Before You Buy a Timeshare in 2026: The Loan Runs About 14%. Fees Are Up 38% in Four Years. Getting Out Is the Hard Part.

I have stayed in timeshares in Hawaii and understand why people like them. A good unit gives a family room to spread out, a kitchen, resort services, and a familiar base in a place they already love. I have also met people who did very well using presentation bonuses and discounted stays without turning every offer into a purchase.

I have seen the other side too.

People sign while they are relaxed. They trust a verbal explanation. Later they learn the points don't book the dates they expected.

Fees rise even when they skip a year. And the contract is far harder to leave than it was to enter.

Both stories are real. The paperwork decides which one becomes yours.

The number on the screen is the smallest number in this guide.

Here's what the industry's own data says. The American Resort Development Association, a trade group, published a study by Ernst & Young in June 2026. It's industry-funded, and 610 of 1,434 resorts responded.

Fee-for-service means a developer's sales force sells a third party's resort. The $10.7 billion counts first-generation developer sales only. It excludes resales.

Hilton Grand Vacations says its average new member pays around $22,000. That's before closing costs, annual dues and extra fees. Its listed range runs from $9,900 to $960,990. The page is undated.

The price is the first bill. The fee is the one that never stops.

Put every layer in a table before the presentation:

Hilton Grand Vacations' 10-K says members pay an annual membership fee plus extra fees for exchange or services. It states no dollar amount. We found no sourced average for club, booking or exchange fees.

Most buyers finance, and the developer is the bank.

Here's what three sellers report in their SEC filings:

Hilton's average loan is about $25,000. Its loans are fixed-rate and run about 10 years. The minimum down payment at Hilton and Marriott is 10 percent. Travel + Leisure reports an average down payment of 22 percent on financed sales.

The average buyer has a credit score in the 730s to 740s.

That's 733 to 734 at Hilton, 740 at Marriott and 746 at Travel + Leisure. Yet the rate is about 14 percent. That's our reading of the numbers. It's an interpretation, not a statement from the filings.

Here's the arithmetic at the industry average, our estimate:

The seller earns that interest. Hilton booked $258 million of interest income in the first six months of 2026.

A higher rate raises the seller's income as well as your cost. We found no sign of kickbacks to salespeople, and we won't suggest any.

Pay cash, or take the smallest loan you can. We found no sourced data on any lower-rate financing option.

The fee is the number that decides whether you keep using it.

Here's the average billed fee per weekly interval, from the same industry study:

That's up 38.4 percent in four years, about 8.5 percent a year compounded. Our arithmetic. The last single-year rise was 4.7 percent. For the same group of resorts, the study says 2024 to 2025 was +4.2 percent.

For comparison, the 12-month consumer price index was up 3.7 percent through September 2026.

By unit size, 2025 averages:

The FTC says fees typically rise with or faster than inflation, and you owe them whether or not you use the timeshare.

Here's what 4.7 percent a year does to $1,550. The first ten years of fees total about $19,225. Our arithmetic.

The fee average excludes taxes and special assessments. We found no industry data on how often assessments happen.

Maintenance fees were 87 percent of resort operating revenue in the study. That's why the fee can't just stay flat. Reserves matter. Hilton's 10-K says capital reserves help limit the risk of special assessments and steep increases.

Ask for the last five years of fees and the resort budget. Worry if the answer is fees only go up with inflation.

Default isn't rare. It shows up in the sellers' SEC filings.

Hilton Grand Vacations reports its consumer loans 121 or more days past due at 9.86 percent for fiscal 2025. It was 10.77 percent in 2024 and 8.56 percent in 2023. It reserves those loans at 100 percent.

Its June 30, 2026 filing shows about $482 million of $3,970 million in originated receivables 121 or more days past due. That's about 12.1 percent, our arithmetic. The figure was $398 million at the end of 2025.

The industry study says about 93 percent of maintenance-fee accounts were current in 2025. So about 7 percent weren't, our arithmetic.

What happens next? Hilton says it ultimately returns a defaulted interest to inventory for resale.

Credit and deficiency effects depend on the state. Secondary sources say foreclosure can lower a credit score by roughly 100 points. We found no federal or state source for that, so treat it as unverified.

