Why hire a Timeshare Attorney?
If you’re considering hiring a timeshare attorney, there are a few things you should keep in mind. First, timeshare attorneys practice in a niche area of real estate called timeshare law. As a result, these attorneys are often very well-versed in the various terms and conditions of timeshare contracts and can help you navigate the complexities of these agreements.
Second, you’ll want to make sure that the timeshare attorney you hire is experienced in all forms of vacation ownership, including timeshare, vacation membership programs, and travel clubs. That’s important as most developers now sell a mixed portfolio that could be part timeshare and part club.
An attorney who is not familiar with the various timeshare developers and the types of vacation ownership programs sold may not be able to provide you with the level of service and expertise you need.
What Are The Costs Of Cancelling A Timeshare
While many timeshare attorneys offer free initial consultations, you’ll want to be aware that some may charge an hourly rate for their services or other contingency fees. Make sure to ask about the costs of cancelling a timeshare so there are no surprises later on. The costs of cancelling a timeshare can vary depending on various circumstances. In addition, most attorneys treat client matters on a case by case basis. Other forms of legal service fees are generally fixed-fee attorney agreements or contingency fee agreements if litigation is involved along with other the issues related to your specific timeshare matter.
Finally, keep in mind that hiring a timeshare attorney is not a guarantee that you will be able to get out of your timeshare contract. While an attorney can review your contract and advise you of your legal options as well as the costs of cancelling a timeshare, ultimately it is up to you to decide whether or not to continue with your timeshare ownership.
Timeshare contracts and their governing documents are complicated and full of legal jargon, making it difficult for the average person to understand their legal options. A timeshare attorney must review laws that control the interpretation of these contracts as well as the public offering statement and any other relevant documents to provide you with an accurate analysis on your matter.
When it comes to the various legal issues concerning a contract dispute, a licensed timeshare attorney is a consumer’s best bet over a timeshare exit company every time. Some of these exit companies make bogus claims, run shadowy scams, and cut backroom deals with other 3rd parties without consent leading to other claims against the original owner.
The steady hand of an experienced legal professional is an invaluable asset to a timeshare owner.
When a consumer signs on the dotted line with a developer, they enter into a legally binding agreement. Though they may not like it, they have entered into a contract that is completely enforceable and which will, indeed, be enforced, unless fraud can be proven. It’s a legal question, a legal issue – and so you’ll need a lawyer when it comes time to dispute, exit, or nullify that legal contract after the rescission period has ended.
In addition to legal knowledge of the timeshare industry, access to various negotiations and remedies, retaining a timeshare attorney offers other advantages to consumers seeking relief, which a private organization or third party exit company simply cannot provide. What do we mean?
A Timeshare Lawyer Can Help You Exit Your Timeshare
If you’re looking for a way to exit your timeshare contract, a timeshare lawyer can help. Legal representation goes a long way toward protecting consumers first from debt collectors who may be dispatched to settle these obligations. A timeshare attorney can help consumers seek to exit their timeshare obligations due to a number of issues and some include: high maintenance fees, interest payments, or other associated costs that owners are required to pay per the terms of the contract.
FDCPA Empowerment for Owners via Attorneys
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (or FDCPA) stipulates that third-party debt collectors are legally prohibited from directly contacting a debtor (such as a timeshare owner withholding a resort payment) if that debtor has retained an attorney. Instead, the debt collector must contact your attorney; they may only continue to contact you, the consumer, if granted permission, or if the “attorney fails to respond to the debt collector within a reasonable period of time,” as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) explains.
This protection offers significant advantages for various reasons. Firstly, it greatly contributes to your short-term peace of mind and financial security. More crucially, external debt collectors have traditionally been instrumental for resorts and developers. If these agents are consistently hindered by a timeshare lawyer’s representation and must return the file to the resort, the consumer gains valuable leverage, allowing the timeshare lawyer to initiate a walkaway negotiation with the developer.
Leveraging Litigation: The Advantage of Timeshare Attorneys over Exit Companies
Regarding leverage, it’s important to recognize that pursuing litigation is an exclusive benefit provided by legal professionals with a direct attorney/client relationship, not by private or third-party exit companies with attorneys on staff.
Timeshare lawyers offer essential services and advice when faced with a developer unwilling to release you from your contract. Often, developers only negotiate timeshare exits with owners represented directly by an attorney. Understandably, developers dismiss communications from exit companies, as they lack any legal authority.
While class-action lawsuits against the timeshare industry, in particular, don’t always have the impact that consumer protection advocates would like, the option of litigation is a powerful one; at the very least, as our Michael Finn wrote recently, litigation “will continue to serve notice on the timeshare development community that someone out there is paying very close attention to them, and that can’t be a bad thing!”
As Michael D. Finn noted, Finn Law Group…
“… has successfully initiated multiple pieces of class action litigation against timeshare resort developers. In one concluded case, over eleven thousand former timeshare owners saw foreclosure entries on their credit reports deleted, and another over two thousand owners received extended vacations for no cost.”
Remember that only a licensed timeshare attorney can equip you with the full spectrum of legal protection and the option to litigate if there’s a strong case. In contrast to private companies that focus on profit, attorneys have a fiduciary obligation to put their clients’ interests first. A committed, skilled lawyer’s mission is to champion justice exclusively for their clients.
Thinking about enlisting a timeshare attorney? Get in touch with our office to schedule a free consultation—we’re here to answer your questions and help you understand your legal choices.
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Led by timeshare attorneys Michael D. Finn and J. Andrew Meyer with over 75 years of combined legal experience, the Finn Law Group is a consumer protection firm specializing in consumer timeshare law. If you feel you have been victimized by a timeshare company, contact our offices for a free consultation at (855) FINN-LAW.
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