Donating your timeshare to a charity- Did it work for you?

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Ask if the HOA or developer will accept a deedback!

I didn't read through all the posts again, but did anyone mention checking with the association/management company of the resort to see if they would take it?

Good advice from JLB......

For anyone looking to "liquidate" their ownership interval- this strategy should always be the first step. It doesn't seem to happen very often, but when it's available it's the easiest road to take! Many associations don't accept deedbacks, simply because they no longer have a consistent selling venue. Some associations, however, have a history of readily accepting deedbacks.

In the past, there were even a few developers who quietly had reacquisition programs in place where they would pay a small amount to reacquire their own intervals. With the slowdown in sales, paying for reacquisitions is no longer feasible for most- but deedbacks with no cost (or like in the case of Diamond, relinquishment with a deeding charge to the owner) are still possible with many resorts.

In fact, this has been a common tactic for both charities and "pay us to take your timeshare" companies- where they accept a timeshare and then simply arrange for a deedback to the developer- while pocketing the "cash donation" or "relief fee".

[PDG Member Find all posts View Profile Close PDG]

Timeshare Tax Deductions

Many timeshare donation companies would like you to think that you can deduct more money than you actually can from your income tax return for a donation. Some timeshare donation outfits claim to help people get tax deductions of over $20,000. That's not credible! The fact is the IRS requires that any deductions over $5,000 require a professional appraisal. The first catch to this is that most appraisals cost at least $500. The second catch is that most appraisal companies won't back up the appraisals if you were ever to be audited by the Internal Revenue Service. Several of these companies have even ripped off millions of dollars in appraisal fees before they were finally caught. The state of Florida and many others are trying to make this illegal. As the economy worsens the IRS is cracking down more and more on suspicious deductions. IRS agents know that timeshares are worth very little and know that most donated timeshare sell for under $100. Remember, timeshares are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them.

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

There aren't many that have a legitimate resale market value over $5000.

Yeah, I know of a few, but not many.

[bigfrank Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close bigfrank]

Get rid of your timeshare for free

http://www.timeshareforums.com/forum...-involved.html

[perrywinkle47 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close perrywinkle47]

i think all of these "get out of a timeshare" companies are scam and just out to rip us off

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

i think all of these "get out of a timeshare" companies are scam and just out to rip us off

Ya think!?

Nice first post.

[TS Relieved Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close TS Relieved]

It is unfortunate that timeshare industry has so many negative experiences, with regards to the get out of timeshare services. People get so jaded that they don't believe that anyone is legitimate.

There are a few idiots out there who are looking to make a quick buck and make us all distrustful.

If you are looking to get out of your timeshare you can, you need to make sure that they perform before they get paid. A legitimate service will use a third party title and escrow company to perform the transfer. Beware of companies that ask you to send the money to them directly; this is a big red flag.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

National Youth Society- National Childrens Assoc- Life Oasis

Ok.. I've been letting this project lapse a little as I've been concentrating on other endeavors, but this "charity" is getting some minor attention on another online forum so I'll add it to the list.

From first impressions this may well be another questionable "charity". As always with timeshare- proceed with EXTREME CAUTION any time an upfront fee (or in this case "cash donation") is required. Upfront fee timeshare scams are the fastest growing complaint to the Florida Attorney General.

View the discussion on TUG HERE! (Some great info and details about the history of these groups...)

******

THE NATIONAL YOUTH SOCIETY CORP.
PO.BOX 16924
TAMPA FL, 33687-6924
nationalyouthsociety.webs.com

Registered street address shows as:
8715 N 37th St, Tampa, FL 36304
Registed agent shows as Jonathan Ambert.
Incorporated on Oct 19, 2010

President shows as Jonathon Amber and Vice President shows as Royster Damian.

No registration info was found on GuideStar or other national registries. Not found as a registered 501C on irs.gov

*****

THE NATIONAL CHILDRENS ASSOCIATION INC
8715 N. 37TH STREET
TAMPA FL 33604 US
nationalchildrens.webs.com

Registed agent shows as Steven Clark.
Incorporated on Oct 2, 2009

President shows as Steven Clark and Vice President shows as Rotonda R Green

No registration info was found on GuideStar or other national registries. Not found as a registered 501C on irs.gov

*****

LIFE OASIS FOR CHILDREN LLC
8870 N Himes Ave Suite 339
Tampa FL 33614
lifeoasis.us

Original registered street address was:
1793 W Hillsborough Ave
TAMPA FL 33603
Original registed agent was Warren K Gold
Incorporated on June 24, 2009

Registered agent was changed on July 13, 2009 to Steven Clark. Document shows Steven Clark as 50% owner. Warren Gold as 25% owner. It also includes the name Rimma Mamleeva but gives no details as to that relationship..

The next change occurred Sept 14, 2009 when a filing was made to remove the aforementioned Rimma Mamleeva from the position of a managing member.

A few days later on Sept 29, 2009- a filing was made to again list Warren Gold as the registered agent and remove Steven Clark as the Managing Member.

The next day on Sept 30, 2009- the game of hot potato continues as the registered address is changed to 1513 E 131st Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 and the document removed Warren Gold as the managing member and again named Steven Clark as the managing member and registered agent.

On March 16, 2010- the annual report was filed- this time showing Warren Gold as registered agent and Steven Clark as managing member..

On March 26, 2010- a document was filed to show the resignation of Warren Gold as the registered agent.. A new registered agent was not named..

