The Big Scam: Timeshares

Stephen Foster

You’ve had it, and we get it. At first, it seemed perfect, right? And the pitch was just so enticing. Do you want to essentially own a resort property, often at the beach or in the mountains? Of course you do. Who doesn’t? So, you go all in and sign on the dotted line, or lines as the case may be. Then, with great pride, you announce to the world that you are a resort property owner. Your property is a timeshare. Secretly, you know your friends are envious.

Unfortunately, there are only so many times during the year when you may use it, but so what? You still are an owner. But this is a timeshare: others just like you also own the property. It’s only nominally “yours.” 
More than likely you’ve all been scammed--far too many details in the contract to keep account of. More than likely you’ll live to regret your decision to own the timeshare (AKA, time scare). Your anger and frustration may have you howling at the moon every night.

Why? Because your timeshare is very likely to be a massive money pit.

Buying a timeshare is like purchasing a house. You must sign a mortgage, with all that that implies. And, sure, you may have read about certain “extraneous” charges, but you never gave them much thought. Now, you are furious over those charges. Why? Because they will inevitably increase and increase and increase again.

Fees. You will be assessed fees, and these assessments are likely to occur frequently, and they almost always increase in cost, too. Over and over and over. 
What recourse do you have to stop them? None. These fees are ostensibly for: property upgrades, repairs, and general maintenance. The semantics of fee assessments may vary, but they almost always serve one purpose: increasing the corporate owner’s net worth. Fees are sort of like taxes. They proliferate and you, the owner, clearly didn’t vote for them. And just as with taxes, you must pay, period. You begin to have second thoughts, but still.

Now along comes another timeshare hand in your pocket.

Special Assessments. Speaking of semantics, when is a special assessment not a fee? Well, it’s not a fee because fees usually apply to specified parts of the property itself. A special assessment may be for a less tangible undertaking, such as locally-mandated “ordinances” or property management upkeep, which you thought were what fees were for. Not so. And when you are “specially assessed,” you must pay. Period. To borrow a cliché, you are now drowning in a money pit. And the pit is deep. It’s quicksand. And whatever you may have budgeted for your timeshare, you will almost always come up short. The special assessment cycle is like the minute hand on an electric clock; it never stops.

How could you have let this happen to you?

1. Timeshare salespeople are super aggressive. They know how to rope you in, and unless you’re in the minority, you’ll almost always relent: especially after you’ve been wined and dined at a super top-end restaurant where you undoubtedly were served steak and lobster, or any dish meant to sweep you off your feet.

2. You “know” in advance that your timeshare will be open for you on particular dates, and this is appealing because you can always plan around it. But those dates are not always going to hold up. The owners may, in fact, be conducting maintenance just when you plan to jump on a plane. Or you may have another engagement that you can’t miss—a son’s or daughter’s wedding, say. So you’ll have to miss your resort this year. And good luck getting another owner to switch times with you.

3. It seems as though everyone is buying timeshares, see number one above, and so you want to be where the action is.

Of course, as it turns out, timeshares almost always make bad investments. They are the vacation equivalent of quicksand. Best to have your steak and lobster and then slip out the back door.

Your bank account will thank you.