What happens if you don't pay a timeshare maintenance fee

Last updated 2026-07-26

What actually happens if you stop paying timeshare maintenance fees?

The short version: nothing happens instantly, but almost everything happens eventually. Timeshare associations run on maintenance fee income the same way a condo HOA does. When owners stop paying, the association still has to cut the grass, pay the insurance, and fund the reserve for the roof. So they chase the money, and they chase it in a fairly predictable order. First comes a late fee, typically somewhere between 10% and 18% of the unpaid balance, sometimes a flat fee instead or in addition. Then comes a collections call or letter, often from an in-house collections department before it ever reaches a third-party agency. If the balance sits unpaid for another billing cycle or two, expect a formal notice of default, then eventually a lien recorded against the deed, and finally foreclosure proceedings if you never resolve it. The exact order and speed depend entirely on the resort's governing documents (the CC&Rs) and state law where the property sits. A fee-simple deeded week in Florida forecloses differently than a right-to-use interest in Mexico or a points-based trust in Nevada. None of that changes the basic shape: ignore the bill long enough and you lose the timeshare, but you don't necessarily walk away clean.

How fast do late fees and interest add up?

Late fees on timeshare accounts are not small. Industry surveys and owner complaints commonly cite 10% to 18% penalty rates layered on top of already-high annual fees, and some contracts also charge interest on the overdue balance, sometimes in the 12% to 18% annual range, compounding monthly on some accounts. A $1,200 annual fee that goes unpaid for a year can easily balloon by $150 to $300 or more just in penalties before it's ever sent to a collector. The American Resort Development Association (ARDA), the industry's own trade group, has reported average annual maintenance fees for U.S. timeshare owners in the range of roughly $1,000 to $1,200 in recent years, according to ARDA's published owner research summaries. Special assessments for storm damage, roof replacement, or furniture upgrades stack on top of that and are usually due on a short fuse, 30 to 60 days, with the same late-fee structure applying if you miss it. Here's the part owners miss: the association doesn't have to accept a partial payment or a payment plan. Some will negotiate. Many won't, especially once the account is already in collections.

Will an unpaid timeshare maintenance fee hurt my credit?

Yes, eventually, if it reaches collections or foreclosure. Maintenance fee debt itself is not automatically reported to credit bureaus the way a mortgage payment is, because it's an association assessment, not a loan payment. But once the account goes to a third-party collection agency, that agency can and often does report the delinquency to Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion under the standard furnishing rules of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 ^[1]. A foreclosure, if it gets that far, is a serious negative mark and can knock a credit score down substantially, similar to a home foreclosure in severity, and adverse credit information generally can be reported for up to seven years under the FCRA's reporting-period provision, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c ^[1]. If the resort's lender or the association also pursues a deficiency judgment (more on that below), a court judgment can show up as well. So the honest answer is: one missed payment probably won't touch your credit. A year of missed payments that lands in collections almost certainly will.

Can the resort foreclose on a timeshare for unpaid fees?

Yes. Most deeded timeshare interests are real property, and most state statutes let the association place a lien for unpaid assessments and foreclose on that lien, similar to how a condo association forecloses for unpaid HOA dues. Florida, the state with the largest concentration of timeshares, has this built directly into its statute: Florida Statute 721.855 sets out a nonjudicial foreclosure procedure for timeshare liens known as a trustee foreclosure, which is faster and cheaper for the association than a full judicial foreclosure ^[2]. Other states, including many that don't have a timeshare-specific nonjudicial process, require judicial foreclosure through the courts, which takes longer, often 6 months to 2 years depending on court backlog and whether the owner contests it. Right-to-use products, common with some club and points systems, don't convey real property, so the 'foreclosure' looks more like a straightforward contract termination and account cancellation instead of a deed proceeding, but the practical result (you lose the interest, and possibly still owe money) is similar. A foreclosure does resolve the ownership question. It does not always resolve the debt question.

Can I still owe money after the timeshare is foreclosed?

