Manhattan Club Lawsuit

Years ago, when the maintenance fees first skyrocketed, I wrote to the city agency that regulated condominiums. I suggested that the developer was trying to drive out early owners who could no longer afford the unfair fees. Either by foreclosure or buying back the deed for pennies, the developer would profit unfairly at the former owners' expense. I received no reply from that agency other than a file number.

At that time. the TMC management explained that the jump in fees was because the developer had been subsidizing those maintenance fees and was no longer doing so. We now know that was a lie; that those fees were going to a management company with no employees, a company controlled by the Eichners.

The developer could be benefiting from foreclosures and cheap buy- backs in other ways, Did the Manhattan Club over-sell? Problem solved. Can the Eichner family be obtaining, at favorable prices, additional units for the nightly rental market, units withheld from the reservation system available to us, the timeshare owners? Who knows? All we can hope is that the AG's office has thorough investigators.

Daveybob

Chris - did you not read the posting I made on August 5th with regards to proposals for a plea deal? Any deal could be structured to include an option to the owners.

Gail J.

Diane, my husband and I also purchased from an original owner back in 2004. We first went on a tour of TMC and actually purchased a unit. The next day I asked some people in the elevator if they were owners and if so, did they like it. The man said, "If you're thinking of buying, check the internet for re-sales." We promptly backed out of our agreement, much to the dismay of our salesman, went home, and searched the internet. We wound up buying a 1 BR, 2 Bath unit for about half of what TMC was charging. We also had the option of using 3 weekends, or 7 days in any combination we desired. I'm hoping that whatever settlement is made will include us since we pay the same maintenance fees as those who purchased directly from TMC.

Enid D.

On August 5, lawyers representing TMC developers filed a motion to release funds to pay for their legal expenses. Maybe we should all write to Judge Rakower and ask her to block this motion. TMC is still under investigation for possible fraud and financial mismanagement.

SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF NEW YORK ----------------------------------------------------------------------x In the Matter of an Inquiry by ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN, Attorney General of the State of New York, Petitioner-Appellee, Pursuant to Article 23-A of the New York General Index No. 451536/2014 Business Law in regard to the acts and practices of (Rakower, J.) IAN BRUCE EICHNER, LESLIE H. EICHNER, STUART P. EICHNER, SCOTT L. LAGER T. PARK CENTRAL LLC, O. PARK CENTRAL LLC, NOTICE OF MOTION PARK CENTRAL MANAGEMENT LLC, TO RELEASE FUNDS MANHATTAN CLUB MARKETING GROUP LLC, and NEW YORK URBAN OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT LLC, Motion Seq. 005 Respondent-Appellants, in promoting the issuance, distribution, exchange, advertisement, negotiation, purchase, investment advice or sale of securities in or from New York State. ----------------------------------------------------------------------x PLEASE TAKE NOTICE THAT, upon the Affirmation of Chester Zimmerman, dated August 5, 2016 and the exhibits annexed thereto, and the Memorandum of Law, Respondents T. Park Central LLC, O. Park Central LLC, Park Central Management LLC, The Manhattan Club Marketing Group LLC, and New York Urban Ownership Management LLC (collectively, the “Respondent Entities”) hereby move this Court on August 29, 2016 at the Motion Submission Part Courtroom, Room 130, at 9:30 AM, in the New York County Courthouse, located at 60 Centre Street, New York, New York, for an Order releasing frozen funds for the purpose of paying ongoing legal fees related to this matter this matter and two other lawsuits in which the Respondent Entities are defendants and related legal matters. FILED: NEW YORK COUNTY CLERK 08/05/2016 06:21 PM INDEX NO. 451536/2014 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 367 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 08/05/2016

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE THAT, as agreed to by the parties, opposition papers will be served August 12, 2016, and reply papers will be served August 26, 2016. Dated: August 5, 2016 Respectfully submitted, WINSTON & STRAWN LLP By: /s/ Kelly A. Librera____ Gerald L. Shargel Kelly A. Librera Evan Lipton Anna Lamut Winston & Strawn LLP 200 Park Avenue New York, New York 10166 (212) 294-4622 Attorneys for Respondents Ian Bruce Eichner Leslie H. Eichner Stuart P. Eichner T. Park Central LLC O. Park Central LLC Park Central Management Manhattan Club Marketing Group LLC New York Urban Ownership Management LLC

Vivien S.

from a non-legal point-of-view, such a motion should be thrown out by the judge: it should not even be considered (nor ultimately approved. ) THIS IS A CASE OF POSSIBLE FRAUD, SCAMMING. LIES, ET AL AS RECORDED BY THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL'S UNDERCOVER AGENTS WHILE ACTING AS POTENTIAL PURCHASERS AT A MANHATTAN CLUB SALES PRESENTATION. the judge should see right through the weaseling reason for this motion AND DENY IT IMMEDIATELY IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE.

chris

Chris V.

