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Stop paying maintenance fees?

discodan

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I bought a TS in Fort Lauderdale in 2002 on ebay. At the time I put me and my girlfriend's name on the deed. We went every year. Now we are not together anymore. She does not want it so I told her I would get rid of it. So I put an ad on bidshares and got a buyer for $1.00. All the closing documents are prepared and my ex girlfriend decides, just to be difficult, she's not signing anything anymore. I emailed the closing company about the situation and they can't do anything without her signature. So now I will have to reimburse the buyer the $325 closing fee he paid. What do I do now? I'm already out of $325. The only solution I see without losing more money is to stop paying the maintenance fees. What are the consequences? Since I am Canadian and the timeshare is in the USA, can it still affect me? Do I notify the resort about the situation? Thanks for your help!
 
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AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Not For The Faint Of Heart.

Much disharmony is apt to result from nonpayment of timeshare maintenance fees -- e.g., downgrading your credit rating, calls & letters & visits from bill collectors, lawsuits, added claims for interest on unpaid debt plus all collection charges & attorney fees.

With your ex-girlfriend's name on the timeshare deed right alongside yours, it stands to reason she'll be in line for some of the same kind of unpleasantness herself when she becomes a delinquent owner.

Not signing any more documents as a way of giving you a tough time is 1 thing. Asking for trouble of her own by not going through with the timeshare sale is something else again.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

UWSurfer

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I suppose YOU could quit claim it to her and let her be on the hook for it.
 

discodan

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Much disharmony is apt to result from nonpayment of timeshare maintenance fees -- e.g., downgrading your credit rating, calls & letters & visits from bill collectors, lawsuits, added claims for interest on unpaid debt plus all collection charges & attorney fees.

With your ex-girlfriend's name on the timeshare deed right alongside yours, it stands to reason she'll be in line for some of the same kind of unpleasantness herself when she becomes a delinquent owner.

Not signing any more documents as a way of giving you a tough time is 1 thing. Asking for trouble of her own by not going through with the timeshare sale is something else again.

So it goes.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​

I already explained all that to her and she does not care!
 

discodan

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Much disharmony is apt to result from nonpayment of timeshare maintenance fees -- e.g., downgrading your credit rating, calls & letters & visits from bill collectors, lawsuits, added claims for interest on unpaid debt plus all collection charges & attorney fees.
-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
Is all this still valid if I am in CANADA and the timeshare is in the U.S.A.?
 

Jennie

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Did your ex pay any part of the maintenace fees in the past few years, and her 1/2 of the hefty Special Assessment last year? Who has been using the week each year? Which week and unit size do you own?

Have you considered bringing a case against your ex in Small Claims Court (or whatever the equivalent is in Canada)? You could sue her for her 1/2 of any unpaid maintenance fees plus the closing costs you just lost. Perhaps when she has to deal with a court, and obtains legal advice about the consequences of not paying her lawful debts, she will cooperate in settling the matter.

This resort aggressively pursues delinquent accounts and does foreclosures. They add quite a bit of legal costs to the final bill and obtain a judment. Whether they can attach any of your assets in Canada, or enter negative information on your credit report is a matter you need to discuss with a legal advisor in your city. A consumer debt counseling agency should be able to provide this information.

Good luck.
 

theo

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There is no point, purpose or value in your "notifying the resort", since your personal situation, while unfortunate, is of no interest or concern to them.

It's difficult to imagine that your ex-girlfriend would risk credit rating damage when all she need do is affix a signature, apparently at no further cost to her. I'd be inclined to make one last, tactful appeal to her sense of reason, since the long term negative consequences of delinquent maintenance fees and possible foreclosure will be EQUALLY borne by BOTH of you. Ask her to further consider whether she really wants that stain indelibly marked on her personal credit record.

Good luck --- it sounds like a delicate and difficult situation indeed.
 

janapur

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I suppose YOU could quit claim it to her and let her be on the hook for it.

I think this is the best idea. With mortgages, you would still be responsible for payments even if you quit claimed it to her. However, I don't believe the same would be true for main fees. Since you bought it on ebay, clearly there is no mortgage.

