Anyone know anything about Finn Law Group?

Let me put your mind at ease about one thing. Your kids will not be forced to inherit it.

At $46,000, this might be hard to swallow but your best financial move right now would be to default on your mortgage. You will likely face a bunch of collection calls and letters and maybe even a hit on your credit score or rating. But the collection calls can be ignored and you will probably save yourself the $46,000.

And "Even if Mike wins [your] case", your mortgage won't magically disappear. If you want it to "disappear" do what I suggested and default but face the consequences. You do not need to pay FLG $6500 to tell you that.

I connected with Karl. He is not a U.S. Citizen. We have volunteers near his country of residence that went through what he is going through. If i advised someone to default on a mortgage I would be sued for practicing law. That said, several our volunteers have been through this default process. There is an extensive support group of volunteer members helping members. The worst is Orange Lake. I'm told they will go after a summary judgment on a loan default. You have to be careful giving advice. Vacation Village has been pretty good to their members.

Inheritance is not cut and dry. At Wyndham Carriage Resorts in Ontario they were taking kids and grand kids to court just for maintenance fees. After an organized effort, the strategic accounting firm BDO Dunwoody was brought in and now they have a proposed exit plan.

I am a retired Certified Financial Planner. I helped settle a lot of estates. An outstanding loan balance can complicate the settling of an estate. This article by Steven Merrell at Monterey Private Wealth provides explains. 

https://www.montereyherald.com/2020/01/22/steven-merrell-financial-planning-beware-t he-timeshare-trap/  

I included this in an article I wrote one Halloween called Heir Scare

The deed is usually paid in full, so by buying points via a loan, or charged to a credit card, the sales agent has created a liability when none existed. I’m not an estate planning lawyer, but I found this RedWeek post from a practicing estates lawyer:

To all those inquiring about your heirs being saddled with this albatross: I have been a practicing estates lawyer in NY for nearly 50 years. The information given to you by Laura (I believe her name was) was basically correct: your beneficiary cannot be “forced” to inherit (and therefore have to pay for maintenance etc.) for the timeshare. The legal route is to execute a disclaimer within 9 months after death, and make sure that you do NOT accept the timeshare by using it or otherwise indicating acceptance (e.g., trying to sell it as if you own it). However, each state has its own laws as to how one disclaims. ……Note though: the (resort) can then also disclaim it, so there are some further fine points legal steps that must be implemented in your Will or trust to deal with that possibility. But most definitely your heirs are NOT bound to accept the timeshare and make the payments if a proper disclaimer strategy is included in your estate planning documents.

stevenw on May 02, 2017 06:01 PM.

Excerpt from the Monterey article below. Dying with a loan balance can complicate an estate. I know this family, They are very worried about it. Diamond sold Diane's father $250,000 in points between the ages of 85 and 88, after he wrote to them asking to take back his first purchase. He now lives in a nursing home. Diamond issues a 1099 c on loan defaults. An estate would have to deal with that. The 1099c can be disputed, but the estate must address it.

ConsumerAffairs recently contacted Burkhart again to find out if her complaint did, in fact, result in a solution “built with [her] best interests in mind.” Burkhart replied that Diamond offered to forgive the loan on her father’s most recent and especially questionable Diamond purchase -- a points contract that he bought in late 2017 for $116,000. The purchase was made possible with a loan issued by Diamond and Barclays credit card, also issued by Diamond.

Before she signed the forgiveness agreement, Burkhart told ConsumerAffairs that Diamond agreed to forgive the $116,000 loan on the condition that the family agree to a “non-disparagement” clause. The family must also waive their right to pursue the other timeshare contracts.

Burkhart asked Diamond to modify the agreement so that she could possibly get the other timeshare loans cancelled. She also requested that the $116,000 loan be completely rescinded and cancelled, rather than forgiven. Otherwise, she fears that her father will still owe taxes on it.

“The big issue is the 1099 in my mind,” Bukrhart wrote.

In a more recent statement, a public relations agency working on behalf of Diamond tells ConsumerAffairs that “we learned that they had already been working directly with Diane and had resolved this matter.”

The agency did not respond to follow-up questions about whether Diamond is reevaluating its sales tactics.