In some states, yes. This is the part almost nobody explains up front. After foreclosure, if the sale of the timeshare interest (or the association simply taking it back) doesn't cover the full unpaid balance, some states allow the association to pursue a deficiency judgment against the former owner for the difference, plus attorney's fees and costs already run up in the collection process. Whether a deficiency judgment is available depends on the state and on whether the foreclosure was judicial or nonjudicial. Florida's nonjudicial trustee foreclosure process under 721.855 generally limits or eliminates the deficiency claim for the association if they use that faster track, which is one reason Florida resorts favor it ^[2]. Other states with judicial-only foreclosure processes are more likely to preserve the association's right to sue for the shortfall. This is genuinely a 'read the actual foreclosure notice and check your state's statute' situation, not a one-size answer. If you're facing this, an actual real estate or consumer attorney licensed in that state is worth the consultation fee before you assume the debt disappears with the deed.

Does a timeshare foreclosure affect an inherited timeshare the same way?

Yes, and this catches heirs off guard constantly. If you inherit a timeshare and don't want it, the maintenance fees don't pause just because you're sorting out probate. The association will keep billing the estate or the new owner of record, and if nobody pays, the same late fee, collections, lien, and foreclosure sequence applies exactly as it would for the original purchaser. Heirs have a few real options: formally disclaim the inheritance through the probate process before accepting any benefit of ownership (state probate law controls the deadline and mechanics for this, and it varies quite a bit), negotiate a deed-back with the resort if one is offered, or let the foreclosure run its course and accept the credit hit rather than take on a property nobody in the family wants. Disclaiming is usually the cleanest path if you catch it early enough, because you're not accepting the debt along with the deed. What heirs should not do is start paying maintenance fees 'just to be safe' while they figure things out, since ongoing payment can sometimes be treated as accepting the inheritance, which can complicate a later disclaimer. Check your state's specific rules on this before paying anything.

Is it ever smarter to just stop paying and let it foreclose?

For some owners, yes, and plenty of consumer attorneys will say so plainly, but it's not risk-free and it's not a strategy we can responsibly hand you as a blanket recommendation. If the deed is worth nothing on the resale market (which is true for the overwhelming majority of timeshares) and the state's foreclosure process doesn't carry deficiency judgment risk, walking away and letting the lien run its course can, in practice, end up cheaper than years of fee payments plus a $3,000 to $6,000 upfront fee to a paid 'exit company.' But this is not something to back into blindly. We are not telling you to stop paying money you legally owe. What we are telling you is that the consequences (credit damage, possible deficiency judgment depending on your state, collection calls) are knowable in advance, and you should know them before you decide, not after. Confirm your specific state's foreclosure and deficiency rules, ideally with a consumer attorney or at minimum your state attorney general's consumer protection office, before treating nonpayment as your plan. The Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly warned that timeshare exit offers are a common source of consumer fraud, and its guidance stresses researching any exit company before paying it anything, because 'scammers... may pose as timeshare resellers' according to the FTC's consumer alert on timeshare resale scams ^[3], since the moment word gets out that you're struggling with fees, exit scammers start calling.

How do you get out of a timeshare before it comes to this?

The cheapest exit is almost always the one that happens before you ever miss a payment. If you're still inside your state's rescission window (the short cancellation period every state gives new timeshare buyers), that is by far the fastest and lowest-cost way out; confirm your state's rescission window and deadline in your contract and with your state's statute, because it ranges widely, from as short as 3 days to as long as 15 days depending on the state, and it starts running from the date you sign or receive the last required disclosure, not from today. Outside the rescission window, real options include: a deed-back or 'deedback' program directly through the resort or management company, where the developer takes the deed back (Marriott Vacation Club, Hilton Grand Vacations, and Wyndham all run some version of this for qualifying owners), a private resale (expect to net very little to nothing, since the resale market for timeshares is famously weak), or working through a documented, fee-transparent process yourself using state-specific rescission and cancellation rules. For a full state-by-state breakdown of how to actually start that process, see how to get out of a timeshare and how to get out of timeshare. If you're not sure whether your situation is rescission-eligible or past that window, how do you get out of a timeshare walks through both scenarios side by side.

How much does a timeshare cost, and why are fees rising so fast?

