With the growing industry for timeshare, a number of models for handling the legal relationship have also emerged for the unit purchaser and the resort owner. There are three most common types of conveyance namely the deeded interests, the right to use, and the leasehold agreements.

In a deeded interest type, the buyer receives a title for the property that is being purchased from the timeshare developer. The owner buys the right to use that certain unit in perpetuity. It is therefore the owner’s rights to use it in perpetuity, sell it and pocket the proceeds and leave it to others as part of the estate. In effect, the resort developer sells the ownership of specified time period for each unit.

On the other hand, the right-to-use type is not associated with deeding of the real property to the purchaser. Instead, the buyer is just given the contractual rights to use the timeshare facilities for a specified period of time.

Lastly, a leasehold agreement is similar to a right-to-use contract in that the buyer has the right to inhabit the timeshare unit for a specified period of time. After the expiration of the lease, the property returns to the timeshare developer. Normally, the time period is shorter in leasehold agreement than with the right-to-use agreement.

Regardless of the legal agreement, the timeshare consumer is usually known as the owner. A timeshare owner’s legal rights to the property vary according to the nature of the contract established at the point of the initial sale. Not all agreements allow the owner to sell or give the property to heirs.