Manhattan Club Lawsuit

I've been reading about lawsuits against MC. Some emails would ask for money to "join" and I figured it was just a scam. I would love to learn more of what is going on. I, too, am a disgruntled owner. I bought my timeshare several years ago. I can count on one hand of how many times I've stayed there. It's always booked but they always have rooms for paying customers. I only have a split week so I'm sure I'm bottom of the barrel. I just paid $2,200 in maintain fees which I think is outrageous for 3-4 nights a year and they keep going up. When I bought it, I was told that I could sell it at anytime. I was with a friend who was very familiar with time shares, she had had two for several years. What they didn't tell was that I had to find a buyer. A few years ago, due to illness, I wanted to sell it. My friend was shocked that they wouldn't buy it back. She was under the same impression that they would by it back. Can someone please tell me what I need to do to get caught up? Should I get an attorney? If I need to go to a hearing, I can do that. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

He is asking MC owners to pay $300. to become part of the 'class action suit'. I didn't pay as I am not sure what good this will do.

dennisc283 wrote:

The NYSAG's case against TMC isn't the same as a class action law suit. THE AG is enforcing NY State law, and prosecuting what he believes are violations. It's not clear what would happen if the AG won everything. He and the Judge would have to decide what happens if found guilty of whatever parts of the case. That DOES NOT mean that the AG's case will automatically result in some kind of settlement for 'owners'. He could let them off with a fine and promises to mend their ways.. or something much more drastic. There IS an attorney (see previous pages on this topic) who is trying to get a CLASS ACTIONS law suit certified... Not sure who becomes a member of the class or how that will be determined IF... that cases gets approved as a Class Action.

so far, i haven't been convinced that any of us has a chance of legal and/or monetary satisfaction by joining the class action lawsuit. from what i understand, the attorney calls himself a DEFENSE ATTORNEY, not an attorney specializing in time share equity. that seems to be telling us owners SOMETHING; in addition, i haven't heard that said attorney has any partners or that he's employed by a law firm that has at least one real estate (preferably familiar with timeshares) specialist.

THINK TWICE ABOUT SENDING $$$ TO ANYONE.

chris

donnak412 wrote:

I've been reading about lawsuits against MC. Some emails would ask for money to "join" and I figured it was just a scam. I would love to learn more of what is going on. I, too, am a disgruntled owner. I bought my timeshare several years ago. I can count on one hand of how many times I've stayed there. It's always booked but they always have rooms for paying customers. I only have a split week so I'm sure I'm bottom of the barrel. I just paid $2,200 in maintain fees which I think is outrageous for 3-4 nights a year and they keep going up. When I bought it, I was told that I could sell it at anytime. I was with a friend who was very familiar with time shares, she had had two for several years. What they didn't tell was that I had to find a buyer. A few years ago, due to illness, I wanted to sell it. My friend was shocked that they wouldn't buy it back. She was under the same impression that they would by it back. Can someone please tell me what I need to do to get caught up? Should I get an attorney? If I need to go to a hearing, I can do that. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

DonnaK412 -- I also have a split week and just paid my maintenance fees for 2017-2018 -- $2,174.14. My contact in the Financial Services is Danielle. She can be reached at 800-532-4566, then option 6 when you get the menu. I've asked Danielle for authorization to post her contact info. Please, please, call her (Eastern Time) and ask her whatever questions you have about your ownership, billing, and reservations. She said availability is still good for 2016 except around major holidays. My reservation this year is August 2-4 (my 3 nights this year) because I plan on attending the annual meeting on August 3rd. If you're at TMC at that time, or in NYC anytime from July 31 to Aug 5th, we should get together. I hope you will call Danielle.

Thanks for the feedback.

What are the experiences of other people who haven't paid the maintenance fees? Has it gone to a collection agency, affected credit rating, etc.?

======

1) I believe we are all already part of the class action lawsuit. The Waiting List for the MC to buy back your mom's timeshare is a fraudulent delay tactic to get you to pay your maintenance fee. It doesn't actually exist. (I've been on this "List" for 6 years with no results.) If the lawsuit prevails, being on this list wouldn't help. I would think everyone would be entitled to the same settlement.

2) I do not know the risk of not paying the fee but I have not paid my maintenance fee the last 3 years because I will not give in to this extortion or fund their legal battle. It has not impacted my credit.

3) You can try to sell it on ebay and leave someone to hold the bag but in my clear conscience I couldn't leave someone else with this headache. I am just holding on to see if the system will prevail. If so, hopefully all of us owners may get more that $1 from someone ebay.

