Please help :( Trapped in a timeshare - Not able to exit due to deceased owner.
Hi! I am wondering if anyone has an experience similar to this, and if I could please ask for some advice:
I received a timeshare in 2010. The deed I received only listed my name, so I assumed I was the sole owner. I’ve been paying all the fees by myself for 16 years without ever missing a payment. Recently, I tried to exit the timeshare through the management company, and that’s when I found out that there’s actually a second person listed on the title, who I have never met or spoken to in my life. I had absolutely no idea he existed. After doing some digging, I found out that he was the co-owner from the very beginning — they bought it together back in 1990. But the co-owner passed away in a foreign country before the person ever transferred it to me. The owner who gave me the timeshare never told me any of this, never cleared the deceased owner’s name from the title, and just handed me the property.
Now the management company won’t let me exit because the deceased owner’s name is still on the title, even though he’s been dead for years and I’ve been the only one paying for everything. It seems almost impossible for me to get a death certificate and I am feeling stuck.
Is there anything you guys can recommend in this situation? I have reached out to a few lawyers, but none of them are willing to help. Thank you so much for your time.