Q: Hi, I have a question I hope you can answer. My husband and I attended a vacation ownership presentation on 2/25/01 where we purchased a timeshare.

We paid $799.00 as a down payment and are scheduled to begin making monthly payments in May 01. I am now seriously reconsidering this decision. Can I get out of this now without paying anymore money? I realize that I may not get back what I have already paid, but at this point I will consider that an expensive lesson. I just don’t want to get too deep into something that I already don’t have a good feeling about. If you could give me an answer, I would very much appreciate it!!!

A: If you signed a contract, I doubt very much whether you can cancel it. But seek the advice of a real estate attorney immediately. Timeshares are a horrendous business for consumers as there is typically is no ability to resell or even abandon the property (without causing huge problems for your credit history).

I hope this lesson doesn’t turn out to be too expensive, but you’d better move on it NOW!

Published: Apr 1, 2001