Working with DFC in Donating Our TS

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

Update: Apparently the transfer of my TS was completed yesterday, Jan 5, 2012, to PPI (Project Philanthropy Inc. - [Donate for a Cause]). I'm waiting further confirmation.

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

Update: I just spoke with my resort (Orange Lake) to verify the transfer. Orange Lake stated my TS was transfered as of yesterday (01-05-12) to Project Philanthropy Inc. My account was closed and a new account was established for Project Philanthropy Inc. I asked if a letter could be sent to me verifying in writing that the mentioned transfer was complete with our names off of the TS with no further obligations to us. Orange Lake stated they typically do not do this, the paperwork we signed should suffice, but my request wold be forwarded for review. I will follow-up with this because this request shold not be an issue if the transfer was complete. I also received an email from Resort Closings, Inc. earlier today in response to my email for an update, stating my transfer was completed yesterday prior to my discusion with Orange Lake today. Stay tuned.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

I think we'd get alot more positive stories like this if we didn't vilify a company as soon as we hear it has an 'upfront fee'

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Perhaps, but an upfront fee generally is a con that gets people nothing for their money. I'm still not convinced this outfit is one of the few and far between good guys.

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

Perhaps, but an upfront fee generally is a con that gets people nothing for their money. I'm still not convinced this outfit is one of the few and far between good guys.

Seems like they are one of the many many good ones to me...Now, there is a difference between places that promise to LIST your ts for a fee and those that promise to get you OUT of your ts for a fee....I think it's been shown over and over that the ones only promising to list you TS for sale are a scam...I'm not so sure about the other kind

I don't know why we don't differentiate them when the 'upfront fee' thing comes up...That small detail is VERY important when it comes to what happens with your money

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

Donate for a Cause & Upfront fees

Morning,

I wanted to be sure that everyone knows that we have some different payment options for our guaranteed donation program. The donor has the option of paying upfront, 1/2 upfront, or nothing upfront, and a few others. We know that upfront fees are a big red flag in the industry, and we are confident enough to collect after the work has been done. For those donors who elect to not pay upfront they are invoiced at the same time as the deed is sent them for signature.

This payment option is a recent addition to our program (last two months). So far we have had good success with donors paying when invoiced.

Another FYI, I also offer a listing service, which is no upfront fee. This option is offered to anyone that is not completely ready to donate, or pretty much anyone who contacts me. I just put the inventory out with all the brokers I work with and any offer I receive is sent directly to the seller.

Thanks,
John Kushman

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Hello All,

I just found this thread.



It is my job at Donate for a Cause to determine which properties can be donated for a fee and which can be donated for free. .

Please feel free to ask me questions.

John Kushman
VP Sales & Marketing
Donate for a Cause

This is the main problem, Anyone would take in a top tier lets say Marriott or Disney VC for free. But for someone that wants to DONATE for a cause, his not so hot TS he should not have to pay a dime, He should just fork it over and that is it. Many on my board might feel that your company is half better than most. I can not feel that same and your statement above justifies it. If I am wrong then I have a few Timeshares I would like to get rid of. Donate those for a Cause. My Friend listed in the Freebies section of this site a unit at Avalon resort. Now that is a nice beach front unit take that one in.
No one works for free if this was fully Legit there should be zero fees involved. It should be like taking your car to the junk yard you sign over your title and that is it.

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

Donating for Free

The business model of taking in a property for free that is actually going to cost the charity more than it is worth to sell it does not make sense. Why would the charity take on the liability? The charities purpose is to raise money for other non profits. Accepting as donation a blue week in North Carolina that when sold on ebay only goes for $150 does not make sense. The $150 does not cover all of the costs necessary to donate. Taking in a Marriott in Hawaii that sells for $2500 does make sense. That sales price can cover all the necessary fees.

The way the guaranteed donation program came about is owners came to us with properties that would not sell for enough to cover all the costs, so we turned them away. We said "Thank you for your offer, but your property will not sell for enough to cover all of the costs associated with donating." We had people say " Will you take it if I pay all the closing costs?" Sure, that way all the costs are covered and whatever it sells for will go to charity.

Comparing taking your car to the junkyard, and donating a timeshare IMO holds no water. When you take your car to the junkyard, the junkyard owner is thinking "That will sit in my lot and one day someone is going to come in and want a corner panel and steering wheel, $200 profit, no liability. It may take 5 years, but it costs me nothing!"
Giving your timeshare to charity though comes with liability, the annual maintenance fee. We can not just park the timeshare in the charities name until someone comes along wanting to purchase or rent. Unless the resorts waived maintenance fees and taxes for nonprofit owners, then I would guarantee you we would take in every single property offered to us. I find this unlikely to happen.

