February 16, 2025 • 12 mins
Attorney at Esq. Sussman & Associates Law Firm, Juliet M. Sussman, about the TimeShares causing divorce. Many couples get bamboozled into buying TimeShares that eventually can cause divorces because of the financial strain. We get into it!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Doctor Wendy Wall Show on KFI
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. So.
I don't know if I ever told you this, but
when I was like twenty or twenty one, somewhere in there,
I had a childhood marriage, that's what I call it.
I know I was legal, but you know, your prefrontal
cortex is not fully developed. And I like to say
that I had this big white Catholic wedding for my mother.
(00:22):
She was pushing it more than anybody back then. But anyway,
long story. We went on a honeymoon to Mexico, and
on our honeymoon, we had a little note in our
room saying please join us for a free breakfast. So
we were twenty one year old honeymooners. We jumped to
go down to the free breakfast. So while we're at
the free breakfast, a guy comes and sits down at
(00:45):
our table and he starts talking to us about time shares.
He starts talking to us about our marital future, the
vacations we're gonna take, and how this could be the
best investment ever for us. Now here's the thing. I
was there for the free food, and I had enough
savvy at that point. He was also smoking and blowing
smoke in my face, which was really weird while I
(01:07):
was eating my eggs, and he looked a little disinterested,
like he was reading script. So, even though I didn't
have a lot of life experience, I knew I was
trying to be sold something. Somebody's trying to sell me something,
and it's probably not good. So anyway, we did not
take up that offer. But there are many, many, many
couples who have purchased time shares in their life that
(01:29):
have large relationship consequences. Later, I'd like to bring an
expert in here, a lawyer, of course, I need a
lawyer on this. Juliet Sussman of Sessmen and Associates Law Firm. Hi, Juliet,
how are you? Hi?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I am great, doctor Wendy, thank you so much for
having me on to talk about this.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I mean, who would think that a time share would
be a relationship problem? What goes on that causes these problems?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah? So, you know, in a little bit of background,
just for me, if your listeners don't know what a
timeshare is, typically the lifelong obligation. You know, they wrap
it up all pretty and nice saying, hey, you can
take vacations, you can go wherever you like this hotel,
you can come back whenever, you can go to other
hotels that we have, And of course they do it
while you're on vacation. Maybe they supply you with some booze,
(02:18):
maybe a breakfast in your case, so you know, you're relaxed,
you're listening in, you think it's a great idea, and
then by the time you get home and you start
getting all the bills, you're like, I don't know if
I want to pay this for the rest of my life. So,
you know, financial strain right, one of the biggest issues
with any relationship out there. So I think that's the core,
(02:42):
you know, strain on the relationship.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And is it legal to sign a contract in perpetuity?
When I hear in perpetuity, it sounds like if it
even extends past your lifespan? Like do your kids inherit
this debt?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Great question? So number one, yes, it is perfectly legal
to sign something in perpetuity. If it wasn't legal, time
shares wouldn't exist. And then number two, do your kids
have to inherit? No, they actually don't have to inherit?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Good time.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, exactly, yes, So let's talk about its long ahead.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh sorry about that. I was just going to say,
you know, there are a couple of steps that your
kids have to take to not inherit it. But if
they don't want it, they don't have to have it.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
That's good to know. So let's break it down. The
most common scenario young couples, maybe even dual income. There's
no kids on the scene yet, they're on their honeymoon,
not talking about me. But maybe that happened and you're
in the as you said, this vacation mode. Maybe the
salesperson is plying you with alcohol and you decide, I'm
(03:49):
going to sign on the dotted line. So what changes
in that relationship over time that can cause such discord
between the partner.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You know, sometimes one partner wanted to sign up and
the other one didn't want to sign up. But because
you guys were maybe on a honeymoon or on a vacation,
you know, you concede it and you said, sure, honey,
we can find it. That's fine. If you think it's great,
let's do it. And then over time, you know, the
person who maybe didn't want to fign it was like, see,
I told you we shouldn't have done it, but you
(04:23):
wanted it, so we did it, and here we are.
So it's just one of those things. And as you
get those bills month after month, year after a year,
it's a constant reminder of potentially the difference in opinion
that you guys have over this thing, right, so that, yeah,
that certainly doesn't help.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
You're reminded that it's one person's idea, that one person
took control, made a decision for the couple, and the
other person feels resentment every time they see that bill.
