Timeshare Maintenance Fees: Can They Increase Over Time?
Timeshare sales representatives are incredibly good at their jobs. They manage to sell timeshares even though consumer protection groups and the US government have readily admitted that they are not good investments and do not appreciate over time.
In many cases, hidden fees are associated with timeshare ownership that people don’t recognize until they’ve already bought in. Most timeshare companies disclose that they charge maintenance fees, but few actively draw attention to the fact that those fees can increase over time, leaving buyers wondering, how do i get out of a timeshare? This article will explain how timeshare maintenance fees can increase over time and what owners can do about it.
Maintenance Fees Often Start Artificially Low
In many cases, resorts keep maintenance fees artificially low to encourage prospective buyers to sign up right after they open. This makes sense on some level since new alternatives require less maintenance, upkeep, and repairs than established ones. However, the resorts know that the fees will need to increase over time to cover those costs, and that’s just what happens.
In some cases, resorts aren’t even trying to scam timeshare buyers by starting with low fees. Some of them vastly underestimate how much it costs to maintain the property or deal with specific types of problems as they come up. When the costs are identified, maintenance fees increase.
Maintenance Fees Aren’t Always Spent on Maintenance
Owners don’t realize that maintenance fees aren’t always required contractually to be spent on maintaining the property. In some cases, they are paid out by the timeshare management company to keep a large staff available. When that happens, the quality of the resort gradually declines due to neglect, and eventually, the company must raise the fees significantly to cover major repairs.
Unfortunately, some resort management companies are also greedy. The resort owners realize they can make just as much money on maintenance fees and other hidden costs as they do selling the timeshares. One sure sign that this is the case is a resort that keeps a certain number of timeshare weeks reserved for its own use. This move allows the resort management company to control the vote at Annual General Meetings, allowing them to continue contracts that work out well for the managers but poorly for everyone else, including timeshare owners.
What to Do About Rising Maintenance Fees
Some timeshare owners stop paying maintenance fees when they get too high. This increases the fees for people who do pay them since the management company must allocate more money to administrative costs and legal fees. The better solution for people who no longer want to pay high maintenance fees is to find a legal way to exit their contracts.
Timeshare owners need to be careful when they attempt to get out of their contracts. There are as many timeshare exit scams out there as unscrupulous timeshare companies. The best solution is always to work with reputable attorneys, not timeshare exit companies that don’t have a license to practice law.
Make a Graceful Exit
Instead of driving up maintenance fees for everyone through non-payment, why not make a graceful exit? Getting out of a timeshare isn’t easy, but it’s possible with the help of a licensed attorney.
