Manhattan Club Lawsuit

I think it is a great idea for TMC owners to fill the room whether there is an Annual Meeting or not. Of course, he would cancel the meeting. He doesn't want people to come into his meeting and air their grievances, He wants this all to just go away. But, if enough owners attended a meeting,filmed the meeting, and have owners announcing their concerns on film it may help the case. When filming is complete make copies and send to AG, Judge, and Eichner. Maybe then, they will have another idea about how serious owners are and in fact not happy at all!

fellow owners,

NO OWNERS EVEN GET TO SAY"HI" AT ANY OF HIS FRAUDULENTMAJESTY'S MEETINGS. EICHNER IS LIKE AN EVIL PUPPETEER WHO PULLS ALL THE STRINGS, SO DON'T BE A PUPPET THAT HE KEEPS QUIET AND PERMITS HIS SUBJECTS TO SPEAK ONLY IF AND WHEN HE OPERATES THEIR MOVEMENTS.

TRYING TO USE THE MANHATTAN CLUB LOUNGE FOR AN OWNERS' MEETING SOUNDS LIKE A FINE IDEA; HOWEVER, EICHNER IS CRAFTY AND UP-TO-DATE (VIA HIS HENCHMEN), AND I DOUBT IF HE'D ALLOW A MEETING TO TAKE PLACE ON HIS HALLOWED GROUND. HE'D FIND A DEVIOUS WAY TO KEEP US FROM MEETING ON THE 26TH FLOOR, OR FOR THAT MATTER, ON ANY FLOOR OF TMC.

HOWEVER, I'M GAME IF SOMEONE CAN COME UP WITH A VIABLE WAY TO MEET AT THE TMC. MY GUESS IS THAT A PERMIT WOULD BE REQUIRED.........A PERMIT THAT HE'D PAY SOMEONE OFF TO HAVE THIS PERMIT LEGALLY REQUIRED. BUT, LET'S SEE IF ANY OF US IS CREATIVE ENOUGH TO GET THIS MEETING IDEA OFF THE GROUND. THE MEDIA (OUR LEGALLY INVITED GUESTS) COULD BE INVITED TO ATTEND THE MEETING FOR PEPPERIDGE FARM COOKIES AND LAVANZA COFFEE, THAT ARE PROVIDED VIA OUR OBSCENE, LUDICROUS AND EXORBITANT MAINTENANCE FEES. HOPEFULLY ONE OF US OWNERS WOULD INVITE A KNOWLEDGEABLE ATTORNEY FAMILIAR WITH TIMESHARE LAW, RULES AND REGULATIONS TO FURTHER GUIDE US IN PURSUING FUTURE TACTICS THAT WOULD BETTER OWNERS' FINANCIAL AND OTHER POSITIONS CONCERNING OUR CONNECTION AND DEALINGS WITH THE MANHATTAN CLUB.

vanessa175 wrote:

I think it is a great idea for TMC owners to fill the room whether there is an Annual Meeting or not. Of course, he would cancel the meeting. He doesn't want people to come into his meeting and air their grievances, He wants this all to just go away. But, if enough owners attended a meeting,filmed the meeting, and have owners announcing their concerns on film it may help the case. When filming is complete make copies and send to AG, Judge, and Eichner. Maybe then, they will have another idea about how serious owners are and in fact not happy at all!

Has anyone ever dealt with company called UR Exchange? (Universal Resort Exchange)? We received phone call to inquire if we were interested in selling our Manhattan Club. I think they are located in Savanna,Georgia.

Karen

Yes, I received a call from them as well. They are very deceitful and make their "cold call" sound like they have a buyer for your TMC timeshare when in reality they want you to list your timeshare with them for a mere $1200 (I think that was the amount they quoted). It's a scam so don't fall into it. Anytime you get a cold call such as this beware! I've done a lot of homework and investigation on these businesses and the huge red flag is getting an "up front deposit" to cover the advertising costs. In all the research I did, no one ever ended up selling their timeshare and put out thousands of dollars. The guy that called me claimed he already had a buyer for my TMC unit and would get me full price for what I paid for it within 45 days. When I questioned him further he admitted that he did not have a buyer but he was sure he would find one in 45 days because that's what the current trend was. This company has a very low rating with the BBB as well.

