Timeshare Maintenance Fees

A timeshare maintenance fee is the annual charge every owner pays to keep the resort running, owed for as long as you own the timeshare whether or not you travel. In 2025 the average was about $1,550, and these fees tend to rise faster than inflation, so the long-term total matters far more than this year's bill.

What do timeshare maintenance fees cover?

Your maintenance fee is your share of the cost of operating the resort. It pays for housekeeping and upkeep of the units, landscaping and shared amenities, staff wages, insurance, property taxes on the common property, utilities, and a reserve fund set aside for future repairs and renovations. The resort, usually through its owners association, sets a budget each year and divides it among all the intervals, so your fee reflects both the resort's costs and how many owners share them.

The fee is mandatory and ongoing. You owe it every year for as long as you hold the timeshare, in years you use it and years you do not, and the obligation continues until you legally transfer or end your ownership. It is one part of the full timeshare cost, alongside the purchase price and any financing. Owners often ask whether the fee is tax-deductible. It usually is not, and our timeshare tax guide explains the narrow exceptions.

How much is the average timeshare maintenance fee?

Industry-wide, the figure to know is the $1,550 average annual maintenance fee in 2025, up 4.7% from the year before. Your own fee depends on the resort, the unit size, and the location, so it can run higher or lower. The direction, though, is broadly shared across the industry: fees climb most years. The five-year trend below shows how steadily, and how the size of the jump varies from one year to the next.

Last verified: 2026-07-10. Source: ARDA, State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry (2026 ed., 2025 data, prepared by EY) (2026)

That average is a weekly-interval equivalent and it excludes property taxes and any special assessment. Where the fee lands for you depends most on how large an ownership you hold and where, which is why the same brand can bill two owners very different amounts.

Why do timeshare maintenance fees keep going up?

Maintenance fees rise for the same reasons any property's operating costs rise, plus a few specific to timeshares. ARDA's 2026 industry report attributes the recent, larger increases to overall inflation and to rising insurance costs tied to recent natural disasters. Labor, utilities, and contractor costs climb over time, older resorts need more frequent repairs, and the reserve fund that pays for major renovations has to be topped up as the resort ages. Insurance is a growing pressure at coastal and hurricane-exposed resorts, where premiums have risen sharply; in 2025, most resorts that had to close temporarily did so because of a natural disaster. Because the budget is split among owners, any shortfall, including fees that delinquent owners did not pay, can push everyone else's share higher. Increases in recent years have outpaced general inflation, so it is safer to plan for the fee to keep climbing than to assume it will hold steady. Our guide to whether timeshare maintenance fees will increase looks at that trajectory in detail.

How much are timeshare maintenance fees by brand?

There is no single timeshare maintenance fee by brand, because your bill depends far more on how many points or weeks you own and at which resort than on the name on the deed. Two owners of the same brand can pay very different amounts. What the major brands share is the same upward pressure and broadly similar ranges. The figures below are approximate per-owner ranges, gathered from each company's own disclosures and current as of 2026; treat them as orientation, not a quote, and confirm the number for your specific contract with the developer.

Which timeshare brands have the lowest and highest maintenance fees?

A few patterns hold up across those ranges, though no brand is simply the cheapest for every owner. The brands built around large, lower-cost portfolios, such as Bluegreen and WorldMark by Wyndham, tend to report the lowest typical fees, with smaller ownerships often in the $800 to $1,500 range. Brands that price by the point, such as Disney Vacation Club at roughly $9 to $14 per point, can run well past $1,000 once you own enough points for a usable week, and the premium and larger-unit brands sit at the top of the range. The most useful comparison is not one brand against another but any brand's quote against the industry average above. For the full side-by-side on resort counts, regions, points versus weeks, and exchange networks as well as fees, see our timeshare brand comparison.

Maintenance fees versus special assessments: what is the difference?

Your regular maintenance fee is the predictable annual charge built into the resort's budget. A special assessment is different: it is an extra, one-time charge the resort levies when it needs money the reserve fund does not cover, such as a roof replacement, a major renovation, or repairs after a storm. Special assessments are not optional, are not included in the quoted maintenance fee, and can arrive with little warning. When you estimate the cost of owning, treat the annual maintenance fee as the floor, not the ceiling.

