Consumers are often targets for fraudulent telemarketers who make promises to sell or "relieve" timeshare owners of their unwanted vacation ownership contracts. However, another common scam that does not seem to get as much attention in the mainstream media is the unsolicited phone call from a  company claiming to be "associated with RCI" and promising  to help timeshare owners get the most out of their timeshare points. These con artists purchase black market owner lists, that often contain very detailed information that is used to create the impression of legitimacy. The only way timeshare owners can truly protect themselves is to remember one simple fact........

ANY UNSOLICITED CALL REGARDING YOUR TIMESHARE IS MOST LIKELY A SCAM!

Legitimate timeshare brokers do not telemarket. Honest timeshare companies do not purchase illegal owner lists. If you receive an unsolicited phone call from someone claiming to be affiliated with your timeshare resort or exchange company, simply hang up the phone and call your timeshare company directly (you'll find the phone number on your last m. fee bill). If it is a real call- they'll reconnect you to the proper person!

A Fox affiliate ran a story detailing one of these scams:

" ... Juli and Skip Hampton said they were victims of this scheme and lost over $8,000. “When we look back on it, it was a lot of smoke and mirrors,” Skip said. “And telling you this and moving onto that, and just a lot of shuffling papers…and it was just really quick stuff.”

Juli said it started with a phone call from someone who she thought was affiliated with their original time share exchange, RCI. “They said that there were going to be some changes in the way RCI…let you schedule vacations. And so, I said, ‘Okay, we’d go to this meeting,’” she said.

By the end of that dinner meeting at a St. Peters restaurant, the Hamptons thought they would improve their package. So they paid $8,143 to Nevada-based R&R Venture Group.

“Where we should have questioned is when we knew they were supposed to be an RCI affiliate and yet they wanted us to hook up to another company,” Juli said. “And it didn’t—now looking back—it doesn’t make sense.”

The Nevada Secretary of State shows the business is dissolved and it has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau.   “They’re being told we can help you sell off those extra points that you haven’t used this year,” said Chris Thetford, BBB spokesman. “Or we can help you navigate the process of using your points at other places.”  The BBB reports its investigators have identified half-a-dozen businesses that have taken money and not provided the promised service. The meal presentation should be a red flag.  “Sometimes it’s hard when people are in that situation, after they’ve been given a lunch to say no to someone,” Thetford said.... "

Click HERE for the full article. 

An Atlantic County, New Jersey, man was sentenced today to 324 months in prison for his role in a $3 million conspiracy to scam customers by offering phony consulting services to owners of timeshares through the New Jersey-based Vacation Ownership Group LLC, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced. 

Adam Lacerda, 31, of Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, was convicted in September 2013 of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, nine counts of mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud flowing a seven-week trial before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court. 

According to documents filed in this case and the evidence presented at trial: Lacerda and his codefendants schemed to defraud hundreds of timeshare owners by offering fraudulent consulting services through their company, the Vacation Ownership Group (now VO Financial). Lacerda, the company founder, president and chief executive officer, devised the company’s fraudulent sales pitches. He directed his sales force to tell numerous lies to VO customers, including that VO worked with the banks holding the customers’ loans, would use money sent by customers to pay off the customers’ loans on their timeshares, and could cancel customers’ timeshares with money back. 

Three codefendants were convicted with Lacerda at the same trial: his wife, Ashley Lacerda, 35, the company vice president and chief operating officer, sent fraudulent contracts to customers and managed the office. Ian Resnick, 40, of Absecon, New Jersey, a convicted bank robber, started as a salesman giving the fraudulent sales pitch but became Adam Lacerda’s enforcer, with the title “director of compliance.” Genevieve Manzoni, 49, of Lake Worth, Fla. was a top VO sales representative who falsely told one victim she worked with a bank, another victim that she worked with a timeshare developer. They are all awaiting sentencing. 

The 14 victims who testified at trial – including business executives, veterans, senior citizens, a lawyer and a professor – were defrauded out of a total of tens of thousands of dollars by the defendants’ sophisticated scheme. In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Adam Lacerda to three years of supervised release. 

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel in Newark; and special agents from the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, Office of Labor Racketeering and Fraud Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent Cheryl Garcia, New York Region, for the investigation. He also thanked the N.J. Department of Labor and Workforce Development for its assistance.

United States Attorney Booth Goodwin announced that David Brandon Ball, 35, of  Charleston pled guilty in federal court today to his role in defrauding timeshare owners throughout the United States and Canada.  

This is the second prosecution stemming from the shut down  of Mountain State Resales, LLC- a bogus company used to defraud timeshare owners hoping to sell their unwanted vacation ownership interest. The scheme also included a non-existent company "Internal Revenue Recovery  Associates", which further targeted the victims of fraud by claiming to help consumers recover lost payments to fraudulent timeshare marketing companies.  There is also mention of another scheme using the  fake name "International Transfers and Documents".

