septemberchevy Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 In February, we signed off on a timeshare in cabo,mx. The sales person said we couldn't cancel, no if's ands or buts. When we got home we wanted out and no one ever returned our phone calls until I got a collections call. Now, our timeshare is in collections I am freaked out and don't know what to do. they want us to pay the full amount and we have never use the place. Is there a way around this? I've sent, emails, letters and nothing...Need guidance.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debtorshusband Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 I've never been in your situation, so bearing that in mind, here are my thoughts.First, remember that you are in the position of power. You have the money. They want the money. They can't get the money until you choose to give it to them. When you think about it, how much harm can they do to you with letters and phone calls?The only thing you have to worry about is if they decide to sue you. To prepare for that possibility, the first thing is to carefully read the contract you signed. You need to understand everything in the contract. Look for cancellation rights especially. Next, you take it to a lawyer. Lawyers who specialize in consumer advocacy can be found using the attorney locator feature at National Association of Consumer Advocates | Consumer Protection Advocates and Attorneys - Help for Consumers. Even if the contract says you can't cancel, maybe this type of clause is illegal in your state. Other types of contracts require a cancellation or cooling off period. Given the high-pressure tactics typically used to sell timeshares, I would be very surprised if cooling off periods weren't mandatory.If you are being contacted by a debt collector, as opposed to someone who works directly for the timeshare company, they are bound by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Read it. It governs when they can call, it prohibits them from lying to you, insulting you, threatening actions that they are not legally entitled to take, etc. They are supposed to write to you and inform you of your rights to dispute, but I don't thing your best response is to send a Debt Validation letter. If you want to stop the phone calls and letters (I would), the FDCPA gives you the right to direct them to Cease Communication with you. If they violate that directive, you can sue them and win.Another area of possible concern to you is if they report this to the Credit Reporting Agencies, thus damaging your credit rating. You can get free copies of your credit reports from the Big 3 at www.annualcreditreport.com. Note that this in NOT the site with the singing pirate commercials, which only provides free credit reports if you sign up for their credit monitoring service. If this has been reported, you can dispute it, and at the very least have your side of the dispute included in your credit reports. What you say in that dispute may depend on what you and/or an attorney glean from the contract you signed. (Note also that I am not a credit repair expert, so I may be a little off here.)Good luck.DH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyingifr Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 The interesting part here is that before they actually sue you they will declare the contract in default, cancel your timeshare membership and then possibly sue you to force you to pay for something they have and you don't have. Since the time share is in Mexico, do they have any USA nexus (locations)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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