Instead of kids paying to unload TS, can parents "will" it to Obama?

Instead of kids having to pay to unload a TS that they don't want, can parents "will" the timeshare to Obama? I figure if enough people "will" an unwanted TS to someone like Obama or any other national politician, then laws would change and no one will be required to pay maintenances fees for a timeshare they inherited and don't want. All they'll need to do is notify the timeshare company that the owners of the timeshare are dead and then it is the timeshare companies problem, instead of a problem for someone who was not involved with the purchase of the timeshare.

emmac27 wrote:

Instead of kids having to pay to unload a TS that they don't want, can parents "will" the timeshare to Obama? I figure if enough people "will" an unwanted TS to someone like Obama or any other national politician, then laws would change and no one will be required to pay maintenances fees for a timeshare they inherited and don't want. All they'll need to do is notify the timeshare company that the owners of the timeshare are dead and then it is the timeshare companies problem, instead of a problem for someone who was not involved with the purchase of the timeshare.

A person doesn't have to accept anything that's willed to them, including family members, BUT the decedent's estate is responsible for any fees or bills owed before the estate can be closed.

Thank you for your response! So if a son inherits a timeshare and doesn't want it, all he needs to do is pay any current fees and taxes on the timeshare? Or does he have to continue paying fees and taxes on the timeshare until he can find someone to become the legal owner of the timeshare?

emmac27 wrote:

Thank you for your response! So if a son inherits a timeshare and doesn't want it, all he needs to do is pay any current fees and taxes on the timeshare? Or does he have to continue paying fees and taxes on the timeshare until he can find someone to become the legal owner of the timeshare?

The son does not have to pay anything. The decedent's estate (and its executor) is responsible for all that.

emmac27 wrote:

Thank you for your response! So if a son inherits a timeshare and doesn't want it, all he needs to do is pay any current fees and taxes on the timeshare? Or does he have to continue paying fees and taxes on the timeshare until he can find someone to become the legal owner of the timeshare?

Until the timeshare has been sold, given away and out of the decedent's name the estate is still responsible.

However, having said that, it wouldn't hurt to get in touch with the resort to see, since the owner(s) are deceased along with a copy of the death certificate, if they will take the deed back.

Please let me know if this is correct: 1. If a parent dies and leaves their child a timeshare, the child does NOT have to accept the timeshare. 2. Whoever is handling the estate must pay any currently due maintenance fees and taxes before the estate can be closed. 3. If the child has not accepted the timeshare and estate is closed, the timeshare company can not force the child to continue paying timeshare fees and taxes. However, you wrote, "Until the timeshare has been sold, given away and out of the decedent's name the estate is still responsible". So is the estate unable to be closed until the timeshare is out of the decedent's name? If so, I would never buy or recommend that anyone buy a timeshare! What a hassel! 4. If the child cannot sell or give the timeshare away, he/she can see if the timeshare company would like to take she timeshare back, but the child is not required to do anything, just the estate. Is that correct? What if the estate has been closed?

emmac27 wrote:

Please let me know if this is correct: 1. If a parent dies and leaves their child a timeshare, the child does NOT have to accept the timeshare. 2. Whoever is handling the estate must pay any currently due maintenance fees and taxes before the estate can be closed. 3. If the child has not accepted the timeshare and estate is closed, the timeshare company can not force the child to continue paying timeshare fees and taxes. However, you wrote, "Until the timeshare has been sold, given away and out of the decedent's name the estate is still responsible". So is the estate unable to be closed until the timeshare is out of the decedent's name? If so, I would never buy or recommend that anyone buy a timeshare! What a hassel! 4. If the child cannot sell or give the timeshare away, he/she can see if the timeshare company would like to take she timeshare back, but the child is not required to do anything, just the estate. Is that correct? What if the estate has been closed?

That said, deeding a week over to an unknowing recipient without the consent, knowledge and overt acceptance of that "grantee" essentially constitutes an act of fraud (which, worthy of note, is a criminal offense). You don't want to even THINK about going down that road...

ONE bit of valid advice which I've read above is that inquiry should always be made (...but in writing only) directly to the resort involved to request HOA acceptance of "deed in lieu of foreclosure". A smart HOA knows that they are "over a barrel" when a decedent's heirs don't want to inherit or accept timeshare week(s); they are NEVER under ANY legal obligation to do so. Rather than incur the time (and expense) of having to initiate foreclosure proceedings on their own, a smart HOA will sometimes just take the week back (assuming it's fully paid for and not "financed"), often requiring only payment of the associated closing costs (generally around $300 or so). It can't ever hurt to ask (...but do so ONLY in writing, NOT by a phone call to a clueless resort desk clerk who has neither the pertinent knowledge nor the legal authority to even DISCUSS the matter in the first place).

emmac27 wrote:

4. If the child cannot sell or give the timeshare away, he/she can see if the timeshare company would like to take she timeshare back, but the child is not required to do anything, just the estate. Is that correct? What if the estate has been closed?

