Nationwide Settlement Solutions
Nationwide Settlement Solutions Review
Nationwide Settlement Solutions began in 2011 by CEO Michael Miles. The company is located in Springfield, Missouri but can work exiting timeshares in all 50 states.
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Website Review
Firstly, this essential website is secure, but the copyright is outdated by five years. Attention to detail is essential. Especially when you’re sending letters to developers on behalf of clients. The wording on said website invites you to “escape the money trap” and terminate your timeshare. That sounds good. We see a simple form asking for basic information and no room to type questions on the page.
The Darker Side of Timeshare
Secondly, this section explains that Mr. Miles, once on the dark side of the force as a timeshare sales rep, has stepped into the light by helping people exit those same timeshares. The company makes it clear that they do not resell timeshares. Instead, they work with attorneys to cancel your timeshare contract but do not mention the law offices with whom they work.
– House on a Pile of Money
Here, we see this interesting visual of a house sitting on a pile of money. This section bullet points the reasons you should hire Nationwide Settlement Solutions. Let’s break them down.
- “With a simple phone call, you can cancel your timeshare contract.” Oh, if it were that simple. The truth is terminating your timeshare contract can take months, even years, before you are totally free of the payments. We understand that deciding on which timeshare to hire and making that call are the first steps toward financial freedom.
- “Eliminate constant fees AND debt.” This eludes to the fact that they cancel mortgages and maintenance fees, which are both good things.
- “This is not timeshare re-sales.” They won’t sell your timeshare on secondary markets.
- “Multiple properties, not a problem.” If you have more than one timeshare, they claim to help with all of them. We’re unsure if they work with international timeshares.
Terminating Your Timeshare
This page has three dropdown menus.
– What We Do
There is a list of circumstances under which you can terminate your timeshare. If you’ve experienced any of these, you’ll most likely be eligible for their exit program.
– What Makes Us Different
Though we don’t see anything on this page that makes Nationwide Settlement Solutions different per se’, they do have some valid points on what you can and can’t do after signing your contract.
– Terminate Your Timeshare
This page has much of the same information as the previous. There is a scam website link to check out various internet scams on the world wide web. However, we’re unsure who owns the website.
Our CEO
A wholesome family photo at the top of the page grabs our attention. CEO Michael Miles explains how he came to understand shady timeshare sales tactics while working as a timeshare salesperson, which ultimately led him to start Nationwide Settlement Solutions, targeted at getting people out of their timeshares.
What Customers are Saying Page
This should be a page dedicated to all the great reviews from happy customers who hired Nationwide Settlement to get them out of their stressful timeshare trap. However, with only two uncredited reviews (we do not know from which review site), both dated way back in 2019, it Is clear the company is having a PR issue with fulfilling its promises. The reviews we’ve read from across the internet have not been so positive back in real life. As a matter of fact, some angry reviewers posted that Mr. Miles has yet to refund them their money or terminate their timeshare contracts.
FAQ
The company notes that you have to be a victim of resort fraud for them to help you cancel your contract. Then lists nine scenarios in which you could have been trapped by timeshare fraud.
Contact
On this page, the contact form is a little better. They ask which state your timeshare was purchased, which developer, and how many you own. You can also type a message explaining your situation in length, so the call-center rep will better understand how to help you.
Who is Michael Miles
As mentioned above, CEO Michael Miles is a former timeshare rep who spent his time selling the idea of a dream to vacationers. Once he saw the light, this proud Christian family man decided to help people get out of their timeshares instead.
The Better Business Bureau mentions Michael has two other businesses that work in the same facet as Nationwide Settlement Solutions. American Settlement Services is not yet rated by the BBB, but this company has 16 complaints. Both websites are still active.
Nationwide Transfer, LLC, which has no website, is listed as an outbound call center that cold calls, which means they solicit people who may own timeshares. How do they get the phone numbers of timeshare owners? They buy them from a third party. This is standard practice for call centers.
Either way, both call centers have a bad reputation from employees and people being relentlessly harassed by phone calls. Complaints include one customer who claims he paid Nationwide Transfer $44,880 and received absolutely nothing in return.
