Time Share Issue

[sergio]

An Argentine friend was conned into signing up for a time share in the US many years ago. He has to pay $500 dollars a year and gets nothing out of it. He wants to drop out but they won't let him. His question is if he stops paying could he be denied a tourist visa for the US or some other problem.

 

[nkotb]

What do you mean they won't let him? There has to be a way to terminate the contract. If he simply stops paying, he will probably be sued and if the other party wins and he still doesn't pay, then yes, he will have problems down the line.

 

[Sleuth]

Does he have assets in the States? A social security number?

All they could do is go after his credit. This is a civil not criminal matter, so it would not affect him for a visa, etc.

 

[nkotb]

Sleuth: not quite. Unpaid civil judgments can result in arrest warrants and that would put the kibosh on a visa application. It takes a lot of steps to get to a warrant (including a judgment and refusing to cooperate with the court enforcing that judgment by, for instance, not showing up to a court-ordered deposition about your assets) and some states are more lenient than others, but it's more than a theoretical possibility.

 

[dennisr]

Arrest?

Creditor has to file for restitution in the state/county in which the debtor resides. Good luck with that? I am with Slueth.

 

[sergio]

He doesn't have money in the US. May have a Social Sec number as he worked there years ago. Also the contract does NOT allow for a way out. Fine print.

 

[andesmandes]

Is the deal really bad? If not he might be able to sell/transfer his timeshare to somebody else who might have more use for it.

 

[el_expatriado]

Sleuth: not quite. Unpaid civil judgments can result in arrest warrants and that would put the kibosh on a visa application. It takes a lot of steps to get to a warrant (including a judgment and refusing to cooperate with the court enforcing that judgment by, for instance, not showing up to a court-ordered deposition about your assets) and some states are more lenient than others, but it's more than a theoretical possibility.

Debtors prison hasn't existed for some time now. Also, a U.S. court can't practically enforce a judgement on a foreign national residing outside the United States. Its beyond its jurisdiction. In Pennoyer v. Neff , 95 U.S. 714 (1878) the Supreme Court set down the basic rule that a personal judgment against a nonresident defendant who was not served within the state, and who did not appear or otherwise assent to the jurisdiction of the court, is invalid.

If the guy has no other assets in the USA, the simple option is to simply stop paying. The timeshare people won't even be able to serve him notice of a lawsuit. The only consequence is going to be losing the timeshare.

Saludos.

 

[mjohnstone]

There are companies in the US that specialise in buying/selling timeshares. I know people in Buenos Aires who sold their timeshare through one of those companies over the phone/email with only a trip to a DHL/Fedex office to ship the signed documents.
Not sure if they still have the contact information but I'm sure your friend should be able to google up a couple of companies.

 

[BaltRochGirl]

He needs to read the contract, it should state how to break/cancel it. If he just stops paying he might have issues trying to visit the US. Most contracts lay out which laws apply and where any law suits must be filed.