Getting out of any timeshare can be a challenging process. That process often gets even more difficult when there is a mortgage balance remaining on the account. If you still owe on your timeshare mortgage and would like to find a way out, your options may be limited – but that doesn’t mean it is hopeless.

Below, we’ll go over some of the general strategies that you might want to think about as you find a way to tackle this challenge. Not all of the tactics listed below are going to apply to your situation but take a moment to read through everything and then think about how the advice applies to you. With some patience and the right help, it might be possible to find a satisfactory solution to this matter.

Understanding the Challenge

The challenge at hand here is a rather big one, unfortunately – you have a timeshare that you no longer want but it has an unpaid balance on the mortgage. Since you still owe money on your timeshare, it is effectively a negative asset, and you can’t just give it away. Rarely do timeshares sell for much on the open market, so the idea of getting an offer that is big enough to pay off your mortgage and then sign over the timeshare to a new owner is unlikely to come to fruition.

There’s also the fact that many timeshare mortgages include extremely high interest rates – much higher than what would be seen for a typical real estate purchase. If your mortgage rate is high, you still owe a lot on the mortgage, and no one wants to buy the timeshare for any significant amount of money, you’ll be in a tough spot, to be sure.

One potential way to approach this challenge is to start saving up money as soon as possible in order to pay down the mortgage and get rid of the balance owed as soon as possible. You certainly aren’t obligated to wait for the entire term of the mortgage to pay back what you owe. The faster you can pay it off, the sooner it will become feasible to get rid of the timeshare and move on. Or, once the mortgage is gone, you may decide that keeping the timeshare will be more practical. The choice will be yours if you are able to get to that point.

Some Possible Grounds for Cancellation

I will acknowledge right from the start in this section that getting out of your timeshare mortgage through one of the issues below isn’t particularly likely. In fact, it’s probably a long shot that something from this section is going to pay off for you. With that said, if you are in a tough financial spot and need something to look for as a way to get back on track, you can consider whether any of these points might apply to you and might enable you to effectively cancel the timeshare immediately without having to pay anything else on the mortgage.

• In some cases, during a sales presentation, the timeshare you are purchasing from will offer to buy your old timeshare, so you can then buy this new one. If that doesn’t end up happening in the end, they may have breached your contract and that may be a way for you to get out.
• You may not have been told about all of the fees that you will have to pay as a timeshare owner. If those fees were not properly disclosed at the time of sale, that could be another path toward canceling the contract and eliminating the mortgage.
• Did the timeshare presented indicate to you that your timeshare is an investment that is likely to climb in value over time? That’s not a true statement and it could be another reason that the contract might be voided legally.
• Were you led to believe that the maintenance fees would never increase while you were a timeshare owner, only to see them quickly start to climb after you made the purchase?

Basically, anything that may have misled you during the sales process and left you in a situation that was not what you expected could be grounds for voiding the contract. It won’t be easy to go this route, as you’ll have to prove your case, but it’s possible to potentially get the timeshare canceled so you can move on.

The Implications of Not Paying

Not making the payments on your timeshare mortgage will do more than just mean that you can’t use the timeshare any longer. Of course, that will be the case, but far more damage can be done – and that damage can chase you around for many years to come. Specifically, your credit score is going to take a major hit as a result of defaulting on a mortgage, and the lowered score can remain for as long as seven years. It’s going to be hard to recover from the mortgage default anytime soon, so this is not a decision that you want to take lightly.

Basically, not paying the mortgage should be seen as the absolute last stop on your list of options. If you simply do not have the money to make your payments, that’s the way it is, and you’ll have to find a way to live with the consequences and move forward. However, if there is any way at all that you can keep up with the payments – at least enough to avoid foreclosure – that’s what you’ll want to do.

See If an Exit Company Can Help

It should be clear by now that trying to get out of a timeshare while you still have a mortgage on that timeshare is a sticky situation. There are some options to explore, but you might find more dead ends than you find opportunities. So, is it all hopeless? Not necessarily – reaching out to a timeshare exit company is one path you can explore for some help.

Timeshare exit companies specialize in this field, and while they likely work more often with people who no longer have a mortgage on their timeshare, that doesn’t mean that you can’t try to get some help. Reach out to qualified exit companies to explain the situation you find yourself in and see what they have to say.

I’ll tell you upfront that there may be some exit companies that aren’t interested in working with you because of the situation that you are facing – and that’s okay. You only need one good option to be in business. Be upfront with everyone about your situation and see which exit company wants to take you on as a client.

While looking around for help, remember to protect yourself at the same time. Specifically, you’ll want to find an exit company that is experienced in the industry and always uses escrow accounts to hold clients’ money while they work. The use of escrow is a great sign of a trustworthy business that will genuinely work hard to find a good outcome for you. If a given timeshare exit company isn’t willing to use escrow, simply move on to the next.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am sure you have a lot of questions about this situation, and the points above probably haven’t addressed everything you need to know fully. There are a few FAQs below to hopefully fill in some of the gaps.

Q: Do I have to pay off my timeshare mortgage before I can get out?
A: Maybe – it might prove difficult to get away from the timeshare while you still owe money on it, but you can give it your best effort and see what happens.

Q: Should I go ahead and stop paying my timeshare mortgage?
A: It’s not a good idea in most situations to stop paying on a timeshare mortgage. While it might not feel as serious as stopping payments on your regular mortgage – which would mean losing your place to live – it’s still a major financial situation and could leave you in a tough spot in the future. Do your best to keep up with these payments while working on other solutions.

Q: How long will it take to pay off my timeshare?
A: This is going to vary from case to case so you’ll want to look at the details of your loan to determine the payoff period. If possible, consider making extra payments to get rid of the loan faster and limit how much interest you pay in the end.

Don’t Try to Figure It All Out Alone

If you’d like to make a phone call today to 833-416-8796, we can discuss the situation you are facing and talk about what paths might make the most sense for your needs. Also, feel free to use our live chat feature to go over your options and ask any questions you may have. Thank you for taking the time to stop by and I wish you good luck with whatever path you decide to explore.