None of this says your contract will default. It says the sellers' own filings treat default as a normal cost of doing business.

Here's the same purchase on the calculator above. $24,740 with 10 percent down at 14.4 percent over 10 years, a $1,550 fee rising 4.7 percent, and one week used each year:

That's 3.35 times the cost of renting a week.

Here's the rental number. The industry study says renters paid an average of $272 a night across about 12.0 million nights in 2025. Seven nights is $1,904.

$6,383 a week, against $1,904 for the same week rented.

That comparison isn't fair to everyone. It leaves out the use of a bigger unit and the resort you love. It also uses an average rental, not your resort.

Use your own numbers. Change the weeks used to two and the cost per week roughly halves. That's why the people who use a week twice a year, every year, can win.

Hilton's page offers an introductory stay, with a sales presentation and no obligation to buy. One example is a three-night Las Vegas stay for $249, with a retail value of up to $915. The retail value is the seller's own number.

Take the stay. Skip the signature.

A points total means nothing until you put it against the chart.

Ask for the points needed for your exact resort, unit size, day of the week and season. Then ask for last year's chart. The program can keep your annual points the same while requiring more for the stay you want. We found no sourced measurement of points-chart changes, so ask.

The industry study says 88 percent of resorts have some points-based product.

Ask these questions in writing:

• How far ahead can I book, and does a home-resort owner book first?
• What does saving, borrowing and expiring points do?
• What fee applies to a change or cancellation?
• What happens if I want fewer nights than the minimum?

Developer purchase. It may include a full club membership, status credit, promotional points and guided setup. It also carries the sales and marketing cost in the price.

Resale. It costs far less. But resale buyers may lose club privileges, status credit or exchange access. Get the answer from the program in writing, not from a reseller.

Hilton's 10-K says most of its interests carry a right of first refusal on secondary-market sales. It monitors resales and exercises the right in certain cases.

The last independent resale study we found is from 2013. It put median resale prices at $4,000 to $5,125. That's 13 years old. We found no current one.

A resale marketplace says resale typically runs 35 to 50 percent below developer prices. That's a vendor claim we couldn't verify.

Rescission is the short window to cancel after signing. It ends faster than people expect.

Here's what each state's rules say. Read the current statute before you rely on this:

Hawaii's agency says to look to the state where the contract was signed. A Hawaii resort interest bought outside Hawaii doesn't get Hawaii's seven days.

Weekends count. Send your notice in the way the contract says, to the address it gives. Use certified mail. Keep proof.

The federal Cooling-Off Rule gives three business days for many off-premises sales. It excludes the sale or rental of real property. A timeshare bought at a resort is generally governed by state law. That's our reading of the rule, so ask a lawyer about a right-to-use contract.

Don't rely on a phone call or a salesperson's promise to handle it. And don't sign on the day.

For more on closing days, deeds and fees in a bigger purchase, see the home buying guide.

The fear of being stuck created its own industry.

In United States and State of Wisconsin v. Square One Development Group, a federal court in Missouri filed its order on March 30, 2026. The Justice Department announced it on April 1 and the FTC on April 20.

Christopher Carroll, the last remaining defendant, was ordered to pay $140 million. That's a $95 million consumer refund plus a $45 million civil penalty. He is permanently barred from marketing timeshare-exit services.

Here's what the court found:

• The operation enrolled 11,044 consumers and collected $95,243,688.50
• It exited only 19 percent of them, and 0.1 percent got refunds
• It did not attempt to exit 40 percent
• Customers paid an average of $12,421 to $13,776 each
• Only 12 staff worked exits, and spending was capped at $1,200 per exit
• It claimed Better Business Bureau accreditation after the bureau suspended it in December 2018
• It invented a Consumer Rights Council accreditation
• 3,662 contracts carried an express no-cancellation clause

The court also found customers could exit without the company by working directly with their resort or by selling on the open market.

There's an older pattern too. In FTC v. Pro Timeshare Resales, a court entered a restraining order on December 13, 2016. The FTC said the defendants took at least $15 million with upfront fees of up to $2,500 or more for buyers who never appeared.

