Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced in a press release that her office has filed a lawsuit against TS Luxury Group, Inc., a timeshare resale fraud company, and its owner, Mary Filocomo. According to the lawsuit, TS Luxury and its principal engaged in a systematic pattern of conduct designed and intended to induce consumers to pay the defendants an up-front fee for timeshare resale services via a series of false and fraudulent misrepresentations. The Attorney General’s Office is seeking more than $550,000 in restitution for consumers, and ultimately a permanent injunction prohibiting TS Luxury and Filocomo from engaging in similar business practices.

Earlier in August, 2010 after a prior investigation, TS Luxury and its owner entered into a binding settlement agreement with the Office of the Attorney General. TS Luxury and its owner, Mary Filocomo, were required to resolve and/or to pay more than $110,000 in initial consumer claims and to thereafter to pay any new claims against the company which arose within a certain time frame. Neither the company nor its owner resolved and/or paid the consumer claims as required.

If you believe that you were the victim of consumer fraud perpetrated by this company, please take the time to report the crime to the Florida Attorney General's Office by clicking HERE. 

The Florida Attorney General’s office has announced the arrest of  two individuals for illegal activity related to timeshare resale fraud. The press release states that a lawsuit has been filed against William Clarke, P.A., and its owner, Gerald W. Clarke; and Provident Choice, LLC, and its owner, Nicholas Paul. Both individuals were arrested.

The lawsuit alleges that G. William Clarke, P.A., Provident Choice, LLC, Gerald W. Clarke, and Nicholas Paul were operating as unlicensed telemarketers, targeting consumers who were previous victims of timeshare resale fraud. The defendants collected up-front fees ranging from $400 to $4,000 and promised to assist consumers with obtaining refunds from a non-existent state restitution fund. Additionally, the companies claimed to be working with various state agencies, including the Attorney General’s Office.

Read the full press release by clicking HERE.

A reader has submitted a potential timeshare scam alert to warn others about what he believes is a timeshare resale scam. A portion of his email is below....


"...I received a phone call from someone by the name Robert Smith (website is gspconsultants.com), representing Golden State Property Consultants, he claimed that they can help me sell my Timeshare property located in Velas Vallarta MX. and no upfront payment until the transaction is complete, that they will charge me 6% for commission from whatever the sale price is. I was excited so I gave them my timeshare information. He e-mailed me back within an hour with an offer for the timeshare week for a total of $19,995 from a potential buyer. Of course I thought that it was a reasonable offer so I accepted the offer and ask them to proceed with the sale, he told me that someone from the closing company will call me and get more information to proceed with the sale. meanwhile i did quick search online for complaint and there were nothing it just seemed too good to be true.

A day later, someone with the name of George Lopez representing Michelle Collins; title and holdings (website is MCTHoldings.com) called me and wanted to send me some form to complete and sign. I received the forms, reviewed them. Kevin Reed called me and claimed that they will record the conversation for record purposes and went over the contracts with me. So I signed the contracts and sent them back to them. Later they called asking for closing amount of $1,995.. Off course I thought it was fishy so I asked them why they couldn't just subtract that from the sale amount.. they gave me some ****** reasons why I needed to pay up front "according to Mexican law". I accepted the reason because I really wanted to sale the timeshare and didn't want to pass up on the opportunity. But yet I couldn't come up with the amount that they were asking, so they agree to work with me because the agency can cover some of it. So they ask me to pay $1017.50 instead. Next day I wire transferred that amount to a mexican account (I have document for the account numbers etc...) and forwarded a copy of the document to Kevin Reed. After the payment was made, I spoke to Kevin for the last time and he assured me that they have received the payment and that he will be sending me a bunch of papers when they hear back from the resort along with the payment document to collect my bank information to send me my payment and that was the last time I spoke to Kevin. I called the closing company several times and it goes straight to the voice mail and I left messages and e-mails and have not heard anything from the closing company till today.

So I decided to call Robert from the agency, and for some reason he was getting information from me and sending to the closing company and receiving message from them and sending to me.. more like spoke person for them, he claimed that they are backed up and they will get back to me in two days. Of course he seems very concerned and very helpful. So while i was waiting over the weekend, I did thorough research about mexican timeshare scam and this web site came up. I read through most of the stories from people here and now it seemed very obvious that I have been scammed because it related very closely to what I am going through. So on Monday, I contacted Robert he told me that he will get back to me within an hour so of course i did not hear anything instead i received an e-mail from him stating that there was a problem with my payment. That the "Mexican Government" did not accept the payment from the Agency because they are not the sole owner of the property, that in order for them to continue, they need the rest of the payment of  $977.55 from me.

I panicked and basically told them that I no longer wish to continue with the sale; so i requested my money back, he claimed that he will send me some forms that will allow them to process the refund, which will take 45-90 days to refund... ridiculous. I basically told him that i need my money within 3 days period... so I am currently in the process right now with them to see how things will play out...I am posting this because I want anyone to be careful when they receive such calls...."

If you believe that you have been a victim of fraud perpetrated by these individuals or companies, please take the time to report the crime to the FBI by clicking HERE! 

A Vacation-Times.org reader has submitted a new alert about a possible timeshare marketing scam claiming to be out of Oklahoma City under the name World Market Events.