How Does It All Work
More and more law firms are specializing in timeshare exit law. Hiring a law firm means you’ll have the backing of experienced lawyers to file legal paperwork to free you from your contract. Meanwhile, anyone at all can open a timeshare exit company with a business license. Some exit companies are call-center type environments, and some have a dedicated staff to work with you one-on-one until you are out of the burden. And yet, other kinds of exit companies hire outside attorneys to do some of the work for them, which in turn costs you more money.
Be aware of fly-by-night exit companies that have not been around long or have already opened and closed multiple businesses after scamming people out of money. Do your research. Court cases, consumer complaints, and other sources show how the exit companies operate.
Cooling Off Period
A cooling-off period is mentioned on the website. But if you’ve recently purchased a timeshare, there is a window of time that you can opt-out of the whole thing, free and clear-a recession period. Each state has a different time frame, so check now and see if you’re still in the exit-for-free timeshare window. There is no cooling-off period when it comes to getting out of your timeshare. Strike while the iron is hot, and ask your timeshare to cancel your contract now!
Nationwide Settlement Solutions Cost
Like all timeshare exit companies, this company does not display its costs online. Most likely because each timeshare exit situation is different and most of the time, the price will vary based on certain factors. However, a look through some BBB complaints shows customers mentioning a cost of $2,500-5,300.
The company offers a “100% money-back guarantee,” which indicates that it wants you to pay them up-front before the timeshare cancellation service is complete. This is not the ideal solution to paying a timeshare exit company. If the company disappears tomorrow, you’re out of luck and your money. Escrow is the best option.
An Escrow is a bank account that holds your payment until the timeshare exit company completes its promises to get you out of your contract within a reasonable time period. Protecting your money is a priority.
No Credit Protection
A timeshare exit company that does not offer a credit protection option is as bad as having a timeshare foreclosure on your credit report. Unless the exit company is willing to protect your credit during the sometimes years-long process, think twice about hiring them.
Better Business Bureau Reviews
In 2016 Nationwide Settlement had a B+ rating. By 2018, that rating bottomed out with an F rating. It looks like the company has been doing some damage control as their rating today is up to a C+. Reading over the 26 complaints closed in the last three years. We see a definite pattern of deviant exit practices, so much so that the BBB has issued this warning for National Settlement Solutions.
BBB has received a pattern of consumer complaints alleging failure to honor a contract promising to sell consumers timeshare, failure to issue refunds, failure to cancel contracts, misleading sales presentation, and poor customer service.”
Some of these complaints on the BBB site went unaddressed by the company.
Other Online Reviews
- On Yelp, eight out of ten reviews are one-star. There are several complaints from people who have never owned a timeshare yet continue to be harassed by this company via cold calls.
- Google shows seventy-five reviews. But a good percentage of these reviews are from employees talking about the work environment.
- Facebook Reviews shows 20 reviews posted, most from 2017- 2019 with no recent reviews. Ten reviews are positive, three are from employees, four are negative, and one was negative but was refunded his money back by Nationwide Settlement Solution for not following through in terminating his timeshare.
Ways Exit Companies Get Rid of Timeshares
To dispose of a customer’s timeshare, an exit company might start simply by trying to market it, in some cases quietly pocketing the proceeds with little chance of selling the timeshare on their listing website.
More frequently, exit companies may use a resort’s formal exit program or attempt to negotiate a deed-back, sometimes by offering the resort cash to take back their client’s timeshare.
And other times, the exit company will simply send a resignation letter informing the resort that the owner wants out. The back and forth between the exit company and timeshare could take years to resolve.
In Conclusion
The best timeshare exit companies are totally transparent in their businesses (if they have multiple); their online testimonies will link so you can read them from the sites they were posted. Almost all reviews from their clients will be positive with a detailed account of how they got rid of their timeshares. Not only does it take an internet detective to find out most of the facts in this article, but the majority of reviews were also concerning. Accusations of harassment, deception, lack of communication, and taking payments without any actions toward exiting timeshares being done are why we caution our readers to consider the whole picture when hiring a timeshare exit company like this one.
There are great exit companies out there. Nationwide Settlement Solutions is not one of them.