U.S. Senator John Curtis (R-UT) joined personal finance expert Dave Ramsey, host of The Ramsey Show, to discuss the need to rein in deceptive timeshare sales practices and protect consumers through the Timeshare Transparency Act (TTA), legislation recently introduced by Senator Curtis.
During the interview, the two highlighted years of consumer complaints and financial data showing the vast majority of timeshare buyers regret their purchases but are locked into long-term contracts with escalating fees and little to no ability to exit. Ramsey concluded the interview calling on his listeners to urge their Representatives and Senators to support the TTA.
Curtis on the TTA:
It’s pretty simple: first, you should know what you’re buying—there should be transparency; second, you should know if there’s going to be radical changes to what you’ve bought; and third, you should be able to change your mind within an agreed upon period of time. And then, let’s face it, if 85% of the people regret getting into it, there needs to be some way for them to get out of it.
On the 14-day penalty-free cancellation period:
Ramsey: From my understanding, a 14-day penalty free cancelation period will cut their sales by 70%—you’ll probably put them out of business.
Curtis: If any business is dependent upon getting people to do something they don’t want to do, then they perhaps should go out of business. Now, my goal is not to put them out of business, my goal is just to make it so people can trust what they’re getting into.
. . .
Many of the people that get into these are seniors—they’re away from their normal support structure when they get into these very, very high-pressure sales techniques, then they maybe make a bad decision, and then they don’t have a window to change that decision. That’s just wrong.
On the timeshare re-sale market:
Ramsey: There’s no backing out, and there’s no way to sell the stupid thing, because nobody wants to buy them. There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of them for sale on eBay for $1
Curtis: Yes, and the reason is, they now come with the liability of these monthly or annually fees that are so exorbitant, far greater than any amount of money that you could spend to have a really great vacation—that’s why they’re worthless.
Read more about the legislation here.
