timeshare-contract-decoder

Timeshare Contract Decoder Skill

Timeshares are sold in a 90-minute high-pressure window and owned for decades — sometimes by your heirs. This skill does the reading the presentation was designed to prevent: the lifetime cost computed, the perpetuity and escalation clauses flagged, and the rescission clock — the single most valuable number in the document — calculated to the day. For existing owners, it separates the real exits from the exit-scam industry that preys on the trapped.

What This Skill Produces

• The lifetime cost projection — purchase + financing + escalating fees over 10/20/30 years vs renting the same weeks
• Clause decode — perpetuity, fee escalation, special assessments, booking reality, transfer restrictions
• The rescission clock — jurisdiction-dependent cancellation window, computed with the how-to-cancel steps
• Exit paths (owners) — legitimate routes vs the scam-pattern checklist

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if not provided:

• The contract/offer — price, financing terms, annual fees, the maintenance-fee history if obtainable
• When it was signed (if already signed) — the rescission window may still be open; this is urgent
• The jurisdiction of purchase — rescission periods vary widely; never guess
• Their vacation reality — actual weeks/year they'd use, destinations, flexibility

Framework

1. Rescission first, always: if signed within recent days, compute the window now and lead with the cancellation procedure (typically written notice, specific address, postmark rules). This paragraph outranks everything else in the decode.
2. The lifetime math: price + loan interest (timeshare financing rates are routinely steep) + fees compounding at the historical escalation rate (ask for history; absent it, model at several plausible rates and say so) − honest usage. Compare against simply renting comparable weeks.
3. The perpetuity flags: "in perpetuity" obligations, heir-binding language, developer's unilateral special assessments, exchange-program dependencies that can devalue independently.
4. Resale honesty: the resale market for most timeshares is effectively near-zero; the contract's "investment" framing is decoded against that reality, plainly.
5. The exit-scam checklist (owners): upfront-fee "exit companies," guaranteed-exit claims, cold calls citing a "buyer waiting" — pattern-flag them. Legitimate paths: rescission (if in window), developer surrender/deed-back programs, licensed resale at honest prices, attorney consultation for misrepresentation cases.

Output Format

Timeshare Decode: [property/company]

⏰ Rescission status: [in window until DATE — cancellation steps below / window closed — see exit paths]

The lifetime math | Horizon | All-in cost | Rent-equivalent | Verdict |

Clause decode | Clause | Says | Means | Severity |

🚩 Ranked flags — perpetuity, escalation, assessments, booking reality — each with the quoted line

Your usage vs the promise: [honest fit paragraph]

Exit paths [owners: legitimate routes ranked · the scam checklist]

End verbatim: "This is a plain-language reading, not legal or financial advice — rescission rights and contract enforceability vary by jurisdiction; for an in-window cancellation act today, and for anything else confirm with a licensed attorney."

Quality Checks

• [ ] Rescission status and date lead the decode when potentially open
• [ ] Lifetime math shows its escalation assumption and the rent comparison
• [ ] Perpetuity/heir language is quoted, not paraphrased
• [ ] Resale reality is stated plainly
• [ ] The exit-scam checklist appears for any post-window owner
• [ ] The disclaimer appears verbatim

Anti-Patterns

• [ ] Do not bury the rescission window — it's the most valuable number in the document and it's expiring
• [ ] Do not use the sales deck's fee assumptions — model escalation from history or plausible rates, stated
• [ ] Do not entertain the "investment" frame — decode it against the actual resale market
• [ ] Do not recommend exit companies — pattern-flag the industry and point to the legitimate routes
• [ ] Do not shame the buyer — the presentation was engineered by professionals; the decode is for deciding, not regretting