Back in 97, stupidly, I bought a timeshare. I couldn't make the payments and I fell behind. I was in constant contact with them however, they were incredibly disorganized. I would get two calls a day from people who sat literally two seats away from each other, trying to collect. I was transferred to so many different people, I could hardly keep things straight. I contacted them and made a payment arrangement. I was doing great, scheduled to catch up after being 8 months behind! I was one payment away and I get this letter: "Due to the fact that you have breached your contract, we are making your purchase contract null and void. All monies will be kept for damages". I said, "Well....okay then, fine!". This was in September when I got the letter dated May 99. In November of 99, I get a call from them, "When are you going to pay?" I'm like, "Pay what? I don't have a contract anymore....it's void". The lady tells me, 'Oh, we don't have any information on this". So I faxed her the letter and it was great that she really DID try to get it taken care of. In Feb 2000, she calls me back and is like, "It's still valid and they want their money. Or you can give it back". I'm like, "GIVE WHAT BACK!!!!???? Didn't you read the letter???" So then she says the dreaded words - foreclosure. So she says, "Hey, just give it back and it'll be over". So they send the papers, I sign and send it back. And WHAM....it hits my credit report. Now mind you, all this time, being late 8 months, it's never showed up on my credit report. I'm bummed. I know this is deep (and long) but if anyone has any ideas as to how I can get this off my report, I'd welcome it. I thought about writing them. I've tried validating and it keeps coming back. Seems they've gotten a bit more organized (LOL) It's only showing up on my TU and my Experian. Experian is classic at NOT answering Procedural Request letters, but should I do that? Again, anyone who can offer help..it would be appreciated. As I've stated before, I'm applying for a mortgage and with the letter at LEAST that'll help smooth THAT over a little but it would help if I could get it off all together. Thanks in advance.
I had a similiar experience on June of 2000. The family and I went to Florida and stayed at a Holiday Inn. Upon checking in, we received an offer to tour a vacation resort in exchange for free tickets to a Disney theme park. Now, years earlier, when I was 15, my parents and I went to the same resort with some relatives that were traveling with us and they purchased the timeshare. We ended up getting a free week stay at the place. So, we took the tour and decided to purchase the timeshare. They made it so easy, it was only going to cost us $180/month. We only had to put down $1500; but they gave us a sweet deal by allowing us to put down $100 and make the rest of the payment in 60 days. After paying $110 a night in a hotel, owning a timeshare seemed like a good idea. After we got back, we decided that it was too much money, considering that we didn't have and still don't have a house. So we cancelled. The sales reps tried everything and bent over backwards to try to give us a better deal, more time to make the down payments, etc. Finally, they figured that we didn't want it. They tried to threaten us with foreclosure since the cancellation was after their deadline. However, when I threatened getting a lawyer, since they kept trying to get us to keep it, they simply cancelled the sale. Since I had only put down $100, I lost that money. When I got the letter in the mail, it stated that the deal was null and void. I sent in a letter for cancelling when I got back from Florida and that's what saved me from foreclosure.
Don't have an answer for you guys, but I bought a timeshare in Puerto Rico back in 1977, the best thing I ever did, wish I had bougth for the whole year instead of 2 weeks. www.creditsense.com
