The contracts usually state that they can go after the original owner if the new one can't pay. So even paying a terminally ill patient to take it over won't work.

Is that considered a legal contract?

Well, it is either a legal contract or an illegal contract that you will have to fight about in court. Rich people who can afford attorneys generally do not buy timeshares. No lawyer would ever suggest that any client buy a timeshare. So, in other words, anyone with access to a family lawyer would never buy a timeshare.

If it's illegal, you can simply not pay, and THEY have to fight it in court.

You can also do this if it's legal, but the court might not be favourable to you.

>> you can simply not pay, and THEY have to fight it in court.

Yes. They will sue you in court. Then, when you don't answer and/or attempt to represent yourself, you will end up paying the default judgement. A judge isn't going to nullify a contract on their own. You have to explain to them why the contract is illegal, which is not as easy as everyone seems to think. That is what lawyers are paid to do.

That’s why many countries have government “watchdogs” you can report illegal contracts to, who will investigate it and potentially sue the company if they believe its a scam or somehow against consumer rights.

I believe most timeshare owners are contractually bound only to sell to individuals, not to LLCs or some other legal entity for this exact purpose.

Couldn't you just find a real person who is on the verge of bankruptcy and offer them $10 to take the timeshare?

Sounds like fraudulent conveyance.

Reading https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraudulent_conveyance it doesnt seem like it fits to me, but ianal.

Oh because a contract that is like a cronic disease is the highest point of lawfulness

It's not a question of what's lawful or not, it's a question of how much of a pain the litigation is going to be.

IANAL but I'm pretty sure that would be considered fraud.

The "Texas two-step" has been used by plenty of companies and is structured around exactly those sort of shenanigans. https://www.investopedia.com/texas-two-step-bankruptcy-defin...

The "Texas two step" is also notably controversial and has been overturned by courts several times, including the most recent attempt: https://www.reuters.com/legal/jjs-ltl-units-bankruptcy-dismi...

If you need to take your case to an appeals court to be protected, it's not a protection for an everyday person.

Heh, TIL.

Though from the wikipedia article [0], it looks like it has only been used successfully three times (2017, 2019, and 2020). There's a fourth in-progress by Johnson&Johnson, where the summaries state that the bankruptcy has been twice dismissed by courts as being invalid.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_two-step_bankruptcy