"...The same scam from Oklahoma City OK only this time the company's name is World Market Events. www.worldmarketevents com. They are so funny and stupid! They can't even spell the words correctly on their website. They speak almost no English. Their phone # is not listed...... their address at: 3140 W. Britton Rd. Ste. B Oklahoma City OK, 73120...."

If you believe that you have been the victim of fraud perpetrated by this company, please take the time to file a report with the Oklahoma Attorney General at http://www.oag.ok.gov/oagweb.nsf/ccomp.html and also with the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov/complaint/default.aspx.

A Vacation-Times.org reader has submitted the following warning about a possible timeshare scam operating under the names of Malibu Event Management and Grand Legacy Trust.

"...We are victims of an Inter-Net crime trying to sell our time shares in Mexico. We were approached on the Inter-net by a Company in Birmingham. Al. by the name of Malibu Event Management. They had an escrow company call us after e-mailing a contract to us. Grand Legacy Trust is the escrow company.

They together got us for $32,340.00 by having us wire funds to Mexico to close the sale. It was two different time shares and a total of 3 weeks. When the sale was closed we never heard another word from them and they didn't answer their phones from that day on. We are senior citizens and have been manipulated into this sale.
We have filed complaints and are waiting to hear..."

If you have been a victim of fraud perpetrated by this organization, please take the time to report the crime to the FBI Internet Crime Division at http://ic3.gov

WFTV Channel 9 out of Orlando is reporting that authorities have raided two call centers for allegedly operating a timeshare scheme where the companies defrauded timeshare owners hoping to sell their property. The report names David Hearsey and Doni Vazquez as the owners of the companies involved and gives the company names as Choice Property Network and Timeshare Repeal.

According to state records, the two men named show as the operators of Choice Property Network. Timeshare Repeal LLC however, shows the operator as a gentleman named Kyle H. Kelley. At this time it is unclear if the report is inaccurate, or if the two companies are actually related.


See the video HERE.

If you believe that you have been the victim or consumer fraud perpetrated by these companies or individuals, please take the time to report the crime to the Florida Attorney General at http://myfloridalegal.com/timeshares

A possible new timeshare scam is being discussed which appears to be using the same tactics that are commonly reported on these pages. 

A timeshare owner receives a cold call promising that a buyer has been found for their property. The caller claims to have obtained a large down payment from the buyer, and offers to send the seller a contracts signed by what is stated to be the buyer in question. The seller is then told that they must wire money to a closing agent for various closing costs and fees. If payment is sent, the closing does not occur and no refund is able to be obtained.

If you believe that you have been a victim of consumer fraud perpetrated by RH Financial Holdings Inc or RH Revenue, please take the time to report the crime to the Florida Attorney Generals Office by clicking HERE. Reporting timeshare fraud is the best way to stop it!

I just saw an indication in the local crime report of the Washington Township Times where it appears that con artists are now using a version of the fake Mexican timeshare tax to target timeshare buyers as well as timeshare sellers.

"...A Saw Mill Road resident told police on Jan. 5 he was defrauded of $1,750 through a time share company. The man told police he tried to purchase the time share from Condo Vacations and made a wire transfer of the money to pay for the taxes. However, all contact with the company ceased at that time and he was not able to retrieve his money...."

Whether you are buying or selling a timeshare- there is no valid reason other than apathy for a consumer to not understand the importance of a proper and legal closing process.

Good enough is only good enough until a problem comes along!

There are numerous timeshare transactions that occur each day on classified sites such as eBay where the closing is being done by individuals who often are not legally able to prepare deeds or provide closing services. These invalid deeds can cause problems years down the road, possibly leaving the timeshare buyer or timeshare seller with no recourse other than spending thousands on legal proceedings to try and correct the problem.

(Information below provided by PCS Title, a company that specializes in timeshare closings).

Seventeen states and two US territories restrict preparation of deeds to licensed attorneys in that state, with a few exceptions noted below:

Alabama
Arkansas
Florida
Hawaii
Indiana
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Mississippi
New York
North Carolina
Ohioi
Puerto Rico
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
Virgin Islands
Wisconsin

Most if not all allow a party to the deed, either buyer or seller, to prepare the deed unless in some cases they are a corporation. In Hawaii, however, if a party to the deed prepares it, to be legal the preparation has to actually be done in Hawaii, not somewhere else, and in Indiana only the seller, not the buyer, is allowed to prepare the deed.

Wisconsin also allows a real estate broker licensed in that state to prepare a deed, and Florida allows title companies to do so if incident to issuance of a policy of title insurance. Lousiana and Puerto Rico, whose legal systems are based on continental European law rather than English Common Law, and for whom the office of Notary Public is much more responsible and requires far more education than in the other 49 states, also allow Notaries Public to prepare deeds.

Before buying or selling any property, you must always perform your due diligence. Research and contact a respected closing agent who is properly licensed in the state where the property is located. Never allow the buyer or seller to either perform the closing themselves, or to choose an unknown or in-house closing agent. Always call the closing company to request proof of a true escrow account, and discover if they are affiliated with an attorney or a larger title provider. Call the timeshare management company or the HOA to determine if there are additional costs involved with the transfer such as a right of first refusal process, waiver fees, estoppels fees, or transfer fees.