Free guide · Reference table
Timeshare Rescission Periods by State
The rescission period — also called the cooling-off period — is the short window after signing when state law lets a timeshare buyer cancel for any reason and owe nothing. It is the single most valuable right a new buyer has, and the easiest one to lose: the windows run from 72 hours to 15 days, the counting rules differ, and the deadline doesn't care that you were traveling home.
The state that matters is the state where you signed — where the timeshare was sold — not the state you live in. Find it below, then confirm your personal deadline with the Deadline Checker.
How the counting works
- What starts the clock. In many states the period runs from the later of signing the contract or receiving the required disclosure documents (often called the public offering statement). If your documents arrived days after signing, that can matter — enter both dates in the checker.
- Calendar vs. business days. Calendar-day states count weekends and holidays. Business-day states (Michigan's 9 business days is the longest-feeling of these) skip weekends, so the window stretches further in real time.
- Local quirks are real. Georgia skips Sundays when counting. Indiana measures 72 hours and skips Sundays and legal holidays. In Alabama, South Carolina, and Virginia, if the last day lands on a Sunday it moves to Monday. Tennessee gives 10 days — but 15 if you never visited the property before buying.
- The deadline is midnight. In most states the notice must be sent (and in some, received) by midnight of the last day. “Sent” usually means postmarked — which is why the mailing method below matters as much as the date.
The table — all 50 states + DC
Compiled October 2026 from state statutes where verified (Florida, Arizona, and Delaware among them) and current legal compilations, cross-checked against long-standing owner references. A few states' figures are genuinely hard to pin down; where the row rests on a commonly cited figure rather than a verified statute, the note says so — act on the shorter count and verify.
| State | Window | Counting | Clock starts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | If the 5th day falls on a Sunday, the deadline moves to the next day. |
| Alaska | 15 calendar days | Calendar days | Receiving the disclosure documents | One of the longest windows in the country. The clock runs from receipt of the public offering statement. |
| Arizona | 10 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | A.R.S. § 32-2197.03: notice counts on the date it is sent. (Older lists saying 7 days are out of date.) |
| Arkansas | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| California | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Colorado | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| Connecticut | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Delaware | 5 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | 6 Del. C. § 2824: Delaware requires notice by certified mail to the address in the contract — it counts on the day it is mailed. |
| District of Columbia | 15 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | Commonly cited as 15 days in current compilations. |
| Florida | 10 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | Fla. Stat. § 721.10: notice counts on the date it is postmarked. The window runs to midnight of the 10th day after the later of signing or receiving the last required document. |
| Georgia | 7 calendar days | Calendar days (Sundays skipped) | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | Sundays and holidays are not counted in Georgia's 7 days. |
| Hawaii | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Idaho | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| Illinois | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| Indiana | 72 hours | Hours (Sundays & holidays skipped) | Signing the contract | Indiana measures the window as 72 hours, and Sundays and legal holidays do not count — the shortest window in the country. |
| Iowa | 5 business days | Business days | Receiving the disclosure documents | |
| Kansas | 3 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | Commonly cited as 3 business days. |
| Kentucky | 5 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | Compilations range from 3 to 5 business days; we use 5 — act as if it were 3. |
| Louisiana | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Maine | 10 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Maryland | 10 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | Notice must reach the developer by midnight of the 10th day. |
| Massachusetts | 3 business days | Business days | Receiving the disclosure documents | One of the shortest windows — 3 business days from receipt of the public offering statement. |
| Michigan | 9 business days | Business days | Receiving the disclosure documents | 9 business days — because weekends don't count, this runs about two calendar weeks. |
| Minnesota | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Mississippi | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Missouri | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| Montana | 3 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | Commonly cited as 3 days in owner-compiled state lists. |
| Nebraska | 3 business days | Business days | Receiving the disclosure documents | |
| Nevada | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | You have until midnight of the 5th calendar day after signing. Nevada is strict — do not cut it close. |
| New Hampshire | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| New Jersey | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| New Mexico | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| New York | 7 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | |
| North Carolina | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| North Dakota | No state statute | — | Signing the contract | North Dakota has no timeshare-specific rescission statute in current compilations. Your contract's own cancellation clause controls — read it today. |
| Ohio | 3 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | |
| Oklahoma | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | Older lists said 10 days; current compilations say 5. Act on the shorter count. |
| Oregon | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| Pennsylvania | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | Pennsylvania has no timeshare-specific rescission statute; 5 days is the commonly cited figure. Your contract may state its own window — check it. |
| Rhode Island | 5 business days | Business days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| South Carolina | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | If the 5th day falls on a Sunday, the deadline moves to the next day. |
| South Dakota | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Tennessee | 10 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | 10 days if you visited/inspected the property before buying; 15 days if you never visited. This checker counts 10 — if you never set foot on the property, you may have longer. |
| Texas | 6 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | Texas gives 6 days — an unusual count. Notice must be in writing. |
| Utah | 5 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | Notice postmarked by midnight of the 5th day generally counts; legal holidays are excluded. |
| Vermont | 3 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | No timeshare-specific statute found; a general 3-business-day cooling-off rule may apply. Verify. |
| Virginia | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | If the 7th day falls on a Sunday or holiday, the deadline moves to the next day. |
| Washington | 7 calendar days | Calendar days | Signing the contract | |
| West Virginia | 10 calendar days | Calendar days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Wisconsin | 5 business days | Business days | Later of signing or receiving the required disclosures | |
| Wyoming | 3 business days | Business days | Signing the contract | No timeshare-specific statute found; a general 3-business-day cooling-off rule may apply. Verify. |
Sending a notice that counts
A rescission lives or dies on mechanics. The general pattern across states:
- Written notice, always. No state we track accepts a phone call as a cancellation. Email alone is risky in most states too.
- Send it the way the contract says — most specify U.S. certified mail, return receipt requested, to a cancellation address printed in the contract (frequently a corporate address, not the resort). Delaware's statute requires certified mail specifically.
- Include the essentials: every buyer's name as it appears on the contract, the contract number, the resort name, the signing date, and one unambiguous sentence stating you are cancelling under your state's rescission law. Every buyer who signed the contract signs the notice.
- Keep the proof. The certified-mail receipt, the return receipt card, and a photocopy of the signed notice are your evidence. In postmark states (Florida among them), the postmark is what makes the notice timely.
- Send a backup copy by a second trackable method if you are within 48 hours of the deadline — and keep that receipt too.
The Kit's letter pack contains a ready-to-copy rescission notice built to these rules, with the send-by checklist for each method.
If the table says your window has closed
Then it has — no fee reopens it, whatever a salesperson implies. Your route is the developer's own surrender / deed-back program, which is free to ask about. Start with the route map, and read how exit companies work before anyone quotes you a price to “help.”
The $39 Exit Roadmap Kit
- Included in the $39 Kit: the letter pack — a rescission notice written to these rules, plus surrender and hardship letters
- Included in the $39 Kit: the route decision tree for owners whose window has closed
- Included in the $39 Kit: developer dossiers and the scam-spotting checklist
You have the Kit on this device — open your Kit →
This table is educational information compiled in October 2026, not legal advice and not a legal determination of any individual deadline. Statutes change, contracts vary, and your contract plus your state's current law control. When the stakes are a five-figure contract, treat every date here as a reason to act earlier, not later.