Leaving Westgate: The Legacy Program and Who Qualifies

How do Westgate owners get out of a timeshare?

If you signed recently, check whether your cancellation window is still open and, if it is, cancel in writing now. Everyone else should phone Westgate’s in-house exit service, The Legacy Program, on 800-351-0461, ask in writing whether the account qualifies for a release, and look up what similar Westgate ownerships actually sell for. If the timeshare won’t sell and Westgate says no or sets terms you won’t take, a free file review and consultation with an exit firm is the next step to weigh.

Westgate says its goal is to offer exit options for every qualifying account, including handing the ownership back to the developer, but it publishes no list of qualifying accounts, no price and no timeline. Ask one more question on that first call, for reasons explained below: does any condition about exit companies or lawyers apply to your account?

Who is Westgate Resorts?

Westgate is privately owned and based in Orlando. Its own site says David Siegel founded it in 1982 as a real estate venture called Central Florida Investments, that it ranks as Central Florida’s biggest privately held company, and that it now runs what it calls the world’s largest privately held timeshare resort club, with more than 60 resort properties. VI Resorts by Westgate, a points-based club, is its newest product, and the company says it added it in 2025 to grow in the Pacific Northwest, Hawaii and Canada.

As a private company, Westgate does not file annual reports with the SEC, so there are no public figures for its owner count, loan rates, defaults, or how much it sells to existing owners. Contracts differ, too: one 2018 lawsuit describes a “floating use” plan at the Gatlinburg resort. Look at your own paperwork to see whether you hold a fixed week, a floating week, or VI points.

What does the Legacy Program promise?

Westgate’s page says the program was set up to help owners understand their options for “transitioning away from vacation ownership,” and calls it “the ONLY Developer-guaranteed release option.” It names three paths: give the ownership back to Westgate, try the resale market, or pass it to a relative, a friend or an acquaintance. Westgate adds that owners who chose to relinquish did so “with very little effort” and stopped owing future maintenance fees, and that it is not affiliated with any third-party company. Its entry in ARDA’s responsibleexit.com directory repeats those points. ARDA is the developers’ trade group.

Cost: Westgate does not publish one.

Who it works for: “qualifying accounts,” a term Westgate leaves undefined in public.

What disqualifies you: Westgate does not say. The program’s web form includes a yes-or-no question about an open mortgage, along with your account number and resort, so expect the loan to be part of the decision.

Which Westgate accounts qualify, according to the courts?

The most detailed public description comes from a case Westgate won. An exit company, Wesley Financial Group, sued Westgate in federal court in Orlando (No. 6:23-cv-2347), and the court ruled for Westgate on August 28, 2024. We could not obtain the order itself. Rebecca Tushnet, a law professor, summarized it on her blog. Her post reports that Westgate won’t take back a financed interest that still has a balance while the owner keeps paying, and describes the policy as limited to timeshares that are paid off or inherited, which Westgate may agree to repossess or terminate “only at its discretion.”

Per the same post, the court reasoned that a promise to “qualified owners” is not a promise to most owners, and held that Westgate’s Legacy Program ads were not likely to be materially misleading. It also treated the program as the sole cancellation route that Westgate itself backs, a point neither side disputed. The post also reports that Wesley’s own method was apparently to have owners stop paying and wait for Westgate to foreclose.

What that means for you: if the order’s description still reflects Westgate’s practice, an owner who still owes on the loan should expect a refusal. Ask anyway, in writing, and keep whatever Westgate sends back.

Why does it matter who I contact first?

The FTC’s general advice, “Start by contacting your timeshare company directly,” carries extra weight for Westgate owners. Rebecca Tushnet’s law blog reports an exit company’s allegation, in a case the court decided in 2024, that Westgate makes a repossession depend on the owner swearing in an affidavit that they have not worked with “any timeshare exit company, lawyer or law firm.” Westgate says that wording does not reach every lawyer, and the court described it as “sweeping.” Before you get in touch with an exit firm, ask the Legacy Program whether a condition like that applies to your account.

The same post reports the exit company’s further allegation that Westgate sued owners who signed the affidavit and were later found to be its customers. That is an allegation from one side of a lawsuit. Still, it is a reason to get Westgate’s answer about any affidavit, and its answer on your account, in writing before anyone else is involved.

