Timeshares and Vacation Ownership: Contracts, Maintenance Fees, and Getting Out

Summary. What a timeshare interest actually is, the one right that matters most and expires fastest, and the honest truth about getting out.

The structure of the problem

Most consumer purchases have a ceiling. You buy a car, and the worst case is that you paid too much for a car.

A timeshare is different in a specific and underappreciated way: you have bought an asset with a resale value that is frequently zero or negative, attached to an obligation that increases annually without limit and, in many cases, does not end.

The maintenance fee is not rent. It is a share of the resort's operating budget, set by an association board, and it goes up. Special assessments arrive when the roofs need replacing or a hurricane hits. And the obligation is generally perpetual — a deeded interest passes to your estate, and a right-to-use contract runs for its stated term.

That structure is why the exit industry exists, why it is full of fraud, and why the single most valuable thing in this article is a section about a right that expires in five to fifteen days.

If you signed recently: skip to "Rescission." Everything else can wait.

What you actually bought

The word "timeshare" covers at least four different legal things, and the difference determines everything about exit.

Deeded fractional interest

You own real property — an undivided fractional interest in a specific unit, usually for a specific week, recorded by deed. It is titled, it is taxed, it can be sold, given away, or inherited, and it is subject to the resort association's declaration.

Implications: you have real property rights, but you also have real property obligations — including assessments that can become a lien on the interest and be foreclosed. It passes to your estate.

Right-to-use

A contractual license to use accommodations for a term of years. No deed, no title. When the term ends, you have nothing.

Implications: it is a contract, governed by contract law, and the obligation ends when the term ends. Which is sometimes decades away.

Points-based club membership

You buy points redeemable within a system for accommodations of varying size, season, and location. The underlying legal interest may be a deeded interest in a trust, a beneficial interest, or a pure contract right, depending on the program.

Implications: the most flexible product and the hardest to value or exit. Points may be devalued over time by the program operator, and availability is not guaranteed by the point total.

Fractional and destination clubs

Higher-end products with fewer owners per unit, longer stays, and higher prices — sometimes genuine real estate, sometimes club memberships with deposits.

The first question in any timeshare matter is: which of these do I have? Read the contract and the deed, if there is one. The answer changes the exit analysis completely.

The presentation

Timeshare sales are among the most heavily regulated and most complained-about consumer sales in the country, and the pattern is remarkably consistent.

The structure: a free or discounted stay, a gift, and a "90-minute" presentation that runs four to six hours. A tour. A first offer. A "manager" who arrives with a better one. A "today only" price. A closing officer with documents.

The recurring misrepresentations, in roughly descending order of frequency:

"It's an investment." Timeshares are consumption, not investment. The resale market is brutal.
"You can rent it out and cover the fees." Rental markets are saturated, and many programs restrict commercial rental.
"You can sell it any time." Interests routinely list for $1 and do not sell.
"Maintenance fees only go up a little." They compound, and special assessments are separate.
"You'll always be able to book what you want." Availability is not guaranteed and prime weeks are hard to get.
"This offer is only good today." It essentially never is.
"You can get out of it whenever you want."
"Your children will love inheriting this." Heirs frequently regard it as a liability, and they can disclaim.

What is legally significant about all this: most states have a timeshare statute prohibiting specific misrepresentations and requiring specific disclosures, and violations frequently constitute unfair or deceptive acts under the state consumer protection statute — with multiplied damages and attorney's fees.

The problem is proof. Which is why the practical advice is: record what you can where lawful (check your state's recording consent rule first), write down what was said the same day, get the names of everyone in the room, and keep every document you were handed, including the ones that look like marketing.

Rescission — the right that matters most

Every state with a timeshare statute provides a rescission or cooling-off period. It typically runs 5 to 15 days from the contract date or from receipt of the public offering statement, whichever is later. It is non-waivable in most states, and it entitles the buyer to a full refund.

This is the single most valuable right in this article, and it expires almost immediately.

The tactics used to run it out

The rescission period is well known to sellers, and a set of practices has grown up around it:

Scheduling the closing at the start of a vacation so the period expires before the buyer is home and thinking clearly
Burying the rescission notice in a large packet
Misstating the deadline verbally
Telling the buyer to call rather than write — and then handling the call as a retention conversation
"Let me have a manager reach out" — a delay tactic that consumes days
Offering an upgrade or a concession in exchange for not rescinding
Claiming the buyer must return to the resort to rescind

None of that changes the law. In nearly every state the requirement is: in writing, delivered or postmarked within the period, to the address stated in the contract.

