Would Like Feedback on Letter to Timeshare HOA Officers

Hello,

My wife and I wish to divest ourselves of our one timeshare. Concurrently with trying to sell (aka give away) our timeshare, I want to send a letter to the president of the HOA, cc'd to the other officers.

Based on helpful advice from folks on this forum, I've composed a first draft of the letter, shown below. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Following the letter are a couple of questions I have. A relevant conversation about this process starts about HERE in another thread.

____________________________________________

Dear ________________

My wife and I hold free and clear title to even-year biennial unit week number __ in Apartment No. ____ at [resort name]. We purchased the timeshare in ______, ____.

As members of RCI, over the years we have made good use of the timeshare’s points to stay at a variety of properties. Because we no longer are able to make use of the timeshare or the points, we are seeking a way to divest ourselves of the timeshare’s title.

When we purchased the timeshare, the sales representative said that [resort name] would like first right of refusal if we ever decided to sell the timeshare. I was wondering if the management of [resort name] would be interested in buying back our deed. We realize that currently the timeshare has little or no resale value; therefore, our asking price would be one dollar. As part of a deedback agreement, we would be willing to pay any reasonable transfer fees and to pay maintenance fees for the year of the transfer and the following year.

If the above is not possible, does [resort name] have an assistance program for owners who wish to sell their property? If so, where can I learn more about the program, and roughly how much can we expect to pay for that assistance?

I’m sure you will agree that voluntary acceptance of deedback seems more efficient, timely and less expensive than foreclosure proceedings.

Please let me know your thoughts on this matter. You can contact me at:

Email: ______________________
Phone: ______________________
Mail: ______________________
______________________
______________________

Sincerely,

___________________________

(end of letter)

My questions:

1. Am I giving away too much at the start of negotiations by offering to pay two years' worth of maintenance fees?

2. Is my implication that as a last resort we will simply stop paying the maintenance fees appropriate? Theo suggested adding this, and I have mixed feelings about it but see his point.

Thanks all,
Bill

Personally, I wouldn't say that it wasn't worth anything. I'd say I couldn't pay and won't be using and then I'd stop paying. They can save themselves some money by taking it back or they can pay the fees to foreclose on you.

yep, id focus more on the fact that you have reached a point in your life where your timeshare ownership is no longer useful or beneficial, and while you have been a happy owner for x number of years, it is time for your timeshare ownership to end...be it financial reasons, health reasons, passing of a spouse, etc etc.

that would likely read better than telling them you already know its worthless.

Thanks for the suggestions. Does this sound better:

Dear ________________

My wife and I hold free and clear title to even-year biennial unit week number __ in Apartment No. ____ at [resort name]. We purchased the timeshare in ______, ____.

As members of RCI, over the years we have made good use of the timeshare’s points to stay at a variety of properties. Due to advanced age, we no longer are able to make use of the timeshare or the points; therefore, we are seeking a way to divest ourselves of the timeshare’s title.

When we purchased the timeshare, the sales representative said that [resort name] would like first right of refusal if we ever decided to sell the timeshare. I was wondering if the management of [resort name] would be interested in taking back our deed.

If the above is not possible, does [resort name] have an assistance program for owners who wish to sell their property? If so, where can I learn more about the program, and roughly how much can we expect to pay for that assistance?

I’m sure you will agree that voluntary acceptance of deedback seems more efficient, timely, and less expensive than foreclosure proceedings.

Please let me know your thoughts on this matter. You can contact me at:
_____________________________

Concerning foreclosure, the very word has a negative connotation, reminding me of the Great Depression and more recent Not-So-Great Recession. In my mind, it's right up there with bankruptcy. I need to research the pros and cons of walking away from a timeshare. I see a long list of threads when I search on Foreclosure, and I'll be studying them. I'm especially interested in the legal ramifications.

The next maintenance payment isn't due until the end of the year. I'll try to find a buyer before making a decision then.

Bill

At least part if not all of the resort is managed by Diamond Resorts International (I believe). Do you pay billed your MF through DRI? If so you may want to read through this very long thread http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224859
and see if you they are accepting back deeds. If it is managed by DRI, I don't know if the HOA is going to have the say about accepting deeds or not.

Thanks for the heads up, tschwa2. I'll look into this.

On the one hand, our credit-card statement lists Barefoot'n HOA as the payee for the maintenance fee. On the other hand, Barefoot'n Resort is listed as a Diamond Resorts International resort, and the website for the resort has a DRI copyright at the bottom of the website page.

As far as I can tell, the name has been changed from Barefoot'n in the Keys to Barefoot'n Resort. I probably got the memo at some point.

Bill

Maybe I missed something along the way, but I had no prior inkling that the resort at issue was associated in any way with DRI.

Not long ago (and maybe even still currently), DRI had an open"deedback" policy and program. I seem to vaguely recall that the cost was just $400.

