Please report upfront fee scammers to Attorney General .... there's power in numbers ... Florida has begun

There's power in numbers and if you have been fleeced by an upfront fee company then please, please, please report it to the attorney general of the state in which the company is located.

Looks like Florida is starting to shut down some upfront fee companies, but until they are ALL shut down, this scam will continue.

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

ATTORNEY GENERAL: INJUNCTION SOUGHT AGAINST TWO TIMESHARE RESALE COMPANIES

TALLAHASSEE, FL – Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has filed a lawsuit

and has requested an emergency injunction against two related South Florida timeshare resale marketing

companies. Universal Marketing Solutions, Creative Vacation Solutions, and owner/manager Jennifer Kirk

allegedly collected over $4 million in marketing fees on a monthly basis, but rarely if ever marketed, advertised,

or facilitated sales for the timeshare owners who had contracts with the companies. The injunction requests the

companies’ cease doing any timeshare business while the lawsuit is pending.

An investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division indicated that Kirk and her

companies were charging marketing fees as high as $2,500 for timeshare resale advertising services.

The companies were soliciting hundreds of consumers nationwide via the internet and though aggressive

telemarketing calls, allegedly making empty promises and false misrepresentations that they would actively

match timeshare sellers with prospective buyers. According to the lawsuit, when prospective buyers contact the

companies to purchase a timeshare, no attempt would be made by the companies to match those prospective

buyers with sellers who had contracted with the companies, thus making the advertising and marketing claims a

complete sham.

To solicit more customers, the companies allegedly boasted of their “superior marketing tools,” including

marketing events, presentations and seminars. Kirk and her companies allegedly claimed they could

“definitely” sell timeshares within a certain period of time and that they had buyers waiting with approved

financing to buy the consumers’ timeshare. Consumers were also verbally assured contract terms during

telemarketing calls, but were furnished contracts with entirely different terms regarding the resale services.

Additionally, the companies would allegedly charge consumers’ credit cards or cash consumers’ checks without

and/or before obtaining a signed written contract from the consumer delineating all the terms and conditions of

the services to be provided.

Consumers who complained to the Attorney General’s Office reported that the companies have not performed

the promised services and that they were unable to contact the companies or get refunds. The Attorney

General's Office believes that there could a total of more than 400 victims affected by the two companies'

deceptive practices, and has been receiving approximately 10 complaints per day against these companies. The

lawsuit seeks an injunction prohibiting the defendants from engaging in any timeshare resale business while the

litigation is pending. The lawsuit also requests full restitution on behalf of all victimized consumers, civil

penalties, and reimbursement for fees and costs related to the investigation.

Consumers may file a complaint about Universal Marketing Solutions or Creative Vacation Solutions by

visiting the Attorney General’s website at http://www.myfloridalegal.com or by calling the fraud hotline at 1-

866-966-7226.

A copy of a consumer affidavit form and instructions is available online at:

http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/KGRG-7XBT2F/$file/TimeshareAffidavit.p df

A copy of the lawsuit is available online at:

http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/MRAY-7XENWJ/$file/ComplaintForInjuncti veRelief.pdf

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I was contacted in June 2007 from a company called Seabreeze Advertising, Inc. out of Daytona Florida. Aubrey Maston and Eric Lencz, Licensed Mortage Broker were my contact people. I paid $700.00 up front and he was going to sell my timeshare within 60 days or I would get a refund. It has been over 2 years and I have tried 22 times to contact this company & Eric. I have yet to speak to anyone. You just get a recorded message to left your information and someone will call you back. That has never happened. Thank you for addressing this issue. Susan Lemieux-Cortez

You really need to contact the attorney general of Florida with your complaint .... visiting the Attorney General’s website at http://www.myfloridalegal.com or by calling the fraud hotline at 1-866-966-7226. This is the only way upfront free parasites will be put out of business.

Bumping to top ....

bumping up again

IMG Finance-Just got a call yesterday. They want in excess of 1400.00 up front to sell my timeshare, claiming they already have a qualified buyer-did my homework and found they are not an active registered company in the state of Florida. I called Sunbiz and verified this.

Who did you call to verifiy that they was not a registered company?