I have had the pleasure of just returning from New York where I stayed at TMC (I have a penthouse) and I certainly "aired my grievances" right in the lobby where anyone and everyone could hear me. According to TMC the penthouses are not rented out to the public, which I find hard to believe, so I reserved my room about 3 months in advance. I had no trouble at all getting a room for the dates I wanted so I was pleased about that however, I made a specific request for a room on the 30th floor with 2 showers as I had 3 friends accompanying me. When I arrived of course they told me that I had a room on the 28th floor with a tub and a shower. I complained very loudly and demanded a room with 2 showers. The guy at the desk said just because I requested a certain room and floor doesn't mean that I will get what I want. So I proceeded to tell him that I was one of the owners who has paid my annual fees so I was wondering what they would do if I stopped paying and reported this to the AG as consideration of the lawsuit currently underway. Right away a female manager came out to the front and told me the same thing that the guy told me and basically I was welcome to come back later in the day to check to see if there was a room with two showers. According to both the guy and the woman, the entire TMC was booked to capacity but they would try. I then responded with "well maybe I'll try to pay my dues that are coming up in May". Miraculously a huge room on the 28th floor opened up. This room is by far the largest room I've ever occupied there. I'm still undecided if I'll be paying my annual dues. Does anyone know the reprecussions of not paying the dues? I live in California so I'm planning on getting some advice from my attorney but I was wondering if anyone has had to deal with this?

chrisv126 wrote:

fellow owners,

NO OWNERS EVEN GET TO SAY"HI" AT ANY OF HIS FRAUDULENTMAJESTY'S MEETINGS. EICHNER IS LIKE AN EVIL PUPPETEER WHO PULLS ALL THE STRINGS, SO DON'T BE A PUPPET THAT HE KEEPS QUIET AND PERMITS HIS SUBJECTS TO SPEAK ONLY IF AND WHEN HE OPERATES THEIR MOVEMENTS.

TRYING TO USE THE MANHATTAN CLUB LOUNGE FOR AN OWNERS' MEETING SOUNDS LIKE A FINE IDEA; HOWEVER, EICHNER IS CRAFTY AND UP-TO-DATE (VIA HIS HENCHMEN), AND I DOUBT IF HE'D ALLOW A MEETING TO TAKE PLACE ON HIS HALLOWED GROUND. HE'D FIND A DEVIOUS WAY TO KEEP US FROM MEETING ON THE 26TH FLOOR, OR FOR THAT MATTER, ON ANY FLOOR OF TMC.

HOWEVER, I'M GAME IF SOMEONE CAN COME UP WITH A VIABLE WAY TO MEET AT THE TMC. MY GUESS IS THAT A PERMIT WOULD BE REQUIRED.........A PERMIT THAT HE'D PAY SOMEONE OFF TO HAVE THIS PERMIT LEGALLY REQUIRED. BUT, LET'S SEE IF ANY OF US IS CREATIVE ENOUGH TO GET THIS MEETING IDEA OFF THE GROUND. THE MEDIA (OUR LEGALLY INVITED GUESTS) COULD BE INVITED TO ATTEND THE MEETING FOR PEPPERIDGE FARM COOKIES AND LAVANZA COFFEE, THAT ARE PROVIDED VIA OUR OBSCENE, LUDICROUS AND EXORBITANT MAINTENANCE FEES. HOPEFULLY ONE OF US OWNERS WOULD INVITE A KNOWLEDGEABLE ATTORNEY FAMILIAR WITH TIMESHARE LAW, RULES AND REGULATIONS TO FURTHER GUIDE US IN PURSUING FUTURE TACTICS THAT WOULD BETTER OWNERS' FINANCIAL AND OTHER POSITIONS CONCERNING OUR CONNECTION AND DEALINGS WITH THE MANHATTAN CLUB.

vanessa175 wrote:

I think it is a great idea for TMC owners to fill the room whether there is an Annual Meeting or not. Of course, he would cancel the meeting. He doesn't want people to come into his meeting and air their grievances, He wants this all to just go away. But, if enough owners attended a meeting,filmed the meeting, and have owners announcing their concerns on film it may help the case. When filming is complete make copies and send to AG, Judge, and Eichner. Maybe then, they will have another idea about how serious owners are and in fact not happy at all!

Right now, we are fortunate that a lot of people has stopped paying their maintenance fees. Yesterday, I made reservations for May 10th this was unheard several years ago, with the 9 month policy. I am still concern about the uncontrollable fees we have to pay every year.

I am not an attorney but I am familiar with landlord /tenant rent disputes. It is not a good idea to stop paying maintenance fees. If you do withhold paying the fee, be sure to set up an escrow account and put the maintenance fees in that account to show that the intention is there to pay the fee until the suit is settled. That way, you may protect yourself from future lawsuits or damage to your credit status.

