Discussion
Back in the 80's my parents were lured to a special presentation with the heady offer of free gifts, and walked away with a free microwave and a contract to purchase (and pay for) of two timeshares in perpetuity.
Fast forward till now, and due to illness and old age, they pay thousands for holidays that no one uses. So finally they've begun to think that possibly maybe they ought to get rid of it. Apparently you cannot just hand the deeds back and walk away, these things are practially impossible to sell, and scam merchants abound.
I do not want to inherit the obligation when they pop their clogs, nor do I want them to spend their pensions in this way and have to go without as a result.
There's no expectation to recoup any money, just to legally get out of the obligation to keep paying until the end of time. Are there any *genuine* companies or organisations out there that deal with this?
Fast forward till now, and due to illness and old age, they pay thousands for holidays that no one uses. So finally they've begun to think that possibly maybe they ought to get rid of it. Apparently you cannot just hand the deeds back and walk away, these things are practially impossible to sell, and scam merchants abound.
I do not want to inherit the obligation when they pop their clogs, nor do I want them to spend their pensions in this way and have to go without as a result.
There's no expectation to recoup any money, just to legally get out of the obligation to keep paying until the end of time. Are there any *genuine* companies or organisations out there that deal with this?
Try trading the timeshares. My parents had one and frequently offered it up on some sort of service where you could swap with others. It worked about 60% of the time and was pretty good. When my father died, my mum decided that she was never going to use the timeshare (in the Lakes by the way), so she sold it.
Got probably about 50% of what was originally paid, but this seemed fair value given the location, timeslots and total paid. You never make money on them, but they offer a convenient way to have regular breaks.
Got probably about 50% of what was originally paid, but this seemed fair value given the location, timeslots and total paid. You never make money on them, but they offer a convenient way to have regular breaks.
Thanks for the replies so far. My parents have been exchanging it, and we try to take our holidays this way to help, but it's not that convenient, options are limited and with all the fees it's a very very expensive way of going about it.
They probably could rent the timeshares, but you can stay at the same resort through the package holiday companies at about a third of the price my parents pay (even before the fees payable for transferring a holiday week to someone else), so they'd still be substantially out of pocket.
They probably could rent the timeshares, but you can stay at the same resort through the package holiday companies at about a third of the price my parents pay (even before the fees payable for transferring a holiday week to someone else), so they'd still be substantially out of pocket.
Tony*T3 said:
You cannot inherit this as a debt. When your parents stop paying, what do you think will happen?
Just walk away if you really think theres no profit in selling them. Plenty of timeshares in Spain etc havent seen anyone through the doors in years.
Apparently, the ownership passes to the NOK on their death, seriously. OK, I'd refuse the inheritance, but I still don't like the idea.Just walk away if you really think theres no profit in selling them. Plenty of timeshares in Spain etc havent seen anyone through the doors in years.
And the company apparently pursue defaulter quite hard
These people may help or send you in the right direction: http://www.timeshare.org.uk/getout.html
www.transfermytimeshare.com were useful in getting rid of a mistake purchase (at a loss, of course).
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