Can I ask what is the average cost of a
time share? Is there a range? And do they bill
you every single month?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
There is a range, and yes they do bill you
every single month. One of the things that people don't
really understand about it is maintenance fees. Right, So you
pay for the cost of the timeshare, but then for
the rest of your life, even if you have a
paid in full timeshare, you are always going to get
build maintenance fees. And a lot of the clients that
come to me, they say, yeah, I've got this paid
(05:20):
in full timeshare. I paid it off maybe even in
the nineties, right, But they're still paying every single month
on maintenance fees for something that they may not use.
So we'll see. Abe.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So if you bought let's say, a timeshare that involved
a chain of condos around golf courses around the world,
and one year they have to put a new roof
on the entire structure, you're paying for that?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Is that right exactly? Yep? Think of it kind of
like an hoa yep.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So you're constantly paying even after you've got so tell me.
You start to tell me what range of price people
pay for timeshares.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So I'm seen, you know, maybe it's a couple hundred bucks.
If you do a timeshare that's points based and you
don't get that many points, and then I've seen you know,
several thousands of hers, then we're talking per bill yep, yep,
herb bill.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Wow. And that's before the couple has the big stressors, kids, mortgages,
everything else. Juliette, I want to talk about, well, have
people ever divorced over this? And secondly, what you're doing
to help them and what many many lawyers out there
are doing to finally help people who are being strangled
(06:31):
by these timeshare things. I guessed Juliette sussmen assessmen and associates,
and one of her specialties is you would think that
I'm introducing you to a divorce lawyer. But in many ways,
juliet sessment functions as a marital savior rather than divorcing
with couples who have been stuck in their time shares. Now, Juliette,
(06:53):
I hear these ads all the time for law firms
saying I'll get you out of your timeshare. Are they
going to change the laws at at some point so
that people aren't financially strangled by these things and end
up divorcing.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
You would hope, and you would think, but you have
to remember timeshares have been around for a very long time,
and it really just comes down to, you know, it's
boring to talk about the politics, where the money's coming from,
all those kinds of things. So you would hope, and
you would think that perpetuity contracts that go on forever
would be done with. But I don't think they're going
(07:27):
to be done with anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So let's say a couple gets into this perpetuity contract,
a timeshare for the rest of their life, and then
maybe they get transferred to other places, maybe military deployment.
Maybe they have new expenses like taking care of kids,
or college tuition or changes in health and they can't travel.
(07:49):
Are you telling me they can't get out of their
contract because they're disabled.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It is very hard, and you know, the developer the
timeshare owner, they like to make it hard on the owner.
They don't want to make it obvious of Oh, you know,
you became disabled and you can no longer go on
your vacations. Of course we can let you out. Or
you know, now you're on deployment and you can't take vacations,
of course we can let you out. They make it
close to almost impossible because at the end of the day,
(08:18):
these are things that the owner is paying for monthly
and they're paying for them forever. So obviously the developer
likes that cash in hand, and they don't want to
make it easy.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And so when a couple comes into your office, are
they usually at wits and tech described? But have you
have you had a couple who were on the verge
of divorce over this.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yes, it's funny that you mentioned specifically couples, because honestly,
most of our clients are couples. Because you have to
remember that people are signing this on vacation, and a
lot of times people go on vacations with their loved ones.
So yes, it's couples at their wits end. They are,
you know, they either no longer use the timeshare, they
can no longer you know, afford the timeshare because some
(08:59):
huge change happened in their life. Maybe one spouse passed
away and now it's just the other spouse's burden. And
so typically they've already contacted the developer and they said, hey, developer,
we want out. Developer says, ooh, sorry, no, it's not
going to happen. So then they come to.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Us, Wow, and are you able to actually turn back
some of these rules and fix things for them.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, we've been able to get literally thousands of people
out of their timeshare, you know, case by case analysis,
how long they've had it, how much they have due
on it, all those kinds of things, who their developer is.