It's certainly worth examining and verifying whether or not the resort at issue is in fact DRI controlled and, if so, whether or not the "deedback door" is still wide open.
If so, the whole "deedback" exercise might be a whole lot easier, much more straightforward (and less expensive to boot) than previously believed.

With this new revelation in mind, I'd recommend running the DRI issue completely to ground before sending out any HOA letter.

Re: "...the whole "deedback" exercise might be a whole lot easier, much more straightforward (and less expensive to boot) than previously believed. With this new revelation in mind, I'd recommend running the DRI issue completely to ground before sending out any HOA letter."

I agree. I pulled our last maintenance-fee invoice and, yes, the letterhead says Diamond Resorts International. Tomorrow (it's late now) I'll check to see if the offer is still in effect. Seems almost too good to be true.

Bill

I sent an email to DRI with the required information. Got an auto response very quickly with a ticket number and promise to respond within one to two days (they may not be as flooded with responses as before).

I'm having my doubts. Although our latest invoice has the DRI logo, the instruction is to make the check payable to Barefoot'n, Condominium Association Inc.

I recall one poster at the DRI Now Accepting Deedbacks thread saying that DRI responded by saying they had no record of the property. We'll see if that happens in our case.

Meanwhile, I want to be prepared for the worst. So, if anyone has any further feedback concerning the revised draft letter I posted earlier in this thread, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll consider it good-to-go and hold it until I hear from good ol' DRI.

If the DRI avenue does pan out, I owe you a drink, tschwa2, at your favorite pub.

Bill

Update:

I've been corresponding with cjxj, who also has a Barefoot'n timeshare they are trying to dispose of. Here is a quote, provided with his permission:

I too saw that post about the DRI buyback but was not certain it applied to Barefootn. However, I did send them an email back in Feb of this year, following the instructions in the post. I got the same response as you, but nothing else. In March I sent an email asking for an update and heard nothing. I just sent another email but am not very hopeful.

So, there you are. I'm going to phone Barefoot'n and see if anyone there can shed any light on this.

Bill

Barefoot'n looks like it was a Club Navigo property. Club Navigo was under Island One and Islando One was acquired by Diamond. This does not appear to be an association type of thing but rather a resort fully controlled by Diamond. I know from experience because I had purchased a unit at a Club Navigo property and in the middle of the closing it was announced that Diamond purchased Island One. At that point I could only go through Diamond.

This does not appear to be an association type of thing but rather a resort fully controlled by Diamond.

Click to expand...

Yes, I phoned Barefoot'n's front desk and was transferred to DRI customer service. The woman I talked to was very helpful. She explained a lot of things to me and said that I should hear in a couple of weeks whether our property is eligible for deedback.

Written information I received from DRI quite a while ago says in part:

BOARD ACTION

Should the account become over 60 days past due, the Board of Directors may authorize any necessary
actions to collect outstanding assessments. Actions may include but are not limited to the following:

1. Submit delinquent accounts to an attorney.

2. Record a claim of assessment lien.

3. Foreclose on the claim of assessment lien, including foreclosure through a trustee’s sale, as provided
by law.

4. Institute a small claims suit or legal action.

All related costs for the above will be added to the delinquent owner’s account.

I assume that sort of written warning may be common, but, frankly, I don't think I would like to call their bluff. As far as I'm concerned, foreclosure isn't an option.

Bill

BSquared18 said:

Yes, I phoned Barefoot'n's front desk and was transferred to DRI customer service. The woman I talked to was very helpful. She explained a lot of things to me and said that I should hear in a couple of weeks whether our property is eligible for deedback.

Written information I received from DRI quite a while ago says in part:

BOARD ACTION

Should the account become over 60 days past due, the Board of Directors may authorize any necessary
actions to collect outstanding assessments. Actions may include but are not limited to the following:

1. Submit delinquent accounts to an attorney.

2. Record a claim of assessment lien.

3. Foreclose on the claim of assessment lien, including foreclosure through a trustee’s sale, as provided
by law.

4. Institute a small claims suit or legal action.

All related costs for the above will be added to the delinquent owner’s account.

I assume that sort of written warning may be common, but, frankly, I don't think I would like to call their bluff. As far as I'm concerned, foreclosure isn't an option.

Bill

Click to expand...

Actually, the Board steps cited are universally available legal procedures and options for any entity --- with or without any such formal, advance written notification.

Item 4. however, is highly unlikely (i.e., virtually unheard of in the industry), since the costs of pursuing legal action are prohibitive and far exceed (by multiple factors) the monetary value of the underlying "product". It's simply much easier (and much less expensive) for the developer (or DRI, in this specific instance) to just foreclose after some initial collection efforts and simply move on, later just selling the same product all over to someone else.

That being said, I fully understand and respect that you clearly wish to pursue any and all other available options other than foreclosure.

[Duplicate post deleted - please don't post duplicate messages.]