Thousands of International travelers, particularly from the US and Canada, have fallen victim to timeshare scam while vacationing in Mexico. The timeshare developers hire skilled salesmen to represent their timeshares as many different attractive packages, such as financial investments, deeded properties, or vacation clubs, just to increase their sales.

Unfortunately these promises are normally made verbally, and the clients end up being disappointed by their purchase into a timeshare fraud. In desperation to get rid of their timeshare problem, timeshare scam victims research many different options to try to resolve their timeshare fraud issue.

1. Renting Timeshare Weeks

Many timeshare developers sell their timeshare packages as a financial investment. They claim that their properties are in constant demand by travel agents, and that the rentals are guaranteed if the client signs up with one of their affiliated brokers. The brokers give a guarantee; however, the guarantee is carefully worded to accept the owner’s timeshare week into the company’s inventory, not a guarantee to actually rent the weeks. They also charge an upfront fee to market the rental of the weeks. These companies do not perform the rental of timeshare weeks. Some timeshare owners are able to rent their timeshare weeks privately, through ebay.com, craigslist.org and other private listing websites or newspapers. Unfortunately, the proposed rental prices made by the timeshare scam salesman are far higher than the actual price the owners are able to get for the rental of their weeks.

2. Selling Timeshares

During the sales presentation, many salesmen will claim that the timeshare will appreciate in value over time. They may also make claims that if the client is not completely satisfied, the timeshare developer will buy it back for an attractive percentage of the fair market value. In reality, the timeshare developers do not buy back their timeshares. They may refer the timeshare owner to a third party resale company, who operates in a similar fashion to the scam rental agencies that collect fees to list the property, and then never follow through on the sale. We have also heard recently of clients who have listed with a resale company that claims to have a purchase offer from an actual client. The resale agent tells the client that they are required to pay the Mexican IVA taxes for the sale into an escrow account. In a matter of days, the client is supposed to receive their payment from the purchaser, and the taxes will be refunded. This is another form of timeshare scam because escrow accounts do not exist in Mexico. The resale agent takes the thousands of dollars, meant to be paid for taxes, and disappears.

3. Cancelling Timeshares

Cancelling a timeshare is a complicated procedure that requires help from people with experience and knowledge. There are several new companies that claim to offer timeshare relief or cancellation for an upfront fee. They may send the client paperwork to transfer the title or complete the cancellation procedure. This paperwork never actually gets processed by the timeshare scam developer. When the client calls the resort, they are still in fact the owner of the timeshare, and they have lost money to the timeshare cancellation company in upfront fees.

If you have already purchased a fraudulent timeshare and are interested in renting, selling or cancelling your weeks, here is some advice from our experts at G&G Timeshare Solutions:

1. Do not make spur of the moment decisions

Large real estate purchases and sales require careful thought and consideration about the financial implications you will incur. Many fraudulent timeshare salespeople conduct high pressure sales presentations and offer one-day only special deals. This is a common sales tactic of ensuring that the purchaser does not take the time to investigate the reputation of the company, or the details of the contract they are signing.

2. Do your research

Do not buy a timeshare or list a timeshare for rental, resale or relief without investigating the company thoroughly. Most of the timeshare companies on our blacklist are there because they have a bad reputation for scamming their customers. If there are few or no complaints online, that is a good sign that the company is reputable. People who have had issues like to share their experience on websites such as complaintsboard.com, ripoffreport.com or squeakywheel.com to ensure that other people do not fall victim to timeshare scam. Check these sites carefully before making a timeshare purchase or listing your property for rentals, resale or cancellation.

3. Never pay upfront fees

Unfortunately the timeshare industry is riddled with scam and fraud companies that are linked with each other. Many of the rental or resale companies that the timeshare developers recommend charge upfront fees, and are another scam. If the company is willing to work on a commission basis for a successful outcome, then they are likely reputable, but if they ask for fees in advance, this is the first sign to walk away.