Hi Everyone - According to the Annual Meeting Notice, no cell phones with cameras are allowed in the meeting. So that idea is not doable. We could meet B4 the meeting somewhere, even the TMC lobby. Let's do this.

Beckyf76, I'm from CA, too. Sacramento. If you are serious about consulting an attorney, that would be great. I'm a retired paralegal and have taken an interest in timeshare ownership rights. My grievance with TMC is the maintenence fees. Mine have gone from $1,661.50 in 2011 to $2,051.08 in 2014. They're due again this month (I pay every two years), and I'm scared to death they will have gone up.

I have no other complaints. I've always gotten my reservation requests, every year, no difficulties. Twice I've sold my reservation and my 3rd party guests have had no issues. I'm still awaiting confirmation of my August 2-4 request. I'll certainly scream loudly if I don't get it. TMC Member Services is a little archaic -- probably not very computerized or professionally trained, so the 3-5 business days they ask for is telling, given this is Manhattan we're dealing with!

Let's work on this meeting idea.

P.S. Just received email confirmation, - so I'll be at TMC for Annual meeting.

The only way to hit Eichner and the operation of TMC is by NOT paying maintenance fees. Your suggestion about an escrow account is a good one. However, the fees that we are being charged are outrageous! He has been doing this for year's to the Owners and not having available for Owners who did pay their maintenance fees. I am just one of many of those owners. We hesitated to not pay the maintenance fees after losing nights with lack of room space being available. Before we stopped paying our maintenance fees we hired an attorney in DC to represent us (she represented another TMC Owner)previously. that Owner basically gave it back for $100. That was the deal they were offering to any body. That was back in 2010. We hired her in hopes of selling back ours back at $100 price because we were so fed up with how the property was being managed and how we were being threatened by them. We paid almost $25,000 cash. We paid our fees for years on time and were not able to use our seven nights (flex-plan). We lost 3,4, and 2 nights for the three years we did not trade into RCI. TMC required us to pay maintenance fees five months in advance! we said "no way", we are not paying them one more cent. They have nerve and more!!! If everybody stopped paying the maintenance fees during this investigation results may be different in the outcome. We are paying to keep them up and running. On top of that they have been renting out our units to make more money! The credit bureaus can be written and have letters of explanation with this fraud! maybe the best thing would

viviens 2, "set up an escrow account" to show intention to pay maintenance......sounds like a fine idea.

how does one do this specifically for TMC maintenance fees? please respond asap. also i assume that i would have full control of the monies deposited into this escrow account, e.g., to withdraw $$$ as i see fit.

thanks, chris

viviens2 wrote:

I am not an attorney but I am familiar with landlord /tenant rent disputes. It is not a good idea to stop paying maintenance fees. If you do withhold paying the fee, be sure to set up an escrow account and put the maintenance fees in that account to show that the intention is there to pay the fee until the suit is settled. That way, you may protect yourself from future lawsuits or damage to your credit status.

I am not an attorney but I would like to mention that the MC Timeshare owners are not the landlord/tenant dispute subjects. The law is different for such subjects. E.g. I never saw my Deeded unit, I never had a chance to stay at my Deeded unit though I had requested to exercise my Deed , and I did get any reservations for any MC unit for a coupe of years. As a matter of fact my ACRIS NYC public registration includes not only the Timeshare ownership but a Condo ownership as well. The last document (RP 5217NYC) was not not signed by me or Mr. Lager but was registered in ACRIS. Looking at the ACRIS registration I own CONDO at 7-th AV and Timeshare at West 56-th Street (same building). On the top of the 'registration' I am obligated to DEP which is Water and Sewer Billing which is not signed by me or the 'LANDLORD'. In my unit only approximately 1/6 of the owners have been assigned to such obligations.

"An escrow is a financial arrangement where a third party holds and regulates payment of the funds required for two parties involved in a given transaction. It helps make transactions more secure by allowing payments to be released only when all of the terms of an agreement are met as overseen by the escrow company." Most commonly encountered escrow accounts involve the sell/buy of property. The attorney sets up an escrow account to deposit down payment, repair payment and miscellaneous expenses involved with the sale of the property. In our situation, we are legally required to pay the TMC maintenance fee. However, due to unresolved issues between the the owners and developer, the owners can deposit their security to a third party account until the issues are resolved. This theoretically puts pressure on the developer to resolve the issue. The current lawsuit is between the AG and TMC as a result of numerous complaints from owners regarding their frustration in securing the use of their timeshare. The suspicion is that TMC is overselling their timeshare units as well as renting more units than they are entitled to. No mention of the issue of the ever escalating maintenance fees. As individual owners, we can write to TMC and demand an accountability of the maintenance fee. We can withhold payment until we get a satisfactory answer. The more owners decide not to pay their maintenance fee the higher the fees for those who pay. That is the reality of the situation. However, if all the owners decide to place their maintenance fee into an escrow account which is set up with the sole intention of holding the money for maintenance fee, the TMC will be deprived of the funds to operate the TMC. This will certainly hurt them but also the owners. Either way the situation is not good.

