Messy Title - Slowing down Sale of PROPERTY

[Andrew Eaton]

I own a timeshare that I bought 15 years ago and the underlying real estate has appreciated considerably in the past 15 years to the point that a group of us is pushing for the sale of the property.

One issue we are having is that there are some messy title issues with old shares (approx. 10-15 shares) due to death, lost contact info etc. The board recently discovered that the original developer gave some shares away, subsequent owners never have paid maintenance fees. The board has worked with someone to track down the shares and attempt to clear it up, but it is SLOW, literally taken YEARS. Do you know anyone who could help in such a matter in a timely manner.

 

[WackyLucy]

I own a timeshare that I bought 15 years ago and the underlying real estate has appreciated considerably in the past 15 years to the point that a group of us is pushing for the sale of the property.

One issue we are having is that there are some messy title issues with old shares (approx. 10-15 shares) due to death, lost contact info etc. The board recently discovered that the original developer gave some shares away, subsequent owners never have paid maintenance fees. The board has worked with someone to track down the shares and attempt to clear it up...

Why can't the resort Board simply foreclose on any and all ownerships on which no maintenance fees have ever been paid? Why bother trying to track down people who never paid any fees, may no longer be alive, may never be located if still alive --- and even if alive and located may never respond?

I claim no expertise but it seems to my layman's mind that if the HOA can recover ownership by simply foreclosing on the long delinquent ownerships, that those ownerships can be taken "out of the picture"; promptly and without enduring lawyers and their endless billable hours and further delay.
If non-judicial foreclosure is available, easy and relatively inexpensive, wouldn't it promptly give the HOA both clear title and the ability to then vote on behalf of all the delinquent weeks recovered via foreclosure?

A straight line would seem to be the shortest distance between two points here, at least in theory, but maybe I'm missing something in my admitted ignorance of unknown applicable legal details or obstacles.