On June 24, 2010- the state of Florida dissolved the company for failing to respond to a notice that the company had failed to name a new registered agent as required by law.

Even though the company was dissolved by the state they still seem to be operating. The website is still active and the phone number is still active but goes to a voicemail system which gives you names and extensions (including Warren Gold) but all seem to go to the same central voicemail.

I emailed from the website asking if they were still accepting timeshare donations and got this response:

From: Life Oasis For Children
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 9:29 AM
Subject: Re: timeshare donation..


Good Morning,

We are, however, at this time in point maintenance fee's will need to be paid for 2011, for the transfer can take 45-60 days and with the holiday's upon us, we are past the point on assuring it will go through before the 1st of the year.

Feel free to contact me, should you have any additional questions or want to discuss further.


Warm Regards,
Susan Bredemeyer
__________________________
Life Oasis for Children
8870 N Himes Ave Ste 339
Tampa FL 33614
Phone: 1-800-863-7065 x105
FAX: 1-888-308-9608


****

One of the big complaints about the "pay us to take your timeshare" businesses is that often they will simply dissolve the company- abandoning any and all properties held (at which point those maintenance fees go into the next years budget as bad debt to be paid by all the remaining timeshare owners at the resort).

I would strongly advise extreme care if dealing with any one of these groups. Before making any cash or property donations, speak with your own attorney and ask him to verify the standing of the company as well as their legal registration as a 501C charity with the IRS.

As usual- rather than dealing with an unknown group calling itself a charity to liquidate an unwanted timeshare- it may be safer to either sell it yourself or sell it through a respected brokerage with no type of upfront fee requirement and then simply donate the cash proceeds to a well known and established charity of your choosing.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Really Scary Conversation With a Guy Who Just Used Donate for a Cause..

I hope that he is mistaken, because what he told me seemed absolutely ridiculous!

He "donated" a low season week in an older developer on Hilton Head. He paid a cash "donation" fee of $1,850. for them to take his unwanted timeshare. He stated that he had previously tried to give it away on his own via eBay- but had not been able to even sell it for $1.

Upon donation, he received an appraisal from Donate for a Cause of $2,500. as the fair market value of the timeshare week.

He stated that he had questioned how the appraisal could be so high, and was told that since there were no recent sales for comparable weeks on Hilton Head, the appraiser had chosen comps from various resorts located throughout the Southeastern United States!

I'm not a certified appraiser, but something seems a little ridiculous to me that a "licensed" appraiser is willing to take into consideration as comparables resorts that are not even located in the same state as the subject property?

When I asked him why he was calling me, his response was that he was scared that he had committed a crime by using a form he knew was wrong on his taxes! I apologized that I couldn't help him and just referred him to a local CPA in his area. But really........

Is the IRS so ignorant that they won't question the validity of these valuations?

[freebird2166 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close freebird2166]

Donated to Florida Veterans

I paid less than $1000 and once I took the plunge it was quick and painless. I don't know if I will be able legally to take a deduction on my taxes. However, I am so happy to be rid of the timeshare even if I can't take a deduction I am very happy. I promised myself if I was successful I would "pay it forward". So, if you are thinking about donating I am more than happy to talk to you about my experience.

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

Having donated our van to a local charity last year, I got to see the paperwork involved. If anyone needs to know, I can dig it up.

The charity does a form so that the IRS can have a record from their side of it, and the donator does a form to correspond.

If over $5000, it requires an appraisal. For ours I used Kelly Blue Book, so we'll see if that's OK. I printed a copy and included it with the return.

Also, if the item donated is resold, the charity is required to report that, and the amount of proceeds. In our case, the charity kept and is using the van.

So . . .

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Be extra careful and double check everything!

I paid less than $1000 and once I took the plunge it was quick and painless. I don't know if I will be able legally to take a deduction on my taxes. However, I am so happy to be rid of the timeshare even if I can't take a deduction I am very happy. I promised myself if I was successful I would "pay it forward". So, if you are thinking about donating I am more than happy to talk to you about my experience.

Florida Vets have been reported in the past to have not completed the actual transfer.. They left hundreds of victims in the past with past due maintenance fees when they blamed a reseller for not finalizing the transfers. Unless their business model has drastically changed, they simply act as a referral agent to resellers (both licensed and non-licensed) who are the ones that actually sell and transfer the timeshare ownership.

Rather than pay $1,000 for this service- timeshare owners should consider first placing a freebie ad on Timeshare Forums by clicking HERE.

Anyone who uses one of these charities to liquidate an unwanted timeshare will need to verify the legality of the deed, ensure that it is recorded properly, and follow up with your resort to ensure that the transfer has actually been completed. Follow up repeatedly to try and protect yourself (as much as possible) from these possible charity timeshare scams. It's also a great idea to insist on using an independent third party closing agent to transfer the ownership into the name of the charity. It may cost a few hundred more, but you would then have the assurance of knowing that the transfer is actually completed properly before the charity gets your money!

[dmmj18 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dmmj18]

Hi, I am getting no takers in the freebie section, so I want to just donate it to a charity. Can someone please tell me a legitimate company that will do this? Is Donate for a Cause the only game in town? I have had a lot of contact with Property Donation Group, they are asking for $899, but after researching them here, I am very weary. Any help?

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

Look at our classifieds, you can get rid of it there for less and won't pay until it is a done deal.

[rdcigc Member Find all posts View Profile Close rdcigc]

Would the donation include Right to Use timeshares or just deeded property