Ocean Landings Resort review: Ownership in timeshare

I was approached while vacationing in Cocoa Beach by an individual who offered me a free breakfast and discount tickets to many tourist sites in Orlando (Disney, Sea World, etc..) to come to a short presentation - at the most, it would take was 45 minutes. I agreed and went to the meeting once I checked in they asked if I had a major credit card. They gave me a tour of the Ocean Landings Resort (OLR). We then came back to the building I arrived in and the salesman demonstrated how I could save thousands of dollars on vacation by purchasing a unit at OLR. They advised me that I could choose any week or unit I wanted. I asked for a week in April but I was told that they currently did not have any units available in April but they had a couple of units in the month of May that was available but I would have to put a down payment right now or they would be gone very soon, even while we were talking. Since it was not the month I wanted, I told them I did not want to make a purchase. They then advised me that if I purchased the unit in May, that I could travel any month if I deposited my unit with a timeshare trading company (International Interval). This would allow me to vacation anytime and anywhere that the company had timeshares. They told me that the company had hundreds of timeshares all over the world - they showed me a catalog with all the timeshares available to vacation at. I was also told of another option if I could not use my week. If I could not vacation for a year, I could put my unit in the rental pool. Units typically rent for more than my yearly Maintenance Fee (MF). I was also advised that purchasing the unit would be a great investment in beachfront property and that in the future if I wanted to sell the unit, I would make a profit.

None of this came to fruition. I was not able to vacation for 1 week a year. It was too difficult to get in with my work. I was deployed alot. They knew this. I can not sell it, and if I did I could not make any profit, I would have to take a loss. I have never been able to rent my unit to cover my Maintenance fees. This seems pretty fraudulent to me.

I feel this would not happen if our government stepped in and would regulate. Make it illegal to write contracts for more than a few years. This, would guarantee they would honor their words or lose clients in a few years. And make the recession period longer like a week after the first vacation. Then we can see if they will be accurate. If we can not get into to use it, we can cancel. Why be forced to pay for something you can not use.