Manhattan Club Lawsuit

I am a victim of the Manhattan Club scam and would am interested in joining the class action lawsuit against them. Can you please forward the survey to me at jzjohn@aol.com and I will complete it and return it asap. Thank you, John Canavera jzjohn@aol.com

I am an attorney and the daughter of an owner. Unfortunately my elderly father has experienced a flood of inquiries trying to take over his 'obligations' by having him pay them thousands of dollars as a broker, with a fine print six page contract that does not seem to create a transaction at all.

He will not send me the contract - but the salesman came to his home on Friday evening and persuaded him (despite his protests) that he can sign and pay with a credit card because he is protected by NYS Consumer Protection Laws. Unfortunately, the salesman is now 'unreachable' for my Dad to cancel the contract. I will help him send a certified letter to cancel it, and he hopes to get his credit card company to refund his money (another topic for another day, on elderly people becoming victimized by online sales)...

In the meantime, here is a link to a law periodical article, and below that to a NY Post article describing the essence of the announcement, and below it, my assessment of what it means. Any comments, insights?

http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/home/id=1202795826489/Timeshare-Company-Ordered-to-Pay-65M-in-Settlement?mcode=1202617075062&curindex=0

http://nypost.com/2017/08/17/new-york-ag-reaches-6-5m-settlement-with-manhattan-club/

(this says that the timeshare owners will share in the settlement, which would be nice. The biggest value to the settlement is that the owners will have to get out of the management of the hotel/timeshare and there will be honest leadership for the first time. Part of the reason for the suit is not just the fraudulent sales - it is also that the owners have been using the assets of the hotel as their personal bank account, in egregious examples of theft and dishonesty. Score one for the good guys!!).

And of course, THANK YOU so much to the owners who continued to press the AG's office, sent documentation, and participated in making it clear the size of this enormous fraudulent criminal enterprise. You can email me separately at monicarb@comcast.net.

Best of luck, Monica

That's great! What does it mean to us owners? Can we get out? Will we be notified? Do we have to contact someone? Do we register?

There doesn't seem to be much of a reaction to this settlement news after the conclusion of the 3 year TMC investigation by the NYS AG. In the previous post Jimm857 states that it was reported in the Wed 08/16/17 copy of "AM New York" newspaper which I know to be a free paper distributed by homeless people on the streets of NYC. How & Why did they get this story I wonder?? and not the NY Times, Wall St Journal, Financial Times, USA Today or TV news coverage?? There is not one word about this in any of them from Wed 8/17 thru Fri 8/18. The settlement announcement seems to be keeping a very low profile. Aside from this post & AM New York has anyone seen this publicized anywhere??

OK, I will correct myself for above post I've just seen that it was In the NY Daily News Wed 8/16 & NY Post Thurs 8/17. Both are sensationalist gossipy type papers not the more serious business & finance type publications that serious business minded people would read. Late Update: It is covered in the 8/18 New York Law Journal under "Timeshare owners lawyer praises $6.5 million AG settlement" There will be a restitution fund set up.

Many of us don't have access to the NY Law Journal. Is it possible to post the related text from that journal in this forum for all to read? Thanks,

monica, so sorry that you and dad are involved in such a disgraceful situation. if i/(we as redweek.com...manhattan club forum) can be of any reasonable assistance to both of you, please indicate what you suggest we can do to help.

keep in touch,

chris

monicab99 wrote:

I am an attorney and the daughter of an owner. Unfortunately my elderly father has experienced a flood of inquiries trying to take over his 'obligations' by having him pay them thousands of dollars as a broker, with a fine print six page contract that does not seem to create a transaction at all.

He will not send me the contract - but the salesman came to his home on Friday evening and persuaded him (despite his protests) that he can sign and pay with a credit card because he is protected by NYS Consumer Protection Laws. Unfortunately, the salesman is now 'unreachable' for my Dad to cancel the contract. I will help him send a certified letter to cancel it, and he hopes to get his credit card company to refund his money (another topic for another day, on elderly people becoming victimized by online sales)...

