Ratings and reviews of timeshare exit companies: how to vet one

Last updated 2026-07-25

why can't i just trust the star rating on a review site?

Because star ratings on the open web are trivially easy to manipulate, and the timeshare exit industry has a documented history of doing exactly that. The FTC has sued or settled with multiple exit companies for charging upfront fees and never delivering results, sometimes alongside deceptive marketing claims. In its case against Resort Advisory Group and related defendants, the FTC alleged consumers paid large upfront fees for timeshare exit and mortgage relief services that were never provided, and won a settlement including a judgment and business bans against the individuals involved ^[1]. A 4.8-star average on a company's own website, or on a review platform where the company controls which reviews get posted, tells you almost nothing. The reviews worth reading are the ones on sites where the company cannot delete negative posts, like the Better Business Bureau complaint history, your state Attorney General's consumer complaint database, and court dockets in your state or the company's home state. One useful gut check: search the company name plus the word "lawsuit" or "attorney general" before you search the company name plus "reviews." If a state AG has already sued the firm, that tells you more than five hundred five-star testimonials ever could.

what should i actually check before hiring a timeshare exit company?

Run a five-part check: state AG enforcement history, BBB complaint pattern (more than the grade), refund policy in writing, business registration in the state where they claim to operate, and whether they ask for money before doing any work. Start with your state Attorney General's office. Several state AGs have publicly named timeshare exit companies in enforcement actions and consumer alerts, and Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act gives the state's Attorney General authority to pursue companies, including timeshare exit and relief firms, for unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce under Florida Statutes section 501.204 ^[2]. If a company shows up in one of these actions, that is a hard no, not a maybe. Next, pull the BBB profile and read the complaint narratives, not the letter grade. A company can carry an A+ rating while having dozens of unresolved complaints, because BBB grades weigh factors like time in business and complaint response, not whether the underlying service worked. Look for patterns: multiple people describing the same broken promise ("they said 12 to 18 months and it's been three years") is a stronger signal than the overall score. Then ask for the refund policy in writing before you sign anything, and read the contract's cancellation clause yourself. A legitimate escrow or trust-based fee structure, where your money sits with a third party until specific milestones are met, is a meaningfully different risk profile than a company that takes the full fee upfront and puts it straight into its operating account. Check if they're registered to do business in your state and theirs. A quick search of your Secretary of State's business entity database takes five minutes and can reveal a company that dissolved and reincorporated under a new name after bad press, a known pattern in this industry. Finally, and this is the biggest one: never pay a large fee upfront for a promise of a future exit. The FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book collects exactly this kind of upfront-fee complaint pattern across hundreds of thousands of filings a year, and it's the single clearest predictor of a bad outcome ^[3].

are timeshares scams?

The timeshare itself usually isn't a scam in the legal sense, it's a real contract for a real (if often overpriced) product, but the resale and exit side of the industry has a well-documented scam problem. The original purchase is typically legal, if aggressively sold and often a bad financial deal. The danger zone is what happens after you own one and want out. The FTC and state AGs have brought or supported numerous enforcement actions against companies promising a timeshare exit or resale for a large upfront fee, then delivering nothing, as in the Resort Advisory Group case where the FTC obtained relief against the operators ^[1]. Common red flags in these cases: unsolicited calls claiming a buyer is "already lined up," demands for wire transfers or gift cards, and pressure to sign a new contract quickly to "lock in" an exit. So the honest answer is nuanced: the resort's contract is usually legitimate and enforceable, but a large and well-documented slice of the exit industry built around distressed owners is where the actual scams live. Read timeshare cancellation options before you assume the worst about your original contract, and read exit scam awareness material before you pick who helps you leave.

how much do timeshares cost, and how much does an exit company charge?

Deed-back / voluntary surrender through the resort	$0 to $500 in admin fees	Only available if the resort offers one; not all do
Timeshare exit company (attorney-based)	$3,000 to $6,000	Fee structure and escrow terms vary a lot
Timeshare exit company (non-attorney)	$2,000 to $8,000+	Highest scam risk category per FTC actions [1]
Resale through licensed broker	Small commission, sometimes $0 sale price	Timeshares often resell for $1 or less; commission is the real cost
DIY within rescission window	$0 to state filing/mailing costs	Only works inside the rescission period	If a company quotes you a number before reviewing your actual deed and contract, that's a sign they're pricing off your fear, not your paperwork.

