Trying to Exit a Timeshare? First Ask Who Represents You

Trying to Exit a Timeshare? First Ask Who Represents You

By Gordon Newton

When Joyce Orecchia decided she wanted out of her Las Vegas timeshare, she did what consumers are often advised to do: She contacted the company that owned it. Orecchia had paid $12,000 for the timeshare, and her annual maintenance fees had climbed to more than $1,000, according to NBC Bay Area.

In 2024, she asked the timeshare company whether she could give it back. Orecchia told NBC Bay Area that she was told she would need to purchase another $15,000 timeshare interest to get out of the one she already owned. The company did not address that specific claim in its response to the station.

She declined and looked elsewhere. Orecchia later paid $6,700 upfront to two companies that promised to transfer her timeshare within 365 days. Roughly two years later, NBC Bay Area reported, she was still waiting. The exit companies blamed delays on the timeshare company; the timeshare company said incomplete paperwork had been submitted. After NBC became involved, another transfer packet was submitted and the transfer was ultimately completed.

Her experience does not prove that developer exit programs do not work or that timeshare exit companies cannot help consumers. It illustrates something more important: Neither the resort nor an exit company should automatically be assumed to be an independent advocate for the timeshare owner. And when lawyers become part of the process, consumers need to ask another question: Who does the lawyer actually represent?

I should disclose my own interest plainly. I run Newton Group, a timeshare exit company, and I am the non-attorney majority owner of a national timeshare consumer-rights law firm. I have a financial interest in this industry. That is exactly why I believe consumers should ask these questions of everyone—including me and the companies I own. The marketing should match the contract, and the contract should clearly explain what the consumer is buying and who personally represents them.

The Resort Isn’t Neutral

Calling the developer can be a sensible first step. Some developers offer surrender, deed-back or hardship programs that may provide a relatively straightforward exit. But asking what the resort is willing to offer is different from assuming the resort is independently advising you about what is best for you.

The resort’s employees work for the resort, and its attorneys represent the resort. That does not make a developer’s offer unfair; in some cases, the developer’s program may be the best available option. But before signing a release, paying additional money, accepting new obligations or making a decision that could affect contractual rights, credit, collections or foreclosure, an owner should understand exactly what is being proposed.

Timeshares involve legally binding contracts. That is why independent legal representation can matter when important rights and obligations are being evaluated.

A Lawyer Isn’t Necessarily Your Lawyer

The same scrutiny should apply to timeshare exit companies. An exit company may advertise that it has attorneys on staff, uses an “attorney-led process,” has a “legal team,” is “attorney-backed” or can provide legal representation. None of those statements, by itself, establishes that an attorney personally represents the timeshare owner.

A lawyer can be a lawyer without being your lawyer. If you paid an exit company for services and believe you are receiving legal advice from a lawyer, find out who that lawyer actually represents. An attorney who works for or advises the exit company may represent the company—not you. If the company is the client, the lawyer’s professional duties, including duties of loyalty and independent judgment, are owed to that client. You could therefore be relying on guidance about your contract, payments, legal rights or exit options from a lawyer who does not owe you the professional duties that come with an attorney-client relationship. Before relying on legal guidance from any lawyer involved in the process, ask a simple question: Am I your client?

That distinction becomes especially important when guidance is being given about whether to stop making payments, how to respond to a collection notice, whether to accept a settlement, whether representations made during the original sale may have legal significance or whether signing a document could affect legal rights. If the lawyer discussing those issues does not represent the owner, the consumer should not assume that lawyer is exercising independent professional judgment solely for the owner’s benefit.

There is nothing inherently improper about an exit company having its own attorneys. Businesses need lawyers too. The consumer simply needs to understand whose lawyer is giving the guidance.

This issue has already reached the courts. Federal lawsuits have been filed in which timeshare developers allege that exit companies used legal-themed marketing in ways that gave consumers an inaccurate impression about the legal services or attorney involvement they would receive. Those are allegations, not judicial findings, and they remain subject to the legal process.

But consumers should not need a federal lawsuit to answer a basic question: If legal representation helped persuade you to hire an exit company, is personal legal representation actually part of what you bought? If representation is conditional, the contract should say so. And if the exit company retains discretion to decide whether, when or under what circumstances the consumer will receive personal legal representation—or if the consumer could complete the process without ever having an attorney personally represent them—that should be disclosed clearly before the consumer signs or pays. If representation begins only after the company decides the matter has reached a certain stage, consumers should know that too. And if the attorney represents the exit company rather than the owner, that should also be clear. Read the contract, not just the sales pitch.

Eight Questions to Ask Before You Sign or Pay

Whether you are considering a developer proposal, an exit company or an attorney, ask:

1. What exactly is the proposed exit, and what will it cost me?
2. Am I signing a release, giving up potential claims, accepting new obligations or agreeing to additional payments?
3. Who is giving me advice, and who does that person work for?
4. If an attorney is involved, who is the attorney’s client—the timeshare owner or the company?
5. When does the attorney-client relationship begin, and will that attorney represent me throughout the process?
6. What legal work will the attorney actually perform, and is that spelled out in writing?
7. Am I being advised to stop making timeshare loan or maintenance fee payments? If so, who is giving that advice and what are the potential consequences?
8. What am I paying for—defined professional services or a promised future result? What happens if the promised service or exit is not completed?