How to rescind, correctly

Find the deadline. It is in the contract, and often on a separate rescission notice page. If you cannot find it, assume the shortest plausible period and act today.
Write it. "I hereby rescind and cancel the purchase contract dated [date], contract number [___], between [names]." Sign it. Date it. Include your name, the contract number, and the property.
Send it to the exact address in the contract, by certified mail with return receipt and by any other method the contract permits. Keep the receipt and the postmark.
Do not call instead. Call in addition, if you like, but the writing is what counts.
Do not accept an offer to "fix it." Rescind first. You can always buy something later.
Cancel any financing in the same letter and separately with the lender.
Dispute any charge already made to a credit card.
Keep a copy of everything.

If the deadline has passed: check whether the required disclosures and the public offering statement were actually delivered. In many states, defective delivery extends the rescission period, sometimes substantially. This is worth investigating before concluding the right is gone.

Maintenance fees and assessments

What they are

The maintenance fee is your share of the resort association's annual budget — housekeeping, utilities, insurance, management, property taxes on the common elements, reserves, and administration. It is set by the association board, allocated among interests, and billed annually.

It is not optional. It is not tied to whether you use the interest. And it has no ceiling.

Historical increases in this industry have generally outpaced ordinary inflation, driven by insurance costs in coastal markets, aging properties, and the cost of collecting from owners who have stopped paying.

Special assessments

Separate, and often large. Roof replacement, hurricane damage in excess of insurance, elevator replacement, mold remediation, resort renovation, or a defaulted-owner shortfall spread across paying owners.

A special assessment of several thousand dollars on an interest with no resale value is the moment many owners decide to exit — and it is also, unfortunately, the moment the exit industry finds them.

If you cannot pay

Ask the association about a payment plan. They generally prefer partial payment to a foreclosure.
Ask about a deed-back or surrender program. Many resorts operate one and do not advertise it.
Ask for the association's budget and the calculation. Most state statutes give owners a right to records.
Understand what happens if you stop paying — see below.

Getting out

This is why most people read an article like this, and it deserves an honest answer rather than an encouraging one.

The honest hierarchy

1. Rescind, if you are still within the period. Free, complete, and the only clean exit. See above.

2. Deed back / surrender to the resort. Many major operators have a formal program — variously called deed back, surrender, take-back, or transitions. They generally require the account to be current, the interest to be free of mortgage, and sometimes a fee.

Call the resort or association directly and ask for their exit or deed-back program by name. This is the single most underused route, because owners assume it does not exist and never ask.

3. Give it away. Genuinely. Owners transfer interests to family, friends, or strangers for a dollar, sometimes paying the closing costs and a year of fees to make it happen. This is a rational outcome, not a failure. Verify the transferee is real, use a legitimate closing company, and confirm the transfer is recorded and the association's records updated — an unrecorded transfer leaves you liable.

4. Sell on the secondary market. Expect very little. Many interests list for $1 and do not sell. Never pay an upfront fee to list. Legitimate resale brokers are paid on closing.

5. Negotiate a release. Where you have a genuine claim — misrepresentation, defective disclosure, elder financial abuse — a lawyer's demand letter proposing a mutual release and a surrender of the interest resolves matters more often than owners expect.

6. Consumer protection or misrepresentation claim. Where the facts support it, with the state attorney general, the state timeshare regulator, and potentially in court under the state deceptive practices statute with its fee-shifting.

7. Stop paying, and accept the consequences. Discussed below. This is a real option with real costs, and it should be a decision rather than a drift.

The exit industry

This is one of the largest consumer fraud categories in the country, and it targets people who are already trapped.

The pattern: a solicitation — mail, phone, seminar, or an online ad — promising a "guaranteed exit." An upfront fee of $3,000 to $10,000, sometimes financed. Then delay, then a "legal team," then nothing. Many of these companies dissolve and reappear under new names.