Jana
 

Dave M

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As discodan correctly stated, the former GF must accept the quit claim deed for it to have effect. No one can force ownership of property onto another individual or entity through the quit claim process. If that were possible, we would be advising all those who ask here how to get rid of their timeshares to simply quit claim them back to the resort!

Bottom line: Both the OP and the former GF have responsibility for the MFs until the OP can figure out how to get the former GF to sign off on a disposition. That might take a cash sweetener to her to accomplish!

Many resorts are aggressive at pursuing remedies in court for the payment of delinquent MFs - even crossing borders of other countries to do so. It's likely that the terms of the underlying legal documents allow the resort to charge you for collection costs, legal fees, late fees, interest and court costs in addition to the MFs. There is know way for us to know if your resort will do that.

Best advice is probably to ignore everything you read in our responses and go spend an hour with an attorney, taking with you to the meeting all of the legal documents you got from the resort when you bought.
 

Phill12

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I bought a TS in Fort Lauderdale in 2002 on ebay. At the time I put me and my girlfriend's name on the deed. We went every year. Now we are not together anymore. She does not want it so I told her I would get rid of it. So I put an ad on bidshares and got a buyer for $1.00. All the closing documents are prepared and my ex girlfriend decides, just to be difficult, she's not signing anything anymore. I emailed the closing company about the situation and they can't do anything without her signature. So now I will have to reimburse the buyer the $325 closing fee he paid. What do I do now? I'm already out of $325. The only solution I see without losing more money is to stop paying the maintenance fees. What are the consequences? Since I am Canadian and the timeshare is in the USA, can it still affect me? Do I notify the resort about the situation? Thanks for your help!

Yes this will hurt your credit and your ex-girl friend's credit!

Before I lost the sale I would have told her that if she doesn't sign so you can sell it then you are walking away from it. Tell her that her name being on this will also hurt her credit and that the resort will have credit dept coming after her too!

I would at this point call the resort and explain the problem that you no longer can afford this timeshare and problem with your your ex and see what they say about it. They will probably be no help but you have taken first step of talking to them.

I would ask them to start sending the bill to your ex-girl friend who's name is on the title too!

If you do these things it may be helpful down the road.

From what you say both of you bought this condo and hope it is paid off so MF is only cost per year. If this is the case then both of you should still be paying your share of this cost.:crash:

NEVER BUY ANYTHING WITH A GIRL FRIEND BECAUSE GIRL FRIENDS GET CHANGED LIKE UNDERWARE! :rofl:
 

AwayWeGo

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[triennial - points]
Whoa, That's Harsh.

NEVER BUY ANYTHING WITH A GIRL FRIEND BECAUSE GIRL FRIENDS GET CHANGED LIKE UNDERWARE!
Above all, if you do buy something with your girlfriend, make sure your wife never finds out about it.

-- Alan Cole, McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.​
 

natashateach

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I wish you the best!

Your ex might now be listening to what you have to say at the present time. Possibly try printing these responses out and let her read them. We are more of a neutral party. With that said I hope all works out!
 

discodan

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Update

UPDATE- After waiting over 1 month for her signature,she still would not sign after I offered her money and explained to her the consequences. I had to cancel the sale and reimburse the buyer closing fees. Now I got a Quick Claim deed made that I will try to get her to sign, I give myself till about the end of the year to work on it.
 

theo

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???

Re: >> Now I got a Quick Claim deed made that I will try to get her to sign, I give myself till about the end of the year to work on it. <<

It's Quit Claim, not Quick Claim.......but my real point is to ask why on earth she would sign a quit claim deed (which would then make it her problem alone to deal with) when she wouldn't even sign a document which would have successfully rid BOTH of you of the problem --- forever???

Shakespeare knows: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned"....
 
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Patri

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Maybe she wants to keep and use the timeshare. With another boyfriend.
 
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theo

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Maybe she wants to keep and use the timeshare. With another boyfriend.

The first lines of the OP (discodan) stated (quoted verbatim) "she does not want it".
I interpreted that statement to indicate that "she does not want it", further assuming that she does not want it alone, with another boyfriend, girlfriend, or pet iguana. Perhaps I misinterpreted......;)
 

charford

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Just want to relay a story that indicates how ignoring credit issues in the States may affect Canadians.