The average timeshare purchase price was $23,940 in 2023 and average annual maintenance fees were $1,205, according to the American Resort Development Association's ARDA International Foundation Owner Satisfaction Survey summary data ^[4]. Fees typically rise 3 to 5 percent a year, often faster when a resort hits a special assessment for a roof, storm damage, or renovation. Exit company fees vary widely and the range itself is a red flag generator. Quotes commonly run anywhere from $2,000 to $8,000 or more, often scaled to how many years you've owned or how much you originally paid rather than to the actual work involved. There is no standard, regulated fee schedule for this industry, which is part of why comparison shopping matters so much. A rough table of what owners report paying, compiled from complaint filings and consumer accounts referenced in FTC actions, looks like this: | Service type | Typical range | Notes |

how do you get out of a timeshare in the first place?

There are basically four legitimate paths, and the right one depends entirely on timing: rescission if you just bought, deed-back if your resort offers one, resale if the timeshare has any market value, and exit assistance (attorney or company) if none of those work and you're willing to pay for help navigating a harder case. Rescission is the fastest and cheapest option, but it only exists for a short window right after purchase. Every state sets its own rescission period by statute, and they are genuinely short, often just days, so confirm your state's rescission window immediately if you just signed. Don't rely on a blog post's day count, pull your state's actual timeshare or real estate statute or call your state's consumer protection division to confirm the exact number of days and the required cancellation method (many states require written notice sent a specific way, not a phone call). Deed-back, sometimes called a deedback or surrender program, is when the resort itself takes the timeshare back, sometimes for a small fee, sometimes free if you're current on payments and the resort wants inventory back. Not every resort offers this, but it's worth asking directly before paying anyone else. Read more in our deed-back programs coverage. Resale is often disappointing: the secondary market for timeshares is weak, and many units resell for $1 or effectively nothing, per longstanding consumer reporting and ARDA's own owner data showing resale value rarely reflects developer purchase price ^[4]. If you go this route, use a licensed real estate broker in the resort's state and never pay an upfront "marketing fee" to a resale company that contacts you unsolicited, a classic scam pattern flagged in FTC enforcement ^[1]. Exception assistance from an attorney or exit company becomes relevant when the maintenance fees have become unaffordable, the resort won't take a deed-back, and resale isn't realistic. This is the path where vetting the company matters most, since it's also the path with the most documented fraud.

how do i sell a timeshare if i just want out, not a refund?

Selling is possible but expensive relative to what you'll get back, and the first rule is simple: never pay someone upfront who contacts you claiming they already have a buyer. That specific pitch, an unsolicited call about a "ready buyer," is one of the most consistently reported timeshare scams described in FTC enforcement filings ^[1]. If you want to try legitimately, list through a licensed timeshare resale broker (check their real estate license in the resort's state), price realistically (many similar units sell for a few hundred dollars or less on secondary marketplaces), and expect to cover closing costs and possibly a transfer fee the resort charges regardless of sale price. Some resorts require you to be current on all fees before they'll process any transfer, so check your account balance before you invest time in a listing. If the timeshare won't sell at any price, which is common for older weeks-based deeded products at oversaturated resorts, deed-back or exit assistance becomes the realistic path instead of resale.

how to get rid of a timeshare when the resort won't take it back

When a deed-back offer isn't on the table and resale is a dead end, your remaining options are exit companies, attorneys, or in rare cases letting the ownership go through non-payment, which carries real consequences you need to understand before choosing it. Walking away by simply not paying maintenance fees is not something to do casually or on a scam company's advice to "just stop paying and we'll handle collections." Stopping payment can trigger the resort's right to foreclose on the timeshare interest, and depending on your state and contract, it can lead to a collections referral or a hit to your credit. We're not telling you to stop paying fees you owe, and no legitimate advisor should either; if a company's entire strategy is "stop paying and let us fight the collections calls," treat that as a major red flag rather than a shortcut. A better sequence: confirm in writing whether the resort has any deed-back or hardship program (many added these after 2020 as maintenance fee complaints rose), get a written payoff or release quote if you're still under a loan, and only then evaluate paid exit assistance if the first two options are closed off. Read how to get out of a timeshare for the full sequence and timeshare call list for who to actually contact at each stage.

how do i read a timeshare exit company's contract before signing?