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/diamond-resorts-still-cant-explain-why-it-sold-250000-worth-of-timeshare-points-to-an-88-year-old-032919.html

In case the link doesn't work, this is an excerpt from the Monterey article about inherited timeshares:

Dying with a timeshare in your estate will complicate things for your heirs. Leaving your timeshare to your heirs means you also bequeath to them the obligation to pay the annual maintenance fees. An heir can disclaim the inheritance, but the estate is still liable for the maintenance fees. Since the executor of an estate is responsible to pay all claims on an estate before the final distribution of the assets, settling the estate may be drawn out until the disclaimed timeshare can be sold or given away. With this in mind, if you have a timeshare in your estate, you may want to have a conversation with your heirs regarding how the timeshare might complicate their lives.

What is the solution? The best strategy is to stay clear of timeshares. If you already own a timeshare, you have three choices: 1) try to sell it using a broker or a website like Redweek.com; 2) try to rent it; or 3) contact the owner services department of your timeshare to see if they will buy it back. If these options fail, you may benefit from engaging a timeshare cancellation firm. But be careful! There are plenty of timeshare exit scammers that promise a lot more than they deliver. With timeshares, it seems like the scammers get you coming AND going.

I contacted my timeshare today and told them I can no longer afford the monthly cost. My membership was purchased a bit over two years ago through Vistana.

After I made it clear that I will not be making any more payments, I was presented with an option for deed in lieu. That option does ding your credit by about 50 points, but it's better than a foreclosure.

From here it's just a waiting game. They will likely place collection calls for the next few months, then present me with that option after it's clear they will receive no additional funds from me.

Always contact the timeshare company first before you pay anyone.

Thank you for sharing. Was there action you needed to take to pursue the deed in lieu? Would you mind sharing which resort offered this as Great Eastern and Vacation Village in Virginia rarely do.

Is there any law firms who are interested in representing timeshare owners getting out of their timeshare? There are a lot of companies making these promises. Are any of the successful? I have contacted The Manhattan Club several times trying to give them my unit for free. They are refusing to take it back.

conniew265 wrote:

Is there any law firms who are interested in representing timeshare owners getting out of their timeshare? There are a lot of companies making these promises. Are any of the successful? I have contacted The Manhattan Club several times trying to give them my unit for free. They are refusing to take it back.

That depends on how you define "successful"? These so-called law firms are usually "successful" by telling you to just stop paying any maintenance fees and loan repayments, then let your unit go into default and foreclosure. You don't need to pay a law firm to do that. You can do that yourself for free.

If you say that TMC is refusing to take it back, contact the resort's Homeowners' Association, possibly by written letter, saying that you will not pay any more money in maintenance fees and that it would be in everybody's best interests for the HOA to take the unit back.

TMC has gone back and forth taking back and not taking back. Below is a link to a Facebook Group of TMC owners in the same boat. The NY AG fined them $6.5 million some years back. The owners admitted wrongdoing, which is rare. The $6.5 million was a parking ticket because the owners skimmed $100 million paid to a shell with no employees until this was noted. Thousands have defaulted on a wide variety of timeshares.

This was a July post on the Disgruntled Manhattan Club Owners Facebook Group. I wouldn't lose any sleep about a lien filed on a timeshare, especially since they admitted non-owners could book cheaper than owners. It's part of the foreclosure process:

Anyone else receive an email like the today?

July 10, 2024 Re: The Manhattan Club Timeshare Association Unit/Week: xxxxx Contract # xxxxx Dear, The Officers of the Timeshare Association Board write to you and all delinquent Owners asking each to return to an Owner in good standing. Due to the continued delinquent status of your Timeshare Charges and Real Estate Taxes, The Manhattan Club Timeshare Association (“TSA”) is obliged to take further action. The action being considered is to refer the matter to the TSA’s attorneys to begin further collection activities, which may include the filing of a lien against your timeshare interval. To avoid this action, within the next fourteen (14) days, please contact Financial Services to bring your account current.

RETURN TO OWNER IN GOOD STANDING STATUS

This option allows you to remain an Owner at The Manhattan Club. As an Owner in good standing, you will be able to utilize and enjoy the amenities and services offered at the Club. Please contact a Financial Services Representative by calling 800-532-4566 and choose option 6 to discuss how to return to being an Owner in good standing status.

In the absence of paying your delinquent amounts, the TSA will have no choice except to resume the process whereby the TSA’s lawyers will commence further collections activities, which may include filing a lien against your timeshare interval.

We are distressed to recommend taking legal action against your timeshare interval. Having said that, however, our priority must be to make decisions that serve all of our owners. Non-paying Owners place a burden on Owners who are meeting their obligations. We hope to see you return to a Member in good standing but in any event, please let us hear from you soon.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Joshua A. Wirshba – President of The Manhattan Club Timeshare Board of Directors