If you buy a timeshare and regret it, most states have "cooling-off" laws. These laws let you get out of a timeshare contract if you act within a few days, usually within three to ten days. In Florida, the cooling-off period is ten days.
But if you don't cancel the purchase by the deadline and eventually stop making payments on your timeshare, you could lose the timeshare to a foreclosure or repossession, depending on what kind of timeshare you own. (While a developer may foreclose a deeded timeshare, a right-to-use timeshare is typically repossessed, which is a different legal process than a foreclosure.)
Also, should you decide to try to sell your timeshare, Florida law protects you against resale scams.
If you buy a Florida timeshare, you can cancel the timeshare contract up until midnight on the 10th calendar day after the later of:
Under Florida law, this right of cancellation can't be waived. If a purchaser waives, knowingly or unknowingly, their right of cancellation and a closing occurs, the closing is voidable at the purchaser's option for up to one year after the date when the cancellation period would have expired. (Fla. Stat. § 721.10(2)).
Also, a closing can't happen until the purchaser's cancellation period has expired, and if a closing occurs before the cancellation period's expiration, the closing is voidable at the purchaser's option for up to five years after the closing. (Fla. Stat. § 721.10(2)).
To cancel the purchase contract, you must notify the seller in writing. Then, the timeshare company must refund you the total amount of payments, reduced by the value of any benefits received, within:
In Florida, the developer must furnish each timeshare purchaser with a copy of the public offering statement. (Fla. Stat. § 721.07(6)(a)).
A "public offering statement" is a very detailed history of the project that contains important matters to consider when buying a timeshare interest, including, among other things:
If you take out a loan to purchase an interest in a deeded timeshare and fail to make your timeshare mortgage payments or keep up with the assessments, you might face a foreclosure.
In Florida, residential foreclosures are judicial, but state law provides for the nonjudicial foreclosure of mortgages and assessment liens for timeshare properties. (Fla. Stat. § 721.855 and § 721.856).
In a foreclosure, the borrower's total debt sometimes exceeds the foreclosure sale price. The difference between the sale price and the total debt is called a "deficiency."
For example, say you take out a mortgage loan to buy a timeshare in Orlando, Florida. The total amount you owe on the timeshare loan is $15,000, but the timeshare sells for $10,000 at a foreclosure sale after you stop making the required mortgage payments. The deficiency is $5,000.
In some states, the lender may get a deficiency judgment (a personal judgment) against the borrower for the deficiency amount. Whether you'll face a deficiency judgment after a timeshare foreclosure depends on state law.
In Florida, if you don't object to the foreclosure process, the lender can't get a deficiency judgment against you after a nonjudicial timeshare foreclosure. (Fla. Stat. § 721.81(7) and § 721.855(5)).
A few of the various options to avoid a timeshare foreclosure include:
However, be aware that once you own a timeshare, you'll probably have trouble disposing of it. Many of these alternatives, like selling or donating the timeshare or completing a deedback, are very difficult to complete or are at the option of the developer. You'll probably have better luck working out a settlement with the timeshare developer.
Owners often find it extremely difficult to sell their timeshares. So, scammers sometimes mislead timeshare owners into thinking that their company has someone waiting in the wings to buy the timeshare. But there's a catch—the timeshare owner must pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in upfront fees.
Once the fees are paid, the scam artists claim that they were simply offering advertising services for the upfront money paid, and no buyer ever materializes. Or the scammers disappear with the money.
In another common scam, the supposed reseller might not ask for an upfront fee, but you'll have to pay various fees, like a "federal tax," "state tax," "insurance premiums," "gains taxes," "customs fees," or something similar—but bogus—before the deal can happen. You keep paying the fees, but the sale doesn't happen.
Florida law provides the following protections to shield consumers from this type of resale scam.
If you want more information about timeshare laws in your state or need assistance canceling a timeshare, consider talking to a real estate attorney.
Contact a foreclosure attorney if you're facing a timeshare foreclosure and have questions about the process or your options.