But we have been able to help thousands of people
out there.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
So let's talk about couples that don't get to the
point where they're having to call you. Do you have
some investment advice for young couples should they be investing
in real estate at all? Is this as a real
estate investment?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Great question. So I would never characterize a timeshare as
an investment because you know, I think one of the
definitions of investment is something that's going to make you
money in the long term. Right. Timeshare is never going
to make you money. It's going to be you paying
it out forever. So that's one of the things. And
also timeshares may or may not be real estate. There
(10:19):
are two different forms. One is a deeded timeshare, so
that is real estate. It's a small fractional interest in
the property. We're talking like you own one three hundreds?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Oh, can you sell it? Yeah? Can you sell it?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
A great question. It's almost impossible to sell. They go
for pennies on eBay. You don't believe me, go look
it up. The developer states that you need to get
their approval first before you sell it. There's a lot
of hoops you got to jump through.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
On the other hand, if you are looking for a
fun vacation, can you buy one for pennies on eBay? Yes?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
If you are looking to get a timeshare for some reason,
number one, go on eBay and you could probably sign
hundreds on there for sale.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Well, it sounds like you do a lot for couples, Juliette,
and it's a piece of you know. I often say
that the most common things that break up couples are
sex and money, because they haven't, you know, obviously both
both problems can be solved. By the way, there are
licensed therapists who can help you. And it sounds like
(11:28):
you even have attorneys like Juliet' Husman who can help
you too. But couples need to learn that they have
different psychologies of money. They may have different values in
their life of what they're spending is going to be,
so before they even get into something like this, they
need to think long and hard about what each other's
needs not only are today but down the road. Any
(11:50):
other investment advice you would give to couples.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
You know, broad scheme investment invites. I do think real
estate is a great investment. You know, typically our population
is only ever increasing and the land is therefore decreasing,
you know, supply and demand idea out there. Yeah, I
granted I'm not an investor, I'm not a CPA those
types of things, but I am a real estate attorney,
(12:15):
so I would say real estate is a solid investment.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And thank you for helping people who are tussling over
their time share. And I know many of them are
quietly feeling shame and maybe listening right now, and they
don't even want to tell their friends and family that
they're stuck in this and strangled by these monthly payments.
So it sounds like you're doing great work for people.
Thanks for being with us.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
No problem, doctor Wendy, Thank you so much for having
me on.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
That's Juliet Sessman Assessment and Associates Law firm. She is
a real estate attorney and who knew that our real
estate could be the thing that could cause the biggest
relationship problems
Welcome back to the Doctor Wendy Wall Show on KFI
AM six forty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. So.
I don't know if I ever told you this, but
when I was like twenty or twenty one, somewhere in there,
I had a childhood marriage, that's what I call it.
I know I was legal, but you know, your prefrontal
cortex is not fully developed. And I like to say
that I had this big white Catholic wedding for my mother.
(00:22):
She was pushing it more than anybody back then. But anyway,
long story. We went on a honeymoon to Mexico, and
on our honeymoon, we had a little note in our
room saying please join us for a free breakfast. So
we were twenty one year old honeymooners. We jumped to
go down to the free breakfast. So while we're at
the free breakfast, a guy comes and sits down at
(00:45):
our table and he starts talking to us about time shares.
He starts talking to us about our marital future, the
vacations we're gonna take, and how this could be the
best investment ever for us. Now here's the thing. I
was there for the free food, and I had enough
savvy at that point. He was also smoking and blowing
smoke in my face, which was really weird while I
(01:07):
was eating my eggs, and he looked a little disinterested,
like he was reading script. So, even though I didn't
have a lot of life experience, I knew I was
trying to be sold something. Somebody's trying to sell me something,
and it's probably not good. So anyway, we did not
take up that offer. But there are many, many, many
couples who have purchased time shares in their life that
(01:29):
have large relationship consequences. Later, I'd like to bring an
expert in here, a lawyer, of course, I need a
lawyer on this. Juliet Sussman of Sessmen and Associates Law Firm. Hi, Juliet,
how are you? Hi?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I am great, doctor Wendy, thank you so much for
having me on to talk about this.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I mean, who would think that a time share would
be a relationship problem? What goes on that causes these problems?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah? So, you know, in a little bit of background,
just for me, if your listeners don't know what a
timeshare is, typically the lifelong obligation. You know, they wrap
it up all pretty and nice saying, hey, you can
take vacations, you can go wherever you like this hotel,
you can come back whenever, you can go to other
hotels that we have, And of course they do it
while you're on vacation. Maybe they supply you with some booze,
(02:18):
maybe a breakfast in your case, so you know, you're relaxed,
you're listening in, you think it's a great idea, and
then by the time you get home and you start
getting all the bills, you're like, I don't know if
I want to pay this for the rest of my life. So,
you know, financial strain right, one of the biggest issues
with any relationship out there. So I think that's the core,
(02:42):
you know, strain on the relationship.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And is it legal to sign a contract in perpetuity?