This is just my 2 cents.

======

I purchased my MC membership at deep discount through a broker and the transfer went through smoothly... I have not had tremendous problems booking dates as I am flexable. Hate to say all this but outside of outrageous fees all has been fairly well for me. I do recognize rip off as ongoing deal . My cousin in Israel paid top dollar for 4 penthouse and I will inform him of issues,

sid.feldman@verizon.net

Is Lowell Sidney doing a good job on the Class Action Suit? He wants $300 to be put on the list. Do we need to do this? How many have joined? Ken

Ken,

I joined the class action suit with Lowell in March. You can go to this website - NYSCEF - NYCOURTS.GOV - New York State Unified Court System, the following will show up on the screen:

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/HomePage

At the bottom of the page - click Supreme Court, that will take you to the next page where it will say "search as a guest" then type in index# 654023/2015 and it will show you all the motions that Lowell Sidney has filed. The last one being 6/16/2016.

There have been several comments on this forum about whether or not he is perpetrating a scam because he is charging $300.00 to join the class -action suit. I did send him an e-mail asking if he still was taking on clients and expressed some of the concerns that people have had about his fee and his qualifications to represent this type of case. This is what he replied,

"Thanks, Sue - yes, feel free to mention that I am still taking on clients. I got into law to help pursue justice, and this case was brought to me - it sounded like an interesting David vs. Goliath case because every good litigator wants to have those sort of odds - makes the victory much more rewarding. "

I know from my research that he has been on both sides of the court room both as a defense attorney and as a prosecutor.

This is just my opinion; I have spent many frustrating YEARS trying to, #1- get The Manhattan Club to buy back the timeshare (which was promised when they sold it to us), #2 -sell this timeshare out right, and #3 - to find a lawyer to get out of this timeshare, all in vain. I don't know if he is our "knight in shining armor" but he is the only one that I have found that is willing to take up our cause. After much searching, I could not find any lawyers that specialized in timeshares so I am willing to spend $300 for a chance at getting this resolved.

Class action lawsuits usually don't cost members of the class to join. Only if you are a named plaintiff in a suit will you need an attorney and thus have to pay attorney a fee.

We stopped paying maintenance fees around the time the AG office got involved. We were not able to secure reservation for 2 years prior to the time the AG office got involved and nothing has hit our credit. Around that time I did get a call from a collection company and I explained to them what was going on and directed them to the case number and never heard from them again. That was several years ago now and nothing ever hit our credit for not paying maintenance fees.

sharonv49 wrote:

We stopped paying maintenance fees around the time the AG office got involved. We were not able to secure reservation for 2 years prior to the time the AG office got involved and nothing has hit our credit. Around that time I did get a call from a collection company and I explained to them what was going on and directed them to the case number and never heard from them again. That was several years ago now and nothing ever hit our credit for not paying maintenance fees.

Thanks a lot for that info.

Any others who have not paid the fees?

Also, has anyone had them billed to their credit card by TMC before they were due? Somewhere back in this thread someone mentioned that happening.

I may advise my mom to not pay them this year if there is no resolution by the time they are due.

"- it sounded like an interesting David vs. Goliath case because every good litigator wants to have those sort of odds - makes the victory much more rewarding. " sounds like an ego trip to me. his qualifications don't appear to me to have enough background heft to carry this FRAUD REAL ESTATE CASE. i believe he's a defense attorney. at this point, i wouldn't give ANYONE ANY MONEY CONCERNING ANYTHING ABOUT THE MANHATTAN CLUB.

keep in touch.

susanp816 wrote:

Ken,

I joined the class action suit with Lowell in March. You can go to this website - NYSCEF - NYCOURTS.GOV - New York State Unified Court System, the following will show up on the screen:

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/HomePage

At the bottom of the page - click Supreme Court, that will take you to the next page where it will say "search as a guest" then type in index# 654023/2015 and it will show you all the motions that Lowell Sidney has filed. The last one being 6/16/2016.

There have been several comments on this forum about whether or not he is perpetrating a scam because he is charging $300.00 to join the class -action suit. I did send him an e-mail asking if he still was taking on clients and expressed some of the concerns that people have had about his fee and his qualifications to represent this type of case. This is what he replied,

"Thanks, Sue - yes, feel free to mention that I am still taking on clients. I got into law to help pursue justice, and this case was brought to me - it sounded like an interesting David vs. Goliath case because every good litigator wants to have those sort of odds - makes the victory much more rewarding. "

I know from my research that he has been on both sides of the court room both as a defense attorney and as a prosecutor.

