough complaints are filed they will investigate) https://tips.fbi.gov/contact

(Don't get me started on ARDA ROC. ARDA ROC spent over $1 million in 2010 to oppose greater timeshare truth and lending disclosures. They opposed allowing the timeshare buyer 24 hours to think about signing a perpetual contract often with no secondary market, passed a law in Florida in 2015 making it more difficult to be released from a contract due to "non-material errors" and how ambiguous is that? They were fined in the past for not calling donations voluntary. I was quoted in 2021 $7 more than my maintenance fees. I asked to have it removed. It was charged anyway. The board of directors consists of multi-millionaire executives and a few timeshare billionaires. Our volunteers have sent them about 500 complaints. They don't mediate disputes but they have a Code of Ethics that is not worth the paper it's printed on, in my opinion.)

ARDA-ROC (American Resort Development Association–Owners Coalition click on Submit a ticket at the top) https://consumer.arda-roc.org/support/home

So the WDIL doesn’t go on your credit?

Hello, My west gate timeshare has been paid off for 10 years. I stopped paying fees the last two years. After endless calls I get a letter saying a WDIL is an option to avoid foreclosure but when I called they told me I was past that option because the legal team started the foreclosure process.

The rep then stated that if I paid in full today she would call legal to stop the process. She also said that if I did not pay, the foreclosure will go on my credit report even though the mortgage was paid off.

I asked her, if I pay off the mortgage in the house that I live in and stop paying the taxes. They can’t put that on my credit. They put a judgement against me and if I don’t pay they can take and sell the property. What makes west gate any different??

Of course she could not answer. Can someone explain this to me, what am I missing?

I'm officially out of Westgate. Deed was paid and maintenance fees up to date. I posted on my Facebook that I am giving it away for free. Many ppl were interested, chose a friend of mine, contacted LT Transfers to do the paperwork, and Westgate exercised their Right of First Refusal. Paid $400 for closing fees and they now have it back.

lanced40 wrote:

Hello, My west gate timeshare has been paid off for 10 years. I stopped paying fees the last two years. After endless calls I get a letter saying a WDIL is an option to avoid foreclosure but when I called they told me I was past that option because the legal team started the foreclosure process.

The rep then stated that if I paid in full today she would call legal to stop the process. She also said that if I did not pay, the foreclosure will go on my credit report even though the mortgage was paid off.

I asked her, if I pay off the mortgage in the house that I live in and stop paying the taxes. They can’t put that on my credit. They put a judgement against me and if I don’t pay they can take and sell the property. What makes west gate any different??

Of course she could not answer. Can someone explain this to me, what am I missing?

If you don't pay your taxes, it no longer goes on your credit report as a "tax "lien". but the government will take away your property. It will mostly likely make it harder to get another mortgage. That's their recourse. When you don't pay the Westgate fees, you are violating a contract that you signed. Their only recourse is to put pressure on you in the form of collection agencies and reports to the bureaus.

Thanks for the input Rob. When I spoke to her she stated the they will only except full payment to stop the process. I offered to sign the deed over and get on a payment plan to payoff the taxes due and she said no. It makes no sense, why go though foreclosure process to take the property if I offered to sign it over and do a payment plan. I even told her I’ll setup automatic payments. It makes no sense to go to court if I’m will to pay them and give them the property back. All this lady wanted to do is threaten my credit if I didn’t pay everything up front. However she did offer a restructure if I signed up for a new plan, forgiving the amount owed if I started a new mortgage. There practices are awful.

I’m going to keep calling to negotiate. I’m not paying it all up front. Not to many people follow through with updates through the final results on the thread. I will keep everyone informed until the end.

robertc1852 wrote:

lanced40 wrote:

Hello, My west gate timeshare has been paid off for 10 years. I stopped paying fees the last two years. After endless calls I get a letter saying a WDIL is an option to avoid foreclosure but when I called they told me I was past that option because the legal team started the foreclosure process.

The rep then stated that if I paid in full today she would call legal to stop the process. She also said that if I did not pay, the foreclosure will go on my credit report even though the mortgage was paid off.

I asked her, if I pay off the mortgage in the house that I live in and stop paying the taxes. They can’t put that on my credit. They put a judgement against me and if I don’t pay they can take and sell the property. What makes west gate any different??

Of course she could not answer. Can someone explain this to me, what am I missing?

If you don't pay your taxes, it no longer goes on your credit report as a "tax "lien". but the government will take away your property. It will mostly likely make it harder to get another mortgage. That's their recourse. When you don't pay the Westgate fees, you are violating a contract that you signed. Their only recourse is to put pressure on you in the form of collection agencies and reports to the bureaus.

Congrats on getting out