Read the refund and cancellation clause first, not the marketing page. Look for three specific things: whether fees are held in escrow or trust until a defined milestone, what exactly counts as "success" (many contracts define success as sending a demand letter, not as actually terminating your ownership), and whether there's a right to cancel the exit contract itself within a set number of days. Some states regulate business practices affecting timeshare exit or relief companies through general consumer protection statutes, such as Wisconsin's Deceptive Trade Practices statute (Wis. Stat. section 100.18), which prohibits "any assertion, representation or statement of fact which is untrue, deceptive or misleading" in advertising or selling a service, including exit and resale services aimed at timeshare owners ^[5]. Ask the company directly which states license or have investigated them, and verify that claim against the state's own business or licensing database rather than taking their word for it. A contract that defines "completion" loosely ("we will represent you in efforts to terminate your contract") rather than specifically ("you will receive a recorded deed transfer or written contract termination from the resort within X months, or your fee is refunded") is a contract written to protect the company, not you.

what do the numbers actually show about exit company complaints?

State AG consumer complaint units and the FTC's Consumer Sentinel Network are the closest thing to real, unfiltered data on this industry, and they consistently show timeshare-related complaints clustering around upfront fees and non-delivery, not around the resorts themselves. The FTC's own case filings describe a repeated pattern: companies charging fees, telling consumers the process would take a matter of months, and then consumers waiting years with no resolution or refund, as detailed in the Resort Advisory Group matter ^[1]. This isn't one bad actor; it's a pattern documented across multiple separate FTC actions over the past decade, and the Consumer Sentinel Network exists specifically so state and federal regulators can spot these patterns across a large volume of individual complaints, with the FTC's 2023 Data Book reporting over 5.39 million total fraud and other reports received that year across all categories ^[3]. The practical takeaway for ratings: a company's own average star rating is a weak signal. Enforcement history, refund structure, and whether the company will name specific, checkable milestones in writing are strong signals. Weight your research accordingly.

what's a fair alternative if i don't want to hire an exit company at all?

If your maintenance fees are the real problem, not the ownership itself, look at renting out your week, transferring internally within the resort's point system, or negotiating directly with the resort's owner services department before paying anyone for an exit. Many resorts have added flexible-use or point-conversion options since roughly 2020 that can lower your annual obligation without full termination. If the ownership itself is the problem (you never use it, family members inherited it and don't want it, fees keep climbing faster than you can absorb), then deed-back or a vetted exit path makes more sense than continuing to pay indefinitely. Compare your actual options side by side rather than defaulting to whichever company found you first through a cold call; see our comparisons coverage for how the paths stack up on cost and timeline. A $149 flat-fee product like our own Timeshare Exit Kit fits a specific niche here: it's a self-directed toolkit (letter templates, a state-by-state process guide, a documentation checklist) for owners who want to try rescission, deed-back requests, or resale groundwork themselves before paying a company thousands for the same steps. It doesn't promise any particular outcome, doesn't contact the resort on your behalf, and isn't a substitute for an attorney if your situation involves foreclosure risk or a dispute over fraud in the original sale. It's a starting point for people who want to understand the process before deciding whether to spend more.

what should i do if i think i'm already being scammed by an exit company?

File a complaint with your state Attorney General's consumer protection division and with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov immediately, and stop any further payments to that specific company while you sort it out (this is different from stopping payments you legitimately owe to your resort). Documentation matters: save every email, the signed contract, and records of what was promised versus what was delivered. The FTC's complaint portal feeds into the Consumer Sentinel Network, which state AGs and the FTC itself use to build enforcement cases, so filing even when you don't expect an individual refund still helps flag the company for others ^[3]. If you paid by credit card, contact your card issuer about a chargeback under the Fair Credit Billing Act, since disputing a charge for services not rendered is exactly what that process exists for. If the amount is significant, a consultation with a consumer protection attorney in your state (many offer free or low-cost initial consultations) can clarify whether you have a private claim against the exit company, separate from any regulatory action.

Frequently asked questions

How to get out of a timeshare?

Four realistic paths exist: rescission if you're still inside your state's short cancellation window, a deed-back if your resort offers one, resale through a licensed broker if it has any market value, or paid exit assistance as a last resort. Confirm your state's rescission window first since it's the fastest and cheapest option, and always verify any company's claims before paying an upfront fee.