Last edited by chrisv126 on Aug 15, 2016 08:23 AM

Yes I believe everybody is aware that this is inappropriate. Instead of posting emails every few days telling everyone else what they should be doing hopefully you have sent letters to the appropriate individuals-the judge, district attorney's office,etc. Thank you.

chrisv126 wrote:
from a non-legal point-of-view, such a motion should be thrown out by the judge: it should not even be considered (nor ultimately approved. ) THIS IS A CASE OF POSSIBLE FRAUD, SCAMMING. LIES, ET AL AS RECORDED BY THE NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL'S UNDERCOVER AGENTS WHILE ACTING AS POTENTIAL PURCHASERS AT A MANHATTAN CLUB SALES PRESENTATION. the judge should see right through the weaseling reason for this motion AND DENY IT IMMEDIATELY IN THE NAME OF JUSTICE.
chris

Kevin O.

Thank you Kevin for posting what many concur with.

Gail J.

A sample letter to the Judge Rakower:

Honorable Justice Eileen Rakower Supreme Court of the State of New York NYS Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 Aug. 10, 2016 Dear Justice Rakower,

I am writing regarding case number 451536/2014: Schneiderman vs Eichner.

My husband and I have been owners of week 52 at The Manhattan Club (TMC) since 1997. Even though we did not experience the problems involving access to the TMC, since we own a fixed week, we have serious concerns over the financial management of the TMC developers regarding the exorbitantly high maintenance and management fees.

The above concerns have escalated since TMC started questionable marketing strategies. Owners of variable weeks were unable to access their timeshares and started defaulting on their maintenance fees. As a result, owners in good standing have to bear the burden of higher maintenance fees to cover the shortfall. Some owners were compelled to sell the timeshare units back to TMC at a fraction of the original cost. TMC then turned around and resold the units at much higher market values. The proceed of the sales go to the developer and are not used to reduce the maintenance fees of owners in good standing.

Furthermore, we have noticed that commercial rentals of the TMC are readily available at many hotel rental sites such as booking.com. The rental proceeds will undoubtedly go to the developers. If this is allowed to continue, the TMC owners have no protection against the unscrupulous scheme of the developers to force owners into default and to buy the unit back or simply foreclose on the unit. In this manner, the TMC developers can continue to sell or rent out the units and make the owners pay the ever increasingly high maintenance fees.

We attended the Aug. 3 TMC annual Member Association Meeting for the first time. It was obvious that the board members were controlled by the management. The meeting was tightly controlled and many pertinent questions were deflected or unanswered. When asked the question why does the TMC charge such high management fee, there was no explanation given. The owners have no rights.

Recently, on Aug. 5, TMC developers motioned to release funds, Motion Seq 005. We implore you to deny the motion until the case is resolved.

Vivien S.

Thank, Kevin, I agree. Less talk, more action. I've already written 2 letters to Judge Rakower and am in the process of writing another. TPark Central has just raised my mortgage payments. I think we need to keep advising the Judge of every negative action taken by this gang so she can see the full picture.

Sally W.

Based on some interesting emails from TMC owners I asked Nina Barchap, a TMC owner, and financial analyst to check ACRIS. This is what she found.

It seems, the MC has been manipulating the data.

There are discrepancies in record filing that look very much suspicious to me. I checked records under O.Park Central, T. Park Central, H. Park Central, The Manhattan Club Association, and Urban.

1/ I was amazed to learn that ACRIS has registered records for O.Park Central LLC as well as for a mystery LLC under the name O Park Central {no period}.

O. Park Central LLC. and O Park Central LLC. business entities having the same address and almost the same title posses different sets of records, particularly, for DEEDS AND OTHER CONVEYNCES document class.

For example, O Park Central LLC. list of Deed records displays numerous sales, or so called buy-backs, where the document amount equals to $0, $100, $200, etc. respectively. These records are not displayed under O. Park Central LLC business entity though the Deeds have been signed by O. Park Central LLC management and notarized. On the other side, Deed records for O. Park Central LLC do not include Deeds displayed under O Park Central LLC.