To Venessa 175: Same with me, paid $27,000 cash in 2003. Have used twice, can't ever get the dates I want. Have stopped paying maintenance fees. I wrote them a letter December 2014 stating I was not going to pay the fees as long as there is a criminal investigation re TMC. I'm considering using a Quitclaim deed, giving the unit back to them. If they don't want it, what does that tell you. PS I also live in the DC area, Alexandria, VA. Would you mined giving me the name of the attorney you used? Thanks.

I paid $60,000 cash in 2012 and my dues are now up to $3,475 for 2017!!! It's ridiculous and I really want to stop paying them but I'm not sure what it will do to my credit or if they can put a lien against my house in CA. I need to speak to an attorney soon. I wish there was someone on this forum that has stopped paying and can give us an idea of what happened to them.

It's your right to choose to withhold maintenance fees. But it impacts all involved, the least hurt is Eichner. The Eichner enterprise just passes the 'bad debt' costs onto the remaining 'owners' in good standing. The most hurt are the tens of thousands that don't even know what is going on, only that their maintenance costs are increasing annually. If it makes you feel better to think you're hurting Eichner ok, but it's not true.

vanessa175 wrote:

The only way to hit Eichner and the operation of TMC is by NOT paying maintenance fees. Your suggestion about an escrow account is a good one. However, the fees that we are being charged are outrageous! He has been doing this for year's to the Owners and not having available for Owners who did pay their maintenance fees. I am just one of many of those owners. We hesitated to not pay the maintenance fees after losing nights with lack of room space being available. Before we stopped paying our maintenance fees we hired an attorney in DC to represent us (she represented another TMC Owner)previously. that Owner basically gave it back for $100. That was the deal they were offering to any body. That was back in 2010. We hired her in hopes of selling back ours back at $100 price because we were so fed up with how the property was being managed and how we were being threatened by them. We paid almost $25,000 cash. We paid our fees for years on time and were not able to use our seven nights (flex-plan). We lost 3,4, and 2 nights for the three years we did not trade into RCI. TMC required us to pay maintenance fees five months in advance! we said "no way", we are not paying them one more cent. They have nerve and more!!! If everybody stopped paying the maintenance fees during this investigation results may be different in the outcome. We are paying to keep them up and running. On top of that they have been renting out our units to make more money! The credit bureaus can be written and have letters of explanation with this fraud! maybe the best thing would

Why is it taking the court and the AG so long in resolving these issues? THis investigation has been going on for years. The value of the weeks has plummeted and resales are impossible. Political pressure needs to be applied to get the AG to move on this. It is criminal.

To Robert490 : Quitclaim deed looks like a good idea.Could you plz kindly provide more information on that? Thanks in advance.

While reading the messages it comes to the point that the owners don't want to understand each other. When some people cannot afford the current maintenance fees, obviously the advice to fund an escrow account is not helpful for them.

On the day of purchase my wife addressed fees raise issue to Sales executive, her manager, and whoever was working on signing our papers , and all of them confirmed that the fees would not raise more than 1.5- 2 % each payment. If they told us the next payment would jump from $1259 to $1800 and usage was not guaranteed, we would never sign the MC agreement. The OP, from which we found out quite different regulation, arrived to us within a month after FULL payment.

I cannot talk on behave of all owners. Maybe some of them got truthful answers and were acknowledged with the future fees and reservation polices. These owners have obligation not to withhold payments. Those who were lied and got involved into fraudulent sales pitch, I believe, have the right to demand money back and get rid of the contract. It was the MC who breached the agreement, not the owners.

Right now..they can't do anything to you or your credit. They can't come after you for the fees, nor take any action against you for non payment, due to an injunction filed by the AG s office preventing them from doing so. As far as your house, see an attorney and file a Homestead to protect it. If EVERYONE stopped paying, I suspect it would put a great deal more pressure on Eichner to settle. We were all deceived, we were all lied to...and I'm not giving them another penny of my money.

EXACTLY!!!! Not sure how long they can allow this to drag if ALL owners stopped paying the maintenance fees. Solidarity is critical if we are to stand any chance of getting out of our TMC.