Trying to unload your timeshare? The Troubleshooter says watch out

FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Lawrence Bass thought it was his lucky day when he got this voicemail: "We did have an offer that came in on your Williamsburg Plantation. The sales offer that came in was $24,900. Congratulations!"

The voicemail was from a Nicole at Access Vacations and Rentals. Lawrence says he was at first ecstatic as he had not used his timeshare in years. Plus, the sales offer was even more than he paid for it many years ago. Through email, Lawrence received the sales contract from Access Vacation and Rentals and noticed the first red flag.

"They told me I need to send $1,850. I thought well why should I have to do that if it's already been sold, we have a buyer?" he recalled.

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According to the sales contract, that money was for the deed clearing packet. Before Lawrence sent any money, he emailed me to research the company. I tried to reach Access Vacation and Rentals via phone and email and I was not successful. We went to Florida, to the address they list as their offices: 1850 Lee Road Winter Park, Florida. It's a big office complex with many businesses, but there is no sign of Access Vacation Rentals there. We continued to try and reach the company via phone and email, and were not successful.

As for Lawrence, as soon as he questioned the company about paying the $1,850, he never heard from the company again. In the end, he concluded his timeshare never sold and this was just an attempt to get his money.

"There's a lot of people doing scams and they make it seem for real, but if they have any doubt they should probably know just back up off of it and have someone take a look at it," he said.

When it comes to timeshares, be very leery of a company who says they sold your timeshare for you. Right now, timeshares are very tough to get rid of as you can find them on eBay for as little as $1.00. The same goes for companies who promise to list your timeshare for sale. Often, they want large amounts of money up front just to list it with no guarantee of a sale. The best advice if you really want to get rid of your timeshare? See if the company who you bought it from will let you deed it back to them.