Timeshare purchase prices vary enormously depending on brand, size, and season, and industry consumer research from ARDA has put average purchase prices for a typical interval or points package in the tens of thousands of dollars in recent years. That's the sticker price. The real long-term cost is the annual maintenance fee, which industry figures put in roughly the $1,000 to $1,200 range in recent years, and that number has been climbing faster than general inflation for years, partly because insurance costs at coastal resorts have spiked and partly because aging properties need bigger capital reserves for renovation. Special assessments are the other shoe that drops. A hurricane, a failed roof, or a mandated furniture refresh across a resort chain can trigger a one-time assessment of anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per interval owner, billed separately from the annual fee and due on its own short deadline. So when someone asks 'how much are timeshares' or 'how much do timeshares cost,' the honest answer has two parts: the upfront price (often $15,000 to $40,000+ depending on the product), and the ongoing cost, which for most owners is the part that actually causes financial pain over a 10, 20, or 30-year ownership horizon.

Can I just sell the timeshare instead of dealing with unpaid fees?

You can try, but go in with real expectations. The secondary market for timeshares is weak enough that a large share of listings on resale sites sit for a year or more, and many owners end up giving the interval away for $1 or paying someone to take it, rather than receiving anything for it. Some resorts also restrict resale transfers or charge a transfer fee that eats whatever value existed. If you do want to try, list through a legitimate timeshare resale marketplace or a licensed real estate agent in the resort's state, be transparent about the annual maintenance fee amount in the listing (buyers will find out anyway and it kills deals to hide it), and never pay an upfront 'we have a buyer waiting' fee to a company that called you out of the blue. That pattern (a stranger calls claiming they have a buyer lined up, but you have to pay a transfer or 'closing' fee first) is one of the most common timeshare resale scams the FTC warns consumers about, describing how scammers 'contact timeshare owners saying they have a buyer ready to purchase the timeshare' before asking for money upfront ^[3]. For a rundown of what a legitimate cancellation process actually looks like versus a resale attempt, see timeshare cancellation.

Are timeshares scams, or is it the exit industry that's the problem?

The timeshare product itself is legal in every U.S. state, heavily regulated, and not inherently a scam, though plenty of owners feel scammed by the sales pressure and the gap between what was promised at the presentation and what they actually got. The bigger, more consistent scam pattern sits on the exit side, not the purchase side. The FTC has brought and settled numerous enforcement actions against timeshare exit and resale companies for taking large upfront fees, sometimes $3,000 to $10,000 or more, and then doing little or nothing to actually get owners out of their contracts ^[3]. The red flags are consistent across nearly every case: a large fee paid entirely upfront before any work is done, high-pressure cold calls, and pressure to stop making mortgage or maintenance fee payments as part of the 'strategy.' That last one is the biggest danger sign. No legitimate attorney or exit process tells you to simply stop paying what you owe; a legitimate process works within your state's rescission law, your resort's deed-back program, or a documented negotiation, not around them. If someone promises they can wipe out your contract with no risk and charges you thousands of dollars up front to 'handle' it, that is the scam, not the fee itself.

What should I actually do if I'm behind on maintenance fees right now?

Start with the paperwork you already have. Pull your original purchase contract and any recent statements, and check three things: whether you're still inside your state's rescission window (unlikely if you've owned it for years, but check anyway if this is a recent purchase), whether the resort has a deed-back or hardship program listed in their owner portal or by calling owner services directly, and what your state's specific foreclosure and deficiency judgment rules actually say. Call the resort's owner services line yourself and ask directly whether they offer a deed-back, a payment plan, or a hardship deferral before you pay a third party anything. Many major timeshare brands, including Marriott Vacation Club, Wyndham Destinations, and Bluegreen, have run some form of deed-back or exit program in recent years for owners current on fees or willing to get current first. It costs nothing to ask. If you decide you need organized help pulling together your specific documents, deadlines, and state rules rather than guessing at the process alone, that's exactly the gap our $149 one-time Exit Kit Builder is built to fill: it does not promise a cancellation and it does not contact the resort for you, but it gives you the state-specific rescission deadlines, sample letters, and document checklist so you're not paying a $5,000 exit company to do research you can do yourself in an afternoon. Whatever you do, don't ignore letters from the association or a collections agency, and don't wire money to anyone who cold-called you promising to get your contract cancelled with no risk to you. Check the caller's name and company against your state attorney general's consumer complaint process before paying anything.

Frequently asked questions

How to get out of a timeshare?

Start by confirming whether you're still inside your state's rescission window, since that's the fastest and cheapest exit and requires no fee to anyone. Outside that window, look into a resort deed-back program, attempt a resale with realistic price expectations, or work through documented cancellation steps. Avoid any company demanding a large upfront fee before doing any work.