Red flags:

Any upfront fee. This is the single reliable indicator.
A guarantee of results
Cold contact — they found you, you did not find them
Instructions to stop paying the resort and to stop communicating with it
A "deed transfer" to an entity you have never heard of — frequently a shell that will never pay the fees, leaving the liability question unresolved and sometimes leaving you still on title
Claims of a "legal loophole" or a special relationship with the resort
Escrow arrangements that are not real escrow
A transfer company that charges a fee to move the interest to a straw owner

What to do instead: call the resort and ask about the deed-back program. Then, if that fails and you have a real claim, hire a licensed attorney in your state — paid by the hour or on contingency, not by an upfront "exit fee" — and check them with the state bar.

If you have already paid an exit company: dispute the charge if it is recent, file with the state attorney general and the FTC, file with the state bar if a "law firm" was involved, and check whether a class action exists.

Default, foreclosure, and credit

Owners who stop paying want to know what actually happens. The answer depends on what they own.

A deeded interest with no mortgage

The association bills, then adds late fees and interest
The account goes to collections, and may be reported to credit bureaus
The association records an assessment lien
The association may foreclose the lien — judicially or non-judicially depending on the state — and the interest is sold or taken back
In some states a deficiency may be pursued, though on a low-value interest it is frequently not worth pursuing
Foreclosure resolves the ongoing obligation, which is why some owners regard it as an exit rather than a disaster

A deeded interest with a purchase-money mortgage

Worse. The lender can foreclose and may pursue a deficiency where state law allows. This is a genuine credit and financial event, not merely an annoyance.

A right-to-use or club contract

Breach of contract. The operator may sue for the fees, report to credit bureaus, and terminate the use rights. The obligation generally continues for the contract term unless terminated.

On credit

Timeshare defaults do report, and they do damage credit. How much depends on the owner's overall profile, and for an owner with no other credit needs the practical impact may be smaller than the fear of it.

The honest framing: for an elderly owner on a fixed income with a paid-off house, no plans to borrow, and a $1,400 annual fee on an interest worth nothing, a strategic default is a defensible decision. For a 40-year-old planning to buy a house in two years, it is not. The advice depends entirely on the person, which is why blanket advice about this is worthless.

Before defaulting: ask the resort about a deed back. Then ask again, in writing, to a named person. Resorts frequently accept surrender from an owner who tells them the alternative is default, because a foreclosure costs them money.

Estates and inheritance

A deeded timeshare passes to the estate, along with the obligation.

Heirs are generally not personally liable for a decedent's timeshare debt. The estate owes the fees, and estate debts are paid from estate assets.

Heirs can disclaim. A properly executed disclaimer — under state law and, for tax purposes, within the federal requirements, generally nine months of the death — refuses the inheritance entirely. The heir never takes title and never becomes liable.

Disclaimer rules are technical and unforgiving: they must be in writing, delivered to the right person, within the time limit, and before accepting any benefit from the property. An heir who books a stay, or pays a fee, may have accepted.

What executors should do:

Identify all timeshare interests early
Do not pay fees from estate funds without deciding whether the estate is keeping the interest
Notify the resort of the death and ask about their process for a deceased owner's interest
Ask about a deed back — many resorts will take an interest back from an estate rather than pursue it
Consider whether the estate should abandon the interest, and get advice on how that works in your state
Advise heirs of the disclaimer deadline in writing

What owners should do while living: deal with it. Do not leave a timeshare to your family as a surprise. The kindest version of estate planning here is a deed back completed before death.

The regulatory layer

Timeshare sales sit under several overlapping regimes, and knowing which applies determines where a complaint goes.

State timeshare acts. Nearly every state with meaningful timeshare inventory has one. They typically require registration of the offering with a state agency, delivery of a public offering statement before the buyer signs, a non-waivable rescission period, escrow of buyer deposits during the rescission period, and specific prohibited sales practices. Some also regulate resale brokers and exit companies, and several states have enacted statutes aimed specifically at upfront-fee exit operations.

The state consumer protection statute. This is frequently the strongest tool, because most provide multiplied damages and attorney's fees, and a violation of the timeshare act is often a per se deceptive act.

The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. 15 U.S.C. § 1701 and following imposes registration and disclosure obligations on certain subdivided land sales, with requirements at § 1703 and exemptions at § 1702. Its application to timeshares has narrowed considerably over time and many timeshare offerings are exempt, but the statute remains relevant to some land-based vacation products and is worth checking rather than assuming.

Truth in Lending. Where the purchase is financed, disclosure obligations under 15 U.S.C. § 1601 and following apply, and where a security interest is taken in the buyer's principal dwelling — which is not the ordinary timeshare structure but does occur with certain home equity financing arrangements — the rescission right at 15 U.S.C. § 1635 may apply, extended to three years if disclosures were not properly given.

