While working in the area of consumer protection law, Conner G. Spani started coming across cases involving timeshare fraud. After beginning to take on these cases, he noticed that several major timeshare developers seemed to be perpetrating egregious fraud upon the general public, and doing so frequently. Worse still, it appeared that few attorneys would take timeshare fraud cases, government regulation was lacking, and "timeshare exit" companies were often just as shady as the timeshare developers. Determined to help solve this problem and provide relief to those who have been wronged, Conner G. Spani dedicated his legal practice to pursuing justice for victims of timeshare fraud. His experience includes representing consumers in disputes with major timeshare developers like Worldmark by Wyndham, Diamond Resorts, Bluegreen Vacations, Hilton Grand Vacations, and with many smaller timeshare developers as well.
The problem in one sentence as fully described herein: Consumers are often fraudulently induced into purchasing lifelong timeshare contracts for tens of thousands of dollars, with thousands of dollars of associated yearly "maintenance fees", which they cannot elect to end ownership of, and which are such a financial liability that they cannot be given away for free, and therefore these consumers are trapped in a timeshare money pit indefinitely.
Conner G. Spani has observed a great variety of timeshare fraud over the course of his career. Frequent misrepresentations used in timeshare scams include:
These economic representations are used to paint a picture for a consumer that they cannot lose if they make a timeshare purchase. After all, if they ever want to end their timeshare ownership, all they have to do is resell it and count their profit. If they like using the timeshare, they can use it for as long as they want as their valuable investment appreciates. Unfortunately, these economic representations about timeshares are completely false, as discussed below.
Often times a consumer will make a purchase at a sales presentation while on vacation and they will be under the impression that their timeshare has qualities and benefits that it doesn't actually have because of misrepresentations made to them by sales agents at that first presentation. Then, they will be on a second (or third or fourth, etc.) vacation, attend another sales presentation (often disguised as an "owner update meeting") and they will express frustration to the new sales agent that they are not able to use the timeshare in the way that they were told they would be able to. The sales agent in the new presentation tells the consumer that the reason that they cannot use their timeshare in the way that they want to is because they don't have enough points or ownership status, and that if they make an additional purchase, their frustrations will be resolved. It sounds obvious that this is suspicious in our context, but timeshare sales agents are very good at disguising the truth and defrauding people.
For example, I had a client who was told that he would be able to rent his timeshare points out to offset the cost of the timeshare purchase, and he couldn't figure out how to do this after his first purchase. He went to an "owner update meeting", which is really just a sales presentation in disguise, and was told that he couldn't rent his points out at his tier of ownership, but if he upgraded to the next tier by purchasing more points, he would be able to, which would present a net savings to him, and so he did (later realizing that this was all false).
This type of multi-step fraud is a frequent occurrence in timeshare sales and can take many forms. Once a consumer owns any interest in a timeshare company, that company is likely going to try to defraud them over and over again to increase their timeshare interest ownership, which also increases their maintenance fee payments.
Most people who purchase a timeshare use financing to do so. The interest rates on this financing are extremely high. Here is an example of the financing used on an actual timeshare contract.
As you can see, the amount paid in interest (the "finance charge") is almost as much as the amount financed. So, the financing nearly doubles the cost of the timeshare, with no additional benefit (and there's no benefit to begin with).
Suffering a one time swindling at the hands of a timeshare company is bad, but the trouble just begins with the purchase price and associated financing cost. Timeshare owners must also pay "maintenance fees" supposedly for the cost of maintaining the real property associated with the timeshare that they own. These are monthly fees that must be paid for the entire duration of your timeshare ownership. In light of this, timeshare developers generally make it extremely difficult to end a timeshare ownership, and most of the time will flat out refuse to allow a consumer to even give a timeshare interest back to them, because they want you on the hook for these fees. Conner G. Spani has represented clients with maintenance fee payments from as little as about $100 per month to over $2,000 per month. It's possible to pay off the "mortgage" of a timeshare, but maintenance fees are for life, and increase every year.
Once a consumer owns a timeshare, the timeshare developer has a financial incentive to keep them on as an owner, which are the maintenance fees, which usually bring in thousands of dollars per year per owner. Beyond that, keeping the consumer trapped in the timeshare presents the timeshare company with the ability to keep that owner coming back and potentially making additional purchases. Timeshare companies will often fight tooth and nail to keep a consumer trapped in timeshare ownership. Conner G. Spani has represented countless consumers who have offered to simply give the timeshare back to the timeshare company and walk away after investing tens of thousands of dollars in a supposedly valuable and appreciating asset simply so they could escape the maintenance fees. Timeshare developers will virtually never allow this. Even worse, Conner G. Spani has submitted hardship requests to end the timeshare ownership for elderly people suffering from debilitating, even terminal health conditions and been refused. Some timeshare developers will advertise exit options, but the timeshare developer maintains the right to approve or deny a consumer's use of such a program, and they almost always deny it.
Many of my clients come to me after they have owned a timeshare for years, sometimes even decades. They may be too old to travel, or they simply can't keep up with the maintenance fee payments, or for any other reason, they decide that they need end their timeshare ownership. They usually start researching online about how to cash out and sell their timeshare investment, which they believe must be worth a significant amount of money based on what they were told by timeshare sales agents. They are then confronted with a stark reality: they cannot even give their timeshare away for free. I always tell my clients to go on eBay and search for the type of timeshare that they own. I encourage readers of this blog to do the same. If you do, you will observe that there are often dozens of timeshare interests that have fully paid off "mortgages" listed on eBay for $1. So, every day timeshare sales agents at major developers are selling timeshares to unsuspecting consumers for tens of thousands of dollars when similar timeshares could be purchased on eBay or other reselling sites for as little as $1. Beyond that, they may even be telling these consumers that the timeshares for sale are good investments that will appreciate in value, which they can leave to their heirs, etc.
The consumer can always choose to breach a contract. It makes sense to do that when the detriments associated with breaching the contract are less than those associated with abiding by it, and where the consumer does not have interest in pursuing the recovery of the money that they lost to the fraudulent timeshare scheme. This approach may work for some timeshare fraud victims, but it’s risky. Breaching the contract can result in: (1) harassment by debt collectors, (2) damage to credit, (3) foreclosure and tax repercussions, and (4) defending against a lawsuit. Further, simply breaching the contract does not allow the consumer to recover any of the money that they were defrauded of. However, a strategy of breaching the timeshare contract may be optimal in some cases. Conner Spani can provide advice on how to navigate breaching the contract and legal representation during the process.
A second option is filing a lawsuit, or more likely, filing a demand for arbitration against the timeshare developer to terminate the timeshare contract and recover money damages. Arbitration is a lower cost, expedited version of filing a lawsuit, which can be extremely beneficial for some consumers. For more information on how arbitration can be leveraged to help consumers, see Conner G. Spani's blog "The Power of the Rules of Consumer Arbitration in Timeshare Fraud Disputes" by clicking this link.
Conner G. Spani has litigated timeshare fraud cases that have resulted in significant monetary recovery and recission of the underlying contracts and continues to bring the fight to shady timeshare developers.
If you are a timeshare fraud victim, Conner is confident he can help you too. Contact the Law Office of Conner G. Spani for a free consultation.
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