Use the same call to ask about resale, which the Legacy Program lists as an option. Ask for completed sale prices, not listing prices. If you list, the FTC says to use only real estate agents and brokers licensed where the timeshare sits, and that it is better to work with a reseller that collects its fee after the sale.

What does a Westgate loan cost?

Westgate keeps its loan rates private, so the number that matters is the APR printed in your contract. As a yardstick, three public developers reported 2025 weighted average rates on their timeshare loans of 12.9% (Marriott Vacations Worldwide), 14.6% (Travel + Leisure, the Wyndham owner) and 14.7% (Hilton Grand Vacations).

Since the timeshare itself has almost no resale value, few lenders will refinance against it. If you qualify for a lower rate, a personal loan can replace the developer loan. If the court’s description holds, clearing the balance may be what opens the Legacy Program, so get Westgate’s written answer on whether a paid-off account would qualify before you take on new debt to get there. See whether to pay off a timeshare loan.

Why does Westgate keep offering upgrades?

Westgate reports no sales mix. Industry-wide, 61% of 2025 timeshare sales volume came from people who already owned, according to ARDA’s industry-commissioned 2026 study.

Owners have made pointed allegations about how Westgate sells to them. The 2018 Moore complaint claims the “concierge” Westgate gives owners is really a salesperson pushing upgrades, and that the yearly owners’ meeting billed as mandatory is in fact a day-long, one-on-one sales session. Nothing in it has been proven, and we could not find how the case ended. Either way, a Legacy Program call or an owners’ meeting can turn into a pitch. Do not sign anything there. An upgrade means a larger contract and larger yearly fees; when that is all you get in reply to a request to leave, read it as a refusal. See the upgrade trap.

What is on Westgate’s court record?

Westgate has been sued by owners and has sued exit operators. This table sums up the filings and rulings we opened. Complaints are allegations, not findings.

Case	Court and number	Date	What it says	Status we could confirm
Moore v. Westgate Resorts	E.D. Tenn., 3:18-cv-00410	Filed Sept. 25, 2018	Gatlinburg buyers allege a closing folio with a “secret pocket” used to hide required disclosures, including the right to cancel	Outcome not confirmed
Hambacker v. Westgate Resorts	E.D. Mo., 4:20-cv-00833	Petition dated June 23, 2020	Repeats the “secret pocket” allegation for buyers at resorts including Branson, Gatlinburg and Las Vegas	Outcome not confirmed
Westgate Resorts v. Sussman	M.D. Fla., 6:17-cv-1467	Order May 31, 2019	Court found the exit lawyer’s stop-paying instructions “fraudulent and wrongful”; Westgate sought damages for 411 owners he represented	Remaining issues set for trial; final result not confirmed
Westgate Resorts v. Wesley Financial Group	M.D. Tenn., 3:20-cv-00599	Opinion Aug. 8, 2023	Court held that Wesley had engaged, and apparently still engaged, in the unauthorized practice of law, a deceptive practice under Tennessee law	Partial summary judgment for Westgate
Wesley Financial Group v. Westgate Resorts	M.D. Fla., 6:23-cv-2347	Order Aug. 28, 2024	Per a law blog summary, Legacy Program ads not likely misleading; affidavit language called “sweeping”	Wesley’s claims rejected

The lesson for recent buyers is practical: go through every pocket of the closing folder for the cancellation notice and its deadline.

Can I still cancel a Westgate purchase?

Yes, while the state cancellation window is open, and it is the only route on this page that returns your money. Many Westgate resorts are in Florida, where state law gives buyers until midnight of the 10th calendar day after the later of signing or receiving the last required document, forbids waiving that right, and lets a buyer whose right was waived void the closing for up to a year after the cancellation period would have ended. Other states set different periods. Send notice by the method in your contract, keep proof of delivery, and confirm your date with the rescission deadline tool and the state-by-state list.

What should my written request to Westgate say?

Send it by email or letter after your call, and keep a copy with the date. Include your name, account number and resort, then ask:

1. Does my account qualify for a release through the Legacy Program today? If not, what exactly disqualifies it?
2. Would it qualify once the loan is paid off?
3. What does the release cost, and how long does it take?
4. Do maintenance fees keep accruing until the release is final?
5. Will I be asked to sign any affidavit or statement about exit companies, lawyers or law firms? Please send the wording.
6. What document will confirm that I no longer own the timeshare or owe future fees?