Real estate settlement rules. Where the transaction is a federally related mortgage loan, 12 C.F.R. Part 1024 may impose disclosure and servicing obligations.

Federal consumer protection. 15 U.S.C. § 45 reaches unfair and deceptive practices; there is no private right of action, but the agency has brought substantial enforcement against timeshare exit operations, and state analogues generally do provide private claims.

The federal cooling-off rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 429, applies to sales at a location that is not the seller's permanent place of business. Off-site sales presentations — at a hotel, a restaurant, a rented conference room — may fall within it, giving a separate three-business-day right in addition to any state timeshare rescission period.

Where to complain:

The state timeshare regulator where the resort is located (frequently a real estate commission or a division of the state's business regulation agency)
The attorney general in both your state and the resort's state
The FTC
The state bar, if a "law firm" was involved in an exit scheme
The state real estate commission, for a licensed salesperson
Your card issuer, to dispute a recent charge

Four owners

The couple who rescinded in time

Marguerite and Desmond Achterberg-Iyer signed on a Tuesday in Orlando, at the end of a six-hour presentation, on the second day of a week-long trip. The price was $31,000 financed at 14.9%, with a first-year maintenance fee of $1,240.

On Thursday, at the pool, Desmond read the packet properly and found the rescission notice: ten days from the contract date, in writing, to a specified address.

They did four things that afternoon.

Wrote the letter. Three sentences: "We hereby rescind and cancel purchase contract number 4471-B dated April 14, 2026, between Marguerite Achterberg-Iyer and Desmond Achterberg-Iyer and [Resort]. Please refund all amounts paid and cancel any financing. This letter is sent within the rescission period provided by [statute]." Both signed. Dated.

Sent it correctly. Certified mail with return receipt, from the hotel's business center, to the exact address printed in the contract — not the sales office, not the resort's street address. They photographed the envelope and kept the receipt.

Called the financing company separately and sent a copy.

Ignored the retention call. The resort called Friday offering an upgraded package at a lower price. They did not engage, because engaging is how days get consumed.

The refund arrived in nineteen days.

Three lessons. The deadline is short and it starts immediately. The writing is what counts — a phone call is not a rescission. And the address in the contract is the address; sending it to the resort's front desk is how rescissions get contested.

The special assessment

Perpetua Nakamura-Delacroix had owned a deeded week in a coastal resort for nineteen years. Her annual maintenance fee had risen from $410 to $1,680. Then a $4,300 special assessment arrived for roof and balcony replacement after hurricane damage exceeded the association's insurance.

She is 74, on a fixed income, and had not used the week in six years.

What she did not do: answer the mailer she received two weeks later from an "exit specialist" offering a guaranteed release for $6,900.

What she did: called the association directly and asked, in exactly these words, "Do you have a deed-back or surrender program, and what are the requirements?"

They did. The requirements were that the account be current and the interest unencumbered. Hers was unencumbered but the special assessment was outstanding.

She negotiated: she paid the assessment in three installments over six months, and on the final payment the resort accepted a deed back and released her. Total cost: $4,300 and six months, versus $6,900 to a company that would have delivered nothing.

The lesson. The deed-back program is the most underused exit in this field. Owners assume it does not exist and never ask. Ask, by name, to a person at the association, and ask for the answer in writing.

The exit company

Fitzgerald Oyelaran-Beck paid $7,400 to a company that found him through a mailer. The contract promised a "guaranteed permanent exit." He was told to stop paying the resort and to stop communicating with them, and that the company's legal team would handle everything.

Eighteen months later: no exit, no refund, no returned calls, a company that had dissolved, and a timeshare account $3,100 in arrears with a lien recorded and a foreclosure pending.

Every red flag was present. An upfront fee. A guarantee. Cold contact. Instructions to stop paying and stop communicating — which is the tell, because it manufactures the default that makes the owner desperate and makes the resort unwilling to deal.

What he did after: disputed the charge (too late, but he tried); filed with the attorney general in both states and with the FTC; filed with the state bar, because the company had held itself out as working with a law firm; joined a class action that eventually returned a fraction; and — the thing that actually resolved the timeshare — called the resort, explained what had happened, and negotiated a deed back after bringing the account current.