One distinction deserves particular attention: An exit company having lawyers is not the same as you having personal legal representation.

Don’t Just Find a Lawyer—Find One Who Understands Timeshare

Consumers should also avoid assuming that any lawyer is automatically the right lawyer for a timeshare matter. Timeshare exit can involve a complicated mix of contract law, real estate interests, consumer-protection issues, debt collection, credit concerns, foreclosure risk, developer programs and representations made during the original sale. A lawyer can be highly capable in another area of law and still have little experience dealing with those issues in the timeshare context.

Finding attorneys with meaningful timeshare consumer-rights experience can be difficult. That difficulty is one reason I helped form a national law firm focused specifically on representing timeshare owners. I mention that not to suggest that consumers must use my firm. They should apply the same scrutiny to us that I am recommending they apply to everyone else. The point is that experience matters in addition to licensure.

Before retaining an attorney, ask how much of the lawyer’s practice involves timeshare owners and whether the attorney has experience reviewing timeshare contracts and developer exit proposals, dealing with collection and foreclosure issues, evaluating potential consumer claims and negotiating with timeshare companies. Just as important, ask whether that attorney will actually represent you from the beginning of the process through its resolution—not merely become available if the matter escalates later.

Check the attorney’s license and standing with the appropriate state bar or attorney-licensing authority and review any publicly available disciplinary history. That confirms licensing and professional standing, but it does not establish that the lawyer has meaningful timeshare experience.

Consumers should understand the fee arrangement as well. Some attorneys charge hourly rates; others use flat fees. Ask what the fee covers, whether additional charges can arise and, most importantly, what legal representation you will actually receive.

Guarantees deserve similar scrutiny. A guarantee can sound clear in advertising or during a sales presentation but read very differently once the conditions, exclusions and limitations appear in the written agreement. Read the guarantee yourself and understand exactly what is being promised, what conditions must be met and what happens if it is not fulfilled. Ask what actually triggers the guarantee: failure to complete the promised exit, failure to perform specified services, or something else. Do not rely solely on a salesperson or someone representing the company or resort to explain the agreement. A consumer agreement—especially a guarantee—should be clear enough for you to understand what you are buying. If the written terms differ materially from what you understood from the marketing or sales presentation, resolve that difference before you sign or pay.

Lawyers are also subject to professional-conduct rules prohibiting false or misleading claims about their services, and the outcome of a legal matter can depend on circumstances beyond any lawyer’s control. What consumers can evaluate is what they are actually paying for: who represents them, what services will be performed, what professional duties are owed to them, and whether those obligations are clearly stated in the written agreement.

The question should not simply be whether you can find a lawyer. It should be whether you can find an attorney experienced in timeshare consumer rights who will personally represent you throughout the process.

Who Is the Client?

The resort knows who its lawyers represent. The exit company knows who its lawyers represent. The lawyer knows who the client is. The timeshare owner should know too.

Before you sign or pay, make sure you know who represents you, what duties that person owes you and exactly what you are paying for.

About Gordon Newton

Gordon Newton is the Founder and CEO of Newton Group, a timeshare exit company, author of The Consumer’s Guide to Timeshare Exit, and founding non-attorney partner and majority owner of a national timeshare consumer-rights law firm. He has worked in timeshare exit and consumer education for more than two decades. Newton has been interviewed, featured or cited by USA Today, Bloomberg Television, CNBC, Fox Business, Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, The Miami Herald, PHOENIX Magazine, TravelMag, ValiantCEO Magazine, the Better Business Bureau’s Beacon Magazine, The Dave Ramsey Show and The National Law Review. Newton is not an attorney.

Sources for Editorial Review and Fact-Checking

Joyce Orecchia / NBC Bay Area

Chris Chmura, NBC Bay Area, Sept. 18, 2026, reporting on Joyce Orecchia’s efforts to exit her Las Vegas timeshare. The report supports the article’s references to the approximately $12,000 purchase price, annual maintenance fees exceeding $1,000, Orecchia’s statement that she was told she would need to purchase another $15,000 timeshare interest to exit, the $6,700 she subsequently paid to two exit companies, the promised 365-day transfer period and the approximately two-year delay before the transfer was completed.

Federal Litigation Concerning Timeshare Exit Marketing, Lawyers and Legal Services

Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Inc. et al. v. Reed Hein & Associates, LLC et al., No. 6:18-cv-02171 (M.D. Fla.). Federal court records summarize Wyndham’s allegations concerning allegedly false or misleading marketing by Timeshare Exit Team and the involvement of attorneys in the exit process. The allegations were considered in the context of motions to dismiss and were not final judicial findings on the merits.

Capital Resorts Group LLC v. Wesley Financial Group LLC et al., No. 4:24-cv-03043 (D.S.C.). Federal court records summarize Capital Vacations’ allegations concerning allegedly false or misleading timeshare-exit advertising and representations involving a purported legal strategy. Those statements were allegations made in litigation, not final findings on the merits.

Editorial note: The article intentionally describes these matters as allegations rather than judicial findings and uses the broader phrase “legal services or attorney involvement” rather than asserting that both cases specifically alleged consumers were misled about the existence of an attorney-client relationship.

Published with permission from Newton Group