Why give your timeshare resort a blank check?
Writing off a blank check is very rarely the best plan to work with. Giving away a blank check immediately translates into you trusting the new owner of the check with any amount of payments at any given time – a little too much power to give to the wrong person who might not always have your best interests in mind.
One of the most common reasons your timeshare salesman will pitch to you for obtaining a blank check will have something to do with keeping up the maintenance costs of your property. Granted, the upkeep of your timeshare requires labor and cash but with your blank cheque in hand, it can lead to the timeshare companies opting for the costliest options to do so, or worse, taking out a chunk of that money for themselves. Moreover, a lot of timeshare selling companies bind their customers in perpetual contracts with terrible cancellation choices which pave the way for more of these opportunities.
Timeshares, in general, have a tendency to depreciate over time, which means the upkeep gets more expensive with every passing day and somehow all those costs are managed using the blank cheque handed over by you. As your funds get used up constantly, you face the rising risk of debt.
In an unfortunate scenario where your bank balance is not being able to keep up with just one blank check, ruthless timeshare companies won’t shy away from asking you for more. In addition to this, a lack of funds might lead to you resorting to bank loans, and here’s another catch – no bank will provide you with a mortgage/loan thanks to the high level of risks involved with timeshares, leaving you back to square one. If you decide to go over to a developer financier to solve this problem, you will end up with the worst interest rates, leaving you in a tough situation.
Always have clear and written communication about the costs of your timeshare with your adviser. If you find yourself stuck with a timeshare that you would be better off canceling, our team at ETR would be happy to hop on a call with you and help you further.