Gather these before you send it: the purchase contract and any upgrade contracts, the deed or points certificate, the most recent maintenance fee bill and loan statement, the closing folder with every pocket emptied, and any notes or brochures from the sales presentation.

What if Westgate says no?

Ask Westgate to put the refusal and its reason in writing. A loan balance points you back to the loan section. A referral to the resale market is not a release: the timeshare stays yours, fees included, until someone buys it.

Disclosure: Candid Timeshare works with Vacation Ownership Consultants, a timeshare exit firm, and may be paid when readers hire it.

One exit firm, Vacation Ownership Consultants (VOC) of Scottsdale, Arizona, quotes Westgate’s own wording about the Legacy Program in an article on developer surrender programs, calls those programs voluntary rather than legal rights, and tells owners to get written confirmation before assuming they are released. That advice holds whichever way Westgate answers. VOC’s published process starts with the same move this page recommends: contact the resort and check resale value.

Once you have Westgate’s written answer, the ownership has no resale value, and Westgate has refused or set terms you won’t take, a free file review and consultation is the step to consider. VOC asks for billing statements, the purchase agreement and the deed, if you have one, by uploading them to its eligibility form, decides whether you are eligible, and gives you a free file review; enrolling for its one-time flat fee comes after that, and only if you choose it. Its home page says it waits to discuss billing until it has confirmed you qualify, and describes consultations “supported by seasoned industry partners and experienced timeshare attorneys.” Other firms set their own terms. A good review should tell you which route fits and whether anything in the closing papers, or said at the sale, could support a claim.

In general, a legitimate firm reads your contract and payment record before quoting, names the licensed attorney handling the legal work so you can check the state bar, and looks for specific problems with the sale, such as a missing disclosure or a pitch that sold the timeshare as an investment. Nobody can promise you what Westgate will decide.

The enforcement record shows what to avoid. Washington’s attorney general said Reed Hein did business as Timeshare Exit Team and that more than 2,800 people in the state paid it upfront fees that ranged from just under $3,000 into the tens of thousands. In April 2026 a federal court, acting after an FTC investigation, ordered Christopher Carroll, one of the top operators of a scheme run under the name Consumer Law Protection, to pay $140 million. The FTC adds that some exit operators take a fee and then just call the timeshare company for you, which you can do yourself for free. For a Westgate ownership, confirm three things about any firm:

• It never advises you to stop paying Westgate. A federal judge called that advice fraudulent and wrongful in the Sussman case, and the FTC treats it as a warning sign.
• It asks about your Legacy Program application and waits for Westgate’s written answer, including on any affidavit, before you sign.
• It quotes one flat fee in writing after reviewing your documents and claims no connection to Westgate.

See the red flags checklist, and our guide to stopping payments for what missed payments lead to.

The order to work in

Cancellation window still open? Find the notice in your closing folder, check the date with the rescission deadline tool, and cancel in writing today.

Then the Legacy Program and the resale market. Call 800-351-0461, follow up with the written request above, including the affidavit question, and get real sale prices for similar Westgate ownerships. Leave any upgrade offer unsigned.

Still paying off the loan? Ask whether a zero balance would qualify the account, then compare a lower-rate personal loan.

Ownership won’t sell, and Westgate refused or set terms you won’t take? Ask for a free file review and consultation with an exit firm that meets the checks above.

Other routes: the transfer path Westgate lists, to a relative, friend or acquaintance who actually wants the ownership; your own attorney if you have papers showing a missing disclosure or a false promise; or a licensed broker who is paid only after a sale. The exit cost calculator shows what staying would cost.

Disclosure: Candid Timeshare works with Vacation Ownership Consultants, a timeshare exit firm, and may be paid when readers hire it. This page’s author, Kira Fairbank, is a manager at Vacation Ownership Consultants. We cite its published case data on this page where marked.

This page is general information and not legal advice. Westgate sets the Legacy Program’s terms privately and may change them. What you can do turns on your contract, your loan and your state’s law. Have an attorney licensed in your state review your contract before you sign a release, refinance in order to qualify for one, or halt any payment.