Timeshare Victims Fight Back!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 5, 2010 -- Press Release:
September 2, 2010 -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL

It is no secret, everyone knows that con-artists and fraudsters are everywhere. But, did you know, that the number one complaint to the Florida Attorney General in 2009 was for Timeshare Resale? In a press release dated March 11, 2010 it reads: “Timeshare resale complaints have recently surpassed mortgage-related complaints as the most commonly reported consumer complaint received by the Office’s Consumer Hotline”

How, in today’s economy, with the housing market being the worst it has ever been, and the foreclosure rate skyrocketing to an all time high, can Timeshare resale complaints surpass mortgage-related complaints? I will tell you … frustrated buyers, possibly in dire straits themselves, needing money desperately to keep their own home from going into foreclosure, are believing every word that the telemarketer on the phone says!

I have worked in the industry for 10 years, and I have NEVER seen a timeshare sold or rented, by listing it with a “reseller”. In fact, I have heard the person in customer service tell a timeshare owner that is inquiring about their supposed sale, “Well, I’m sorry sir, the deal fell through. His wife wasn’t interested. Have you thought about listing it for rent? You know the rental market it hot right now.” Then she gives the phone call to a salesman, and the customer is “up sold”. They are charged even more money to list the property for rent, and they STILL get no results. And the sad part is, the timeshare owner falls for this pitch over and over again. I know of one consumer who has spent as much as $250,000 (this is not a misprint two hundred and fifty thousand) in the past 10 years to sell his timeshare. That is INSANE!

And no matter what, you will NOT get your money back from them once you sign up. I know they give you a rescission period, but just try to get your money back, and see what happens! I would get calls from people crying on the phone, telling me that their husband just died, and they needed the money to pay for the funeral. Or the man who calls and says his wife has cancer and they need the money to pay for chemo. Now I know that some of these people were just making things up because of buyer’s remorse, but who are they to judge that? Especially, if the consumer is within the rescission period.
To top it all off, in 2009 a company in West Palm Beach was closed down by the Attorney General for deceptive and unfair trade practices, only to reopen under another name, and offer to get their clients money back “for a fee”. So the customer pays this so-called “fee recovery” and now they have been scammed twice by the SAME COMPANY. This makes my stomach cringe. So the same snake has bitten his victim twice! Wow! This world is full of horrible, thieving con-artists.

I cannot stress enough the importance of letting the public know what a scam this really is. All of these so-called “resellers” are fraudulent. In 2009, a law was passed that tried to protect consumers, stating:

Prior to listing or advertising a timeshare interest for resale, a resale service provider shall provide to the timeshare interest owner a description of any fees or costs relating to the advertising, listing, or sale of the timeshare interest that the timeshare interest owner, or any other person, must pay to the resale service provider or any third party, when such fees or costs are due, and the ratio or percentage of the number of listings of timeshare interests for sale versus the number of timeshare interests sold by the resale service provider for each of the previous 2 calendar years.

(b) Failure to disclose this information in writing constitutes an unfair and deceptive trade practice pursuant to  chapter 501. Any contract entered into in violation of this subsection is void and the purchaser is entitled to a full refund of any moneys paid to the resale service provider. Section 10. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are declared severable.

This law should have shut every reseller down, or at least made it hard for them to deceive their customers, right? No! Just the opposite … they turned it into a joke. Now they claim that “because we are actually a for-sale-by-owner company, and it is you, the owner, who actually sells the timeshare, the amount of sales by our company is zero.” That’s right zero. But, what they don’t tell you is that the amount of customers who have actually sold their timeshare through their “advertising methods” is also ZERO.

Now, let’s get back to the “fee recovery” for a minute. In the state of Florida, you must be Licensed and Bonded as a Con

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