Many timeshare owners are frustrated after making these purchases. In fact, statistics from 2016 found that 66% of timeshare owners felt that costly maintenance fees were their main reason for wanting to get out of timeshare contracts. Therefore, timeshares often become burdens for their respective owners. Understandably, a timeshare owner will consider selling this property. This is where scammers enter the picture, looking to prey on those eager to sell. Considering that, here’s the process behind a typical timeshare resale scam.

Initial Contact by a Scammer

If many things seem too good to be true, they likely are. Therefore, it’s important to be aware of companies contacting you after placing a timeshare up for sale. One study by Ernst and Young found that 56% of reclaimed timeshares stemmed from foreclosure. Considering that, many timeshare owners are so eager to escape these contracts they immediately fall into this trap. After all, it’s understandably hard to resist someone offering to take a burdensome timeshare off of your hands.

Asking for Certain Fees

After speaking with someone posing as an interested reseller, they’ll need to collect fees. While this might seem understandable, the fees go into their pockets. Scammers often use a wide variety of tactics to justify these payments. For instance, you might be told these fees are used to cover transfer fees or taxes.

The Vanishing Potential Buyer

Statistics show that the timeshare industry has an estimated value of $70 billion. Unfortunately, these scammers will make sure you never receive a cent from your timeshare sale. Of course, you’ll never be given this information by a scammer. In turn, you’re left waiting for an interested buyer that never contacts you. This is because there was never a buyer, it’s all part of this scam.

How This Scam Continues

If that process wasn’t enough, scammers often try to contact buyers again. During this contact, scammers will pose as representatives from an entirely separate company. In most cases, they’ll tell you something about trying to recover your lost fees. As you can probably tell, this is simply a second scam designed to get even more money out of unsuspecting victims. These scammers rely on most people’s lack of knowledge regarding timeshare cancellation laws.

In closing, it’s important to be aware of timeshare resale scams. Getting out of a timeshare contract doesn’t have to feel impossible. However, it’s rare that most people will have time to research how timeshare cancellation laws work. With that in mind, many in this situation contact timeshare lawyers. Timeshare cancellation laws are often difficult for many to understand. Therefore, timeshare lawyers provide immense amounts of help for their clients.