Last updated 2026-07-26
TL;DR
Stop paying maintenance fees and you'll typically see late fees within 30 days, collections calls within 60 to 90 days, and referral to a collection agency or attorney soon after. Many resorts can foreclose on deeded timeshares or revoke points contracts, and unpaid balances can go to collections and hurt your credit. It rarely erases the debt quietly.
What actually happens if I stop paying my timeshare maintenance fees?
Most owners assume that if they just stop paying, the resort will eventually give up and take the timeshare back. That's not usually how it plays out. Within the first 30 to 60 days, you'll see a late fee added to your account, often somewhere between $25 and $100 depending on the resort's governing documents, plus interest that can run higher than a credit card (some contracts charge 12% to 18% annually on the overdue balance). After that, expect phone calls and letters from the resort's internal collections department, then referral to a third-party collection agency or law firm if the account stays delinquent for 90 to 180 days. For deeded weeks, many state timeshare statutes give the association a lien and foreclosure remedy similar to a homeowners association foreclosing on unpaid dues. Florida's timeshare statute, for example, allows an association to pursue a lien and foreclosure for unpaid assessments [1]. For points-based or right-to-use products, the developer usually has contract language allowing them to terminate your membership and refer the debt to collections, rather than foreclose in the traditional sense. Either way, the fee doesn't just vanish. It becomes a debt collection problem, and depending on your state and the resort's paperwork, it can become a credit report problem too. We are not a law firm and we don't contact your resort on your behalf, and nothing here is legal advice about your specific contract. If you're behind or thinking about falling behind, talk to a licensed attorney in your state before deciding.
Will stopping payment hurt my credit score?
Yes, in most cases, if the debt gets reported. Timeshare maintenance fee debt is treated like any other unsecured or lien-based consumer debt once it's sent to collections. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a collection account can stay on your credit report for up to seven years from the date of the original delinquency, per the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's guidance on credit reporting timelines [2]. That's true whether the original debt was a timeshare fee, a medical bill, or a credit card. Not every resort reports to the credit bureaus. Smaller independent resorts sometimes don't bother, especially if the balance is small. Larger branded resorts and their in-house finance arms are more likely to report, particularly if you also financed the purchase itself and there's a loan attached, more than fees. If you stop paying and the resort forecloses on a deeded interest, that foreclosure can also show up as a public record or be reported as a charge-off, which drags your score down separately from the missed payment history itself.
Can a timeshare company foreclose on me for unpaid fees?
Yes, if you own a deeded week or deeded interest, foreclosure is a real risk, not a scare tactic. Deeded timeshares are real property in the state where the resort sits, and most state statutes let the homeowners association or resort foreclose a lien for unpaid assessments, similar to how a condo HOA forecloses for unpaid dues. Florida Statutes Chapter 721 governs timeshare plans and lays out lien and foreclosure procedures for delinquent assessments [1]. Other heavy timeshare states, including South Carolina and Nevada, have similar statutory frameworks specific to timeshare liens. Check your resort's home state statute, since the timeshare's location controls the process, not where you live. Right-to-use and points-based memberships (common with newer club-style products) are contract rights rather than deeded real estate. The developer typically can't foreclose in the classic sense, but they can terminate your membership, keep any equity you had in it, and still refer the unpaid balance to collections or sue you for breach of contract in some cases. Either way, walking away rarely means walking away clean. Foreclosure or termination usually comes with a damaged credit history and, in some states, a deficiency judgment if the resort sues for the remaining balance after foreclosure.
Does stopping payment count as a legitimate way to get out of a timeshare?
