Strong Advocacy | Personalized Service | Real Solutions

Timeshares present unusual real estate quandaries

As a Minneapolis resident is sorting through his mail during the cold months of winter, his eyes may fall upon a mailer advertisement about visiting a tropical paradise in a faraway land. As he reads the advertisement, he may discover that what he has actually received is a brochure about owning a timeshare in a vacation destination. Not everyone knows what a timeshare is or understands the challenges that they can present when they are not properly handled.

Timeshares are a popular method of owing property in a unique way. Generally, a timeshare gives its owner access to a particular resort or property in a specific destination during a specific time of year. The time of year may even be specified down to a particular week; when specific locations and dates are stipulated in a timeshare agreement, a party generally possessed a deed to that particular interest in the property.

Individuals can also purchase non-deeded timeshares. A non-deeded timeshare will give an owner the right to use a property for a certain amount of time during a year but does not predetermine what dates the property must be used. Non-deeded timeshares offer flexibility to individuals but can make it challenging for users to secure time during popular weeks of the year.

Unfortunately, there are many organizations that sell scam timeshares to the unassuming. A scam may include the sale of an interest in a property that does not exist or the sale of a timeshare to a property that does not include the amenities it is represented to include in its advertising materials. Disputes can arise over the ownership of particular weeks of use for a timeshare as well as if a party actually has any ownership interests in a property at all. When timeshare dispute arise, individuals can benefit from contacting their real estate attorneys to work through the difficulties of settling their timeshare-related legal problems.