The lesson, stated once more: any company charging an upfront fee to get you out of a timeshare should be assumed to be a fraud. The resort is free to call and frequently says yes.

The estate

Ignatius Vasquez-Thorne died leaving two deeded weeks, a modest house, and three adult children. The weeks carried combined fees of $3,900 a year and had no market value.

The executor — his daughter — made one early mistake and then handled it correctly.

The mistake: she paid the year's maintenance fees from estate funds in the first month, because a bill arrived and she was paying bills. That was $3,900 of estate money spent on an asset with no value, and it complicated the argument that the estate did not want the interests.

What she did right after that: notified the resorts of the death in writing and asked about their process for a deceased owner's interest; asked each resort directly about a deed back from an estate, which both had; advised the three heirs in writing of the disclaimer deadline and that accepting any benefit — including booking a stay — would forfeit the right to disclaim; and got advice on abandonment before doing anything irreversible.

Both resorts accepted deed backs from the estate. No heir took title. No heir became liable.

Two lessons. Executors should not pay timeshare fees from estate funds before deciding whether the estate is keeping the interest. And the kindest thing an owner can do for their family is to complete a deed back while living, rather than leaving it as a surprise with a nine-month clock on it.

For anyone considering buying

The overwhelming majority of what is written about timeshares is either sales material or exit-industry marketing. Here is the neutral version.

What a timeshare actually is, economically: a large prepayment for future vacations, plus an unlimited, perpetual, escalating obligation to fund a share of a building's operating budget, in exchange for access to a specific kind of accommodation that you may or may not be able to book when you want it.

When it can make sense:

You vacation in the same way every year and will keep doing so for a long time
The accommodation type genuinely suits you — a two-bedroom unit with a kitchen is worth more to a family of five than two hotel rooms
You buy on the secondary market for a small fraction of the developer price, from an owner who wants out
You have looked at the maintenance fee history for that specific resort over ten years and accepted the trajectory
You have a plan for exit — a resort with a functioning deed-back program

When it does not make sense:

You are buying at a presentation, today, at the developer price
You are financing it at 12% to 18%
Anyone has described it as an investment
You are counting on renting it to cover the fees
You are counting on selling it later
You are on a fixed income and a $4,000 special assessment would be a crisis
You have not read the declaration, the budget, and the reserve study

The two numbers that matter more than the price:

The maintenance fee history for that resort over the past ten years. Ask for it. A resort that will not provide it has answered the question.
The reserve study and the current reserve balance. Underfunded reserves mean special assessments are coming.

And the one comparison worth making: take the purchase price, the financing cost, and the annual fee, and compare the total ten-year cost against renting comparable accommodations for the same weeks. Include the fact that renting requires no commitment and can be stopped in any year.

If you still want one after that, buy on the resale market. Interests routinely trade for a dollar. The person selling has already absorbed the loss.

Where the industry is heading

Three developments are worth knowing.

Regulation of exit companies is expanding. Several states have enacted statutes specifically targeting upfront-fee timeshare exit operations — requiring registration, prohibiting advance fees, requiring escrow, and imposing rescission rights on exit contracts. Enforcement actions by the FTC and state attorneys general have been substantial. Check whether your state has such a statute before paying anyone anything.

Deed-back and surrender programs have become standard at major operators, partly in response to the exit industry and partly because foreclosing on a low-value interest costs the resort money. This is genuinely good news for owners and it remains widely unknown.

Association governance is under more scrutiny. Owners have rights to records, budgets, reserve studies, and in most cases to attend meetings and vote. Owners' associations at troubled resorts have organized effectively — replacing boards, changing management companies, and challenging assessments. The owner who reads the budget is a different owner from the one who reads the bill.

A quieter fourth: points programs give the operator unilateral ability to change redemption values, availability rules, and the point cost of a given stay. What you can book in year ten may bear little relation to what was described in year one, and the contract generally permits it. Read the program rules and the amendment provision before buying points.

When the buyer was elderly or impaired

A meaningful share of timeshare complaints involve buyers in their seventies and eighties, purchases made under pressure over many hours, and financing extending past any realistic life expectancy. This deserves its own treatment because the available remedies are different and stronger.

Elder financial exploitation statutes. Most states have them, and they frequently reach beyond criminal conduct to civil claims with enhanced remedies — multiplied damages, attorney's fees, and in some states a presumption shift. A sale to a person with diminished capacity, after hours of pressure, on financing terms that could never be met, is the fact pattern these statutes were written for.

