Why look any further? If all of these people with way more knowledge than me are telling you NOT to continue, then why do it? They are just trying to keep you from making a bigger mistake than you already have. Money is an issue otherwise you would be using your TS rather than selling or giving it away and you want to give away more money? How many years of MF's will $4200 pay? If the anwer is several then you have at least that much time to rid yourself of it. If you came to TUG looking for answers and advice then use what is given. The people here at TUG may not tell you what you want to hear but at least it will be the truth. Trust me I have been there. They helped me so listen up and they will help you.
Bruce
I have no idea if Heartland Transfers is a scam or not. I would NOT give it a 99.999% probability that it is a scam like John does. What I would say is that $4200 is too much to pay. You can do better.
As you have seen from the many threads on TUG on this topic, there are definitely at least 2 schools of thought regarding companies that take a fee to liquidate your timeshare.
1) One school of thought is that any company who says that they can liquidate your timeshare for a fee is doing something illegal or can be construed as a fraudulent transfer. They claim that their intent it to defraud the HOA.
2) On the other hand, there is another school of thought that vendors who earn a fee to liquidate your timeshare are providing a valuable service to many owners who have timeshares they cannot give away at any price. They claim that the HOAs should ultimately take these timeshares back and that any company that can legally and effectively move these timeshares off of your balance sheet are doing something good for the industry. The question is how do you find one that won't rip you off.
I am in camp 2. So, I will provide you information on how to find one and how to protect yourself.
To protect yourself, you need to ensure 2 things.
1) That the money you pay to a vendor actually goes to a transfer of your property to a new owner. In other words, they don't collect an upfront fee and you never hear from them again.
2) That there is no way a regulatory body can claim the transfer was fraudulent. We had a very good debate about this in other threads.
How do you protect yourself in the above?
1) Don't make any payments until you see purchase agreements with names of buyers. Or, put your money into the escrow account of a licensed and bonded title company that you can look up. You can verify with the bank the status of a trust account. Just confirming this with a bank means that company has passed a very difficult hurdle. Escrow accounts are heavily regulated and must be reconciled monthly or have serious penalties if many isn't properly accounted.
2) Make sure that they transaction is arms length between you and the buyer, whoever that ends up being. You can't transfer a timeshare to a party that you believe will simply default on your timeshare. However, you are also not accountable for the credit worthiness of all possible buyers. As long as your transaction is normal and doesn't do anything funky, you will have a lower risk of a potentially fraudulent transaction.
Or, work with licensed professionals whose licenses you can look up. If they are licensed, they have to follow a set of laws and regulations that protect you as a consumer.
Check out the companies. If they are good ones, they will have positive references that you can easily find. If you can't find any, then you may be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Unlike many people on this message board, I believe timeshare liquidators are required in this industry and there are good ones out there that you can help you. I think I am in the minority on this message board, but I can back up what I believe with experience and understanding of the law.