This weeks Letter from America by Irene Parker reviews the results for the First Quarter of this year, judging by these figures the rest of the year is definitely going to be busy. But first we have a look at what has been happening in Europe.
Canarian Legal Alliance announced this week their 100th Supreme Court ruling, this achievement has made Spanish legal history, especially in the field of timeshare litigation. Within days of this announcement, CLA also received numbers 101 and 102 judgements.
The three rulings declared the Silverpoint contracts null and void with over 63,000 Euros being returned to the clients plus legal interest.
There was also a High Court ruling from Tenerife, again against Silverpoint, resulting in the contract being declared null and void with the return of over 14,000€ plus legal fees and legal interest.
No doubt the clients, lawyers and staff at CLA are celebrating.
All this week Inside Timeshare has been running article on the “Fake Law Firms” operating out of Tenerife, identifying many of the photographs of “their lawyers” posted on their websites.
We have shown 2 US lawyers, 2 Australian, several Spanish lawyers, 3 of which are from the same firm, An eminent Peruvian lawyer, Chilean, Columbian and the most surprising of all was the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Argentina.
Now for this weeks Letter from America.
Timeshare Advocacy Group™
First Quarter 2018 Results
April 13, 2018
By Irene Parker
First quarter results are in. Inside Timeshare received 116 US timeshare complaints since January 1. Remarkably, there have been nine positive outcomes (loan cancellation and/or refund) and eight resolutions – relinquishment or an answered question resolved the dispute. Timeshare resolution within three months is unusual. This fast-track resolution saves the timeshare member legal fees and the timeshare developer legal or arbitration fees. We have kept many members out of the nets of “guarantee you a timeshare exit” scams created by the industry when licensed timeshare resale brokers won’t accept a timeshare listing, if they consider the timeshare worthless on the secondary market. Scammer listing agents will take your money and run, not caring if your timeshare sells.
Inside Timeshare has received 381 timeshare complaints since we began tracking complaints late 2016, so 116 complaints received since January 1 is an extraordinary jump in complaints (or readership). Timeshare members contacting Inside Timeshare have witnessed little interest from Florida, Virginia, California or Nevada Attorneys General timeshare divisions, assigned to enforce or not enforce timeshare regulations. Regulations may be in place, but seem to be little enforced. The Florida Timeshare Division dismisses timeshare members with, “Verbal representations are hard to prove,” and Nevada dismisses criminal allegations with, “You have no proof.” Based on one such response received by one Florida resident, we now know why the Florida Department of Business Practice and Regulation DBPR only acted on 110 out of 2,360 timeshare complaints filed from 2012 to 2014. One of our advocates is researching more recent numbers through FOIA.
Our members disagree with ARDA’s assertion:
From ARDA’s Code of Ethics: http://www.arda.org/ethics/
According to ARDA’s website – “Vacation Ownership is one of the most highly regulated vacation products in today’s consumer marketplace.”
Regulations are one thing. Enforcement is another. However, Attorneys General who have initiated and closed investigations against timeshare developers in 2016 and 2017, achieving settlements, did not buy into “You have no proof” or “You signed a contract.” These Attorneys General include: NY, CO, AZ, TN, MO, WI, NC, and the Florida DBPR, sources say, is investigating The Berkley Group (Vacation Village).
Timeshare members have been reaching out to the FBI, because most allegations meet the FBI definition of white collar crime “deceit, concealment violation of trust, bait and switch.” One FBI agent contacted and met with one of our Diamond Advocacy Facebook members.
Updates from a few of our advocates:
Josh Parker, US Army, Ret, OIF
Josh says they were told DRI points are an investment and easy to sell. Now expecting twins, they have learned there is virtually no secondary market for DRI points. Josh was told by a DRI Vice President, “We’re not responsible for what our sales agents say.”
http://insidetimeshare.com/fridays-letter-america-41/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezkJ7GlJN4U&feature=youtu.be
Teresa Laird, on behalf of her parents, Raymond and Teresa Mori, Mr. Mori age 83, 23 years a Marine, disabled. Raymond Mori earned two Purple Hearts, now facing timeshare foreclosure. Teresa says she asked DRI to cancel a Sampler trial product sold to her parents, but says instead the company by phone sold Mr. and Mrs. Mori another 17,000 points, saying they took care of it by attaching it to another program.
http://insidetimeshare.com/fridays-letter-america-42/
Angela Sandstede on behalf of her parents Roy and Lillian Simmons, Mr. Simmons a Navy veteran, retired letter carrier, upsold into foreclosure, now in danger of losing their home. Their monthly DRI payment is $2,750 a month. They live on Mr. Simmons letter carrier pension.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_nca6lMA4U&feature=youtu.be
http://insidetimeshare.com/tuesday-slot-irene-16/
Sheilah Brust: Worked for the New York Governor’s Office of Employee Relations – Upsold by the same Daytona sales agent as Gad and Noreen Leibmann pictured below. http://insidetimeshare.com/tuesday-slot-irene-14/
Richard Sokolowski: Arizona Real Estate
http://insidetimeshare.com/fridays-letter-america-43/
Greg Jennings: “My Name is Recycled Inventory”
http://insidetimeshare.com/tuesday-slot-irene-15/
Eron Grant: Catholic School Guidance Counselor http://insidetimeshare.com/fridays-letter-america-40/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FMk_45zRzk&feature=youtu.be
Gad and Noreen Leibmann: Navy Veterans
This is our “How to File a Complaint” form (Contact Inside Timeshare for assistance – we may be in Spain but are only a click away)
http://insidetimeshare.com/tuesday-slot-irene-16/
Section 5 of the FTC Code: The basic consumer protection statute enforced by the Commission is Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, which provides that “unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce…are…declared unlawful.”
- Consumer Protection
“Unfair” practices are defined as those that “cause” or [are] likely to cause substantial injury to consumers which is not reasonably avoidable by consumers themselves and not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition” https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/what-we-do/enforcement-authority
We know the members above have suffered substantial injury. The gray area is “not reasonably avoidable” so the answer is a determined and pervasive media outreach to educate the general public on the fact that when they buy a timeshare product, they are signing a perpetual contract, with rising maintenance fees, and virtually no secondary market. Not one of the 381 families that have reached out to us since late 2016 knew this. Contact Inside Timeshare or a non-industry influenced self-help group if you need help with a timeshare concern.
https://www.facebook.com/timeshareadvocategroup/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/DiamondResortsOwnersAdvocacy/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/180578055325962/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/465692163568779/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1639958046252175/
Thank you Irene and all those volunteers who give up their time to help others, the world of timeshare needs people like you.
If you have any comments or questions about any article published or just need some help in deciding which company is genuine, then contact Inside Timeshare through our contact page. We will help point you in the right direction, Remember doing your homework will save you money in the end.
Have a great weekend and join us again next week for more news and information on the murky world of timeshare.
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