Timeshare Withdrawal Fee

What is a Timeshare?

A timeshare agreement is an officially executed written contract in which the ownership right of a property or independent section suitable for residential use is allocated between the buyer and the seller for specific periods of the year, for at least fifteen days each year. Timeshare owners are issued a title deed, and the agreement is registered with the land registry. Timeshare sales that are not executed in compliance with this form are invalid.

In recent months, events have been organized in luxury hotels, and during these events, with loud music playing until midnight, people’s comprehension abilities are diminished, and after becoming tired, they are made to sign timeshare – vacation ownership – fractional property sale agreements. To make the offers more attractive, the sale price is excessively divided into installments in violation of the law, and promissory notes are taken from consumers for each installment. These promissory notes are often issued in violation of Law No. 6502. Some sellers also claim that if you buy today or pay in cash, they will offer discounts as high as 50%, leaving consumers with no time to think or evaluate.

These hotels generally attract consumers due to their thermal pools. Consumers, considering the health benefits of thermal water, want to purchase thermal timeshares. Since thermal features are not a requirement for a timeshare, thermal or non-thermal timeshares can be found all across Turkey.

Ultimately, consumers who purchase timeshares without sufficient research begin to question their decision the next day, and after a bit of online research, they realize they made a mistake and want to cancel the agreement. When they immediately call the company, they are often met with responses like “we have an army of lawyers, you can’t do anything to us, you can’t cancel, you don’t have the right to withdraw, you’ll pay a cancellation fee, you’ll lose the case, you have to pay this money.”

A bit of research reveals that some companies selling timeshares in this manner act as intermediaries when making contracts, that construction on the timeshares sold has never started or been completed, that purchased timeshares are not properly registered in the land registry, and that properties different from those shown in the presentation are transferred on the title deed — and these properties are not even timeshares.

Do You Have to Pay a Cancellation Fee?

Timeshare Cancellation Fee

Under normal circumstances, a consumer exercising the right of withdrawal is not obliged to pay any cancellation fee/compensation. In practice, clauses regarding cancellation fees in contracts are often found to be invalid. Moreover, if the contract is not executed in official form or if the sale is made without following the legal procedures, the consumer cannot be charged a cancellation fee. However, in cases where the relevant property is paid for in installments or in full before delivery, the sale may qualify as a “prepaid sales contract,” in which case the seller may be entitled to request compensation of up to 2% of the contract price. To avoid paying compensation or a cancellation fee, the consumer must consult a lawyer, have their contract reviewed, and file a lawsuit. This way, you can cancel the contract without paying a cancellation fee and recover your money.

Do you have to pay a cancellation fee?

Should I File a Timeshare Lawsuit?

When withdrawing from a timeshare contract, the seller is obligated to return the amounts and promissory notes received from the consumer and to cancel the contract. However, even if you have exercised your right of withdrawal, some companies assume that consumers will not be able to follow up on the subsequent process themselves and therefore do not carry out refund transactions. In such cases, legal actions such as filing a lawsuit or initiating enforcement proceedings must be taken against the seller who fails to fulfill their obligations after the withdrawal. These procedures, when carried out by consumers without legal knowledge, can take a long time, lead to mistakes, and cause grievances. In this situation, the right course of action is to seek help from a lawyer experienced in timeshare termination. Such a lawyer will review all possible scenarios, choose the best course of action for you, carry out all necessary steps in accordance with procedure, and speed up the process.

Do you have to pay a cancellation fee?