GMAC Timeshare scammed us. They said they had renters for our RCI banked weeks and guaranteed us a renter in one month. Once they got our money they never contacted us about our contract, but other sellers from GMAC continued to call. They weren't even aware we were supposedly in their system. Disputed with my cahrge card but GMAC resonded that they did advertise our property, although they indicated a resort we didn't have with our points. The charge card looked at the contract and their "advertising page" (just a copy of what you woud find in the Wyndham book and said they could do nothing and rebilled us the fee. I did contact the Florida Attorney General. However, we will probably never see our $650 back. How they can live wih themselves doing this lying as a shop escapes me. If I ever can find the person that called me, she will rue the day and I am going to Florida in April. They haven't heard the end of me.

I am many other have reported resales buy owner to the Attorney General's office I contacted about 30 people that were attached to my e-mail. Many have been scammed out of thousands of dollars. I told them all to take the steps and as of now I am looking for a lawyer to take this case on. Class action suit. We as the consumers need to banned together to shut these snakes down. I will do an update if we get a lawyer.

And going even further than just contacting attorney's general:

The reason scammers get away with their scams is due to people that do ABSOLUTELY nothing against the scammers. I was scammed by a product (long story) not long ago that was supposed to be free, however a month later they charged my debit card ....I canceled my debit card, called the company several times and actually had screaming matches with some of the reps to get my money refunded to my bank account.

I then went on the internet to find Class Action Attorneys on a contingency basis that charge only if they win the class action lawsuit (this product was nationally advertised and had hundreds of complaints on the internet) .... I found the contact info for the attorney general in the state the scam was located, the attorney general of the USA and many other consumer related sites that out scams and emailed them with my complaint.

I then forwarded all the emails to the scam company ... well, lo and behold I got a nervous phone call from one of the scam company reps saying that they were crediting my bank account .... and 3 days later it WAS credited .... however I'm the type of person that will go to the ends of the earth to get my money back via a scam .... I NEVER LET UP and neither should YOU.

Thanks to FL AG Bill McCollum and those Redweek forum members that filed complaints ....

Attorney General Focuses Consumer Protection Initiative on Timeshare Resale Industry

~ McCollum announces 2009 was record-breaking year for consumer recoveries ~

TALLAHASSEE, FL – In continuing recognition of National Consumer Protection Week, Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced he is tackling growing abuses in the timeshare resale industry, beginning with the announcement of a significant settlement that could yield as much as $1.3 million in consumer refunds and the filing of a lawsuit against a major player in the timeshare resale industry in Florida. The Attorney General also unveiled ongoing investigations into at least 17 timeshare companies and their affiliates throughout the state for deceptive trade practices.

“Florida’s consumers are trying to make prudent financial decisions, but many timeshare resale companies are blatantly scamming people by promising sales or refunds and failing to provide services even after taking hefty up-front fees,” said Attorney General McCollum.

The statewide initiative was launched by the Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division in 2009 in response to the growing number of timeshare resale complaints received by the Attorney General’s Office last year. Timeshare resale complaints have recently surpassed mortgage-related complaints as the most commonly reported consumer complaint received by the Office’s Consumer Hotline.

The lawsuit filed today against Resales Buy Owner.com, Inc. states the company engaged in a systematic pattern of deception that improperly induced consumers to pay up-front fees for timeshare resale services that were never provided. According to consumer complaints, the company would indicate it either had a buyer or renter interested in the timeshare and that there would be no problem renting or selling the timeshare within 90 to 120 days. According to the lawsuit, the company merely advertised the property listings, if taking any action at all, and allegedly charged consumers’ credit cards even after consumers opted not to do business with the company. The lawsuit seeks an order prohibiting the company from engaging in further deceptive conduct and seeks full restitution on behalf of victimized consumers, civil penalties and reimbursement for fees and costs. Two additional lawsuits are also pending against other companies.

The Attorney General’s Office also announced a significant settlement with Virtual Group, Inc., an Orange County company, resolving allegations the company failed to provide promised refunds to consumers. Virtual Group, which does business under the name Realty Trade, offered timeshare resale and rental advertising services to consumers looking to sell or lease their timeshare properties. As a result of the Attorney General's investigation, Realty Trade has already paid over $800,000 in refunds to 799 consumers. The company will also make another $500,000 available to consumers who make new refund requests.