Current Search Criteria: Name: O.PARK CENTRAL LLC Date: To Current Date Party Type: All Parties Borough/County: All Boroughs/Counties Document Class: DEEDS AND OTHER CONVEYANCES

Records 1 - 80 << previous next >> Max Rows [Search Options ] [New Name Search] [Edit Current Search] [Print Index] View Party Type/ Other Party Name Borough Block Lot Reel/Pg/File CRFN Partial Doc Date Go Ascending Recorded/Filed Document Type Pages Corrected/ Remarks Doc Amount 1 O.PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1167 2014000159648 ENTIRE LOT 5/7/2014 5/9/2014 12:36:51 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 20,080 1 O.PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1221 2014000150494 ENTIRE LOT 4/30/2014 5/5/2014 11:36:48 AM TIMESHARE DEED 4 16,064 1 O.PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1282 2013000261559 ENTIRE LOT 6/19/2013 7/2/2013 2:48:32 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 15,055 1 O.PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1341 2012000190004 ENTIRE LOT 5/2/2012 5/14/2012 11:00:23 AM TIMESHARE DEED 5 18,067 1 O.PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1184 2012000171959 ENTIRE LOT 4/25/2012 5/1/2012 9:15:03 AM TIMESHARE DEED 5 15,055 1 O.PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1260 2008000393562 ENTIRE LOT 9/11/2008 10/6/2008 10:14:24 AM TIMESHARE DEED 5 26,470

Current Search Criteria: Name: O PARK CENTRAL LLC Date: To Current Date Party Type: All Parties Borough/County: All Boroughs/Counties Document Class: DEEDS AND OTHER CONVEYANCES

Records 1 - 10 << previous next >> Max Rows [Search Options ] [New Name Search] [Edit Current Search] [Print Index] View Party Type/ Other Party Name Borough Block Lot Reel/Pg/File CRFN Partial Doc Date Go Descending Recorded/Filed Document Type Pages Corrected/ Remarks Doc Amount 2 O PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1314 2014000143964 ENTIRE LOT 9/4/2013 4/29/2014 2:52:19 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 100 2 O PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1275 2014000130345 ENTIRE LOT 4/1/2014 4/16/2014 3:22:42 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 100 2 O PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1243 2014000061186 ENTIRE LOT 2/7/2014 2/18/2014 3:58:50 PM TIMESHARE DEED 6 100 2 O PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1331 2014000044101 ENTIRE LOT 1/21/2014 2/4/2014 12:31:27 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 100 1 O PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1331 2014000041509 ENTIRE LOT 1/29/2014 2/3/2014 10:15:30 AM TIMESHARE DEED 4 16,064 2 O PARK CENTRAL LLC MANHATTAN 1027 1339 2014000015516 ENTIRE LOT 12/30/2013 1/13/2014 3:22:21 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 100

2/ Same switch occurs with T. Park Central LLC and T{no period} Park Central LLC.

3/ Business entity names O Park Central LLC and T Park Central LLC are NOT showing up in the Corporations & Business Entity Database of the New York State Department of State Division of Corporations, State Records & UCC. O Park Central LLC and T Park Central LLC have never been mentioned in any of the MC docs. Therefore these companies are ILLEGAL.

4/ Another pile of "buy backs" could be found when searching Deed records for "The Manhattan Club Association". Total number of Deeds 545.

In reality, to my understanding, these sales cannot be considered as 'buy backs' because the Deed was sold, for example, by O. Park Central and 'bought back' by The Manhattan Club Association. Were these interests transferred or sold by O. Park to MC Association? Unfortunately, I have no answer for that by doing manual analysis of thousands of registrations, a special computer program will be required. Current Search Criteria: Name: THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION Date: To Current Date Party Type: All Parties Borough/County: MANHATTAN / NEW YORK Document Class: DEEDS AND OTHER CONVEYANCES

Records 1 - 99 << previous next >> Max Rows [Search Options ] [New Name Search] [Edit Current Search] [Print Index] View Party Type/ Other Party Name Borough Block Lot Reel/Pg/File CRFN Partial Doc Date Go Descending Recorded/Filed Document Type Pages Corrected/ Remarks Doc Amount 2 THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION INC MANHATTAN 1027 1236 2014000025617 ENTIRE LOT 11/25/2013 1/22/2014 11:30:02 AM TIMESHARE DEED 4 100 2 THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION INC MANHATTAN 1027 1241 2012000148959 ENTIRE LOT 3/14/2012 4/16/2012 11:31:36 AM TIMESHARE DEED 7 10 2 THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION INC MANHATTAN 1027 1247 2012000121973 ENTIRE LOT 3/14/2012 3/28/2012 10:02:02 AM TIMESHARE DEED 4 10 2 THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION INC MANHATTAN 1027 1364 2012000121217 ENTIRE LOT 3/14/2012 3/27/2012 2:24:45 PM TIMESHARE DEED 6 10 2 THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION INC MANHATTAN 1027 1371 2012000121038 ENTIRE LOT 3/14/2012 3/27/2012 1:31:29 PM TIMESHARE DEED 5 10 2 THE MANHATTAN CLUB TIMESHARE ASSOCIATION INC MANHATTAN 1027 1240 2012000121029 ENTIRE LOT 3/14/2012 3/27/2012 1:31:00 PM TIMESHARE DEED 4 10

5/ I cannot figure out why records are showing up in mixed order by Recorded/Filed year. The latest year records, e.g. 2014, are displayed on the 3rd-4th-5th pages. There is no identification that the previous years records have been modified thus they come up on the first page.

