Besides points-only systems, other types of timeshares are sold with deeds — and are recorded with county governments showing, for example, that the owner has a one-fiftieth share of a condominium at a resort.

Such deeded owners usually elect board members to operate a timeshare-owners association. The board sets budgets, and may choose whatever company it wants to manage the property (once individual owners have title to more units than the developer).

However, Wiegand warns that abuses can still happen if owners are not active in their associations. He said some developers urge employees who are also timeshare owners to run for boards to ensure the developer is always hired to manage the property.

He said he has seen instances in such situations of companies overcharging for maintenance and even doing such things as charging owners to pay for the developer's sales office phones or the developer's attorneys.

Wiegand said having developer employees on boards "is a total conflict of interest. I would ask owners anywhere, is your timeshare association conflicted?" He said all resorts in a given area should have maintenance fees that are roughly the same. A sign of problems, he said, is when one tends to be much higher than others nearby.

Owners contacted by the Morning News often bemoan how much they pay in maintenance fees, and how much they increase. Many say it has led them to try to sell units, or (as discussed in Sunday's stories) even auction them on eBay for as little as $1 to escape those constant fees.

Collier, a Westgate owner, said, "I do feel I was suckered in somewhat because our initial maintenance fee was only about $400. ... Our timeshare was only every other year, so imagine my surprise and consternation two years later when I was hit with a $540 bill. (It) really took away a lot of the joy of ownership."

"A real frustration is the maintenance fees," said Johnson, a Marriott owner. When he bought, he was told the fees would be about $800 a year. But with some other usage fees that were added that same year, "before we knew it were were spending $1,000 to $1,100 to use our weeks. ... We could probably do a lot of vacationing for that elsewhere."

Susan Foss, who owns a timeshare at Snowbird, said that when she bought nine years ago, "The maintenance fees were $680 a year. Now they are $1,050."

Jin Fugate, an owner at the Park Regency in Park City, said, "Did maintenance fees go up a lot? Yes. Much faster than other tax rates or inflation."

Ron West of Texas, who owns at several resorts nationwide, including in Park City, said salesmen told him to expect increases "of about 2 to 3 percent a year, when in reality, fees and taxes appear to be increasing at a 5 percent-plus rate."