How much is a timeshare special assessment?

There is no published industry average for a special assessment, because each one is tied to a specific resort's specific repair. Owner communities such as the Timeshare Users Group report that a single assessment commonly ranges from a few hundred dollars to several thousand per owner in a difficult year, charged on top of the regular fee. The amount depends on the size of the project, how much the reserve fund had already set aside, and how many owners share the cost. Natural disasters are a frequent trigger: uninsured or underinsured storm damage often lands on owners as an assessment, and in 2025 most resorts that closed temporarily did so because of a natural disaster. A resort that keeps its reserve fund well funded is less likely to need a large assessment, which is why the reserve-fund status is worth asking about before you buy.

Can you refuse to pay a special assessment?

For most owners the practical answer is no. A properly levied assessment carries the same weight as the regular maintenance fee under the resort's governing documents, so refusing to pay it exposes you to the same consequences as skipping the annual fee: late charges, collections, credit damage, and ultimately foreclosure on a deeded interest. If you believe an assessment was levied improperly, the place to challenge it is the association's own process and your governing documents, not simply withholding payment.

What happens if you stop paying your timeshare maintenance fees?

Stopping payment does not make the timeshare go away, and it carries real consequences. The resort can add late fees and interest, refer the unpaid balance to a collection agency, and report the delinquency to the credit bureaus, which can lower your credit score. Because most timeshares are deeded real estate, the association can ultimately foreclose on the interest, and in some cases pursue you for what is still owed. The full sequence, from late fees to foreclosure, is laid out in our guide to what happens if you stop paying timeshare fees. Walking away is not a clean exit, and our guide to walking away from timeshare maintenance fees explains why, including what can pass to your heirs. If you want out, the legitimate routes, a deed-back, resale, or cancellation, are laid out in our guide to getting out of a timeshare, and whether the ongoing cost is worth it at all is the question our are timeshares worth it guide works through.

Common questions about timeshare maintenance fees

Are timeshare maintenance fees forever?

For a traditional deeded timeshare, effectively yes. The maintenance fee is owed every year for as long as you hold the ownership, and a perpetual deed has no built-in end date. The obligation only stops when you legally transfer, deed back, or otherwise end the ownership through a legitimate exit.

Do you pay maintenance fees if you do not use the timeshare?

Yes. The maintenance fee is your share of running the resort, not a charge for the nights you book, so it is owed in full whether or not you travel that year. Skipping a year of use does not reduce or pause the bill, because the fee is set by the annual budget rather than by occupancy.

Are timeshare maintenance fees tax-deductible?

Usually not. For most owners a timeshare is personal-use property, so the annual maintenance fee is a nondeductible personal expense. Narrow exceptions can apply, for example on a genuine rental, and our timeshare tax guide explains where they do and do not.

What happens to timeshare maintenance fees when the owner dies?

The fee does not simply disappear. A deeded timeshare passes through the estate, and whoever inherits it inherits the ongoing fee unless the interest is refused or disposed of. Heirs can often decline an inheritance, but the timing and process matter, as our guides to timeshare inheritance and walking away explain.

Sources

Reviewed by Reid Calloway. American Resort Development Association (ARDA), State of the Vacation Timeshare Industry, 2026 edition (2025 data, prepared by Ernst & Young), for the average annual maintenance fee of $1,550 in 2025, its 4.7% year-over-year increase, the five-year trend, and the drivers of rising fees. Brand fee ranges gathered from each company's own published disclosures and program pages (Marriott Vacations Worldwide, Hilton Grand Vacations, Disney Vacation Club, Club Wyndham, and others), verified June 2026; all ranges are approximate and depend on the size of the ownership and the resort. Timeshare Users Group (tug2.net), a non-commercial owner community, for the reported range of special assessments. U.S. Federal Trade Commission, consumer guidance on timeshares (consumer.ftc.gov), reviewed June 2026, for deed-back guidance and exit options. U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, guidance on debt collection and credit reporting (consumerfinance.gov), for the consequences of nonpayment. Last reviewed July 10, 2026.