# Worked Example — Timeshare Contract Decoder

A gold-standard run of this skill: a contract signed four days ago, where the rescission paragraph outranks everything and the lifetime math gets computed anyway — for the decision the next 48 hours will hold.

## The brief

After a resort presentation on their anniversary trip, Priya and Dev signed a timeshare purchase four days ago: $24,900 for one annual week (floating, "gold season"), financed through the developer at 17.9% over 10 years with $2,490 down; first-year maintenance fee $1,180 with the contract noting fees "are subject to adjustment"; the salesperson said fees "basically track inflation." The contract states obligations run "in perpetuity and shall be binding upon successors, heirs, and assigns." Purchase jurisdiction: a US state; they're home now, two time zones away, second-guessing everything. They honestly vacation one week most years, sometimes zero, destination varies. They ask: "Did we do something dumb, and can we undo it?"

## The output

### Timeshare Decode: [resort/developer]

**⏰ Rescission status: potentially IN WINDOW — act today.** You signed four days ago. Rescission periods in US jurisdictions commonly run roughly 3–15 days from signing *(the exact number for the purchase state is the single most important fact in your world right now — look it up on the state's official site or call a local attorney this morning; do not rely on this decode or on the resort's phone staff)*. If the window is open: cancellation almost always requires **written notice**, sent to the **specific address named in your contract's cancellation clause**, with the **postmark date** controlling. Send it certified/tracked today, keep copies of everything, and do not accept a "just call us" substitute — phone cancellations have no postmark.

**The lifetime math** (for the decision, and for the record)

| Horizon | All-in cost | Rent-equivalent | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 yrs | $2,490 down + $4,458/yr loan (payments on $22,410 @ 17.9%) ≈ $47,070 + fees ($1,180 escalating at 5%: ≈ $14,841) ≈ **$61,900** | ~$2,500/wk × 10 ≈ $25,000 | Ownership costs ~2.5× renting the same decade of weeks |
| 20 yrs | ≈ $61,900 + fees yrs 11–20 (≈ $24,175) ≈ **$86,100** | ≈ $50,000 (same $2,500 inflated) | Still ~1.7×, and the obligation continues |
| 30 yrs | ≈ **$117,600** | ≈ $75,000 | The gap never closes; the fees never end |

*Escalation modeled at 5%/yr — the contract gives no cap and no history was provided; "basically track inflation" is a sales sentence, not a term. At 8% the 30-year figure exceeds $140k.*

**Clause decode**

| Clause | Says | Means | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|
| "In perpetuity… binding upon successors, heirs, and assigns" | Quoted verbatim above | The obligation is designed to outlive you; heirs may need to formally disclaim it | 🔴 |
| Fees "subject to adjustment" | No cap, no formula | The developer sets the escalation rate; you hold no lever | 🔴 |
| Special assessments | Developer may levy for capital repairs | Un-budgetable lump sums on top of fees | 🔴 |
| Floating week, "gold season" | Booking within a season, subject to availability | Your week is a reservation contest, not a guarantee | 🟡 |

**Your usage vs the promise:** you vacation 0–1 weeks/year at varying destinations. This product is one resort's inventory with an exchange program on top. The mismatch isn't marginal — it's the core economics: you'd be financing at 17.9% a lifetime commitment to a place you may visit "sometimes."

**Exit paths** — In-window rescission (today's project) is clean, total, and free; nothing else on this list compares. If the window proves closed: the developer's own surrender/deed-back program (ask directly — many have them, unadvertised); licensed resale at honest prices (which for most timeshares means near zero — the "investment" framing does not survive contact with the resale market, and it's better you hear it from this decode); attorney consultation regarding the sales presentation if specific promises contradicted the written terms. **The scam checklist:** any "exit company" wanting fees upfront, any guarantee of release, any cold call about "a buyer waiting" — these target exactly people in your position; decline them all.

*"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."*

## Why it's shaped this way

- **Rescission leads and dominates** — signed four days ago means the window may close in days or hours; per the framework, this paragraph outranks everything, and it carries the operational details (written notice, named address, postmark controls, certified mail) because a right exercised wrong is a right lost.
- **The exact rescission day-count is *not* asserted** — periods vary widely by state, and a confidently wrong number here could cost them the window; the decode gives the common range, flags the exact number as the day's most important lookup, and routes to official sources — that's the never-guess-the-jurisdiction rule under maximum stakes.
- **The lifetime math models escalation at a stated rate, not the sales pitch** — "basically track inflation" appears nowhere in the contract, so the model uses 5% with an 8% sensitivity, assumptions labeled, per the don't-use-the-deck's-assumptions anti-pattern.
- **The 17.9% financing does most of the damage and the table shows it** — $24,900 becomes ~$47k before a single maintenance fee; timeshare financing rates are the quiet half of the lifetime cost.
- **Perpetuity language is quoted verbatim** — "binding upon successors, heirs, and assigns" paraphrased would sound alarmist; quoted, it speaks for itself. That's why the framework requires quotes for these clauses.
- **Resale reality is one plain sentence** — near zero, stated without cushioning, because the kindest moment to learn it is while the rescission window might still be open.
- **The scam checklist appears even though they may rescind cleanly** — if the window is closed, they become the exit-scam industry's exact target demographic this week; the checklist is pre-armor.
- **Nobody is shamed** — the closing frame of the skill holds: the presentation was engineered by professionals; the decode is for deciding, not regretting.