We at the TCA would like to pass some words of warning to customers who are considering re-selling their timeshare. The TCA is advising vigilance when researching timeshare re-selling companies, the TCA has recently experienced a spike in customer complaints regarding the timeshare re-sellers. The timeshare industry is growing and with that, there comes more opportunities for sharks to attack and customers to become victims of untrustworthy scoundrels, who are simply out to make money by bamboozling innocent people out of their hard earned cash!
A typical timeshare re-selling scam will normally follow a route of a ‘broker’ soliciting a timeshare owner, this can be by cold calling or emailing etc, it often includes promises of having a buyer lined up and ready to part with their cash. They will also often propose an unbelievable ‘too-good-to-be-true’ price for their timeshares, pressuring these owners to seize a one-time opportunity to cash out on their investments. Another carrot they dangle is to timeshare owners who own in isolated destinations, often these holidays can be expensive to get to and maintain, which means the owners sometimes can be easily swayed by the opportunity to have someone take it off their hands.
The scam in these scenarios ….. they ask for an upfront fee, which is usually disguised as taxes or transaction fees and then ‘poof’ they’re gone, never to be found again having taken the customer’s money and no buyer waiting in the wings!
In the US it is apparent that the scammers will often operate under the stolen name of a legitimate but retired U.S. real estate broker whose license is no longer active. Inactive licensees typically keep their contact information private on the Division of Real Estate’s website. Thus, when sceptical consumers research a scammers’ licensing information, they sometimes find a legitimate license listing but have no opportunity to contact the true licensee. (A warning – Consumers who come across an inactive licensee on the Division of Real Estate’s website should not do business with that person, and should instead reach out to the Division, which will do what it can to contact the licensee.)
If you are approached by a timeshare re-seller the TCA strongly recommends some scepticism and some self-preservation, people are often not who they seem! Especially if they approach you out of the blue. If you as the customer are being told your area is hot, people are waiting to buy, or ‘we can sell it in a month’ exercise caution!! Don’t be taken in by their promises, they are inevitably not true.
The TCA is offering a few tips:
- Avoid companies that ask for an up-front fee
- Reach out to the TCA and check whether the company that approached you has previously been reported as a scam
- Only deal with licensed agents. Do not do business with a broker whose license is inactive
- Look for businesses that provide a physical address (a PO box is not sufficient)
- Reach out to past clients for references
- Ask for everything—refund policies, sales agreements, etc.—in writing
- Be wary of brokers who consistently find excuses not to meet in person or speak over the phone
For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk