Manhattan Club Lawsuit

Thank you Jeff!! Thank you so much for your efforts!

loiso6, "PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT IS BEING DONE??? Lois"

you're so right lois: we've been reading "dribs & drabs" about both (aug 2 & 4) meetings. we need to see definitive reports on the contents/results of each meeting, and the impact on MC SHAREOWNERS. i hope someone will soon post complete summaries of each meeting here on redweek.com.

keep in touch,

chris126

Thank you for holding the meeting on Aug. 2nd It appears that many useful topics were discussed. One question that is being constantly repeated is the question around paying or not paying maintenance fees. Could some of the actual comments made on this subject be conveyed via this Board ? Thank you!!

I'm as anxious as everyone else to hear what happened in the Aug 2 meeting that Jeff/Redweek et al arranged. But let's give them a chance to get the materials organized and posted that they've ALREADY PROMISED to provide. It's only been a few days, I'm sure they're working hard on that issue as they worked on independently conceiving, sponsoring, planning, organizing and conducting the meeting. This is a plea for patience.

I agree, patience is necessary at this time. I've lost patience with TMC, but know that in time TMC (& any other companies they created within TMC) will be found guilty of fraud and fraudulent practices. How can they not? Not only Eichner, but all the people that follow his orders as well. He does remind of a "Madoff". He thinks he is entitled to using our money! We pay to keep the Manhattan Club up and running. That is why they want Qwners to continue to pay for maintenance fees. It works for them and has for many years now!

Nothing!!!!!!! Only a minor inconvenience for Mr. Eichner.

Try to hang on to your timeshare. Try renting it out to pay your annual fee. We don't know how the court will decide, but it seems very possible we could benefit, perhaps in reduced annual fees. If the fees are lowered, these timeshares could regain some of their value. The court could also decide that everyone has to pay up past dues to make all things equal before a restructuring could take place. If you want to lose the property to get out from under the fee, you would not be alone. Many others have taken a pittance averaging $200. Then the shares were sold for up to $50,000. Right now, nothing is being sold. Everything was recorded at the meeting. I can't tell you where it is.

davidp1102 wrote:

dennis, Many of us were unable to attend the meeting. Was anything documented or recorded? Many have been asking, but very little, viable, info has been provided. TMC is reported to have 14,000 member, at $2,600+ per member, per year. You do the math. If not paying would not accomplish much, then TMC has proven they have diminished the value of the owners. That means, no point in owning a timeshare at TMC. Fees have reached a level that have become unaffordable to myself and certainly unreasonable. If TMC thinks that threats of interest and penalties, after what they have done, is a way to scare owners into paying, then I will be happy to see them in court myself. Many are not worried about the developers, they are worried about the loss of investment, the high fees that continue to climb and the preservation of self finances. That is how I am protecting myself, by keeping my money.

dennisd273 wrote:

Apparently you didn't attend the August 2nd meeting. Not paying and not using doesn't accomplish much. They rent the rooms out online anyway. You aren't doing much to hurt the owners and are possibly doing something to hurt yourself. Read some of the comments from those who were there. You might be liable for interest and penalties on the money you haven't paid. So much of this depends on the AG decision. Worry less about how you can hurt the developers and more about how to protect yourself.

ok..........dennis and vanessa; you're so right:

when i think of the manhattan club (in any facet of your imagination!) i admit to total impatience. jeff, et al surely did an extraordinary job of organizing and planning our aug 2 meeting. add some anxiety to impatience and THAT'S ME concerning TMC. all involved with gathering and disseminating information for both the aug 2 & 4 meetings need a bit of a breather while the dust settles. that being said, i expect that we'll have concise information about each meeting sometime next week. by the way, i attended the aug 2 meeting, but since i didn't pay maintenance for one of my weeks, i wasn't granted the supreme permission of admission (to the aug 4 meeting) by "his fraudjesty" since i was "in arrears"in paying. fyi, i DID pay taxes on the weeks that i own. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and YES, madoff/eicnher...............different spellings, same motive: GREED. hopefully they'll join each other for drinks and dinner, with a few other "guests" of the same ilk.

keep in touch.

chris v

vanessa175 wrote:

I agree, patience is necessary at this time. I've lost patience with TMC, but know that in time TMC (& any other companies they created within TMC) will be found guilty of fraud and fraudulent practices. How can they not? Not only Eichner, but all the people that follow his orders as well. He does remind of a "Madoff". He thinks he is entitled to using our money! We pay to keep the Manhattan Club up and running. That is why they want Qwners to continue to pay for maintenance fees. It works for them and has for many years now!

Should we or should we not pay our maintenance fees? I am currently paid up but will be due soon for additional maintenance fees. I am confused as to whether or not I should pay them?

See other comments. Pay them, use them, rent them to others. Survive until resolution.

Just returned from our annual stay at TMC... for two nights this time. Overall, we did not notice anything amiss or terribly different from any previous stay. Staff at front desk and lobby were nice enough. We got on the "back" elevator to go to our room on 20th floor, along with an older couple probably in their 60's. The man was carrying a garment bag that appeared to maybe come from cleaners that had TMC logo on it. My wife noticed it, but I did not, and she only just now told me about it. He had on a 3 piece suit and she in dressy blouse and slacks. Anyway, I asked if they were owners and they said they were not. I said, "Oh, okay, well I was going to ask if you'd heard about what's been going on here." To which the man said in a slightly arrogant and condescending tone, "Oh yeah, we've all read about it. I'm sure it's not going to affect the operation of the building." I replied, "Yeah, probably not." We got off at 20 and they rode on up above us. Only long after this did I think they might be part of the TMC organization somehow.

