A Florida lawyer for owners facing a timeshare foreclosure notice.
If a trustee has sent you a Notice of Default and Intent to Foreclose, or a Notice of Trustee's Sale, on a Florida timeshare, Florida law gives you specific rights and a short clock. Truestead Law represents owners only. We seek a negotiated conveyance of the interest back to the resort's developer or managing entity with a written release, and we tell you plainly when you do not need us.
Ormond Beach, Florida. Serving owners of Florida timeshares wherever they live.
What the notice means, and the clock it starts.
The association or the lender has appointed a trustee to foreclose its lien without a court, under Florida Statutes section 721.855 (unpaid assessments) or section 721.856 (a developer loan). The notice must state the amounts secured by the lien and a daily rate, tell you how to cure, and enclose an objection form. You may cure by paying the full secured amount in certified funds any time before the trustee issues the certificate of sale. There is no right of redemption after that.
(§ 721.855(4)(d))
(§ 721.855(6))
(§ 721.855(7)(a))
You may not need a lawyer. Read this before you pay anyone.
Under sections 721.855(8)(c) and 721.856(8)(c), a completed trustee sale releases the owner from all amounts secured by the lien being foreclosed, and the lienholder may not seek a deficiency judgment after it. A trustee sale on a loan also cancels the note. If ending ownership is your only goal, you can let that process run, and you can ask the resort directly about its own hardship or deedback program. What the statute does not release is anything outside that lien: a separate loan, club dues, or assessments not included in the recorded claim of lien. A lawyer is useful when you want a negotiated release with written terms, when a loan and an assessment account both exist, when collectors are involved, or when you want to control what appears in the public record.
Representation for Florida timeshare owners.
We check the official records first (if a trustee's deed is already recorded, there is nothing to exit and no fee), then review your deed, statements, loan and every notice you received.
Once you are represented, Florida law (§ 559.72(18)) bars anyone collecting the debt who knows it from communicating with you instead of us. We request the managing entity's estoppel certificate under § 721.15(7)(b), which it must provide within 30 days.
The resort's own program, a negotiated conveyance with release, and the statutory trustee process, including what the objection form does and does not do. You choose, in writing.
We seek a conveyance to the developer or managing entity against a signed release of all assessments, loan balance, interest and fees, a waiver of any deficiency, recall from collections, and credit-reporting terms where the resort agrees. We never transfer your interest to a third party and we never take title ourselves.
Deed prepared to Florida formalities, signed by remote online notarization from anywhere, recorded, delivered to the managing entity within 15 days as § 721.15(7)(a) requires, with a closing letter and the signed release.
Heirs who have not accepted an inherited timeshare may disclaim it under Florida's Chapter 739, a written, witnessed and recorded disclaimer, before any payment, use or listing.
Three stages, one written result.
Call and records check
A free 15-minute call. Have the notice in front of you. We confirm nothing has already been sold, choose the right service, and quote the fee and the expected costs in writing.
Letters and advice
Representation letter to the association, lender, trustee and any collector. Estoppel request. Your written advice letter and your signed choices on payment and on the objection form.
Release
Proposal to the resort when the estoppel arrives, written acceptance, deed signed and recorded, release in hand. That is when the balance of the fee is earned.
The fee is an advance fee held in trust. It is deposited in the firm's IOTA trust account when you sign and earned in two stages: 25 percent when the records check, letters and advice are delivered, 75 percent on Release. If a Release is not obtained within twelve months, the unearned portion is refunded. The engagement agreement is signed by you and by the attorney.
Costs are separate and are owed regardless of outcome. The association's estoppel certificate fee (capped at $150 by statute), county recording fees, documentary stamp tax on any debt released (70 cents per $100), notary fees, and any transfer or program fee the resort charges. We state each cost before it is incurred.
We do not advise anyone to stop paying. Whether to keep paying is your decision after written advice. Not paying can lead to foreclosure, collection, credit reporting, a money judgment if the lienholder proceeds judicially, and a Form 1099-C for cancelled debt.
Flat advance fees, held in trust.
| Service | Advance fee | Earned |
|---|---|---|
| Deedback Release (one interest, no developer loan) | $995 | 25% on letters and advice, 75% on Release |
| Foreclosure-Notice Release (notice of default or sale already issued) | $1,495 | Same |
| Loan and Deed Release (developer or affiliate loan outstanding) | $2,495 | Same, including loan release and note cancellation |
| Inherited Timeshare Disclaimer (Chapter 739) | $495 | On the recorded, delivered disclaimer |
| Each additional interest, same owner | +$295 | With the first |
| Judicial foreclosure appearance, if the lienholder sues (add-on) | $1,500 | On filing the answer |
Fees are advance fees held in the firm's trust account and earned as described above. Costs (estoppel certificate fee up to $150, recording fees, documentary stamp tax on debt released, notary fees, any resort transfer or program fee) are additional and are owed regardless of outcome. Judicial foreclosure defense beyond an appearance, answer and negotiated resolution is billed hourly only with your further written agreement. Published fees are honored for at least 90 days from publication.
What a lawyer can do that an exit company cannot.
In April 2026 a federal court ordered the operator of a timeshare exit scheme to pay $140 million and banned him from the industry, after findings that owners were charged $5,000 to more than $80,000, told they could not exit without paying, and denied refunds. Courts in Florida have held exit firms liable for telling owners to stop paying and declaring them "out" when they were not. Truestead is a Florida law firm, and the differences are structural:
- We represent you as counsel, negotiate with the resort's lawyers, and can appear if a lawsuit is filed.
- The fee sits in a trust account regulated by The Florida Bar and is earned only as the work is done.
- We tell you when the statute already does what you want, for free.
- We never record a deed the resort has not accepted, never transfer to a third party, and never take title.
- Once you are represented, Florida law requires collectors who know it to deal with us.
Florida timeshare foreclosure questions, answered from the statute.
The association or lender has appointed a trustee to foreclose its lien without a court under § 721.855 (assessments) or § 721.856 (a loan). The notice must state the amounts secured by the lien and a per diem, explain how to cure, and enclose an objection form. A sale may occur no sooner than 30 days after the notice is perfected and 30 days after a notice of sale is recorded.
Not from a trustee sale. Under § 721.855(8)(c) and § 721.856(8)(c), a completed trustee sale releases the owner from all amounts secured by the lien being foreclosed, and the lienholder has no right to a deficiency judgment after it. Amounts outside that lien are not released by it.
Signing it stops the trustee process for that default and leaves the lienholder only a judicial foreclosure, where a money judgment plus attorney's fees (assessments) or a deficiency (a loan) becomes legally available. Not signing preserves the no-deficiency protection of the trustee sale. It is a decision to make with advice. We never file one without your separate signed instruction.
Not always. If your only goal is to end ownership and there is no loan, the trustee sale itself ends title and releases the lien amounts with no deficiency, and the resort may have its own hardship or deedback program. A lawyer is useful for a negotiated release with written terms, for a loan plus an assessment account, when collectors are involved, or to control what appears in the public record.
It is a fixed advance fee deposited in the firm's trust account and earned in two stages: 25 percent when the records check, letters and advice are delivered, and 75 percent on Release, meaning a recorded deed accepted by the developer or managing entity with a signed release, or the recorded trustee's deed with written confirmation that nothing remains owed. The unearned portion is refunded if a Release is not obtained within twelve months. Costs are separate.
Have the notice in front of you. We will tell you where you stand.
No charge unless you decide to retain the firm, and no pressure if you do not. The clock in the notice is real; the call is short.