What Happens When You Don’t Pay Timeshare Maintenance Fees?

One of the most important parts of owning a timeshare is paying your yearly maintenance fees. Timeshare maintenance fees cover the regular upkeep of timeshare resorts, among many other factors of vacation ownership. So, what if you can no longer afford these yearly dues? Is simply not making your payment an option? Let’s chat about what happens when you don’t pay your timeshare maintenance fees and what alternative options you may have.

What Are Timeshare Maintenance Fees?

Before we answer what happens when you don’t pay timeshare maintenance fees, it’s important to understand what they are. Timeshare maintenance fees are payments that timeshare owners must make periodically. These payments can be annual, monthly, or quarterly depending on the developer. Your timeshare management company should provide a report of the costs owners should expect to pay every year.

Why Do Owners Pay Maintenance Fees?

As their name implies, these fees are very important for maintaining a timeshare. Timeshare maintenance fees cover updates to the amenities, unit upgrades, upkeep for the resort, and compensation for everyone who works to keep your timeshare beautiful. This includes regular maintenance of the property and employee wages. Property taxes and insurance are also within the umbrella of timeshare fees.

Think of annual maintenance fees the way you would fees to service your car. A car may run well for a while, but if it’s never serviced, it will quickly fall apart. Timeshares work the same way, if you want them to keep working right, you’ll have to spend some money. This is exactly why owners pay annual maintenance fees. It takes a lot of work and money to upkeep a timeshare resort!

How Much Do Timeshare Maintenance Fees Cost?

How much timeshare owners will pay in annual fees depends on many factors. Not only with the timeshare company itself affect the price, but the individual resorts within the brand’s portfolio’s fees vary by property. Additionally, each unit within a specific timeshare property may have different annual maintenance fees depending on the size and time of year.

The average cost of maintenance fees in 2022 was $1,120, according to ARDA‘s State of the Industry Report. Keep in mind that maintenance fees typically go up every year, as seen across the timeshare industry. So, what you pay in fees next year will likely not be the same as what you paid this year.

What Happens When You Don’t Pay Timeshare Maintenance Fees?

So, it’s clear that timeshare maintenance fees are very important, but what happens when you don’t pay them? If you stop paying the fees and consistently miss the payment’s due date, you’ll default on your ownership. You will likely get many phone calls and letters from your timeshare developer encouraging you to not stop paying your fees.

“Will not paying maintenance fees affect my credit score?”

Multiple missed payments can be sent to collection agencies and ruin credit reports. Defaulting on your ownership will show up on your credit score. These penalties can be very harmful in the long run.

Many big purchases, like a house or car, require a credit check, and seeing these issues on your report will make those purchases much more difficult. Timeshare foreclosure may not stay on credit scores forever, but it can certainly have negative impacts on your future.

Depending on the timeshare company, it may be written in your timeshare contract that they have the right to take legal action against owners who don’t pay maintenance fees. Your timeshare may go into foreclosure and you will no longer be able to use your ownership. In cases like that, the resort takes ownership of the timeshare, sends what money you owe to a collection agency, and your credit report will be hurt.

Timeshare Cancellation Companies

Timeshare exit companies often claim that they can get you out of paying your maintenance fees, but they’re usually unsuccessful. In many cases, they try to have the resort or developer foreclose on the timeshare, which will negatively impact your credit score.

Proceed with caution if you receive phone calls from companies that tell you to stop paying your annual fees. This is a common timeshare resale scam, and unfortunately, many owners fall for it each year. These companies may require expensive upfront fees, and if you’re not in a position to afford maintenance fees, it could heed disastrous results. Sadly, there are many instances where owners drain their bank account or use up their emergency funds to pay these companies, only to never hear from them again.

Overall, the best thing you can do is keep paying your maintenance fees or talk to your timeshare company directly to find a solution.

What to Do When You Don’t Want to Pay Timeshare Maintenance Fees?

People can be tempted to stop paying maintenance fees for various reasons. Since the cost of your annual due payment goes up each year, you might not have originally budgeted for spending that much money. Paying these yearly fees might cause financial strain for some, but you’re obligated to pay according to your timeshare agreement. So, what happens when you can’t pay timeshare maintenance fees but want to get rid of them safely without harming your credit? Fortunately, there are two solutions.

“Can Timeshare Companies Help Me Stop Paying Timeshare Dues?”

First, you can contact your developer or timeshare company. Many resorts and developers have in-house options to take care of a timeshare if you don’t want it. In fact, some timeshare companies will buy the timeshare contract back from you directly!

Consider Selling Your Timeshare

If none of the in-house options work for you, you might want to consider the timeshare resale market. The secondary market gives you plenty of control over how to handle your timeshare. You can decide the price to sell your timeshare for, set the terms, and ultimately choose who the timeshare goes to.

Instead of paying an exit company to try to get rid of your timeshare maintenance fees, you can sell it to be free from maintenance fees and keep your credit safe.

How To Sell A Timeshare On The Resale Market

Reselling your timeshare may seem intimidating at first, but it’s actually pretty simple! Partnering with a credible reseller like Fidelity means you’ll be working with a licensed agent who can help guide you through the process.

To start, all you need to do is create a listing. We can work with you to set the price and make sure you’re happy with the resale process. It’s important to keep your expectations in check when it comes to price. Timeshares aren’t an investment so you might not get as much as you are expecting when selling it, but it’s the best thing to do if you find yourself wanting to stop paying your timeshare maintenance fees.

One of our licensed agents will walk you through selling your timeshare. When someone makes an offer on your timeshare ownership, they will handle the behind-the-scenes details. They will draft up the contracts between the seller and the buyer. Then, once you go through the Right of First Refusal stage, you will transfer the title out of your name. The buyer will become the new owner and you will be free from paying your yearly maintenance fees!

Sell Your Timeshare With Fidelity Real Estate

Not sure how to get started? No worries, we’re here to help. Fidelity Real Estate has been in the timeshare resale industry for over 20 years, which means we have the experience needed to help you through the whole process. Fidelity’s licensed agents are experts in all of the major resort developers, and we have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, so we’re a trustworthy, credible authority in the secondary market.

If you’re a timeshare owner and have questions about selling your timeshare, feel free to call 1-800-410-8326 or email us at [email protected].