Timeshare is a hard product to get out of. Timeshare costs are often very high, the contracts are not easy to break and lawyers are few and far between for this area of law. So what can be done?
The first thing you need to do if you want to make a claim against your timeshare company is to get a good lawyer. You can use a simple search engine to find one that is close to you. This is important because there are many companies on the Internet who claim they can help you, but really cannot do much for you, and some will actually cheat you out of your money.
There are three main areas of law that you can try to make your claim under. These are contract, misrepresentation and Trespass to Land.
You cannot use the Misrepresentation Act 1967 if this is to do with a timeshare product as it does not apply to leases or other rights over land! This means that only two areas of law are open to you.
The first is under contract law. You make a claim that you were given misinformation when buying the timeshare and this led to the contract being enforced wrongly.
The second area of law open to you is Trespass to Land. This area of law says that if someone other than your invitee (someone who they allowed onto their land) is on your land without your permission, then the trespasser should be removed. This is because you have a right to exclusive possession of your land.
This could be used to say that if someone buys a timeshare, they are not invitees of the company selling them the timeshare. Therefore, you get rid of the problem by breaking their uninvited contract with the company that sold them the timeshare.
This is very complex, and you should speak to a lawyer for more help. You can use a search engine to find one near to you who specialises in claims against timeshare companies.
Advantages:
· Can be used for free!
· Open to anyone in the UK.
Disadvantages:
· No experience – can make things very hard.
· Limited way of doing it (only use Trespass to Land).
Who qualifies for this?
Anyone who has a timeshare, or anyone who is thinking of buying one. Anyone else needs to look for alternative ways of getting rid of their timeshare.
What you need to qualify:
· An invitation for someone who then comes onto your land without permission. This could be invited by the company selling the timeshare or by the person selling their timeshare.
· You need permission for this (so you cannot use it yourself, only on behalf of someone else).
What to do:
1) Try and find a lawyer who can represent you under Trespass to Land law. This is very hard, but if there are any near to you, they will be able to help. If not, look at how else you can get out of your timeshare.
2) Ask them for a free initial consultation with an actual lawyer or someone who knows the law under Trespass to Land well.
3) Discuss your options with them and see what is best for you and where you stand. The advantage of Trespass to Land is that it is free, so if you can do it under that or get another lawyer who specialises in the area to help you, then this would be very helpful.