“Dear Steve,
My wife and I purchased a time-share at Capital Cove thru Wyndham near Washington, D.C. During a follow-up session my wife and I were told we had to upgrade or we would not be able to keep our perks of being VIPs in the company.
After several attempts to make reservations, 10 months out, and not being able to do so we found out that the agents falsely told us that it was mandatory when in fact we had been grandfathered in to the program and never needed to upgrade.
I’ve contacted the local time-share as well as the head office in Las Vegas. I’ve even contacted the Maryland Board of Relator’s. My wife and I can’t afford the new payments and maintenance fees. We’ve explained this in letter after letter, phone call after phone call, but we are still not getting any relief.
If we stop all payments how bad will this hurt our credit? Do I need to declare bankruptcy?
When we approached the company we were told that we would have to live with it since we signed the contract and 10 days had passed. What happens to my credit if I let this go? Will both our credit scores be damaged for 7 years?
Robert”
Dear Robert,
It sounds like the issue is more about unfair practices and deception. I would advise you to start by filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Next, I would certainly advise you to contact a local attorney who is licensed in your state and has experience dealing with consumer issues. One place to look for such an attorney is through the National Association of Consumer Advocates.
Finally, you should contact your local television stations and ask to speak with the person that handles consumer affair issues. Your story might get some attention if you raise the publicity level about your unfortunate issues.
If you did find yourself in a financial jam you would certainly not be the first one to have a timeshare lead to bankruptcy. With the declining value or poor residual value of timeshares there have been scores and score of people trapped in unaffordable arrangements.
While you might need to consider bankruptcy to get out from under this bad situation, I’d try the steps above first to see if the situation can get corrected responsibly by Wyndham and at least back to what you originally wanted to purchase without your perception you were bait and switched into buying something you never needed to purchase.
If you eventually do need to seek legal protection under bankruptcy, it is actually really easy to rebuild your credit following bankruptcy. Read this article.
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