When I hear in perpetuity, it sounds like if it
even extends past your lifespan? Like do your kids inherit
this debt?
Speaker 2 (02:56):
Great question? So number one, yes, it is perfectly legal
to sign something in perpetuity. If it wasn't legal, time
shares wouldn't exist. And then number two, do your kids
have to inherit? No, they actually don't have to inherit?
Speaker 1 (03:12):
Good time.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Yes, exactly, yes, So let's talk about its long ahead.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Oh sorry about that. I was just going to say,
you know, there are a couple of steps that your
kids have to take to not inherit it. But if
they don't want it, they don't have to have it.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
That's good to know. So let's break it down. The
most common scenario young couples, maybe even dual income. There's
no kids on the scene yet, they're on their honeymoon,
not talking about me. But maybe that happened and you're
in the as you said, this vacation mode. Maybe the
salesperson is plying you with alcohol and you decide, I'm
(03:49):
going to sign on the dotted line. So what changes
in that relationship over time that can cause such discord
between the partner.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
You know, sometimes one partner wanted to sign up and
the other one didn't want to sign up. But because
you guys were maybe on a honeymoon or on a vacation,
you know, you concede it and you said, sure, honey,
we can find it. That's fine. If you think it's great,
let's do it. And then over time, you know, the
person who maybe didn't want to fign it was like, see,
I told you we shouldn't have done it, but you
(04:23):
wanted it, so we did it, and here we are.
So it's just one of those things. And as you
get those bills month after month, year after a year,
it's a constant reminder of potentially the difference in opinion
that you guys have over this thing, right, so that, yeah,
that certainly doesn't help.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
You're reminded that it's one person's idea, that one person
took control, made a decision for the couple, and the
other person feels resentment every time they see that bill.
Can I ask what is the average cost of a
time share? Is there a range? And do they bill
you every single month?
Speaker 2 (04:59):
There is a range, and yes they do bill you
every single month. One of the things that people don't
really understand about it is maintenance fees. Right, So you
pay for the cost of the timeshare, but then for
the rest of your life, even if you have a
paid in full timeshare, you are always going to get
build maintenance fees. And a lot of the clients that
come to me, they say, yeah, I've got this paid
(05:20):
in full timeshare. I paid it off maybe even in
the nineties, right, But they're still paying every single month
on maintenance fees for something that they may not use.
So we'll see. Abe.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So if you bought let's say, a timeshare that involved
a chain of condos around golf courses around the world,
and one year they have to put a new roof
on the entire structure, you're paying for that?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Is that right exactly? Yep? Think of it kind of
like an hoa yep.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
So you're constantly paying even after you've got so tell me.
You start to tell me what range of price people
pay for timeshares.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
So I'm seen, you know, maybe it's a couple hundred bucks.
If you do a timeshare that's points based and you
don't get that many points, and then I've seen you know,
several thousands of hers, then we're talking per bill yep, yep,
herb bill.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Wow. And that's before the couple has the big stressors, kids, mortgages,
everything else. Juliette, I want to talk about, well, have
people ever divorced over this? And secondly, what you're doing
to help them and what many many lawyers out there
are doing to finally help people who are being strangled
(06:31):
by these timeshare things. I guessed Juliette sussmen assessmen and associates,
and one of her specialties is you would think that
I'm introducing you to a divorce lawyer. But in many ways,
juliet sessment functions as a marital savior rather than divorcing
with couples who have been stuck in their time shares. Now, Juliette,
(06:53):
I hear these ads all the time for law firms
saying I'll get you out of your timeshare. Are they
going to change the laws at at some point so
that people aren't financially strangled by these things and end
up divorcing.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
You would hope, and you would think, but you have
to remember timeshares have been around for a very long time,
and it really just comes down to, you know, it's
boring to talk about the politics, where the money's coming from,
all those kinds of things. So you would hope, and
you would think that perpetuity contracts that go on forever
would be done with. But I don't think they're going
(07:27):
to be done with anytime soon.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
So let's say a couple gets into this perpetuity contract,
a timeshare for the rest of their life, and then
maybe they get transferred to other places, maybe military deployment.