The FTC's advice is plain:

• Anyone who guarantees a sale or big returns is a scammer
• Contact your developer or resort management company first
• Be wary of any company that calls or mails you first and asks for a large upfront fee
• Never stop paying because someone told you to

Stopping payment can create collection, credit and foreclosure problems without ending the contract.

The best customer is an existing owner.

Hilton says 74 percent of its 2025 contract sales went to existing owners. About 70 percent of Marriott Vacations' sales did. At Travel + Leisure, owner upgrades were 72 percent of net sales.

Two readings are fair. The industry study says that share suggests high satisfaction. A skeptic would say it also shows how much of the sales operation aims at people who already own. Neither is a measured satisfaction survey.

Settlements show what states alleged. In December 2016 the Arizona attorney general announced an $800,000 settlement with Diamond Resorts. The state alleged misleading statements about maintenance-fee increases, resale and buy-back programs, rentals and travel discounts. Diamond denied violating the law. The attorney general's release is gone, so that comes from secondary reports.

Hilton bought Diamond in August 2021 and Bluegreen in January 2024. Its filing lists possible complaints and litigation from former Diamond and Bluegreen owners as a risk.

Verbal promises about easy resale, rental income, buy-back or fee caps don't protect you unless the final contract says the same. The contract usually says it replaces earlier statements.

Decide before you arrive that no purchase happens that day.

Photograph every points chart, fee sheet, offer and disclosure. Ask for the full contract and the public offering statement. Leave when the agreed time ends.

The FTC says promoters may use long waits and several salespeople. Ask why today is the only day. HGV's own page says prices are without promotions and discounts and subject to change.

Don't let a bonus, a meal or a show ticket change the rule. The bonus pays for your time. It doesn't buy the right to keep you until you're tired.

Then run the calculator after you leave. Compare the result with renting the same resort, booking a condo and buying the same ownership resale. If the offer is good, it survives one quiet night and independent reading.

And read these clauses with a pen:

• Perpetual ownership and what passes to heirs
• Annual assessments, default and collections
• Governing law and arbitration
• Resale restrictions and right of first refusal
• Program changes and surrender

The court noted that at least one Wyndham-branded agreement did not require a timeshare to go to heirs. Exit companies have claimed otherwise. Read your own contract, not a mailer.

Six rules. Each one comes from the cases above.

We read the FTC, the Justice Department and the federal court order. We read SEC filings from Hilton Grand Vacations, Marriott Vacations Worldwide and Travel + Leisure Co. We also read state statutes and the industry's own study. We checked them on October 20, 2026. The industry study is funded by the industry, and we say so.

Nothing here is legal or financial advice. Ask a lawyer before you sign or cancel.

The pages we used:

• The FTC on timeshares, vacation clubs and related scams
• The FTC alert on getting rid of a timeshare
• The FTC on the $140 million exit scheme order
• The Justice Department on the same case
• The court's memorandum and order
• The FTC on Pro Timeshare Resales
• The ARDA and Ernst & Young 2026 study, executive summary
• The full 2026 study
• Hilton Grand Vacations' 10-K
• Hilton Grand Vacations' latest 10-Q
• Hilton on the cost of membership
• Marriott Vacations Worldwide's 10-K
• Travel + Leisure's 10-K
• Florida's cancellation statute
• Hawaii's timeshare FAQ
• Nevada's statute
• Arizona's statute
• The Cooling-Off Rule, 16 CFR 429.0
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics' CPI release

What we couldn't confirm:

• Hilton's annual dues and exchange fees, and any industry average for them
• Resale prices after 2013
• How often special assessments happen
• Brand-level 2026 maintenance fee increases
• The credit-score effect of timeshare foreclosure from a government source
• California's statute on its official site, which blocked us. We read it on a mirror.
• The Arizona attorney general's own release on Diamond
• Whether a Washington court vacated a $630 million timeshare settlement in June 2026. A paywalled report said so, and we won't cite it.

The lines in the first section are from the person who wrote the original version of this guide. We couldn't verify them.

This guide is part of our series on what people research before they buy.