One Single Mother’s Story of Denial, Resale Failure, and Finally Getting Out
¨We were told that if circumstances ever changed, there would be an easy way out of the timeshare. Unfortunately, life did change.¨
Dear Timeshare Recyclers Team,
I wanted to take the time to write and thank you for helping me finally get out of my timeshare after almost four years of trying to escape it on my own.
Like many people, I originally purchased the timeshare with [a major US timeshare reseller] when my husband and I were married. At the presentation, we were told that if we ever decided we didn’t want it anymore, we could simply give it back to the resort company. At the time, that made the purchase feel safe and responsible. We believed that if our circumstances ever changed, there would be an easy way out.
Unfortunately, life did change.
After our divorce, I suddenly found myself supporting a household on a single income. What had once seemed like a manageable vacation ownership quickly became a financial burden that I simply could not keep up with.
The mortgage payment itself was fixed, but the maintenance fees kept increasing every year. On top of the loan payment, those rising maintenance fees made the timeshare more and more difficult to afford. The worst part was that I was paying thousands of dollars every year for something I couldn’t even afford to use. I couldn’t justify taking a vacation while struggling just to keep up with the payments.
Naturally, my first step was to contact the resort company directly to ask about their timeshare exit or surrender program. I spent nearly a year trying to qualify. I followed all of their instructions and did everything they told me to do.
In the end, they told me I did not qualify to give the timeshare back.
Their solution instead was to refinance the loan. I was originally on a 120-month loan term, and they extended it to 180 months. While they presented this as a way to make the payments more manageable, the reality was that it only locked me into the timeshare for even longer.
Because of the interest over that extended period of time, the refinance meant that instead of paying roughly double the original purchase price — which is already common with timeshare financing — I would end up paying close to three times the cost of the timeshare over the life of the loan. It didn’t solve the problem. It simply made the obligation last longer and cost even more.
When I asked again about giving the timeshare back, they told me I could always resell it.
So I tried.
I hired a resale advertising company and paid about $2,000 to have my timeshare marketed for sale. I was told there was demand and that buyers were looking for timeshares like mine. Over the next two years, I lowered the price again and again, trying everything I could to sell it.
Eventually I had it listed for just $1, simply hoping someone would take it off my hands.
At one point, I actually did find someone who was willing to buy it for a very small amount. But that’s when I learned another harsh reality about the timeshare resale market.
Because I still owed more on the timeshare loan than what the property could sell for, I was upside down on the loan. In order for [the timeshare company] to transfer the ownership to a new buyer, they required the loan to be paid off in full. That meant I would have had to come up with the entire remaining balance of the loan just to complete the resale.
In other words, even when I found a buyer, reselling the timeshare was still impossible.
By this point, nearly four years had passed. I had spent thousands of dollars in payments, rising maintenance fees, and resale advertising, and I still had no way out.
That is when I finally found Timeshare Recyclers.
From the first conversation with your team, I felt like someone finally understood the reality of the timeshare exit process. You explained clearly why timeshare resales rarely work, why so many owners get stuck, and what legal options actually exist to help people get out of a timeshare contract.
For the first time in years, I felt hopeful that there might be a real solution.
Today I am incredibly grateful to say that I am finally free from that timeshare.
The stress, the financial pressure, and the constant worry about those bills are finally behind me. I cannot thank your team enough for guiding me through the process and helping me close this chapter of my life.
If anyone reading this is struggling with a timeshare they can’t afford, especially after being told they could easily sell it or give it back, please know that you are not alone. Many people are in the same situation, and there are professionals who understand how to help.
I only wish I had found Timeshare Recyclers sooner.
With sincere gratitude,
Monica D.
From Redmond, WA
