Behind on Maintenance Fees, can I rent to cover the MF?

[IndyStacey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IndyStacey]

I can no longer afford my BG timeshare. I have been making the monthly payments, but I am behind on my maintenance fees. I have taken one BG vacation and was very pleased. Unfortunately, my financial circumstances have changed since I purchased the TS in August of 2007.

I have been reading the posts here today, I realize I can't sell the timeshare since I still owe on it. But I'm wondering if I can rent my points to cover the past due MF. I don't want to default on the loan. And I don't want to file bankruptcy. But the monthly payment is more than I can afford and the MF fees are piling up.

Any suggestions?

[crwisconsin Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close crwisconsin]

Sorry, no.

But I'm wondering if I can rent my points to cover the past due MF.

You should not be able to make any reservations until you are current in your fees. This is a reasonable policy since someone who has decided on bankruptcy could use their points or rent their points and still never pay their fees. BG has no way of knowing who will pay if they rent and who won't pay if they rent. The agreements we signed say that we have to pay before use.

Charles

[IndyStacey Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close IndyStacey]

makes sense

I knew that I couldn't use my points until the MF fees were paid, but I was hoping the rental option might be possible. But your point that BG has no way to know if I or the renter would really pay the MF. Thanks!

I really would prefer to keep the TS. But I just seem to sinking further and further into debt ... with BG and others.

[vintner Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close vintner]

Several of us rent out the time. Sometimes we have success in renting, sometimes the time does not get rented.

Once you are current on your fees, find a week or weekend that you feel may have good rental possibilities. Book that time with BG. Advertise the week in craigslist, redweek.com or myresortnetwork.com. If you get interest in the rental, there are short term leases available online, get one and work out the deposit and lease terms.

[swirg53 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close swirg53]

Oh, we hear this far too often. I so wish people would not buy a timeshare through a mortgage. I so wish that timeshares were not sold through a mortgage but then there would be far less timeshares sold. At any rate, these wishes do not help you out.

Recently, on a different forum, it was mentioned when a person made a purchase of some resale points, they were able to negotiate with BG a lesser payment of the back maintenance fees in order to bring them current. Now, I don't know if they would let you do that or not, but it would be worth a try. Call owner services and ask to talk to the maintenance fee department and then ask to speak to a supervisor. Explain your situation to them. FIRST before calling, figure out how much you could possibly afford to bring your maintenance fees current. You may need to study first on how you might go about renting your points. READ and pick other people's brains as to how they rent. Many of us are pretty closed mouthed about how we do our rentals as we don't want to give away our secrets, but if you read through old posts, a LARGE task, you will gain lots of knowledge.

The rental world is not easy but if you try to rent to friends and family, business/work acquaintances, fellow church members where they give you a date they want to travel and you give them a great rate and then you can find availability (helps if they can be flexible as to when they can travel)...then you have an automatic rental, not a pie in the sky, I'm going to reserve this date and try to find a renter out of no where.

Join the Yahoo Bluegreen group too. That might help you out in your networking to gain knowledge.

After you have a PLAN in place of how you are going to get the money to pay your maintenance fees....................maybe a loan which you will pay back with the rental income, once you bring your points current. And I understand with your credit dilemma, you may not even be able to secure a loan.......but know exactly how you are going to pay that back too. Have a business plan.

Are you following this? I have kind of jumped around.

1. Determine if anyone you know would rent time from you. If so, determine if there might be availability for when they want to go. (I think you can still call in and ask about availability even if you can't reserve or others of us may be willing to do an online search for you.) Now, you will know what kind of income you are looking at.
2. Determine if you can get a loan for that amount of money. Show the bank/credit union your business plan of how you are going to get the money to pay it back--with this rental income.
3. Contact Bluegreen to see if they will accept a lesser amount of money to bring your maintenance fees up to date. Show them your business plan of confirmed renters with confirmed availability and your loan, explaining to them that you know you can't do this until your maintenance fees are up to snuff but without lowering the maintenance fees owed to X amount, this isn't going to happen.

It's worth a shot. I always believe in negotiating or making an attempt. Nothing is cut in stone. I never thought of this before it was recently posted but why not try? You have said you don't want to lose this so this is an attempt to not lose it.

Susan

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

Susan has some excellent advice. When hubby went into the Army, for some reason (probably because he didn't do the paperwork, but I don't remember for sure), he was not paid in a timely fashion. I was not working full time and did not have enough income to pay my bills without that money, however I went to the guys I was renting from and a couple of other people, explained the situation, and they were all happy to work with me. So in my experience, if you sit down and say, "This is the situation, and this is what I am trying to do about it," many organizations will try to work with you, particularly if it's a time when a lot of people are struggling financially.

Also agree with Susan that your best bet, as someone new to renting, is to ask friends and family if they'd be willing to work with you in the sense of renting vacation time from you to help you pay your bills. Most people figure their rentals according to their yearly fees, so if you charge what you need to pay both the yearly fees AND some of your loan, you'll be charging a high price in terms of the market as a whole. OTOH, quite possibly you'd still be charging less than what many people would pay getting the same unit direct from Bluegreen, so it wouldn't be an exorbitant price - just not the best price out there. And even renting out at a bit of a loss can help pay the bills when you're strapped, since the bills need to be paid whether you can use the unit or not.

Listing rental ads by date is pretty chancy, while listing vague rental ads may not inspire someone looking for a particular location on a particular date to bother inquiring, which is probably why those most successful at renting generally develop a solid clientele of family, friends, and former renters who have "first crack" at their Bluegreen points. Not to say that you won't rent by advertising a specific time and place, just saying don't get discouraged if that approach takes time to succeed - it's a complicated market, and there's definitely a sharp learning curve. Bluegreen is a good deal, in terms of the yearly fees, meaning that sometimes people first rent Bluegreen points from friends or family as a form of charitable giving - but go on to rent again because they like to vacation that way!

You've got an advantage over some people trying to rent out Bluegreen points, because you know Bluegreen offers a good experience. By renting points to friends or family, you can share that positive experience of a great vacation, without sharing the risk of deep debt. Renting out points can definitely be a win-win situation, and I hope you can find a way to do it.