Getting Out of a Lodge Alley Inn Timeshare in Charleston: What South Carolina Law Gives You and What It Doesn't

Lodge Alley Inn sits in a cluster of restored historic buildings in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, a short walk from the Charleston City Market and Waterfront Park. It's a good place for a long weekend. It's a harder place to be an owner once the maintenance bills outgrow the trips. The resort is part of Bluegreen Vacations, and because the property is in South Carolina, state law shapes your options more than any brochure did.



The five days South Carolina gives you

If you signed recently, this is the part that matters most. South Carolina's Vacation Time Sharing Plans Act (Title 27, Chapter 32 of the state code) gives buyers five days to cancel without penalty. The clock runs from the day you sign or the day you receive the state-required disclosure statement. Your contract has to print that notice in capital letters, and the required wording is set out in Section 27-32-40. Find that paragraph in your own paperwork and read which trigger it names. Buyer funds are also supposed to sit in escrow until the window closes, which is why a cancelled purchase should come back as a full refund.

The law matters less than the mechanics. Cancellation has to be in writing, sent in a way you can prove. A phone call to your sales rep, a chat with someone at the front desk, or an email to a general inbox won't protect you once the deadline passes. Mail it certified to the address in the contract and keep the receipt. This is your timeshare rescission period, and it's the only point in the whole life of the contract when leaving is free and automatic.

After day five: the regulator, the recovery fund, and your paper trail

Once the window closes you're in negotiation territory, but you still have a referee. The South Carolina Real Estate Commission, part of the state's Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, enforces the timeshare act, requires developers to register their plans, and licenses the people who sell them. Complaints about a sale go through LLR's complaint process. The South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs handles broader deceptive-practice complaints.

The act also created a Vacation Time Sharing Recovery Fund, run by the commission to pay claims from people injured by the acts of registered or licensed sellers. It isn't a second refund window, and it won't cover every unhappy owner. It applies where a licensed or registered person's conduct caused the loss. So if your presentation included promises that never made it into the contract, like buyback guarantees, rental income, or fees that "will never rise," write them down now. Record the dates, the names, and who was in the room. A complaint is only as strong as that record.

Why the contract is harder to leave than the pitch suggested

Three things stack up against owners at Lodge Alley and almost everywhere else:

• Resale rarely closes. Bluegreen contracts typically carry a right of first refusal, so the developer can step in before a third-party sale goes through. Resale prices sit far below purchase prices even when a buyer does appear. The eBay and marketplace route adds fees on top.
• Maintenance fees keep climbing. The American Resort Development Association put the industry average near $1,480 a year in its 2025 figures, and increases of 5–8% a year are common. A fee you tolerated in year two can look very different in year twelve.
• The brand on the sign isn't the whole story. Hilton Grand Vacations bought Bluegreen in January 2024, so you may see HGV's name in search results about how to get out of a Hilton timeshare. Your Lodge Alley paperwork still names the Bluegreen entities you actually contracted with. Let the paperwork, not the parent company, tell you who to write to. We cover the Bluegreen side of this in more detail in our Wyndham, Marriott and Bluegreen exit guide.

Renting your week or exchanging it only buys time

Renting out your week can offset a year's fees if your contract allows it. Depositing it with an exchange company like RCI or Interval International can turn an unused Charleston week into a stay somewhere else. Both are stopgaps. You still own the obligation, and the fee still comes due every year. Use them while you decide, not instead of deciding.

A sensible order of operations

1. Pull your contract and disclosure statement. Note the signing date and whether you hold a deeded week or a points-based membership, since that decides which routes exist. Our points-system explainer and timeshare glossary help decode the terms.
2. If you're inside five days, mail the cancellation letter today. Certified, to the contract's address, receipt saved.
3. If you're past five days, ask Bluegreen in writing whether any voluntary surrender or deed-back option is currently available for your contract type. Programs like this have changed over the years, so don't assume one exists or doesn't. Keep whatever answer you get.
4. Add up your last three years of maintenance statements and divide by the nights you actually used. That number usually makes the decision easier than any sales conversation does.
5. Choose a lane before you call anyone: hold and manage the cost, or leave through a structured exit. Skipping payments and hoping isn't a lane.

Screening anyone who offers to help

Owners who say they want out attract offers fast. Some are legitimate and many aren't, and a timeshare resale scam often arrives as a "buyer is ready, just pay the closing fee" call. South Carolina's act gives you a useful yardstick. It exempts resale brokers only when they're licensed South Carolina real estate brokers in good standing who don't collect a fee in advance. So anyone offering to sell or exit a South Carolina interest while asking for money first deserves a licensing check on the commission's timeshare page before you send a dollar.

People also ask whether a timeshare exit company is legit. The honest answer is that some are and many aren't. The better ones put their fees and process in writing, offer a real consultation without pressure, and never promise a result nobody can promise. They never tell you to stop paying and go quiet. For the pattern behind the scams, read our breakdown of compensation scams aimed at former owners.

Past the five days and unsure what's left?

Bring your contract and your most recent maintenance statement, and we'll go through which routes actually apply to a South Carolina Bluegreen interest and which ones are dead ends.

Call AxeMyTimeshare at (949) 731-6607 for a free consultation, or start at axemytimeshare.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if the fifth day lands on a Sunday?

The cancellation notice in the statute excludes Sunday when it would be the fifth day. Don't plan around that cushion. Mail the letter early in the week and keep the certified receipt.

Can I stop paying and let Bluegreen take the week back?

You can, but it's the option people regret most. The account can go to collections and be reported to the credit bureaus, and reclaiming the week doesn't automatically erase what you owe. We lay out the full sequence in what happens if you stop paying maintenance fees.

If my week is deposited with RCI or Interval International, does that change how I exit?

Not the exit itself, which still runs through the developer and your contract. Exchange memberships are usually separate agreements with their own annual dues, so cancel that membership on its own once the timeshare question is settled.