Irene S.

Based on some interesting emails from TMC owners I asked Nina Barchap, a TMC owner, and financial analyst to check ACRIS. This is what she found.

It seems, the MC has been manipulating the data.

There are discrepancies in record filing that look very much suspicious to me. I checked records under O.Park Central, T. Park Central, H. Park Central, The Manhattan Club Association, and Urban.

1/ I was amazed to learn that ACRIS has registered records for O.Park Central LLC as well as for a mystery LLC under the name O Park Central {no period}.

Current Search Criteria: Name: O.PARK CENTRAL LLC Date: To Current Date Party Type: All Parties Borough/County: All Boroughs/Counties Document Class: DEEDS AND OTHER CONVEYANCES

Current Search Criteria: Name: O PARK CENTRAL LLC Date: To Current Date Party Type: All Parties Borough/County: All Boroughs/Counties Document Class: DEEDS AND OTHER CONVEYANCES

2/ Same switch occurs with T. Park Central LLC and T{no period} Park Central LLC.

4/ Another pile of "buy backs" could be found when searching Deed records for "The Manhattan Club Association". Total number of Deeds 545.

Nina Barchap Posted by Irene Smalls

Irene S.

I wish to thank both Nina Barchan and Irene Smalls for taking the time and effort to uncover the above disturbing illegal manipulation of deed transfer data by the TMC developers using bogus corporations. I wonder if the AG also has this information. If not, maybe this information should be shared with the AG.

Vivien S.

What Nina Barchap's research means is TMC sold and recorded timeshare deeds under two different entities so the total number of timeshares sold by TMC looks less that it really is. One timeshare entity is secret. TMC does not disclose there are two TMC entities under which timeshare deeds were being recorded in New York State ACRIS Real Estate Records. If anyone checks one entity there is no indication of the other entity.

Irene S.

I WISH TO THANK IRENE FOR THE INFO THAT WAS FOUND. IT RE-CONFIRMS WHAT WE ALL HAVE KNOWN BEFORE, AS TO HOW MC HAS BEEN OPERATING. THIS INFO MUST BE SHARED WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE ASAP, AND THE JUDGE WHO IS REVIEWING THIS MATTER. A LOT OF HARD WORK AND TIME WAS NEEDED TO UNCOVER THIS INFO, AND WONDER IF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS HAVE UNCOVERED ANY OF THIS? LET'S HOPE SO. THANKS AGAIN

Henry D.

Thank you, thank you Nina Barchan and Irene Smalls for this amazing research you have done. I think it critical that you forward this data to both NYAG Schneiderman AND to Justice Eileen Rakower. You seem to have uncovered proof of what's really going on, and you may be the first to have done so. My timeshare mortgage and maintenance fee bills all come from/payments go to T (no period) Park Central LLC, but at different addresses: one address is PO Box 78843, Phoenix, AZ 85062-8843; another is 5401 N Pima Rd, Suite 150, Scottsdale, AZ 85250 (I cannot find a site for either of these on the internet, no phone numbers either). "For correspondence only," T Park Central gives 112 N Courtland St, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301 (which is the same address given on TMC Financial Department letterhead paper, sometimes at the header, sometimes at the bottom). However, if you look up T Park Central, LLC online, the address given is 200 W 56th Street, New York, New York (which we all know is The Manhattan Club address). Very, very odd arrangement. I would cut and paste your amazing research and send it in letters myself to Schneiderman and Rakower. But that would only be hearsay. It would carry so much weight and be so effective if you, as the researchers, would please send your info directly to both the NYAG and the Judge. Thank you for the time you have both spent on this.

Sally W.

Hi Sally,

Thank you for your comments. We are sending this information to the AG. Please send the information in your email to the Judge and the NY AG as well. Sending the specifics will highlight how serious this issue is.

Irene Smalls

Irene S.

Thanks, Irene, I'll do that today! Sally

Sally W.

I was just looking at a copy of our deed from Dec 1998 and I noticed that we have a particular unit # in the building known as The Park Central Condominium and the street number is 870 Seventh Ave. This is the Park Central Hotel. Does this mean that my timeshare is actually located in the Park Central Hotel, not The Manhattan Club? We've always stayed at 200 West 56th Street. Now I'm confused...not that I wasn't before.

Sharon L.

Last edited by sharon177 on Aug 15, 2016 08:51 PM

Has anyone just paid the Real Estate tax only and if so to whom do I pay It. we can no longer afford the out rages maintenance fees. I do not want to have my credit score hurt, but seem to have little choice as we can not pay these fees year after year.

Gary S.

Yes! Thank you very much for all the research you have done! This topic is really out of my element and have been struggling with this for a long time. I'm so thankful I found this site!! Thank you for everyone's help!! Donna

Donna K.