How do you get out of a timeshare after the rescission period ends?

You generally have three realistic paths: a deed-back program through the resort or management company if one is offered, a private resale (often for very little money), or simply stopping payment and accepting the foreclosure consequences after confirming your state's deficiency judgment rules. There is no universal 'cancel anytime' button once rescission has expired.

How to sell a timeshare?

List it through a licensed resale broker or a reputable timeshare resale marketplace, price it honestly (most resales net very little, sometimes $0 to a few hundred dollars), and disclose the annual maintenance fee upfront. Never pay an unsolicited caller an upfront fee claiming they have a buyer lined up.

How to get rid of a timeshare you inherited and don't want?

If you're still in probate, look into formally disclaiming the inheritance before accepting any ownership benefit, since that generally avoids taking on the fees and debt too. If you've already accepted it, ask the resort about a deed-back program or expect the standard late-fee-to-foreclosure sequence if fees go unpaid.

Are timeshares scams?

The timeshare product itself is a legal, regulated real estate or club interest, not inherently a scam, though many owners feel misled by high-pressure sales tactics. The bigger scam risk sits with unlicensed exit and resale companies charging large upfront fees; the FTC has pursued multiple enforcement actions against operators in that space.

How much is a timeshare?

Industry consumer research from ARDA has put average purchase prices for U.S. timeshare interests in the tens of thousands of dollars in recent years, though prices range from a few thousand dollars for resale units to $50,000+ for new luxury-brand purchases. That figure doesn't include the ongoing annual maintenance fee.

How much do timeshares cost per year in maintenance fees?

Industry figures from ARDA have put average annual maintenance fees in roughly the $1,000 to $1,200 range in recent years, and fees tend to rise annually. Special assessments for repairs or renovations are billed separately and can add several hundred to several thousand dollars in a given year.

What happens the first time I miss a timeshare maintenance fee payment?

Expect a late fee, commonly 10% to 18% of the balance, added to your account, plus possibly interest accruing monthly. Most resorts don't escalate to collections or liens after a single missed payment, but repeated nonpayment moves the account toward collections and eventually foreclosure.

Can unpaid timeshare fees lead to a lawsuit or wage garnishment?

Yes, in states allowing deficiency judgments after foreclosure, the association can sue for the unpaid shortfall plus fees and costs, and a resulting court judgment can potentially lead to wage garnishment or bank account levies depending on state collection law. This risk varies significantly by state, so check local rules.

Does not paying timeshare fees affect my credit score?

Not immediately, but once the delinquent account is sent to a third-party collection agency or results in foreclosure, that information can be reported to credit bureaus under standard Fair Credit Reporting Act rules, and adverse information generally can stay on your report for up to seven years.

Will the timeshare company just let me walk away for free if I stop paying?

Sometimes, functionally, if the resort decides pursuing you costs more than it's worth, especially for a low-value week. But you can't assume that in advance, and depending on your state, they may still pursue a deficiency judgment or badly damage your credit through collections and foreclosure reporting first.

What's the difference between a timeshare deed-back and just stopping payments?

A deed-back is a voluntary, documented agreement where the resort takes the deed back, often requiring you to be current on fees first, and it typically avoids credit damage. Stopping payments forces an involuntary foreclosure process that usually does hit your credit and, in some states, can leave you owing a deficiency balance afterward.

Sources

1. Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c (reporting period for adverse information): Negative credit information, including collections and foreclosure, can generally be reported for up to seven years under FCRA
2. Florida Legislature, Florida Statutes Section 721.855: Florida's nonjudicial trustee foreclosure procedure for timeshare liens under unpaid assessments
3. Federal Trade Commission, "Selling Your Timeshare? Watch Out for Resale Scams" consumer alert: FTC warning on timeshare resale scam patterns and upfront-fee exit company enforcement
4. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: You can still owe money (a deficiency judgment) after a timeshare is foreclosed if the resort sues for the balance owed
5. Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1692: Collection practices around unpaid timeshare maintenance fees sent to third-party debt collectors are governed by federal debt collection law
6. IRS Publication 4681: Forgiven or canceled timeshare debt after foreclosure may be considered taxable income
7. 11 U.S.C. § 523: Certain timeshare debts and deficiency judgments may or may not be dischargeable in bankruptcy