The full press release can be viewed by clicking HERE. 

A new article in the Hamilton Spectator claims that timeshare owners Pino and Rita Farruggia paid Pacific Property Transfer thousands of dollars to have their timeshare ownership liquidated. The article claims that the promised transfer never occurred.

"... "They (Pacific Property Transfer) tell you that once you sign on with them, you'll never have to pay maintenance fees again. They will look after everything for you," Rita said. "It cost around $3,200 to sign up with them. They said this was for legal fees."   But nothing happened. Pacific Transfer took their money then refused to take their calls, she said. Action Line was unable to contact Pacific Property Transfer. There are other stories online regarding this company, whose owners operate several similar time-share transfer firms. Pacific Transfer was given an F rating by the Better Business Bureau for failure to address consumer complaints...."


The story does conclude on a positive note, however. The resort developer, Wyndham Vacation Ownership, stepped up to the plate to allow the Farruggia family to relinquish the  ownership back to the resort. 


Please click HERE to read the full story.

I recently read a fantastic article published on the website for the State Bar of Wisconsin, which was intended to provide basic information to attorneys in that state who are approached by consumers claiming to be victims of unlawful sales practices perpetrated by timeshares sales people. However, the article provides great information about the complexities of pursuing these claims, and gives specific notations and examples that I believe could also be very educational to individual consumers as well as legal professionals.

A very brief excerpt is below, but please take the time to read the full article at:

http://www.wisbar.org/NewsPublications/InsideTrack/Pages/Article.aspx?Volume=7&Issue=6&ArticleID=23956

The Florida Attorney General's office has filed an injunction against a telemarketing company operating out of Kissimmee, Florida under the name of World Mark Wholesale & Trade LLC and it's owners Berthony Vernet and Joseph Taylor. The AG's office claims these individuals defrauded timeshare owners throughout the United States. According to complaints filed against the  business, the group made unsolicited telemarketing calls targeting timeshare owners, during which they claimed to have a willing buyer at prices well above the true resale value for the property.

The con artists are believed to have used fake names as well as the names of actual real estate agents to try and create the illusion of legitimacy. Even the business name itself is an example of this tactic, as the WorldMark brand is a well known timeshare system under the Wyndham umbrella of companies.

The action alleges that the telemarketing firm sent consumers a purchase agreement signed by a fake buyer, and then asked for thousands in upfront fees for fake closing costs and taxes. Consumers who paid these fees were then contacted again and asked for even more fees. Consumer complaints state that after paying these fees, no timeshare resales ever occurred and no refunds were able to be obtained.

If you believe that you were also a victim of this timeshare scam, please contact the Florida Attorney Generals office at
http://myfloridalegal.com/timeshares

A new article releases more details about a lawsuit filed against a timeshare developer and cruise line over alleged deceptive charges which are assessed to consumers as part of a timeshare exchange program. Daniel Finerman, a Flagler County, Fla., resident, filed a lawsuit against Marriot Vacations Worldwide Corporation, and International Cruise Excursion Gallery Inc. in September 2014. In the action, he claimed the companies overcharged members of it time-share program through bogus fees and that Carnival Cruise Lines deceptively created certain fees and inflated others charged to customers trading in timeshare "points" for discounts.

That case was filed in the Flagler County circuit court, but was later removed to the Jacksonville Federal Court. In November, Finerman voluntarily dismissed claims against the International Cruise Excursion Gallery. His claims against Marriot are pending.

In his latest complaint, Finerman says he and his wife booked a six-day Caribbean cruise with Carnival using accumulated points from his Marriot Vacation Club timeshare. The cruise was scheduled to depart from Ft. Lauderdale on November 9, 2014.

 "In addition to his points, plaintiff paid to Carnival Corporation the sum of $566.17, which consisted of the following: $159 each for Port fees, $114.11 each for government fees, and a processing fee of $19.95," the complaint states.     Finerman says he contacted Marriot Vacation Club to question the high charges, and was advised the extra fees were not covered by his timeshare points, and that they were assessed by Carnival Corporation.     Still questioning the additional costs for government and port fees, Finerman says he then checked the Carnival website, and followed online the booking steps for the same cruise.

 Finerman claims that "when booking through the Carnival Corporation website, rather than through Marriot Vacation Club, the total governmental and port fees quoted for plaintiff and his wife on the identical cruise amounted to $253.08."     Therefore, he says, he was overcharged $311.14 when he booked the cruise using his timeshare points.

 Finerman's suit claims Carnival deceptively charged he and other members of the purported class illusionary government and port fees to increase its profits, violating the Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
     
He is represented by John A. Yanchunis from Morgan & Morgan Complex Litigation Group.

