Oh, the lies are legion. Salespeople in a timeshare presentation are allowed—even encouraged—to talk up their timeshares to those unsuspecting, good-willed people who they consider their marks. Those salespeople are well aware that nothing they say will be binding. They can’t be held to it. If it isn’t in writing in that contract they pressure you to sign before you can even read it, then no court of law anywhere will make them stick to their word. Because, they figure, words are ephemeral—and you can’t prove they said a thing, while they can simply produce the contract you signed to show what you agreed to. So when they told you your timeshare would be tax deductible: did they really? Or are you just making excuses to get out of something you don’t want? Or maybe you just heard what you wanted to hear?
Well, trust yourself. They said it, and that’s why you remember it. (It’s happened to too many people for it to be merely the brain-fart of one person.) But the fact remains: you can’t prove it. And timeshares—unless they are of the extremely rare “deeded” sort, where you actually get property rights beyond mere usage of the property for a week or so—cannot be deducted from your taxes.
That’s right. No deductions. Not for the loan you may have taken out to pay for the timeshare. (That’s just a consumer loan, not a residential loan.) And sure as hell not for the maintenance fees, which you can be sure will inflate like a balloon in fairly short order.
So what can you do about it?
If you’re still within the window of recession, you can “cancel” your contract. That’s right—the state of Florida has given you ten business days to recognize what you’ve been forced into by the timeshare con-men, and to take the formal steps to undo it.
Here at The People’s Advocate, we are experienced at taking those steps. We stand up to this army of timeshare Goliaths on behalf of mistreated consumers, because we believe in the public interest of consumer protection. If you have been tricked or coerced into a timeshare contract—whether in our beleaguered Florida or elsewhere—feel free to contact us for a free information session. There may still be time to deduct that timeshare from your life altogether.