How to File a Timeshare Complaint That Regulators Act On

Where should you file a timeshare complaint, and does it help?

File with the attorney general in the state where the timeshare is located, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and add your state’s timeshare regulator or the CFPB when the problem fits their remit. A complaint will not cancel your contract on its own, but complaint files have started state cases that ended in release programs and restitution, In Arizona a written complaint was the way into the release program, and in California owners who had already complained got the widest choice of relief.

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

This page covers which office handles what, what the record shows complaints have produced, how to write one that an investigator can use, and where a complaint fits beside the other ways out, including the free consultation from Vacation Ownership Consultants (VOC) for owners the resort has turned down.

Which agency handles which timeshare problem?

Your problem	Where to file	What that office can do
False promises at the sales presentation, contract terms that don’t match what you were told	Attorney general in the state where the timeshare is located, plus your own state’s attorney general if different	Investigate, sue under state consumer law, negotiate restitution or release programs for groups of owners
A timeshare developer or the resort’s managing entity breaking state timeshare rules	The state’s timeshare regulator (in Florida, the Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes; in Nevada, the Real Estate Division)	Review complaints against the businesses and people it oversees
A resale or exit company that took a fee and did nothing	FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the state attorney general, and the Better Business Bureau	Add your report to law enforcement data and to complaint records others can check
A scam involving a timeshare in Mexico, or any online or phone fraud	FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov	Collect evidence for FBI investigations
A credit card charge, a debt collector, or a credit report entry	Consumer Financial Protection Bureau	Forward your complaint to the company and ask it to respond

The FTC’s own list for timeshare scams is short: ReportFraud.ftc.gov, “the state attorney general in the state where the timeshare is located,” and the BBB. If you don’t know your state’s office, USA.gov keeps a directory of state consumer protection offices.

Florida. The Division of Florida Condominiums, Timeshares and Mobile Homes publishes a separate Timeshare Complaint Form, in English and Spanish, and asks that the form come with documentation supporting your allegations. You can also file through the state’s online services. The division’s mailing address is 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0791, and its phone number is 850-488-1122.

Nevada. The attorney general’s complaint FAQ answers the owner who was “deceived and misled into a timeshare contract” directly: the Nevada Real Estate Division regulates time share companies and takes those complaints. If the property is outside Nevada, the FAQ says to contact the licensing authority where it is.

CFPB. The bureau takes complaints about credit cards, debt collection, credit reports, and personal installment loans, among other products, and sends more than 100,000 complaints a week to companies. It says most companies respond within 15 days and that you generally can’t file a second complaint about the same problem, so put everything in the first one. For an error on your credit report, federal law requires you to dispute it with the credit bureau first.

Have timeshare complaints ever forced a resort to act?

Yes. In each of the three cases below, the state’s own release says complaints started or shaped the case.

Arizona and Diamond Resorts (2016)

Arizona’s attorney general said the state had received “hundreds of consumer complaints” that Diamond salespeople made false statements about annual maintenance fee increases, resale and buy-back programs, renting out vacations, and travel discounts. Under an assurance of discontinuance filed December 23, 2016, Diamond paid $800,000: $650,000 for consumer restitution and $150,000 for the state’s fees and costs. It also agreed to a Relinquishment Remedy Program.

The complaint was the ticket in. To qualify, an owner had to have bought in Arizona or lived there at the time of purchase, bought points based on misleading statements made before January 23, 2017, and filed a complaint with the attorney general by May 23, 2017 that described each misrepresentation in detail. Qualifying owners received a Mutual Release that ended future loan payments and maintenance fees on the released membership, and Diamond agreed to ask credit bureaus to remove negative reports. The release required owners to give up their claims against Diamond, and the FAQ suggested talking to an attorney about that before signing.

California and Welk Resorts (2020)

California’s attorney general, the San Diego County district attorney and the Department of Real Estate opened an investigation after “a string of consumer complaints,” then used undercover operations at Welk’s Escondido resort. The proposed stipulated judgment, filed in June 2020 in San Diego County Superior Court and subject to court approval, provided for up to $3,550,000 in consumer restitution, which the attorney general called the largest consumer relief package the state had obtained against a timeshare company, plus $2 million in penalties and investigative costs. (The district attorney’s release puts the restitution at up to $3.4 million.) The district attorney’s release adds that buyers had been led to believe their purchase was real estate that would rise in value.