In the meantime, here is a link to a law periodical article, and below that to a NY Post article describing the essence of the announcement, and below it, my assessment of what it means. Any comments, insights?

http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/home/id=1202795826489/Timeshare-Company-Ordered-to-Pay-65M-in-Settlement?mcode=1202617075062&curindex=0

http://nypost.com/2017/08/17/new-york-ag-reaches-6-5m-settlement-with-manhattan-club/

(this says that the timeshare owners will share in the settlement, which would be nice. The biggest value to the settlement is that the owners will have to get out of the management of the hotel/timeshare and there will be honest leadership for the first time. Part of the reason for the suit is not just the fraudulent sales - it is also that the owners have been using the assets of the hotel as their personal bank account, in egregious examples of theft and dishonesty. Score one for the good guys!!).

And of course, THANK YOU so much to the owners who continued to press the AG's office, sent documentation, and participated in making it clear the size of this enormous fraudulent criminal enterprise. You can email me separately at monicarb@comcast.net.

Best of luck, Monica

All media organizations received the press release from NYAG about settlement. Many others chose not to publicize it, but since it is on the web, just about everyone with a computer has access to the info. This is one of the reasons that RedWeek.com is a good outlet for timeshare owners to keep abreast of news that matters to them. Fact is, major newspapers, TV and radio don't care about the Manhattan Club situation. They are aware of it but do not think it important enough to publicize for their audiences.

Thanks so much Chris. Is there anyone else who is finding that resale "brokers" are contacting them in the last couple of months?

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to all who persevered. Hopefully in addition to restitution( Lord knows how that will be calculated), there will be some relief on management fees.

I got a phone call from Equiant yesterday concerning this month's mortgage payment.. The agent was unaware of the turn of events. I faxed them a copy of the Attorney Generals press release plus an article from the Gothamist. I also requested a refund of all moneys paid into the "scam" I wonder what their response will be.

monica, although i'm neither endorsing nor recommending these attorneys, i've had satisfactory "email conversations" with them. they appeared to have answered my questions re TMC personally rather than pass it on to a clerical person to respond. you might want to contact them: info@finnlawgroup.com.............. even if they can't help directly, they may be able to have you reach out elsewhere for assistance.

please keep me posted, and GOOD LUCK.

chris

monicab99 wrote:

Thanks so much Chris. Is there anyone else who is finding that resale "brokers" are contacting them in the last couple of months?

Are there owners holding back on their maintenance and taxes, notwithstanding the late charges, until we hear from the claims administrator at a later date?

I can say there is at least one "owner" not giving TMC another dime, ever.

Glad to hear it. Just wish we were given more information pertaining to the disbursement of the restitution.

Is there a time frame for selling the Manhattan Club? Can it be sold to the time-share owners if there were such a desire to take it over? "What happens if it is sold to a third party after management fees have been paid but not utilized?

Laura L

Great news! FINALLY.... Now what???? What do we owners have to do to get restitution? Will someone contact the owners? If anyone knows the process, please let us know.

to all TMC owners,

this is what i am HOPING for: 1. a new, well -documented as honest and reliable timeshare company to take over TMC. 2. full and equitable buy-back of purchase, if owner does not want to continue ownership.................OR......................forgiveness of any and all unpaid maintenance fees (since units in this case were not owner- used) and continue ownership of week(s) purchased at greatly reduced maintenance fees. 3. that jeff weir, a thorough reporter for redweek.com, uses his effective "snooping " abilities and skills to report some positive light on where owners stand regarding the results of THE NYSAG VS TMC/EICHNER LEGAL CASE.

owners, feel free to add to this list in hopes that responsible authorities step in with fair adjustments that all owners deserve, especially taking into consideration the huge financial burden of purchasing and ownership THAT TMC HAS THRUST UPON US.

keep in touch.

chris

I feel your pain,BUT what about the owners that faithfully paid there MTF.all along to keep the Club going over the past 3 years

Did the owners who paid their fees also use their time? I honestly would have paid my fees if I'd had the money but $3726 CAD annually was very difficult to find. It is heart breaking for us as we love going to Manhattan. I'm sure my unused days were sold on Expedia or similar websites so income was still received and yes it went to Eichner, but so did the maintenance fees.