I hope I have explained why some properties can be donated for free while others can not. The charity could operate two ways that I can see. It can only take in properties that are able to sell for enough to cover everything, and turn away those people who are wanting to unload their timeshares. In this case those people would find a rescue company who charges them $4-$7000 or more, or they find a listing company that charges them $500 to list it on their website, or they get a call from someone who has a buyer for twice what they originally paid for it and all they have to do is send $800 closing costs.

or

The charity can take in properties for free that sell for enough to cover all the fees, AND take in properties for a fee; those ones that would not sell for enough to cover all of the fees. In that way the charity provides a service just like the rescue company, at a lower cost to the owner, and with proceeds of the sale going to charity. It also keeps people from getting scammed by the phone sales scams who promise a ghost buyer.

The benefits of selling your timeshare by yourself are profit and release from ongoing liability. The benefit of giving your timeshare away are release from liability. The benefits of donating your timeshare are release from liability, a tax receipt, and helping out a charity.

Bigfrank, I would be more than happy to hear what you are interested in getting rid of. Obviously if it is one I can not sell for enough to cover all the closing costs, then we would be glad to accept at no cost to you. However, if it is a property that is currently selling on the market for less than enough to cover all of the costs, then the charity is not interested in taking on your liability. As you said yourself, no one works for free.



John

[Ridewithme38 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ridewithme38]

As you said yourself, no one works for free.

John

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

Haha. Although it was not my intention to come of as crass, in hindsight, I can see how my last line can appear that way.

John

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

Previous posts were interesting not to mention the pictures. lol!

Update: I received a letter in the mail from Orange Lake Resorts, dated January 6, 2012. In summary it stated: The Deeding process that I requested has been completed and the transfer of ownership has been finalized. It goes on to state the recording of this deed released me from my obligations to this ownership and the records have been updated. It was sent from the "Deeding Department" at Orange Lake Resorts. So, I guess this is in response to my request when I had call asking for something like this on the date of this letter.

I had spoken via email with Resort Closings, Inc., asking if there was anything else that needed to be done involving me. They responded promptly and stated "no" and I had received everything I needed from them to show proof of the transfer of ownership and the paperwork to file my charitable donation on my taxes. I will continue to monitor my account to see how this plays out and to verify their statement.

I am researching with the IRS in obtaining clarification on what is considered acceptable as the "correct" dollar amount that can be claimed as the donation, i.e., actual amount of monies paid to DFC to complete the transfer, the amount of what the "property" was appraised for etc., which I know has been and still is a big topic amongst many in the TS forums.

I will continue to provide updates regarding my experiences with DFC and now the final phase - taxes. Hope all is well.

[tonyg Goomba & Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close tonyg]

Be very careful with the tax aspects.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Donating a timeshare and IRS:

IRS & Timeshare Donation

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Donating a timeshare and IRS:

IRS & Timeshare Donation

Oops, I may have inadvertently opened a can of worms with this link. I intended it to be a source of IRS information many of us have heard time and time again.

Now, looking further into that site, I find:

Here's how a timeshare donation works
•You choose a title escrow closing company.
•You deposit their fee (usually about $400) in their escrow account.
•You deposit our $500 service fee in their escrow account.
•Only after the deed is in our name and you are FREE do they send the deed and our fee to us.
•We send you a fully legal IRS donation receipt for $5,000.
•If they can't do it, they send all your money back to you.

Why can we accept timeshare donations this way?
•We are a non-profit charity.
•We don't resell your timeshare.
•We don't use or even rent your timeshare.
•We hold title in our name for 36 months before we offer it back to the resort.
•The resort send their bills to us, just like you.
•We don't pay them, just like you can.
•The resort sends us to collection and ruins our credit, just like you.
•We don't use credit so we don't care.
•Without selling it we get nothing in the deal.
•We accept a $500 cash donation from you to do this service.
•You're FREE. We get $500. The resort complains and gets title back in 36 months.
•The IRS says you get a full $5,000 donation credit if we keep it for 36 months and if you're in a 25% tax bracket you'll get $1,250 back as a tax refund.

Sounds like a very fishy exit strategy (such as I have been looking for).

Also, according to the rules of golf, 16 (1) (e), there is no penalty for inadvertent violations.

Sorry anyway.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

So, there is an exit strategy, the first that I have come up with . . . or anyone has come up with.

When your resort says, "Send us money or we will charge you late fees, then report you to the credit agencies, then foreclose on you, and get a judgement against you" if you can say, "that will be fine," doesn't that just about take care of it?