Over the past year, the Attorney General’s Office has also reached settlements with six other timeshare resale companies obtaining total restitution to consumers of more than $298,000, with approximately $50,000 more in escrow to resolve future complaints in some cases. Several of these settlements contributed to a record-breaking $216 million in restitution for Florida consumers obtained by the Attorney General’s Office in 2009. Since 2007, the Attorney General’s Office has returned over $363 million in restitution for Florida consumers, several times more than the recoveries obtained over the previous four years.

In addition to the litigation and the settlement announced today, in recent months, the Attorney General’s Office has subpoenaed 17 timeshare resale companies and their affiliates over allegations of potentially deceptive business practices. Common complaints about timeshare resale companies involve the use of false and deceptive claims to entice consumers to pay up-front fees, including assertions that buyers are allegedly ready and willing to buy or rent the consumers’ timeshare. Companies also often allegedly fail to honor cancellation policies, misrepresent the actual services that will be provided to consumers, and fail to comply with elements of state and federal telemarketing acts.

Floridians who are considering listing their timeshare for sale or rent are encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Office to inquire whether or not specific companies have complaints reported against them. Consumers can contact the Attorney General’s Citizen Services Division by calling the Attorney General’s fraud hotline at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226) or by visiting the Attorney General’s website at http://www.myfloridalegal.com.

Pending litigation: - American Marketing Group, LLC., located in West Palm Beach – lawsuit filed in January 2010 - Hicks, Inc., doing business as Universal Marketing Solutions and Creative Vacation Solutions, located in West Palm Beach – the Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against these companies in October 2009. An Agreed Orders for Temporary Injunctive Relief was obtained against this company and its principals in January 2010, and further litigation is pending.

Companies subpoenaed: - Executive Timeshare Marketing, Inc., located in Tamarac, Florida - Coastal Timeshare Solutions, Inc., located in Boca Raton, Florida - Worldwide Resorts Direct, Inc. and Worldwide Marketing Solutions of Palm Beach, Inc., doing business as Worldwide Timeshare, located in West Palm Beach, Florida - TS Luxury Group, Inc., located in Lake Worth - C& G Marketing Associates, LLC., doing business as Premier Timeshare Solutions, located in Palm Beach Gardens - Nationwide Marketing Solutions, Inc., doing business as Magnum Advertising Services, Inc., located in Lake Worth - International Resort Solutions, LLC., located in Lake Worth - E.A.T. Sales LLC, located in Boca Raton - Euroamerican Timeshare LLC., located in Boynton Beach - Transatlantic Timeshare LLC., located in Boynton Beach - Seabreeze Advertising Corp., also known as SBA, Corp., located in Daytona Beach - Timeshare Market Pro, located in Davie - International Marketing and Finance, located in Wellington - Gold Crown Property Management, Inc., located in Dunedin - Vacation Property Resales, Inc., doing business as BUYATIMESHARE.COM, located in Tampa - Timeshare Only, located in Orlando - PFS Concepts, Inc., doing business as US Vacation, located in Largo

Recent settlements: - World Timeshares, Inc., located in Deerfield Beach – The Attorney General’s Office settled with this company in April 2009 and obtained $100,161 in consumer restitution. - Timeshare Travels, located in Boca Raton – The Attorney General’s Office settled with this company in April 2009 and obtained $90,323 in consumer restitution. - Vacation Property Trader, located in Deerfield Beach – The Attorney General’s Office settled with this company in May 2009 and obtained $8,447 in consumer restitution. - Preferred Vacation Resorts, Inc., doing business as Preferred Property Services, Inc., Preferred Property Services.com, Inc., located in Clearwater – As a result of the Attorney General’s investigation into these companies, they ceased operations in April 2009, and the Attorney General’s Office obtained $36,000 in consumer restitution. - D&D Vacations, Incorporated, doing business as United States Property Services,, located in largo – The Attorney General’s Office reached an agreement with this company last week and obtained $26,000 in consumer restitution. - S.F.C. Group, Inc. doing business as TWA Resale, located in Orlando – The Attorney General’s Office settled with this company in March 2010 and obtained $37,226 in consumer restitution.

Keep up the goal Redweek members ..... as I stated at the top of this thread, "there's power in numbers" and we aim to shut down every upfront fee scam company out there, so keep filing your complaints with the Attorney General in the state where the scammers are located.