Maybe they have new expenses like taking care of kids,
or college tuition or changes in health and they can't travel.
(07:49):
Are you telling me they can't get out of their
contract because they're disabled.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
It is very hard, and you know, the developer the
timeshare owner, they like to make it hard on the owner.
They don't want to make it obvious of Oh, you know,
you became disabled and you can no longer go on
your vacations. Of course we can let you out. Or
you know, now you're on deployment and you can't take vacations,
of course we can let you out. They make it
close to almost impossible because at the end of the day,
(08:18):
these are things that the owner is paying for monthly
and they're paying for them forever. So obviously the developer
likes that cash in hand, and they don't want to
make it easy.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
And so when a couple comes into your office, are
they usually at wits and tech described? But have you
have you had a couple who were on the verge
of divorce over this.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yes, it's funny that you mentioned specifically couples, because honestly,
most of our clients are couples. Because you have to
remember that people are signing this on vacation, and a
lot of times people go on vacations with their loved ones.
So yes, it's couples at their wits end. They are,
you know, they either no longer use the timeshare, they
can no longer you know, afford the timeshare because some
(08:59):
huge change happened in their life. Maybe one spouse passed
away and now it's just the other spouse's burden. And
so typically they've already contacted the developer and they said, hey, developer,
we want out. Developer says, ooh, sorry, no, it's not
going to happen. So then they come to.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Us, Wow, and are you able to actually turn back
some of these rules and fix things for them.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, we've been able to get literally thousands of people
out of their timeshare, you know, case by case analysis,
how long they've had it, how much they have due
on it, all those kinds of things, who their developer is.
But we have been able to help thousands of people
out there.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
So let's talk about couples that don't get to the
point where they're having to call you. Do you have
some investment advice for young couples should they be investing
in real estate at all? Is this as a real
estate investment?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Great question. So I would never characterize a timeshare as
an investment because you know, I think one of the
definitions of investment is something that's going to make you
money in the long term. Right. Timeshare is never going
to make you money. It's going to be you paying
it out forever. So that's one of the things. And
also timeshares may or may not be real estate. There
(10:19):
are two different forms. One is a deeded timeshare, so
that is real estate. It's a small fractional interest in
the property. We're talking like you own one three hundreds?
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Oh, can you sell it? Yeah? Can you sell it?
Speaker 2 (10:36):
A great question. It's almost impossible to sell. They go
for pennies on eBay. You don't believe me, go look
it up. The developer states that you need to get
their approval first before you sell it. There's a lot
of hoops you got to jump through.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
On the other hand, if you are looking for a
fun vacation, can you buy one for pennies on eBay? Yes?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
If you are looking to get a timeshare for some reason,
number one, go on eBay and you could probably sign
hundreds on there for sale.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
Well, it sounds like you do a lot for couples, Juliette,
and it's a piece of you know. I often say
that the most common things that break up couples are
sex and money, because they haven't, you know, obviously both
both problems can be solved. By the way, there are
licensed therapists who can help you. And it sounds like
(11:28):
you even have attorneys like Juliet' Husman who can help
you too. But couples need to learn that they have
different psychologies of money. They may have different values in
their life of what they're spending is going to be,
so before they even get into something like this, they
need to think long and hard about what each other's
needs not only are today but down the road. Any
(11:50):
other investment advice you would give to couples.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
You know, broad scheme investment invites. I do think real
estate is a great investment. You know, typically our population
is only ever increasing and the land is therefore decreasing,
you know, supply and demand idea out there. Yeah, I
granted I'm not an investor, I'm not a CPA those
types of things, but I am a real estate attorney,
(12:15):
so I would say real estate is a solid investment.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
And thank you for helping people who are tussling over
their time share. And I know many of them are
quietly feeling shame and maybe listening right now, and they
don't even want to tell their friends and family that
they're stuck in this and strangled by these monthly payments.
So it sounds like you're doing great work for people.
Thanks for being with us.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
No problem, doctor Wendy, Thank you so much for having
me on.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
That's Juliet Sessman Assessment and Associates Law firm. She is
a real estate attorney and who knew that our real
estate could be the thing that could cause the biggest
relationship problems
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Introducing… Aubrey O’Day Diddy’s former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey O’Day joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey O’Day, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
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