Spinnaker at Waterside Hilton Head charging $1500 to sell or transfer as of Jan 2011

Currently we are on Hilton Head Island and have met with a Time share relief business that informed us that our Spinnaker Waterside timeshares are basically worth nothing because of this new fee that their management company is imposing upon people who sell. They have not even notified the owners of this and is this legal? How can they just make up an amendum to your legal title for a fee like $1500 to transfer title. We paid $20,000 for a 3 bedroom unit that we could rarely trade for anything of the same value and now after awhile we are tired of the maintenance fees and want out. Southwind Mgt. Company is doing this and how can they impose a fee like that? Does anyone know if this is legal? Thank you for any advice that you may have.

judyl227 wrote:

Currently we are on Hilton Head Island and have met with a Time share relief business that informed us that our Spinnaker Waterside timeshares are basically worth nothing because of this new fee that their management company is imposing upon people who sell. They have not even notified the owners of this and is this legal? How can they just make up an amendum to your legal title for a fee like $1500 to transfer title. We paid $20,000 for a 3 bedroom unit that we could rarely trade for anything of the same value and now after awhile we are tired of the maintenance fees and want out. Southwind Mgt. Company is doing this and how can they impose a fee like that? Does anyone know if this is legal? Thank you for any advice that you may have.

First of all, you need to check with Southwind concerning this transfer fee.

Secondly, you are being told this information by a 'timeshare relief company'. These companies charge $3k+ to supposedly take your timeshare off your hands, however some 'timeshare relief companies' fail to transfer the deed out of your name leaving you still the owner and still responsible for maintenance fees.

You cannot merely stop paying maintenance fees just because your're tired of paying them .... if you do stop the resort will come after you and this could affect your credit rating. The 'timeshare relief company' would think they had died and gone to heaven to get a 3 bedroom Gold Crown timeshare on Hilton Head after you pay them $3+k.

It's surprising to me that a 3 bedroom at the your Gold Crown resort on Hilton Head Island would not get you what you want in a trade.

We did check at the Southwind Mgt. Company and this is their answer. They feel that the $1500 will be the new owner's two next year's maintenance fee. Who would buy a fix week timeshare which we were told won't be worth much and then have to pay $1500 in addition. Southwind has not sent out a letter yet to their owners but this unfounded charged was inacted on the 3rd of March. The reptable time share company resale & listing company here on the island said it isn't worth much and probably won't sell with the impending $1500 added charge especially when there are a million timeshares for sale. The other two timeshares we have with Spinnaker are a floating week and a flex week and they are worth less.

judyl227 wrote:

We did check at the Southwind Mgt. Company and this is their answer. They feel that the $1500 will be the new owner's two next year's maintenance fee. Who would buy a fix week timeshare which we were told won't be worth much and then have to pay $1500 in addition. Southwind has not sent out a letter yet to their owners but this unfounded charged was inacted on the 3rd of March. The reptable time share company resale & listing company here on the island said it isn't worth much and probably won't sell with the impending $1500 added charge especially when there are a million timeshares for sale. The other two timeshares we have with Spinnaker are a floating week and a flex week and they are worth less.

As the management company they CAN change the rules.

The only suggestion I can give to you is to possibly give your timeshare away and pay for closing and the $1500 transfer fee if you just want to be rid of it and future maintenance fees or take a chance that the new owner will pay the fees. It shouldn't be hard to give away a 3 bedroom at a Gold Crown Resort on very popular Hilton Head Island.

The world of timesharing is changing fast and not in a positive way as you have found out.

I don't know what time of the year you have, but why not try to rent it out if you don't want to use it. You should get a nice rental for a 3 bedroom in hilton head.

judyl227 wrote:

We did check at the Southwind Mgt. Company and this is their answer. They feel that the $1500 will be the new owner's two next year's maintenance fee.

I do understand your frustration. And, as much as I disagree with Southwind instituting this policy, there is a benefit to owners there. Unfortunately, the policy is likely in response to escalating timeshare fraud (specifically Post Card Companies).

These postcard companies charge owners a large fee, around $2500, to take the timeshare off the owner's hands. What some post card companies then do is transfer the unit to a shell company and stop paying maintenance fees.

They hold on to the unit until it's foreclosed upon. The problem here, besides the obvious fraud, is that other owners at the resort have to absorb the resort operating expenditures and, in essence, pay what the postcard company is not paying.

So, as angering as it is to some owners who are trying to sell, it protects current owners from maintenance fees rising due to fraud.

Thank you for your feedback, however, when my husband purchased the unit about 8 years ago, he bought the 3 bedrooms for that reason and for a better trade value which of course were lies. There never was a better trade and having week 13 they won't even try to rent a 3 bedroom fixed week there. They told us last week it probably wouldn't rent at all. We ended up buying points and turning that unit's value into the point system, therefore throwing more money away. If only I could turn back the hands of time and never heard of timeshares. What a big farce!

judyl227 wrote:

Thank you for your feedback, however, when my husband purchased the unit about 8 years ago, he bought the 3 bedrooms for that reason and for a better trade value which of course were lies. There never was a better trade and having week 13 they won't even try to rent a 3 bedroom fixed week there. They told us last week it probably wouldn't rent at all. We ended up buying points and turning that unit's value into the point system, therefore throwing more money away. If only I could turn back the hands of time and never heard of timeshares. What a big farce!

I'm interested in what you were trying to trade for .... again a 3 bedroom, gold crown resort on Hilton Head Island should get good trades .... perhaps it's the week 13 that you own since it's before many schools' spring break.

What kind of points system did you buy?

If Spinnaker is charging you $1500.00 to take your timeshare it is still cheaper than the fee that the postcard company is charging you.

judikoz wrote:

If Spinnaker is charging you $1500.00 to take your timeshare it is still cheaper than the fee that the postcard company is charging you.

I don't think they're charging $1500 to take somebody's timeshare. The complaint from the original poster is that the resort is making buyers (who are buying from an owner) prepay $1500 in maintenance fees which equals about 2 years' worth.

Obviously this makes selling, or even simply giving a unit away, much more difficult as the new potential buyer will be less likely to buy knowing that he has to pay 2 years' maintenance fees upfront in addition to the purchase cost and the closing fee.

My husband bought a timeshare week at a resort in Florida that had RCI points and by doing this we can turn the Hilton Head weeks into points for trade. This timeshare scheme is a round robin of paying out more and more money as the resorts get crummier. I don't understand how the Spinnaker's mgt. co. can change or mark up a fee upon a sale. Isn't the contract we signed and deed we possess legal and binding? Maintenance fees do go up but changing the transfee fee's might be stated in our contract. I will check my papers on it when I end my trip and possibly seek legal help on this matter.

judyl227 wrote:

Isn't the contract we signed and deed we possess legal and binding? Maintenance fees do go up but changing the transfee fee's might be stated in our contract. I will check my papers on it when I end my trip and possibly seek legal help on this matter.

Yes, you need to check you contract when you get home. If a transfer fee is listed in your contract, then they do not have the "legal" right to change it .... if, however, the transfer fee is nowhere in the written contract, then they have the right to change it.

Spinnaker is the worst timeshare marketing on the planet and should be shut down immediately for fraudulent misrepresentations. I was telemarketed twice and sold a package even though not qualified as a single male then unable to use and then telemarketed two more times. No acceptable accommodation made. Staff nasty and no manager available. Do not patronize this company.

Fyi, i am a sincere buyer of timeshares. Just bought two. Over 7 others bought and sold. Very happy with Marriott. Some marketing issues with Wyndham despite excellent product. Marketing issues with Diamond. Hilton product good, some marketing mistakes.