The estate cannot be closed until all bills, fees etc. have been paid.

Hi Ken, Thanks for your response! You wrote: "That said, deeding a week over to an unknowing recipient without their consent, knowledge and overt acceptance essentially constitutes fraud (which, worthy of note, is actually a criminal offense)." If that is so, isn't it "fraud" when the children of dead timeshare owners are effectively held responsible for the maintenance & taxes of timeshares they inherited, but didn't want? If there aren't funds in the estate to pay the maintenance & taxes forever, what can be done? I'm suprised that someone hasn't started some sort a class activity on behalf of people forced to pay fees and taxes for timeshares they didn't buy, they don't want, they can't afford, they can't sell, they can't give away, and they can only pay to get rid of. Yes, they don't have to accept the timeshare, but it appears they end up being financially responsible for the timeshare until they can get rid of it.

I know of one estate that has been closed and no one accepted or wants the timeshare. The fees and taxes were paid, but no one wants to take ownership and continue paying the fees and taxes. What can be done? It looks like the decendents will be lucky if they can get rid of the timeshare without having to pay someone to take it. Why should the decendents have any responsibility at all for a timeshare they didn't purchase and don't want?

It seems to me like the timeshare system should be forced to take back timeshares they've sold, when the owners die and decendents don't want the timeshare. What do you think? Do you know if there is any legal action being taken to clarify that decendents, who don't want to inherit a timeshare, are not responsible for future fees and taxes of a timeshare? And that current fees and taxes come out of the estate one time and then the timeshare retu;rns to the company that originally sold it.

emmac27 wrote:

I know of one estate that has been closed and no one accepted or wants the timeshare. The fees and taxes were paid, but no one wants to take ownership and continue paying the fees and taxes. What can be done? It looks like the decendents will be lucky if they can get rid of the timeshare without having to pay someone to take it. Why should the decendents have any responsibility at all for a timeshare they didn't purchase and don't want?

It seems to me like the timeshare system should be forced to take back timeshares they've sold, when the owners die and decendents don't want the timeshare. What do you think? Do you know if there is any legal action being taken to clarify that decendents, who don't want to inherit a timeshare, are not responsible for future fees and taxes of a timeshare? And that current fees and taxes come out of the estate one time and then the timeshare retu;rns to the company that originally sold it.

Normally we don't nitpick about spelling errors on these boards but it's important that you clarify because you have a glaring spelling error.

You use the "word" "decendents" a few times. Do you mean "descendants" (essentially meaning the children or heirs of the deceased person) or "decedents" (meaning the person who has actually deceased)?

emmac27 wrote:

isn't it "fraud" when the children of dead owners are effectively held responsible for the maintenance & taxes of timeshares they inherited, but didn't want?

In a single word --- no. In two words, absolutely not.

Fraud, by definition, has very specific legal meaning. Fraud involves a knowing, willful overt act of deceit, initiated in an attempt or effort to unlawfully achieve some form of personal or financial gain or advantage.

Yes I meant descendents, thanks for catching my spelling error.

Thanks for the definition of "fraud" Ken. If "Fraud involves a knowing, willful overt act of deceit, initiated in an attempt or effort to achieve some form of personal or financial gain or advantage", then it appears to me that much of the entire timeshare industry is engaged in "fraud".

Certainly most of the people currently marketing timeshares are engaged in "a knowing, willful overt act of deceit, initiated in an attempt or effort to achieve some form of personal or financial gain or advantage. " For example: They claim they are selling an investment that will grow in value, but they know that the day after they sell it, the value of the timeshare will be worth a fraction of what they sold it for.

If it is "fraud" to GIVE a timeshare to someone in your will, then it is certainly "fraud" to sell a timeshare to someone.

emmac27 wrote:

Thanks for the definition of "fraud" Ken. If "Fraud involves a knowing, willful overt act of deceit, initiated in an attempt or effort to achieve some form of personal or financial gain or advantage", then it appears to me that much of the entire timeshare industry is engaged in "fraud".

