# What's the downside of not paying timeshare fees? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 16, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657 "2023-10-16T16:58:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![raspberry\_hunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@raspberry\_hunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raspberry_hunter)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657/21 "2023-10-16T19:54:51Z")
Yeah, I did in the first post – Tahiti Village Las Vegas. I did do a little googling which is how I know that it doesn’t have a buyback program and is not really worth that much (read: anything) on the open market, but I should probably look into specifics further. (Haha, it’s definitely not going to compromise my anonymity – there are lots of people out there who have been taken in by this company, it seems) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657/22 "2023-10-16T19:57:10Z")
Damn, I swear that I re-read the OP before I asked. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657/23 "2023-10-16T19:58:15Z")
In some states, mortgages are only back by recourse to the house, not to the rest of your assets. So, if you default on it, the bank gets your house but has zero recourse to your savings, retirement funds, etc. It would mess up your credit rating, but that’s it. I suppose it’s possible that a time share has the same thing in some states? From this thread, it sounds like your parents signed up for payments in perpetuity – there must be a way out of that. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657/24 "2023-10-16T20:04:09Z")
Mortgages are not timeshare fees. One has the real property as collateral, the other is simply a debt. As @RitterSport says, there are recourse and non-recourse mortgages. If there is a mortgage, knowing which kind Mom & Dad have will be another necessary bit of info. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657/25 "2023-10-16T20:06:13Z")
What is the remaining mortgage on the timeshare? Maybe separate that from the annual fees to get a better idea of what the parents are on the hook for? ---
**Author:** ![mjmartin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3d9bf3/32.png) [@mjmartin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjmartin)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657/26 "2023-10-16T20:17:32Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Can an attorney ethically/legally say “sure, just stop paying, this is what will happen and you can deal with that”? Genuinely curious. No to quibble, but I don’t think the lawyer would say, “stop paying.” She would say, here is what would happen if you stop paying, and the client can make his/her own decisions from there. I don’t think a bankruptcy attorney could operate if they couldn’t provide that kind of advice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-downside-of-not-paying-timeshare-fees/991657.md?page=1)