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It is always strongly advisable to have your eyes wide open when you are considering signing a timeshare agreement. If you don’t read all the small print or ask all the right relevant questions you could end up in a binding agreement that is difficult to cancel.
You can get specific help on how to cancel a timeshare contract by visiting a site such as https://acagroup.org/timeshare-cancellation. In the meantime, here is a more focused look at maintenance fees and some aspects of this part of a timeshare agreement that the seller won’t always be too keen to highlight.
Here are some of the things that you might not be told about timeshare maintenance fees that you need to know.
A cost that keeps on rising
Part of the deal for becoming a timeshare owner is that you become instantly responsible for paying annual maintenance fees.
The timeshare management company will charge you a fee that covers the cost of maintaining the property on your behalf. They might charge you on either a monthly or annual basis.
Either way, the cost of maintaining the property will be passed on. That means you will be paying for things like landscaping, insurance, administration costs, and just about anything else the timeshare management company can try to pass on to recoup their costs.
The problem with this scenario is that the fees will usually rise every year. That means you are on the hook for an unspecified amount of money that you have to pay as part of the agreement.
Some timeshare companies are better than others at being candid about maintenance fees and they may even state a certain percentage that the fee could rise by.
However, most of the time you could be facing rising maintenance fees each year and not know how much you could end up paying after a few years of ownership.
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Watch the wording on how they calculate the fees
Unfortunately, you can often have maintenance fee costs presented to you in a deceptive or confusing way that masks the true costs or makes light of what could actually be extortionate rises each year.
Your fees could rise at a higher rate than the normal inflation rate. That’s why you need to know how they calculate fees and what they are charging for.
Hidden charges or extra fees are always a possibility
Even when you think that you have a good idea of your annual maintenance costs you could still get hit with an unexpected extra bill.
Extra assessment fees could be added when the property has suffered storm damage, for instance, and they have to cover the cost of any checks and repairs.
The consequences of non-payment
Some timeshare owners are tempted to refuse to pay exorbitant maintenance fees but the contract often makes that an impossible option.
If you don’t pay the fees the costs will rise further as they charge for collection administration and additional costs. If you still don’t pay they could even foreclose on your property and take the property back.
You can’t stop paying maintenance fees without selling the timeshare
The bottom line is that you can’t get rid of the burden of paying timeshare maintenance fees until you get rid of your timeshare.
Timeshare operators often like to gloss over potential sticking points like maintenance fees or the true cost of these fees so they don’t dissuade you from signing.
If you have already become a timeshare owner and want help canceling the contract, you can get the professional help needed to achieve that aim.
