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Manhattan Club Lawsuit
Small claims court - I too have been to small claims court and the problem is you normally sue in the country/district court where the defendant or his agent is located. I'm not sure how you would bring an action against a New York based company where the Defendant is located along with the subject property and where the contract was signed. Seems to me that New York would be the jurisdiction to sue in. Of course, if the defendant has an agent in your State ( ie, does business in your state), then that is a different matter.When you went to small claims court, were you suing someone doing business in or who resided in your own district/country? Course, New York law may be different.
Gail J.
In regard to filing a small claims court claim, TMC does not have to send an attorney, What happens is that when no one shows up....you win. However, after that judgement, a TMC attorney will file an appeal. (they can do this via phone) The result is that you must file a response to the TMC appeal or forfeit the judgement you won in a lower court. In order to file a response to an appeal, you have to have an attorney to do so.
Dennis R.
I did not say there was no wrongdoing. There is plenty of evidence of that. What I said was that there is no case in the court system. If you want to retain an attorney to bring suit, and can find and pay him/her, go ahead. Good luck. Do what you feel is right.
Nathan Z.
The settlement reached by the New York AG's office is a travesty of justice and a threat to each TMC owner. Owners may still be liable for the payment of maintenance fees when the AG proved TMC lied, misrepresented and swindled people. We must write the new Manhattan Club Judge . Here is a sample letter: October 25, 2017
Justice Melissa A. Crane Supreme Court of the State of New York 71 Thomas Street, Room 303 New York, New York 10013 Re: Case # 451536/2014 Schneiderman v. Eichner Dear Judge Crane: I understand that you took over the above referenced case from Justice Eileen Rakower. I also recently learned that the NY Attorney General has reached a settlement with the Respondents in this case, and is ending his investigation into the operation of The Manhattan Club timeshare with the signing of an “Assurance of Discontinuance.” As a Manhattan Club timeshare owner, I am writing to urge you to reject this settlement agreement. While it is true that the settlement will result in the removal of some really “bad apples” from the NY timeshare business, it fails to address most of the allegations of wrongdoing committed against us timeshare owners by Ian Bruce Eichner, a Manhattan real estate billionaire, and his close circle of associates. During his investigation, the Attorney General established that Mr. Eichner, members of his family, and a close circle of associates played a direct role in carrying out a huge timeshare scam against an estimated 14,000 to 18,000 owners for at least 10 years, defrauding them out of tens of millions of dollars. My wife and I and literally thousands of other timeshare owners have suffered very significant financial losses due to the fraudulent conduct of the Eichner family, The Manhattan Club, and its related companies. While still living in NY, we purchased 2 timeshare units at The Manhattan Club in 2005 based on a sales presentation, during which just about every claim or promise made by the sales rep was false, misleading, or an outright lie; and the NY Attorney General’s undercover investigators have evidence of it all recorded on video. The Manhattan Club’s obligation to me as a timeshare purchaser was to make 7 days per year available to stay at the property. Instead of making those days reasonably available, The Manhattan Club engaged in an organized scheme to routinely tell me, and other timeshare owners who called to make a reservation, that the desired days were not available; while at the same time, representatives were selling the same rooms for the same dates to the general public on the Internet. Again, based on evidence gathered by the AG, we have learned that, for years, Eichner has been personally skimming 6 million dollars a year from The Manhattan Club through a shell management company called “Urban”. This company for years had no employees and provided no services to the operation of the timeshare property, yet our timeshare corporation was paying them (Eichner) $6 million a year! Having come to this case very late, you may not have had a chance to read the complete file, but you will be astounded at the mountain of evidence the AG has collected during his investigation of The Manhattan Club. Perhaps one of the most revealing documents is the AG’s July, 2015 court filing, “MEMORANDUM OF LAW IN OPPOSITION TO RESPONDENTS’ MOTIONS (MOTION SEQUENCE #1 AND #2) AND IN SUPPORT OF PETITIONER NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S CROSS-MOTION (MOTION SEQUENCE #3)” which itemizes a remarkable list of allegations of civil and criminal conduct on the part of The Manhattan Club. I have enclosed a copy of this filing for your ready reference in case you would like to read the complete document. https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fb…/DocumentDisplayServlet… With such a preponderance of evidence in hand, I am at a complete loss to understand how the AG could choose to ignore 3 years of investigative effort and all the evidence of misconduct it uncovered, and end his investigation with nothing more than a financial slap on the wrist to Eichner, while leaving thousands of defrauded owners out in the cold, and in legal limbo as to their ownership status. As a result of the fraudulent conduct perpetrated against us by The Manhattan Club and its affiliates as well as the NY Attorney General’s allegation of fraud and other criminal conduct, I urge you to reject the settlement agreement proposed by the parties as inadequate. Sincerely yours, R A. B (initials only for privacy given) encl. AG Memorandum of Law iapps.courts.state.ny.us IAPPS.COURTS.STATE.NY.US
Irene S.
Irene,
You were always among the best informed and most levelheaded of the posters to this site. It's good to see you still taking an active role in the Manhattan Club situation and I hope you will be instrumental in bringing it to a satisfactory conclusion.
Best wishes,
Nathan
Nathan Z.
tulipblossom wrote:I am confused - did the previous Judge sign off on the settlement agreement between the Att. General and Eicher with his crooks?? At what time was this new Judge brought in?
I was told the new judge is there to oversee that the terms of the settlement are carried out.
Dks
That seemed to be what I thought too so the new Judge has no power to change the terms of the settlement. I think before all the letters are sent, possibly someone can inquire as to whether they would have any affect. Normally when the two opposing sides reach a settlement that the Judge agrees to, the matter is settled. Nothing can be appealed and since we were not a party to the suit, we have no standing to appeal.
Gail J.
Thank you, Kevin. As unsatisfying as the settlement may be, it has been accepted by both parties and is now being implemented. My only hope is that everyone on this thread commits to working with the new management rather than bringing all their issues along and expecting that the new management is somehow going to "make right" what the original Manhattan Club sponsors did wrong.
Nathan Z.
Wise words Nathan. I am involved in a Condominium Association that was defrauded by a prior Property Manager. Perhaps our biggest barrier to restoring community goodwill and financial solvency are the many resident owners mired in revisiting the past. IMHO, It will be ashame if it plays out similarly for Manhattan Club.
Tim G.
