Timeshare owned with Ex

I'll attempt to make this as short as possible:

Approximately nine years ago I purchased a timeshare with my now ex-boyfriend, at the time we lived on a resort that had both timeshares and residential property. We rented a house and lived there with our children, therefore, we made the decision to purchase a timeshare for $1 plus the transfer fees; at the time the $500 a year maintenance fees made financial sense to use the resort facilities.

A few years later we parted ways, I was adamant that he transfer the title for the timeshare to his name only if he wished to keep it or to sell the timeshare in its entirety. He paid the maintenance fees for the first year after the split and let me know that he sold the timeshare during that same year (all of this is evidenced in emails that I have kept). I thought it strange that he didn't need my signature to transfer title, however, he assured me that everything was done legitimately and the title was transferred.

Fast forward to now: my husband and I are in the process of buying our first house together and we ran into some problems during the title search with the previous owner of the property having outstanding judgments against them. I went onto our county's real estate search & after looking into the property that we are buying and the owners I put my own name into the search query.

The search query pulled up a lien against myself and my ex-boyfriend from the resort that we had the timeshare with along with a trustee's deed a few months later from the resort. It looks like the lien was filed and then the trustee's deed essentially foreclosed on the property due to nonpayment.

I was completely in the dark as to the fact that my name was still on the title or that there was any such lien in my name; thankfully nothing has been reported to the credit bureaus as I have almost perfect credit.

My question is, given that the property has been foreclosed upon, can it still be reported to a credit bureau or can I be sued for non-payment at this point?

You need to consult an attorney where you live . Don't use one that someone steered you to. There are plenty of attorneys who can offer you legal advice for a reasonable price.

cathim6 wrote:

>> I thought it strange that he didn't need my signature to transfer title, however, he assured me that everything was done legitimately and the title was transferred. <<

That "assurance" was an empty one. If your name was on the original deed, then your (notarized) signature would have been required as a "grantor" on any subsequent deed to a new "grantee" (including a new deed relinquishing your co-interest to the ex). Your name would (and evidently did) remain as co-owner of record until and unless a new deed had been prepared, with your notarized signature obtained and that new deed officially recorded, thereby formally removing you from the picture as co-owner. It seems apparent from your account that no such formal "removal" action was ever appropriately completed and that no new deed was ever prepared and recorded in just the ex' name alone.

Foreclosure could (but may not) result in your name being subsequently reported to the credit agencies. In the eyes of the law you were in fact a co-owner of record at the time of foreclosure. If you're lucky, that reporting simply fell through the cracks. In the future you may have to explain to credit reporting agencies and / or lenders (in a loan or mortgage application situation, for example) the circumstances you've described above. Hiring an attorney is unlikely to be of much (if any) additional use or assistance to you. At this late juncture, what was already done (...or NOT done, in this instance) is now water under the bridge and irreversible. You can surely offer an explanation to any credit agencies and / or lenders just as well as (maybe better than) any third party doing so on your behalf.

You won't be sued over a past timeshare foreclosure. It's just not worth the time or expense for a timeshare HOA to pursue that expensive legal route in the aftermath of a timeshare foreclosure. Yes, they most certainly could, but it's just not cost effective for them to do so.

This input is not offered or intended as legal advice. For formal legal advice, you should personally (i.e., not on the Internet) consult an attorney licensed in your particular state.