Capacity. A contract entered into by a person lacking capacity to understand the nature and consequences of the transaction is voidable. Documentation matters: a diagnosis, a treating physician's letter, contemporaneous observations by family, and the length and structure of the sales presentation.

Undue influence. Where a person's free will was overcome — by pressure, exhaustion, isolation from advisors, or exploitation of a relationship — the transaction may be set aside. Courts examine the circumstances: how long the presentation lasted, whether the buyer was separated from family, whether they were told they could not leave, whether food and rest were provided, and whether the closing occurred at an unusual hour.

Unconscionability. Procedural (the circumstances of contracting) plus substantive (terms grossly favorable to one side). A six-hour presentation ending in a $40,000 obligation at 17% for a person with $1,300 a month in income is the paradigm.

What family members should gather:

The complete contract packet, including everything handed over
The timeline of the day — when it started, when it ended, when food or breaks were offered
Who was present, by name and title
Medical records or a physician's letter on capacity, if relevant
Financial records showing the payment was not affordable
Any recording, if lawful in the jurisdiction where it was made
Contemporaneous notes written the same week

Where to take it: the state attorney general's elder abuse or consumer unit, the state's adult protective services agency, the state timeshare regulator, and a consumer attorney familiar with the state's elder exploitation statute. Several of these are free.

And the practical point: these claims settle. A resort facing an elder exploitation claim with documented facts frequently offers a rescission and refund rather than litigate it, particularly where a regulator is copied on the demand.

Exchange companies, and the other recurring cost

Most owners belong to an exchange network in addition to owning their interest, and the exchange relationship carries its own costs and its own disappointments.

How it works. You deposit your week (or points) into the exchange system, and draw a comparable stay elsewhere. Membership carries an annual fee. Each exchange carries a transaction fee. Upgrades to a larger unit or a higher-demand season carry additional fees.

What owners are surprised by:

Trading power is not equal. A low-season week at a modest resort will not trade for a peak week at a premium one, regardless of what was implied at the presentation.
Deposits expire. A week deposited and not used within the window is simply lost, along with the maintenance fee paid for it.
The fees add up. Membership plus exchange plus upgrade can approach the cost of simply booking a hotel.
Availability is real but not on demand — popular destinations in popular weeks are booked far in advance by owners with stronger trading power.
The exchange membership is a separate contract with a separate renewal, and it continues billing until cancelled.

Practical points:

Deposit early. Trading power in most systems is higher the further in advance you deposit.
Know your deposit's expiration date and calendar it.
Cancel the exchange membership when you exit the timeshare — it does not cancel automatically, and owners have kept paying membership fees on interests they no longer own.
Compare before booking through the exchange. Fees plus maintenance frequently exceed the cost of renting the same unit from another owner on the open market, or simply booking a hotel.
Renting from other owners is often the cheapest way to stay at a timeshare resort, and it requires owning nothing.

That last point is worth sitting with. The most economical way to enjoy timeshare accommodations is generally to rent a week from an owner who is trying to offset their maintenance fee. They are easy to find, the rates are frequently below the fee itself, and the arrangement carries no perpetual obligation, no assessment risk, and no exit problem.

Frequently asked questions

I signed yesterday. What do I do? Find the rescission deadline in the contract and send a written rescission today, by certified mail to the exact address in the contract. Do not call instead of writing.

The rescission period passed. Check whether the public offering statement and required disclosures were actually delivered — defective delivery extends the period in many states.

Can I just stop paying? You can, and there are consequences: collections, credit reporting, a lien, and foreclosure. Whether that is the right call depends entirely on your credit needs. Ask about a deed back first.

Should I hire an exit company? No. Any company charging an upfront fee to get you out of a timeshare should be assumed to be a fraud. Call the resort, then a licensed attorney.

Can I sell it? Possibly, for very little. Never pay an upfront listing fee.

Will they take it back? Frequently yes, if you ask. Most major operators have a program and most owners never ask.

Are my kids stuck with it? No. They can disclaim — in writing, within the deadline, before accepting any benefit.

Can they garnish my wages? Only with a judgment, and only where state law permits. Whether they pursue one depends on the amount and the owner's collectability.

Was I lied to? Possibly, and it may matter. Write down what was said, name who said it, and consult a consumer attorney about your state's timeshare and deceptive practices statutes.