The soaring price of everything from airfares to hotels to gas has been the topic of many news stories recently. This increase in prices is impacting a number of people including timeshare owners. The cost of maintaining a timeshare is an ongoing financial responsibility that is often hard to keep up with when the price of goods and services goes up.
The timeshare industry has long been a target of scammers who take advantage of consumers who are looking for ways to get out of their timeshare contracts and are seeking to sell their timeshares. This cottage industry is thriving on the back of misinformation and over promises. John Oliver recently ripped into the $8.1 billion predatory timeshare industry and the equally troublesome industry of companies that help timeshare owners escape their contracts on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight.
A new report shows that the number of wrongful foreclosures caused by timeshare exit companies is on the rise. The report also highlights that more than a few of these companies have been shut down by the Florida Attorney General for committing fraud and misleading practices. The report was compiled by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and is available here.
With the Covid-19 pandemic in full swing and travel at a near standstill, some timeshare owners are looking for ways to get out of their vacation ownership obligations. One option is to transfer the property to a friend or family member, but this is not always an easy task and can come with hefty legal fees. Another option is to try to sell the timeshare to a third party, but this can be difficult and not guarantee any results.
A new lawsuit against Diamond Resorts was filed by a consumer advocacy group, Timeshare Compliance, which alleges that the company retaliated against customers who sought its help in breaking their timeshare contracts. The lawsuit accuses Diamond Resorts of violating California’s consumer protection laws and making deceptive representations in its sales process.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, has sanctioned Eduardo Pardo Espino, a fugitive on a U.S. drug trafficking charge, as well as six other individuals and 19 Mexican tourism or real estate companies. The sanctions freeze any assets the individuals or companies have in the United States and prevents U.S. citizens and companies from engaging in any transactions with them.
For over twenty years TUG has been the go-to site for timeshare news, reviews and information. We were started by the late Sandy Marotta who sadly passed away in 2013. Since then we have grown into the leading source of impartial timeshare advice and continue to thrive today under the guidance of our CEO Keith Dewhurst.