No, and we don't recommend it as a strategy. Some owners hear that letting the timeshare go to foreclosure is a backdoor exit, and technically the deed does eventually leave your name. But you pay for that in credit damage, possible deficiency judgments, and years of collection calls first. If you're inside your state's rescission period (sometimes called a cooling-off period), that's the cleanest and cheapest exit, full stop. Every state sets its own rescission window and the rules vary a lot, so confirm your state's rescission window and cancellation procedure with your state attorney general's consumer protection office or the contract itself before you assume you've missed it [3]. Outside the rescission window, your realistic options are: negotiating a deed-back or surrender directly with the resort, selling the timeshare for whatever the resale market will actually pay (often very little to nothing), working with a legitimate transfer or exit process, or in genuine hardship cases, letting a foreclosure happen as a last resort with full knowledge of the credit consequences. For a fuller walkthrough of the legitimate paths, see how to get out of a timeshare and timeshare cancellation.
How do you get out of a timeshare the right way?
Start with the contract and the calendar. If you're still inside your state's rescission period, send a written cancellation notice exactly the way your contract and state statute require, usually by certified mail, and keep proof of the date and content. This is the fastest, cheapest, and most certain way to be done with the whole thing. If that window has closed, your next-best move is usually contacting the resort directly and asking about a deed-back or surrender program. A growing number of major resort systems (including some through their internal owner-services departments) will take a paid-off timeshare back for free or a modest processing fee if you currently owe nothing and have no delinquency. This is often faster and cheaper than any third-party exit service. If the resort won't take it back, look at legitimate resale (expect very low or zero resale value for most timeshares, so this is about getting rid of it, not recouping your purchase price), or a properly vetted timeshare attorney or transfer company that doesn't ask for large upfront fees before doing any work. See [deed-back programs] and how to get out of timeshare for the specific steps by resort type.
How do I actually sell a timeshare, and what is it worth?
Most timeshares resell for a small fraction of what owners paid, and a meaningful number sell for $0 to $1 on sites like eBay or the licensed timeshare resale marketplaces, because the buyer just wants to take over the deed and stop your maintenance fees, not pay you money. Points-based products from major branded systems sometimes hold slightly more resale value than independent resort weeks, but don't expect to recover your original purchase price in almost any case. To sell legitimately: get a written payoff and maintenance fee status from the resort, list through a licensed real estate broker in the resort's state (timeshare resales are real estate transactions in deeded-week states and typically require a licensed broker), and be wary of any company that asks you to pay several thousand dollars upfront before they've found a buyer. The FTC's consumer guidance on timeshare resales warns that owners should be cautious of resale offers that demand payment before a buyer is found [4]. Many of these arrangements never produce a real buyer. See how to get out of a timeshare for more on resale versus deed-back versus exit company routes.
How much do timeshares actually cost, including the fees people forget?
| Purchase price (new, developer) | $15,000 to $40,000+ | one-time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase price (resale) | $0 to $3,000 | one-time | |
| Annual maintenance fee | ~$1,170 average, often $600 to $2,000+ | every year, rising | |
| Special assessment | $200 to $5,000+ | occasional, unpredictable | |
| Closing/transfer costs to exit | $0 to a few hundred (legit deed-backs) | one-time | Over a 20-year ownership period, maintenance fees alone (even without a single special assessment and assuming modest annual increases) commonly add up to $25,000 to $40,000 or more, often exceeding the original purchase price. That math is exactly why so many owners eventually look for a way out. |
The purchase price is only the entry fee. The real long-term cost is the annual maintenance fee, which has climbed steadily for years. According to the American Resort Development Association's 2023 State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry report, the average annual maintenance fee across the industry was roughly $1,170 per interval in 2022, and that figure has been rising faster than general inflation in most recent years [5]. On top of that baseline number, owners regularly get hit with special assessments for storm damage, roof replacement, or renovations, which can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to several thousand in a single year. Here's a rough sense of total ownership cost over time: | Cost component | Typical range | Frequency |
Are timeshares scams, or just a bad deal?
