Many timeshare buyers don’t take long to discover that they made costly mistakes by investing in a timeshare. Other owners encounter challenges in financing their loans and ever-increasing annual fees before they’re ready to give up. Even the contended timeshare owners at some point may want to relinquish their contracts, especially when they’re done with travelling.
Shoppers can terminate a timeshare purchase if they instigate the process within the “grace period,” which varies from state to state and takes place within 3 to 15 days. Once the rescission period lapses, owners looking to cancel their timeshare will have limited options.
The industry reluctance to offer a noble exit for owners has opened the door for fraudsters and shysters to exploit the situation.
However, despite these challenges, there is still a path for discontented owners to relinquish their timeshare. With that said, here are ways to relinquish timeshare ownership legally, although it takes time and effort.
- RENT IT OUT
Renting out your timeshare can help you to recover a significant percentage of maintenance costs. Perhaps you can permit a third-party to use it in exchange for a maintenance fee. All you to do is rent it out for a sizeable amount to put forward toward your maintenance expenses.
Renting out your timeshare on the open market is an ideal option for many people. Over the last few years, the rental market has been pretty healthy. Social media marketing has proven to be the most effective way to market a timeshare for rent or sale.
- LOOK FOR A BUYER
The easiest way to legally dispose of a timeshare is to find a buyer, but it has its hurdles. Beware that the amount you recoup from the sale will be slightly lower than what you paid during purchase and that unloading it means you are no longer liable for its costs. Timeshares, especially the older ones, have little to no value despite attracting high annual fees, which keeps hiking.
If you want to find a buyer for your timeshare quickly, you can broker a deal with a licensed real estate agent to find you a buyer, but you will have to part way with at least 30 per cent of the sales price as commission to your realtor. In this case, you need to make your mind whether such a huge commission is worth it.
- CONTACT THE RESORT
Some resorts have their defined timeshare cancellation programs. Although most of these programs aim to benefit the resort at the expense of the timeshare owner, the most important thing is that you can give up your timeshare. Reach out to the resort to find out if you are eligible for a timeshare cancellation program. Although many resorts provide limited timeshare exit avenues, you can’t know if you are eligible for exit unless you ask.
- GIVE IT AWAY
If finding a buyer becomes a challenge or you intend to cut your losses swiftly, consider donating or gifting your timeshare. You will probably find someone ready to take your timeshare off your shoulders for free, unlike when looking for someone to buy it.
CONCLUSION
The discussed above are some of the ways disgruntled timeshare owners can relinquish their timeshare legally.