This is just my opinion; I have spent many frustrating YEARS trying to, #1- get The Manhattan Club to buy back the timeshare (which was promised when they sold it to us), #2 -sell this timeshare out right, and #3 - to find a lawyer to get out of this timeshare, all in vain. I don't know if he is our "knight in shining armor" but he is the only one that I have found that is willing to take up our cause. After much searching, I could not find any lawyers that specialized in timeshares so I am willing to spend $300 for a chance at getting this resolved.

I am unable to contact you using that email address.

Donna -are you talking to me? My email?

thomasm832 wrote:

sharonv49 wrote:

We stopped paying maintenance fees around the time the AG office got involved. We were not able to secure reservation for 2 years prior to the time the AG office got involved and nothing has hit our credit. Around that time I did get a call from a collection company and I explained to them what was going on and directed them to the case number and never heard from them again. That was several years ago now and nothing ever hit our credit for not paying maintenance fees.

Thanks a lot for that info.

Any others who have not paid the fees?

Also, has anyone had them billed to their credit card by TMC before they were due? Somewhere back in this thread someone mentioned that happening.

I may advise my mom to not pay them this year if there is no resolution by the time they are due.

TMC will bill you 6 months in advance if you let them. If you have given them a cc to keep on file, they will bill you as soon as they can. They don't have my cc on file but they send a bill 6 months before the fees are due. I write back and tell them that I am aware of when my bill is due and I will pay it when it is due. You need to write/email (Danielle in financial services, financialservices@tmcny.com) (so you have documentation) and tell them your mother no longer wants her cc on file and that they do not have permission to charge the fees anymore and ask for a bill to be sent via email, so you have a copy of that bill which breaks out the taxes and which you can write off on your taxes.

Yes, they charged the maintenance fee for one of my 2 penthouses units months before it was due. They had kept my credit card info. from when I had checked in for a stay in December. I immediately contacted them when I saw it on my credit card statement and argued with them that it was not due then. They did remove the charge. I just received via snail mail the bills for my 2 units with a stipulation that there would be a huge penalty (16% along with a $50 late fee) if the payment was not made by the end of this month. The 16% worked out to a charge of $464.17 PER UNIT and then you add on the $50 late fee PER UNIT. They are scrambling for money.

I think you're right. My fees are usually in August and they charged my card early June.

No, sorry. It was for Alex Crystal

The next scheduled hearing for the New York Attorney General versus the Manhattan Club is August 23, 2016.

Time and location to be posted closer to the date.

it seems we owners need to gain more strength and momentum like taking a lesson from lin-manuel miranda in the person of the nearly unstoppable alexander hamilton: "i am not throwing away my shot!". below is an invitation from the NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN TO HAVE HIS OFFICE DO A PRESENTATION ON A TOPIC OF MAJOR INTEREST TO US, of course his ongoing lawsuit with OUR MANHATTAN CLUB. this could be done at another well-organized meeting such as the one we owners had on august 2 in manhattan, so well-planned-for by jeff, shep, greg and all others who added their expertise. a copy of the presentation invitation has been emailed to irene smalls, greg crist, jeff weir and redweek.com and is presented here to all MANHATTAN CLUB OWNERS for your perusal, comments and hopefully, approval

"Home » Divisions » Executive » Intergovernmental Affairs Bureau » Resource Center Presentation Request

The Attorney General’s Office is committed to educating the public on key issues the Office is working on such as consumer frauds, senior scams, internet safety, civil and labor rights, and a host of other important issues. If you or your organization would like to request a presenter from the Attorney General’s Office, please fill out the following request form. If you require assistance completing this form, please contact us at (212) 416-6044.

Office/Organization Name of Office/Organization * Contact Person Name * Phone Number * Email * Event Info Please describe your event (I.E. the topic/format of the presentation) *

Is there a scheduled date/time for your event? * How many attendees are you expecting? Event Location Street Address City/Town/Village Zip Code (5 Digit) NYS County * NOTE: If you do not yet have a specific location for your event, please select the NYS County where you anticipate the event taking place.

Attach File Do you have any flyers or other promotional materials you'd like to attach to this request? CAPTCHA This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions. Image CAPTCHA What code is in the image? * Enter the characters shown in the image."

........taken from the NYSAG'S newsletter website.

united we stand.

keep in touch.

chris