We had one minor complaint with regard to our stay, which is actually a little silly. Our bath towels were brand new and had obviously not yet been laundered as they had that "new" chemically odor to them. Our room was very clean, and though we have a "Jr Suite", we had a street view this time rather than looking out at brick walls and windows. The last two years we had asked for an upgrade at check-in and actually got upgraded to a one bedroom at no charge. Go figure! Ah, but no upgrade this time.

Otherwise, we had a wonderful trip to the city and did several fun things as a family. Did not spend much time in the room. The lobby was very busy in the mornings. We noted the lobby chairs had been replaced. I also recognized a few staff members from previous years.

Still paying on this place every month, and I'm sure we'll get that maintenance bill soon. It certainly is not appearing to be the investment we had hoped it would be, but we remain hopeful for a fair and profitable outcome for all of us.

Hi all,

Thank you for your patience -- there is now a re-cap of the meeting highlights + three audio tracks available with the meat of the August 2 presentation, hosted by RedWeek, the NTOA, and TimeSharing Today.

Please listen & share liberally!

http://www.redweek.com/resources/ask-redweek/manhattan-club-owners-meeting-update

Thanks to all who participated!

Kylie

Good morning!!!! just saw your link not heard yet, but whatever it includes THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH, TO ALL OF YOU !!

A great discussion of many of the complex issues.

Thanks to all who made it happen and recorded it.

Am anxious to hear about yesterdays fiasco.

James687

Thank you for posting the audio of the meeting and forwarding all the information for those of us they could not attend.

I have 2 units at the manhattan club and would like to be updated on the ongoing lawsuit.

Leslie Turruellas Naples, FL

Contract # 00159 Contract # 28874PH

Email: Leslie.turruellas@gmail.con

Here are a few follow up recommendations for those who did not attend the Aug. 2 or Aug. 4 meetings in Manhattan.

The Aug. 2 public owners meeting was extremely well attended. I am confident most if not all of the attendees were glad they came to listen to the presentations about legal issues and resale values. To catch up, please listen to the audio of the meeting that is now posted on this RedWeek forum. We will be contacting you in the future about possible follow-up action items that owners can consider taking to make their voices heard by management.

The official TMC owners meeting Aug. 4 was probably NOT very satisfying for the 53 owners who attended, because the board announced immediately they would not take any questions from the audience but would review questions submitted in writing. I also talked to several TMC owners who were denied admission to the meeting because they had not been thoroughly screened in advance by TMC security. TMC held the board meeting in a penthouse suite and effectively blocked people, including this writer, from even getting on the elevators to the penthouse. They also went to extra lengths to kick me out of the building, even though I posed no threat to their security (or anyone else's). After the official board meeting, a dozen owners hiked back to the Manhattan Club, where, in the owner lounge, they talked about their issues --- maintenance fees, reservation hassles, plummeting resale values, etc. While there is still a strong sentiment to do something significant --- like hiring a lawyer to start a new civil case against the club --- the owners acknowledged that the AG is already so far into this case, that starting a new action might be a big waste of resources and energy. So, short term, they agreed to keep communicating with the AG's office to provide any info that might be relevant and, in the meantime, to show patience while the AG sorts out its legal course of action.

The legal case is now evolving on two fronts; investigators continue to probe the original (July 2014) allegations of wrongdoing in the sale and disclosure of timeshares at the club. The second front involves an investigation of how the club's management behaved, and spent money, AFTER the July 2014 court order that shut down all timeshare sales and froze bank accounts. The AG has documented numerous instances of large withdrawals (mostly for payroll) from the supposedly frozen accounts, and it is pursuing possible contempt-of-court citations against Scott Lager, who signed the checks. The AG is also seeking documentation about Urban, an Eichner controlled entity, which supposedly managed the club's operations and received $6 million a year (20 percent of the club's annual maintenance fees). The AG is claiming in court documents that Urban is a shell entity that had no employees until AFTER the July 2014 court order; and that all of the money paid to Urban, over the years, went directly to the Eichners and their affiliates. Worse, the AG claims that Urban provided no real management services to the club. Those day-to-day functions, according to the AG, were actually performed by rank-and-file TMC employees --- many of whom are probably familiar faces to TMC owners have visited the club over the years.

The most recent court documents were filed Aug. 11. I encourage all owners to check them out so you are as informed as possible --- given the awkward fact that the AG, the club itself, and the club's attorneys are not talking, publicly, to anyone about what's happening or likely to happen with the investigation. All that can be said, for sure, is that the Eichner forces are fighting the AG's legal team on seemingly every front imaginable while still insisting that the Eichners are not legally responsible for any of the issues that owners have encountered since buying into the dream of the Manhattan Club.

Sad situation. To have no options is scary

Is it a productive idea to picket in front of the Manhattan club? My husband and I are available.

Shouldn't the AG be made aware of how owners were turned away from the Aug 4 meeting. I recall hearing of one owner who had 2 contracts for 2 separate weeks. He was paid up on one but still denied a ticket to attend. NAND the fact that no questions were allowed is reprehensible ... Why hold this meeting at all?