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Re: Re: Get out of timeshare without affecting credit (by KC):

kct15 wrote:

Hello, I have a 2 bedroom lock off timeshare with westgate villas in Kissimmee Florida which has been paid off since 2016, I got behind on the maintenance fee because of changes in income. The maintenance fee has gone up to 1,000 every odd year.. I’ve contacted westgate and they have stated that they could not assist me so, they put me in collections with pinnacle in which payments were set up 4 months ago. Today I was contacted by pinnacle saying that westgate contacted them and stated that I must pay the collections off ASAP or they will foreclose.. I’m having to use my credit card to pay the balance off with pinnacle. I can no longer afford to pay this maintenance fee every other year. What can I do to get out of this timeshare without affecting my credit score??

Frankly, it is quite rare (despite any empty threats to the contrary) for any developer, including slimy Westgate, to initiate negative credit reporting for any fully paid off (i.e., no unpaid loan balance) timeshare ownership they foreclose upon merely because of unpaid maintenance fees.

I don't really comprehend how Pinnacle even fits into this picture at all with a Westgate timeshare ownership, but that's an irrelevant detail that doesn't really matter and doesn't change my following input. Perhaps Westgate sub-contracts "collections" efforts to a third party? In any event, it's an irrelevant detail.

Defaulting on a loan is a different matter. A negative credit report is almost a certainty when defaulting on any loan. You reportedly don't have any such unpaid loan balance since 2016, so you are in a strong and leveraged position.

By the way, collection agencies get a percentage of whatever money they can hound someone into paying. Whatever Pinnacle told you about the (alleged) new Westgate "demand" was very likely just a fabricated BS story, concocted just to ratchet up the pressure to pay your delinquent fees (and thereby also increase their "percentage" income).

The fact is that you are in a position (with a fully paid off timeshare) to just tell Pinnacle to go pound sand and stop calling you. Pay not another penny, and just let slimy Wastegate go right ahead and foreclose at their convenience.

It seems to me that digging yourself a deeper hole by unnecessarily incurring credit card debt, just to cave in to some empty phone threats by a hungry (but completely powerless) collection agency, is a profoundly bad idea, but that's your own personal decision to make. Personally, I'd tell them in no uncertain terms to GO POUND SAND --- and I would pay ABSOLUTELY NOTHING further if I found myself in difficult financial straits. Wastegate has already received many thousands of dollars from you over the years and they certainly know that, which is exactly why you are unlikely to get a credit report ding for a foreclosure over unpaid maintenance fees alone (i.e., with no loan default). They will simply foreclose and move on. You will become just another forgotten "customer" who once paid Wastegate too much money for too little benefit. Other willing buyers will surely come along (and Wastegate certainly knows that too). Good luck.