Most timeshares aren't illegal scams in the sense of being unlawful. They're legally structured products with real deeds or real contract rights. But the sales process has a long, well-documented history of high-pressure tactics, and the ongoing fee structure is a genuinely bad financial deal for most buyers, especially compared to just renting a vacation property when you want one. The FTC's consumer guidance on timeshares specifically advises buyers not to feel pressured to make a purchase decision on the spot, and flags high-pressure sales presentations as a recurring consumer complaint pattern [3]. That's a regulator's polite way of saying the sales floor is where a lot of buyer's remorse gets manufactured. Where actual scams show up is on the exit side, not the purchase side. Fraudulent exit companies that demand $3,000 to $10,000 upfront, promise results they can't deliver, and then disappear or do nothing are a well-documented pattern that state attorneys general have sued over repeatedly. See [exit-scam-awareness] for the specific red flags to watch for, and timeshare exit companies for how to vet a company before paying anything. So: not a scam by definition, but a product that's easy to regret and hard to exit cheaply, sold in an environment where genuine scams cluster around the exit process.
What if I inherited a timeshare and don't want the fee bill?
You don't automatically have to keep it. In most states, an heir can disclaim (formally refuse) an inherited interest, including a timeshare, as long as the disclaimer is made in writing and within the time limits set by state law, often within nine months of the original owner's death under rules modeled on the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act. Check your state's specific disclaimer statute and deadline with an estate attorney, since timing and required language vary by state. If the estate has already gone through probate and the timeshare was distributed to you, you may need to go through the same deed-back, resale, or negotiated surrender process any other owner would use, since disclaiming after acceptance is usually not possible. Either way, don't just stop paying and ignore the mail. If the resort forecloses or sends the account to collections, it can affect your credit even though you never chose to buy the thing in the first place.
What are my realistic options instead of just stopping payment?
Ranked roughly from cheapest and safest to most expensive and last-resort: 1. Rescind if you're still inside the window. Confirm your state's specific rescission period and cancellation method with your state attorney general's office or the contract, and send written notice exactly as required [3]. 2. Ask the resort for a deed-back or surrender program. Many major resort brands now offer this for owners current on payments; it's often free or low-cost if you qualify. 3. List it for resale through a licensed broker, with zero expectation of profit, just to be free of the fee obligation going forward. 4. Get a real, no-upfront-fee legal consultation about your specific contract and state before doing anything drastic, especially if you're facing a special assessment you genuinely can't afford. 5. Only as an absolute last resort, and with full knowledge of the credit and legal consequences, consider stopping payment on a fully underwater, unsellable deeded week you can't afford under any circumstance, understanding this may trigger foreclosure, collections, and credit damage as discussed above. This isn't advice to do so, and you should talk to a licensed attorney in your state first. We built a self-directed $149 Timeshare Exit Kit at ExitHonest specifically for owners who want the paperwork, scripts, and state-specific rescission and deed-back guidance without paying a $3,000 to $10,000 exit company upfront fee. It's not a law firm and it doesn't promise a specific exit outcome, it's a structured set of tools for doing the legwork yourself or with your own attorney.
How do I avoid exit scams while I figure this out?
Anyone who calls you out of the blue promising a fast exit for a large upfront fee is the single biggest red flag in this entire space. The FTC has brought or supported multiple enforcement actions against timeshare exit and resale companies for exactly this pattern of upfront fees and no results [4]. Before paying anyone: check the company's name plus "complaint" with your state attorney general's consumer protection division, verify any attorney's bar license status through your state bar association's public lookup, and never wire money or pay in gift cards, both classic irreversible-payment red flags regulators warn about repeatedly. Legitimate deed-back programs run through the resort itself typically cost little to nothing. Legitimate attorneys and transfer companies should be able to explain exactly what work they'll do for what fee, in writing, before you pay a cent. For a running list of numbers and organizations worth calling before you pay anyone, see timeshare call list, and for the full pattern list of scam tactics, see [exit-scam-awareness].
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I just stop paying my timeshare maintenance fees?
You'll typically get late fees within 30 to 60 days, then collection calls, then referral to a collection agency or attorney within 90 to 180 days. Deeded timeshares can go into foreclosure under state law; points or right-to-use memberships can be terminated with the debt sent to collections. Either path can hurt your credit for up to seven years.