Interesting news. Just yesterday, I had my first call from GMAC since they charged my card in July 09. It was from their "Quality Control office" just checking up on our information so they could " do their best job for us" FIRST call!!! I lit into the caller saying they never contacted me once until now and still had no REnter after 9 months? She responded that they had been advertising our rentals etc. More Bull....!! now I know why. I have contacted the Attorney General twice on this company. There must be more scammed people with GMAC. Please write to the Attorney General so they too will be investigated!!

I also was duped by GMAC. However, the contract I signed had a 7 day window to cancel. I found out from our timeshare company that the sales pitch could not happen under our timeshare program. So I emailed GMAC within the 7 day window, then I mailed them the same cancellation by letter the next day and got the post office follow up that they recived the lette. Howevr after 30 days I still had not recieved my refund so I am in the process now of getting the credit card charge reversed by American Express My question to you is did you try to cancel the sales agreement within the 7 day window? Please contact me at my cell phone 330-352-6445 or by email at franklancianese@att.net.

frank586 wrote:

I also was duped by GMAC. However, the contract I signed had a 7 day window to cancel. I found out from our timeshare company that the sales pitch could not happen under our timeshare program. So I emailed GMAC within the 7 day window, then I mailed them the same cancellation by letter the next day and got the post office follow up that they recived the lette. Howevr after 30 days I still had not recieved my refund so I am in the process now of getting the credit card charge reversed by American Express My question to you is did you try to cancel the sales agreement within the 7 day window? Please contact me at my cell phone 330-352-6445 or by email at franklancianese@att.net.

The 7 day window is just another upfront fee scam company ploy to supposedly give your money back with that time frame .... they have no intention of refunding you that upfront fee .... they are all filled with lies and deceit.

I would like to know if there is a new scam out since they are not going to be allowed to take an upfront fee to sell. This new one and seeing many companies come forth offering to take your timeshare property for a years cost of the maintenance fee. In our case our fees are $7500 yearly but they will be generous and take ours if we pay them $5995 to take it. This is Time Share Relief.com and the other company is Time Share Luxury.com and they will take our timeshare if we pay them $4495. We own 6,800 points with Diamond Resorts in Scottsdale, AZ and the resort is Villa Mirage. Seems funny the only way you can get rid of property is have to pay someone to take it. Do you have any information on this please.

ruthh109 wrote:

I would like to know if there is a new scam out since they are not going to be allowed to take an upfront fee to sell. This new one and seeing many companies come forth offering to take your timeshare property for a years cost of the maintenance fee. In our case our fees are $7500 yearly but they will be generous and take ours if we pay them $5995 to take it. This is Time Share Relief.com and the other company is Time Share Luxury.com and they will take our timeshare if we pay them $4495. We own 6,800 points with Diamond Resorts in Scottsdale, AZ and the resort is Villa Mirage. Seems funny the only way you can get rid of property is have to pay someone to take it. Do you have any information on this please.

These are usually scams and do not do what they lead you to believe they'll do. On these forums, you can read about these companies that agree to "take your timeshare off your hands" for a fee but all they're really doing is having you sign over Power of Attoroney.

What this essentially does is give them power to do what they want with your TS but YOU still are the legal owner (read: still responsible for the maintenance fees). When they have this Power of Attorney (and your upfront fee), all they do is list your TS on E-bay for a dollar. That's something you can do yourself for free.

If you decide to actually use this company, make sure you ask them to e-mail you a copy of this contract before you pay anything. Then, read the terms carefully to see what they're giving you for this upfront fee.

There has been a suit filed by the AG of Florida against Resales buy Owner.com, Inc. Here is the link for the information

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/03/timeshares.html

This is the link for the AG's Office. You want to talk to Citizen Services.

http://www.myfloridalegal.com/#

The 800 # is good inside Florida, otherwise call 850*414*3990.

I'm reposting judi's post here:

Attorney General Announces Additional Consumer Protection Efforts Against Timeshare Resale Scams

~ Three lawsuits filed today; four new subpoenas issued ~

TALLAHASSEE, FL - Attorney General Bill McCollum today announced that his office has filed lawsuits against three Florida companies, alleging the companies and their owners used deceptive and unfair practices that enticed consumers to spend hundreds of dollars to advertise their timeshares for resale with the companies. All three lawsuits are seeking restitution for affected consumers as well as court orders prohibiting the companies from committing further violations of Florida law and reimbursement of costs and fees. Four companies in the Tampa Bay area were also served with investigative subpoenas yesterday.