Read the full story by clicking "Here"

Silverleaf Resorts, a timeshare developer and operator , has filed a lawsuit against  Advocate for the Consumer  dba Legal Advocate for the Consumer and its owners Charles H. Williams and Glenda Williams in Dallas County Court on Thursday. The suit claims that the business is a "sham entity" that "significantly interferes" with Silverleaf's and other timeshare companies' legitimate businesses. Silverleaf seeks actual and punitive damages for tortious interference with contracts, intentional interference with prospective business relations, defamation and business disparagement.

     "Defendants made false allegations and published defamatory statements about Silverleaf in order to induce Silverleaf timeshare owners to pay significant up-front fees on the basis that defendants would 'assist' owners in terminating their contracts with Silverleaf," the 12-page complaint states.  "Once owners paid their fee and signed up for these services, defendants continued to defame and interfere (so as to lure their next victim), but performed no work on the owners' individual cases aside from providing and/or mailing in form letters." Advocate for the Consumer's fees range from $1,500 to $1,600 fee, Silverleaf claims.

     The lawsuit also alleges that Advocate for the Consumer promotes their business "as a mediation company, equipped with a team of lawyers, paralegals and former timeshare executives, that could assist consumers in 'getting out' of their timeshare contracts and obtaining refunds of their timeshare membership purchase. Defendants also promised that they would negotiate with Silverleaf for refunds of funds that owners had already paid under their timeshare contract."

     "After receiving the up-front fee, defendants instructed, encouraged, and induced owners to breach their timeshare contracts with Silverleaf by stopping payments to the company immediately, which, of course, subjects the owners to potentially disastrous legal and financial harm, including foreclosure, lawsuits, deterioration of credit score, loss of principal payments made, and loss of enjoyment," the complaint stated. "Defendants also instructed, encouraged and induced owners to stop communications with Silverleaf, thereby exasperating the owners' problems."

     Silverleaf claims the defendants told owners to justify their lack of payments by making false claims.

     "They were told, in essence, that a good offense makes for a great defense," the complaint states. "The ACA provided the owners with form letters filled with prefabricated allegations against Silverleaf and either submitted the letter to Silverleaf itself or instructed the owners to do so."

     In April 2013, Texas Attorney General, now Governor-elect Greg Abbott, sued the defendants in Dallas County Court.  Abbott's office made similar accusations, of no work being performed; an injunction and asset freeze were issued the next month.

Below is an excerpt from the press release. Read the full article by clicking HERE.  If you believe that you have been a victim of fraud perpetrated by the company, you can file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office online at MyFloridaLegal.com or in-state via phone at 1-866-NO-SCAM. Out-of-state individuals can call 850-414-3990.


"...  Attorney General Pam Bondi’s Office has filed a lawsuit against Consumer Collection Advocates, Corp., and Michael Robert Ettus, CCA Principal, for allegedly targeting consumers who were victims of previous frauds or scams. In return for upfront payments and a percentage of any recovery, the company contracted with these victims, guaranteeing to recover the monies the victims lost as the result of the earlier fraud or scam, but often failing to deliver on that guarantee. The Attorney General’s Office also seeks to obtain an injunction to stop the business from operating in violation of Florida laws. The Federal Trade Commission has filed a parallel lawsuit against CCA in the U.S. Southern District Court of Florida. The Attorney General’s Office, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau received 115 complaints about the defendants’ business practices. 

“This company allegedly took advantage of consumers who had already been exploited in previous scams, and today we have taken steps to stop this business from unlawfully operating in Florida,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi.

According to the investigation, the defendants violated:

· Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Practices Act by misrepresenting defendants’ business status and purported fee recovery services and making false and misleading statements to induce consumers to pay for goods or services;
· The Federal Trade Commission’s Telemarketing Sales Rule by requesting or receiving upfront payment from consumers for services represented to recover or assist in the return of money paid for by the consumer in a previous telemarketing transaction; and
· The Florida Telemarketing Act by refusing consumers a refund, credit or replacement for services which are not presented or not received as promised..."

A jury found Jessica Weinhart, formerly known as Jessica Hensen, guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her part in a fraudulent telemarketing scheme in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The scam claimed over a thousand victims in all 20 states and Canada, all of whom were contacted and promised timeshare resale services. The defendant took part in the scheme  from 2009 until 2010 under several different company names, including Integrated Advertising Solutions, National Timeshare Resales, Administrative Timeshare Resales, and Midwest Timeshares. Victims were told that interested buyers were prepared to purchase their existing timeshares in exchange for upfront fees, ranging from $200. to $2,500. depending on how much the telemarketers believed they could collect. According to the complaint, many of the victims were elderly and had previously been targeted by similar schemes. In total, eight people have been convicted or pled guilty for their parts in this scam. Each defendant faces up to thirty years in prison. Sentencing is expected in January.