Certainly most of the people currently marketing timeshares are engaged in "a knowing, willful overt act of deceit, initiated in an attempt or effort to achieve some form of personal or financial gain or advantage. " For example: They claim they are selling an investment that will grow in value, but they know that the day after they sell it, the value of the timeshare will be worth a fraction of what they sold it for.

If it is "fraud" to GIVE a timeshare to someone in your will, then it is certainly "fraud" to sell a timeshare to someone.

I would not (and do not) dispute for even one moment that the entire timeshare industry is chock full of lying, greedy profiteers whose primary objective in life is simply to line their own pockets with other people's money. That said, however, these sales maggots DO operate (even if only marginally) within the bounds of the law. Remember, in the end, actual sales contract content (...not the meaningless and empty verbal babble spewed by greedy sales weasels) is what truly matters (and is really ALL that matters AT ALL) in the eyes of the law.

If people are willing to believe the empty spoken words of a greedy, hungry, lying sales weasel over the actual written content of a sales contract (which many buyers don't even bother to ever read at all), then what can you really say to them besides "CAVEAT EMPTOR" (Buyer Beware)?

emmac27 wrote:

It seems to me like the timeshare system should be forced to take back timeshares they've sold, when the owners die and decendents don't want the timeshare. What do you think? Do you know if there is any legal action being taken to clarify that decendents, who don't want to inherit a timeshare, are not responsible for future fees and taxes of a timeshare? And that current fees and taxes come out of the estate one time and then the timeshare retu;rns to the company that originally sold it.

I think this is a fair statement, however a timeshare week is recorded in the property deed records of a county .... even though timeshares are not regular real estate they're still recorded as property owned in that county in a person's name (in this case, the decedent's). This is not just a piece of paper stuck in a file cabinet in the resort's office saying who the owner is .... the deed is recorded at the county courthouse as deeded property.

I think any person that is involved in the estate of decedent that owned a timeshare should first call the resort with proof the owners have died (death certificate) and they might take it back, but don't hold your breath as it would be at the discretion of the HOA or developer .... I have no idea how many resorts have done this in the past.

If you really want official help with this endeavor, after you have paid the maintenance fees for the year being billed, you would need to consult a real estate attorney as to what the estate is officially responsible for in future years and maybe the attorney can work with the resort.

As it stands now, the estate is responsible for all fees until the ownership is transferred out of the decedent's name.

Hi Ken! You did a great job of describing the problem of the type of people running the timeshare business. Do you think the majority of the people in the timeshare business fit your description?

So is the only solution "Buyer Beware", or do you have some other suggestions?

Hi JayJay! You wrote: "As it stands now, the estate is responsible for all fees until the ownership is transferred out of the decedent's name." My question: I know of an estate that is "closed" and the ownership of a timeshare was NOT transferred out of the decedent's name. What should the decedent's son do now? Should just ignore future maintenance bills & taxes?

emmac27 wrote:

Hi Ken! You did a great job of describing the problem of the type of people running the timeshare business. Do you think the majority of the people in the timeshare business fit your description?

So is the only solution "Buyer Beware", or do you have some other suggestions?

The only substantive, specific and universally applicable suggestions I can confidently offer are:

1. NEVER believe ANYTHING coming from the moving lips of a lying developer sales weasel. These hungry maggots will say ANYTHING (whether it's true or not doesn't matter a bit to them) in order to "close the deal". Never forget that these parasites get paid ONLY on sales commissions.

2. Repeat as many times as it takes to deeply sink in that: "If something is not very clearly, specifically and overtly expressed in writing within the sales contract content, then that 'something' simply DOES NOT EXIST in the eyes of the law." Period, amen. The verbal babble of a sales weasel means ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

3. Virtually any timeshare being sold by a developer can be purchased on the RESALE market, for just a tiny fraction of the inflated and astronomical developer selling prices.

Beyond those universally applicable specifics, we get right back to the fundamental general advice --- Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware).

emmac27 wrote:

Hi JayJay! You wrote: "As it stands now, the estate is responsible for all fees until the ownership is transferred out of the decedent's name." My question: I know of an estate that is "closed" and the ownership of a timeshare was NOT transferred out of the decedent's name. What should the decedent's son do now? Should just ignore future maintenance bills & taxes?

Does the resort have the name and address of the decedent's son .... if not, how can they dun him for future maintenance fees? If they do have his name and address, then I guess you'll just have to wait and see if he gets dunned for future fees.

Yes, he can ignore future bills and taxes and the timeshare week will go into foreclosure eventually .... since the estate has been closed, I can't see that it would be responsible for future fees, however I've never seen this type of incident being addressed before where an estate has been closed and regarding future fees.