“With complaints about timeshare resales on the rise, my office will continue launching investigations, filing lawsuits, and obtaining whatever relief is available for victims of these scams,” said Attorney General McCollum.

The lawsuits name Timeshares By Owners, Gold Crown Property Management Inc., and International Marketing and Finance Group. These three lawsuits bring the number of lawsuits filed by the Office of Attorney General against timeshare resale companies to a total of 10. Additionally, more than 60 companies have been investigated and 48 investigations are active, including the four with the subpoenas served yesterday.

This year, the Attorney General’s Office has received more complaints regarding timeshare resale than any other single issue.

The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division began investigating the companies sued today after receiving numerous consumer complaints, alleging the companies were using false or misleading sales pitches to induce consumers into paying up-front fees for the companies’ advertising services. According to consumer complaints, each of the companies misled consumers into believing that the companies had buyers ready to purchase the consumers’ timeshares. Consumers have also reported that the companies promised to sell the timeshares within a given period of time. When the companies’ services did not perform as promised, the consumers allege that the companies would not provide refunds.

The lawsuit naming Timeshares Direct, Inc., which does business as Timeshares By Owner, alleges that the company is in violation of a 2001settlement with the Attorney General’s Office. According to that settlement, the company was prohibited from using misleading sales tactics, such as claiming to have a buyer waiting to purchase the consumer’s timeshare, to induce consumers into advertising their timeshares with the company. Since 2007, the Attorney General’s Office has received more than 180 consumer complaints alleging that Timeshares By Owner is not honoring conditions of the settlement. The lawsuit, which names two of the company’s owners, Jana Kilmek and Jeffrey Frantz, was filed today in Orange County Circuit Court.

The second lawsuit was filed in Pinellas County Circuit Court against Gold Crown Property Management Inc., and owners Roy Xiques, and Jason Kress. This lawsuit seeks to recover consumer payments and to prohibit the business and its officers from making false promises that a buyer is ready and available to purchase a client’s timeshare. The lawsuit further seeks to prohibit the company from claiming an easy refund of fees is available if the services are not successful. The Attorney General has sought to ensure that the business complies with Florida law requiring upfront written disclosure of the business’s actual success rate selling timeshares for its customers, as well as the cost of the timeshare resale services.

The last lawsuit was filed today in Palm Beach County Circuit Court against International Marketing and Finance Group, Inc. and its president, Christopher Lee Hutson. The lawsuit alleges the timeshare reseller engaged in deceptive business practices by, among other things, misrepresenting the availability of refunds for upfront fees paid by consumers and, in some instances, unlawfully charging consumers’ credit cards prior to the receipt of signed contracts.

Continuing the focus on the timeshare resale industry, the Attorney General’s Office yesterday served investigative subpoenas to four Tampa Bay area timeshare resellers. The subpoenas were served on Eclipse Property Solutions of St. Petersburg, Super Timeshare Resales of Tampa, International Resort Properties, LLC of New Port Richey, and Ace Timeshare, Inc. of Pinellas Park. These subpoenas seek information about the businesses' sales and business practices and require the production of copies of contracts, licenses, marketing materials, telephone scripts, identity of affiliate businesses, and other sales transaction documentation.

The Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division has been actively pursuing timeshare resellers as part of a statewide initiative that started in 2009. In furtherance of these efforts, the Attorney General has recently joined forces with the Federal Trade Commission, The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and local law enforcement across the state, establishing a multi-agency taskforce to combat fraud within the timeshare resale industry. The office has already recovered more than $ 1.8 million in settlements for return to consumers.

Floridians who are considering listing their timeshare for sale or rent are encouraged to contact the Attorney General’s Office to inquire whether or not specific companies have complaints reported against them. Consumers can contact the Attorney General’s Citizen Services Division by calling the Attorney General’s fraud hotline at 1-866-9-NO-SCAM (1-866-966-7226) or by visiting the Attorney General’s website at http://www.myfloridalegal.com.