Complaint Review: Palmera Resorts Hilton head S.C.

On June 28, 2019, My wife, brother, sister in law, and I visited Palmera Vacation Club, Hilton Head Island, S.C.   We were provided information on the timeshare program they have where there are no maintenance fees, just a months payment of around 71 dollars a month.  We informed them that we were in the process of buying a house and all our money was tied up in it and we had no money. 

He asked if there was a way to work it out where there would be no expense to us other than basis fees for closing,  would we be interested... we stated it depends on the offer.  We gave them a list of three properties that I would be more than happy to release.  They came back in about 35 minutes and stated I got really good news for you. 

We can take your three properties and we will provide one of ours.  We will give you 1000 dollars once you send us verification they are paid for.  He added I can't tell you what to do with the money but I suggest you use it to pay the mortgage for the first couple of months... within four to six months you will receive the balance of about 20,000 whether we sell your property or not, we will take the loss up front. 

You can use it to pay off the mortgage, and you only have to pay the monthly bill of about 71 dollars a month.  My brother and I stated that sounds too good to be true.. are you willing to put it in writing?  He said yes, and he left... to return about 15 minutes later with a document repeating everything he said. 

We signed the release for the properties to give them permission to sell which was included in the letter of agreement, or promissory note... Still, in disbelief, I stated are you sure this is legit it still sounds too good to be true.  The reply was you saw, read and signed the paper of agreement didn't you, we are bound by that and none of this will interfere with your house purchase. 

After that, we signed the other papers for their property and they took everything to the back office to make copies.  The signed agreement never made it back to us, in fact, we received an email asking that we sign a new release so that they can place our timeshare we give them on the market.  I informed the person on the phone that I would not sign it as it would set up a second agreement of which I did not agree to. 

I asked about the status of the money to pay the mortgage and was informed that is not how it works... If the property doesn't sell they do not purchase it but I must make payments on the property I purchased.  I since wrote a letter to the marketing manager asking that we are released from the property due to fraud and misrepresentation. 

I have not heard anything back from them yet.  Isn't it strange that the release we signed disappeared... and was no longer a part of the package... or are they so incompetent they do not know that a release is needed to sell the properties.. I think not... they knew exactly what they were doing... and was hoping I would just sign the new papers without question.