Many, many years ago, when we were living in T.O., my BF had to take an exam in Buffalo. He was on crutches and after entering the parking lot, found that the building where he had to write the exam was up many, many steps. I parked the car at the curb, helped him, and his backpack, up the steps, went back to the car, to find a ticket for parking in a handicapped space. I spoke to the parking lot attendant who took the ticket and said he would take care of it. I never heard more about it.

Fast forward about 8 years. We move to Massachusetts from T.O. Within a month, a collection notice for the $10 ticket appears in my mail. :eek: I couldn't believe it!

So, the moral of the story is, even if they don't cross the border and sue you in Canada, if either of you ever do decide to move to the States, you could have massive credit problems if this isn't taken care of properly.
 

Mel

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Look at your deed, and see if you have a Tenancy in Common (as opposed to joint tenancy). If you do, you can sell your share. If that is the case, you might talk with resort management to see how they can help you. It is in their best interest to get ownership into the hands of someone who wants to own, and is willing to pay the annual fees. If they willingly take units to forclosure, they might be willing to take your half back and forclose on her share of the deed. One of my resorts had to do this with some weeks after an assessment - divorced owners who had never deals with the deeds (just agreed who would get use), signed a quit claim, but didn't have the signature of the ex-spouse. The resort then forclosed on the other party.

Again, if the resort knows forclosure is going to be necessary anyway, this would save them the hassle of forclosing on both of you. They don't have to work with you, but it may be in their best interest.
 

Blondie

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Wow- I'd have just signed her name and not told her :D
 

theo

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I don't think so....

Wow- I'd have just signed her name and not told her :D

The notary public whose name, stamp and credibility would be on the new deed might just have a problem with that particular approach........
 

T_R_Oglodyte

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Look at your deed, and see if you have a Tenancy in Common (as opposed to joint tenancy). If you do, you can sell your share. If that is the case, you might talk with resort management to see how they can help you. It is in their best interest to get ownership into the hands of someone who wants to own, and is willing to pay the annual fees. If they willingly take units to forclosure, they might be willing to take your half back and forclose on her share of the deed. One of my resorts had to do this with some weeks after an assessment - divorced owners who had never deals with the deeds (just agreed who would get use), signed a quit claim, but didn't have the signature of the ex-spouse. The resort then forclosed on the other party.

Again, if the resort knows forclosure is going to be necessary anyway, this would save them the hassle of forclosing on both of you. They don't have to work with you, but it may be in their best interest.
Mel - I think you may have a possible way out here if the resort wants to play along. If the resort is relu

OP explains the situation to the resort, making clear there aren't any more MFs coming from him, but it's in both his interests and the resort's interest to get the situation resolved. They jointly agree to expedite a foreclosure; OP assists the resort as much as he can. The resort agrees to not report to credit agencies.

After foreclosure, the resort can resell. Or, alternatively, he agrees to buy the unit back from the resort for some nominal amount.

Done correctly, and with some thinking resort management, the resort should go along with this because they will be out less money than if they went through a full foreclosure process. OP gets the situation resolved, without damaging his credit rating, and with the minimum additional financial damage. OG is out of the picture with minimal to no need for continued frictional communications. As close to a win-win-win as I can see under the circs.
 

discodan

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Look at your deed, and see if you have a Tenancy in Common (as opposed to joint tenancy).

The warranty deed was made as joint tenants with right of survivorship.

I did notice however than on the new Quit Claim Deed I got made that only HER name appears as the Grantor (and my name as the Grantee). If she ends up not signing, can I in return, make a new quit claim deed as me as grantor and her as grantee (since it seems only the Grantor as to sign) making her responsible for the maintenance fees alone. THANK YOU for all your help!
 
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theo

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Re: >> If she ends up not signing, can I in return, make a new quit claim deed as me as grantor and her as grantee (since it seems only the Grantor as to sign) making her responsible for the maintenance fees alone. <<
==========================================

I believe that DaveM has already addressed this point in a post within this very thread, correctly pointing out that no one can force property ownerhip onto another without their overt acceptance of same.
 
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