Owners who had already sent a written complaint were pre-identified as eligible and could choose to rescind their purchase for a full or partial refund, or keep it and take cash, a resort credit or extra points. Other buyers from January 2011 to March 2016 received notice and a chance to file a claim, without the rescission option the earlier complainants had. The judgment contained no admission of liability.

New York and the Manhattan Club (2017)

New York’s attorney general began investigating the Manhattan Club in 2014 “after receiving repeated complaints” from owners who could not book rooms while the hotel rented them to the public. Investigators recorded the sales presentation undercover. In July 2014 a state judge barred the club from selling timeshares and from foreclosing on purchasers while the investigation continued. The August 2017 settlement required $6.5 million in restitution, barred the owners and operators from the timeshare industry, and included their acknowledgment that they had repeatedly misled owners about reservations and buy-backs.

What these cases show, and what they don’t

Each case took years, and each attorney general acted for the public, not as any one owner’s lawyer. Arizona’s FAQ told non-Arizona buyers plainly that the office had no jurisdiction to help them. The FTC says reports filed at ReportFraud.ftc.gov go into Consumer Sentinel, a national database open to local, state and federal law enforcement, where staff “review reports to spot patterns and build cases.” In all three cases above, the state’s own release pointed to owner complaints as the starting point.

What should your complaint say?

Write it so an investigator who has never met you can match it to the contract. Arizona’s program turned on whether the complaint included “a detailed description” of each false statement, so be specific.

1. Your purchase: resort, developer, contract date, contract or member number, price, and whether you financed it.
2. Each false statement, one at a time: what was said, who said it (name or description), the date and place, and the contract page that says something different.
3. What it cost you: fees paid, loan balance, maintenance fee increases, reservations you couldn’t get.
4. What you have already tried: dates you contacted the resort and what it said, ideally in writing.
5. What you are asking for: cancellation, a refund, a correction to a credit report.

The CFPB’s advice works for any agency: use your own words, and include only the most important dates, amounts and communications.

What documents should you gather first?

Document	Why it matters
Purchase agreement and any addendums	Shows what was actually promised in writing
Public offering statement or disclosure booklet	Shows the disclosures you were given
Deed or membership certificate	Identifies what you own and where it is located, which decides the state
Loan statements and the loan agreement	Needed for any CFPB complaint and for release terms
Maintenance fee and special assessment bills	Documents increases a salesperson may have played down
Brochures, worksheets, business cards, texts and emails from the sale	Written traces of the oral promises
Your notes from the presentation	Write them now if you haven’t; date them
Letters to and from the resort	Shows you raised the problem and how it answered

Where does a complaint fit with the other ways out?

A complaint runs alongside your exit plan; it doesn’t replace it. Work through the routes in this order:

1. Still inside your cancellation window? Cancel in writing now. A written rescission is free, and the rescission guide covers the notice.
2. Inherited it and haven’t accepted it? Talk to an estate attorney about disclaiming before you use it or pay its bills. See the inherited timeshare guide.
3. Contact the resort and check the resale market. Ask the developer or management company in writing for its surrender or deed-back program by name, with the cost and requirements, and look up what similar weeks actually sell for. The FTC’s advice is to “Start by contacting your timeshare company directly.” VOC’s process begins the same way: “Contact your resort and check the resale market.”
4. Sign nothing at an upgrade pitch. If the call or an owner update meeting turns into a sales presentation, treat that as a no. An upgrade is a bigger contract, not an exit; the upgrade guide explains why.
5. If the resort refuses and the week has no resale value, get a free consultation and file review from an exit firm before you commit to anything. With VOC, you submit documents through its eligibility form, it decides whether you qualify and reviews your file for free, and only then do you decide whether to enroll for a one-time flat fee. Its home page says, “we don’t even discuss billing until we’ve made sure you qualify,” and describes consultations “supported by seasoned industry partners and experienced timeshare attorneys.”

File your complaint at any point in that list, and keep paying the resort while it is open; falling behind can lead to collections or foreclosure. Know who does what. The attorney general decides whether to bring a case for the public. A lawyer licensed in your state is the one who can tell you whether you have your own claim and how long you have to bring it; the attorney guide covers how to find and check one. An exit firm handles the exit and replaces neither of them.

If the trouble is a company that took your money to sell or exit your timeshare, the resale scam recovery guide covers card disputes and reports, and the red flags guide covers how to check the next company before you pay.

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 is general information, not legal advice. Complaint procedures and deadlines vary by state and change over time, so confirm them with the agency, and ask an attorney licensed in your state about any claim of your own.