Can a timeshare company sue me for unpaid fees?
Yes. Depending on your state and the resort's governing documents, the association or developer can pursue a lien foreclosure on deeded property, or sue you directly for breach of contract on a points membership, and in some states pursue a deficiency judgment for any balance left after foreclosure sale.
How do I get out of a timeshare without hurting my credit?
The safest path is rescinding within your state's cooling-off window, or negotiating a deed-back/surrender directly with the resort while you're current on payments. Both avoid the collections and foreclosure process entirely. Once you're delinquent, credit damage becomes much harder to avoid.
How do you get out of a timeshare after the rescission period ends?
Ask the resort about a deed-back or surrender program first, since many major resort systems take back paid-off timeshares for free or a small fee. If that fails, try licensed resale with realistic price expectations, or consult a licensed attorney about your specific contract before paying any exit company upfront.
How to sell a timeshare, and will I get my money back?
List through a licensed real estate broker in the resort's state and expect little to no return; many timeshares resell for $0 to a few hundred dollars because buyers just want to stop paying fees. Never pay a resale company thousands upfront before they've produced an actual buyer, a pattern the FTC has repeatedly warned about.
Are timeshares scams?
Most timeshares are legal, contractually valid products, not scams by definition, but the sales process is known for high-pressure tactics and the fees are a bad long-term financial deal for most owners. Real scams cluster around the exit side, where fraudulent companies charge large upfront fees for cancellations they never deliver.
How much does a timeshare cost per year?
Purchase price aside, the average annual maintenance fee was roughly $1,170 per interval in 2022 according to ARDA's State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry report, and fees have generally risen faster than inflation since. Special assessments for repairs or storm damage can add several hundred to several thousand dollars in a single year on top of that.
What if I inherited a timeshare I don't want?
You can often formally disclaim (refuse) an inherited timeshare in writing within your state's deadline, commonly around nine months after the owner's death, before you accept any benefit of ownership. If the estate already distributed it to you, you'll typically need to use deed-back, resale, or negotiated surrender like any other owner.
Will stopping payment get me out of a timeshare faster than rescinding?
No. Stopping payment usually takes far longer to resolve than rescission, and it comes with late fees, collection activity, possible foreclosure, and credit damage along the way. Rescinding within your state's window, when available, is faster, cheaper, and doesn't touch your credit at all.
Can I go to jail for not paying timeshare maintenance fees?
No. Unpaid maintenance fees are a civil debt matter, not a criminal one. You can face collections, a lawsuit for the balance, foreclosure on a deeded interest, or a credit report hit, but not criminal charges simply for falling behind on fees.
How do timeshare exit companies actually work, and are they worth it?
Legitimate ones review your contract, help identify legal exit routes like deed-back or negotiated surrender, and charge a disclosed fee for that work. Many disreputable ones charge $3,000 to $10,000 upfront and deliver nothing. Vet any company with your state attorney general's office before paying, and never pay by wire transfer or gift card.
Does a timeshare foreclosure affect my other property or my main home?
Generally no, a timeshare foreclosure only affects the timeshare deed itself, not your primary residence, unless you used your home as collateral for the purchase (rare, but check your loan documents). However, if the resort obtains a deficiency judgment for unpaid balance after foreclosure, that judgment could potentially be enforced against other assets depending on your state's collection laws.
Sources
- Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes Chapter 721 (Vacation and Timeshare Plans): Florida's timeshare statute governs lien and foreclosure procedures for delinquent maintenance fee assessments
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, credit reporting time limit guidance: Collection accounts and related negative information generally stay on a credit report for up to seven years
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice: Timeshares and Vacation Plans: Rescission periods and cancellation rules vary by state and by contract terms
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice: Timeshare Resales: FTC warns owners to be cautious of resale and exit companies that demand large upfront fees before producing a buyer
- American Resort Development Association, State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry (2023 report): Average annual timeshare maintenance fee was approximately $1,170 per interval in 2022