How to get out of a timeshare fastest?

Rescission is the fastest legal exit, but only if you're still inside your state's rescission period, which is typically just days after signing and varies by state statute. Send written cancellation exactly the way your contract and state law require, keep proof of mailing, and don't rely on a phone call alone.

How to sell a timeshare?

List through a licensed timeshare resale broker in the resort's state, price it realistically since many units resell for very little, and confirm your maintenance fee account is current before listing. Never pay an upfront fee to anyone who contacts you unsolicited claiming they already have a buyer lined up; that's one of the most common patterns the FTC flags as a scam.

How to get rid of a timeshare when nobody will buy it?

Ask the resort directly about a deed-back or hardship surrender program before paying an exit company. If that's not available, evaluate a vetted exit company only after checking enforcement history and reading the refund clause in writing. Don't stop paying fees you owe as a strategy; that can trigger foreclosure or collections.

Are timeshares scams?

The original timeshare contract is usually legal, though often an expensive and hard-to-exit product. The bigger documented scam risk sits in the exit and resale industry, where the FTC has sued companies including Resort Advisory Group for charging large upfront fees and never delivering a promised exit or sale.

How much is a timeshare?

The average purchase price was $23,940 in 2023 according to ARDA's owner survey data, with average annual maintenance fees around $1,205 that typically rise 3 to 5 percent a year. Special assessments for repairs or storm damage can add thousands more in a single year on top of regular fees.

How much do timeshares cost to maintain each year?

Average annual maintenance fees were reported at roughly $1,205 in ARDA's 2023 owner data, though this varies a lot by resort size, location, and amenities. Fees commonly rise 3 to 5 percent annually, and special assessments for major repairs can push a single year's cost well above the average.

How much are timeshares to exit through a paid company?

Reported fees for exit companies range roughly from $2,000 to $8,000 or more, with attorney-based firms often in the $3,000 to $6,000 range and non-attorney companies showing the widest and riskiest range. Get a written quote based on your actual contract, not a phone estimate given before they've seen your paperwork.

What's the difference between a timeshare exit company review on their own website versus BBB?

A company's own website only shows reviews it chooses to display, so it tells you almost nothing about complaint patterns. The Better Business Bureau profile shows unresolved complaint narratives even for companies with a high letter grade, since the grade weighs factors like time in business, not whether the service actually worked.

Can a timeshare exit company promise they'll cancel my contract for sure?

No legitimate company can promise a certain cancellation, and any company that markets a sure-thing outcome for an upfront fee is describing exactly the pattern the FTC sued Resort Advisory Group over. Treat guaranteed-outcome language as a red flag rather than a reassurance.

What happens if I just stop paying my timeshare maintenance fees?

Stopping payment can lead to the resort placing a lien, referring your account to collections, or in some cases foreclosing on the timeshare interest depending on your state and contract terms. This isn't a recommended shortcut; any advisor who suggests simply stopping payment as an exit strategy should be treated with real skepticism.

How do I check if a timeshare exit company has been sued or fined?

Search your state Attorney General's consumer protection press releases and enforcement action pages, plus the FTC's press release archive, using the company's exact legal name (more than its marketing brand). Also check your Secretary of State's business entity search to see if the company dissolved and reincorporated under a different name after past complaints.

Is an A+ BBB rating enough to trust a timeshare exit company?

No. A BBB letter grade weighs factors like time in business and whether a company responds to complaints, not whether the underlying service actually delivered results. Read the individual complaint narratives on the profile page instead of relying on the overall grade alone.

Sources

1. Federal Trade Commission, FTC v. Resort Advisory Group, Inc., et al.: FTC enforcement action alleging consumers paid upfront fees for timeshare exit services never provided
2. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice: Timeshares: FTC guidance on timeshare resale and exit scam red flags including upfront fee demands
3. American Resort Development Association International Foundation, 2023 Owner Satisfaction and Usage Survey summary: Average timeshare purchase price and average annual maintenance fee figures
4. Wisconsin Statutes, Section 100.18, Fraudulent Representations: State consumer protection statute applicable to deceptive advertising or sales practices by exit and resale companies
5. Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 407.020, Unlawful Practices: State consumer protection statute used by Missouri to address deceptive practices relevant to timeshare exit company disputes
6. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2023: FTC complaint database used by state AGs and FTC to identify patterns of fraud including timeshare exit complaints