Dumping your Timeshare

What kind of fraud are you talking about? If the supposed fraud is not written in the contract, then your socalled attorney has no legal standing in a court of law .... what is said in a presentation means nothing. BTW, you're trying to advertise your socalled attorney on Redweek's forums which is not allowed .... have you tried 'googling' jock wood?

John B,

One reason why some people are doubting you story is because, in your first post describing what your attorney did for you, I believe you said she "canceled" your ownership. I realize it seems like splitting hairs here but you cannot "cancel" ownership of real estate. If you had said that this attorney negotiated with TMC to take back ownership from you, then you might not have met with so much skepticism.

The other thing that's raising red flags here is how you're saying that, without your attorney's help, you would have been stuck with ownership at TMC and there was absolutely no other way out.

As many others have said on these boards, there are ways that they have gotten out of ownership at various resorts by doing a little bit of work. They either asked (quite persistently) the resort's HOA to take ownership back or have made the effort to advertise and sell (or give away) their unit.

Also, many warnings go out to owners to never, ever pay a large, upfront fee to anyone to sell or "cancel" a timeshare. Did this attorney charge an upfront fee? If so, then what guarantee was there that she would do what she said she would? What would've happened had TMC said "No" to your attorney?

And how is TMC a "fraudulent" timeshare? If it were fraudulent, I'm sure it would've been sued and shut down many years ago. I know many owners there are frustrated and unhappy and that many who bought there probably did so based on lies told by the sales person, but that does not necessarily make TMC a "fraudulent" timeshare.

The last thing I was wondering is what did your attorney do or say to the powers-that-be at TMC to convince them to take back ownership that you could not have done or said yourself (or is this a secret that your attorney won't reveal)?

Lance -- I admit the term "cancel" was incorrect. It was deeded back to The Manhattan Club. Regarding the issue of getting out of the timeshare, The Manhattan Club is extremely difficult to deal with. I spoke with them and they only said they would put me on a "waiting list" of people who wanted to deed back. I called them several times and was told I was on a "waiting list." Meanwhile, another huge maintenance fee was coming due and I wanted out. I did not pay my attorney an upfront fee. Of course, I have used this same attorney for many matters and there is a track record of prompt payment from me. When attorneys charge upfront fees, it usually is in a new relationship with a new client. And if the client is in another jurisdiction, it is always wise to obtain an upfront fee. I am a business owner myself and I require partial payment upfront with NEW clients. Once a relationship is established, that may not be necessary. Attorneys are business people after all, and they have to protect themselves too. These matters can require a lot of time. How is TMC fraudulent? They never have time available for the owners. You can try to reserve a date a year or more in advance and find no time is available. One of the problems is that they are simultaneously renting out the suites as hotel suites on the open market, thereby limiting availability. There is a class action lawsuit being developed against TMC. I cannot tell you exactly how my attorney got my timeshare deed back. I really don't care. I was just pleased it was accomplished. I hope this answers your questions. John B

If your attorney did get you out of your MC timeshare's ongoing maintenance fees it's BECAUSE it was paid off free and clear .... they can turn around and easily sell it to someone else. But you state (across the board) that your attorney can get anyone out of their timeshare ... this is simply not true.

I replied to this in another forum. Of course the timeshare would have to be owned free and clear. That is understood. A loan always has to be satisfied before an owner can dispose of anything he owns.

What's the best way to get out of Starwood Ownership. Getting ready to be on limited income and MF's are way too much for us now at the Kauai property.

The first rule when selling a timeshare is to never, ever pay anyone a large, upfront fee to do so.

A Starwood in Kauai is one of a few that might have some resale value. You can contact some licensed timeshare real estate brokers at ltrba.com. They will give you an idea of what your unit is worth. If it has some value, they might try to sell it for you with a minimum $1000 commission and, most importantly, they take their commission out of the proceeds of the sale, not upfront.

If your property is not worth that much, the brokers there will let you know. At that point, you can try to list your property for sale here on RedWeek. Some other reputable sites are My Resort Network, E-Bay, Craigslist (free, but be prepared for a lot of spam and scam attempts), Bid Shares, and Timeshare Users Group (aka "TUG"; tug2.net). Make sure you price your unit competitively and realistically.

Thanks for the information, Jay Jay. I also purchased a time share at the Occidental Grand Papagayo. I stopped paying on it when the property changed to "Adult Only" in November 2013. I'm not throwing good money after bad. I purchased at that resort because I wanted to vacation there with my family, and I upgraded to the 1 bedroom suite so that it would accommodate all my family. My position is that Occidental breached the contract by limiting my use of the property. I did not purchase a membership in a vacation club, although purchasing at that property gives me access to other properties in the Occidental Vacation Club. My contract specifically states that the contract is governed by the laws of Costa Rica. However, since I am refusing to pay the remainder of the loan, Occidental has put my account into collections with a company called Monterey in the United States. I have contacted a lawyer (the same lawyers who successfully won a class action suit against Wyndham), and they feel strongly that they could get this resolved. Naturally, that is going to cost me more money, and in the meantime my credit score is being negatively impacted by the collection notice that is on file. Interestingly, though, as soon as I tell a lender that the collection is being disputed, and that it is in reference to a time share contract, the lender just groans and disregards the collection notice. It seems that time share companies, in general, have such a bad reputation that other lenders don't take it seriously.

So where does this leave me? I would really like to work this out with Occidental, but they won't talk with me because the account is in collections. The collections company just focus on getting the money for their client. My only options appear to be to hire the pit bull lawyer who wants to pursue class action cases (and I'm sure they won't have problems finding other people who are not happy with their contracts with Occidental ), or pursue this through the courts in Costa Rica, or just live with the collection notice on my credit report (which really doesn't seem to be causing me any real grief).

If anyone from Occidental is following these posts, feel free to contact me. I'm willing to talk.