Complaint Review: Resort To Us

A company rep phoned me yesterday, & told me that he could guarantee selling my timeshare for US$17,600, which sounded pretty darn good to me (I have one week every two years in a resort in the Canadian Rockies).

When he said that he'd need US$1408 from me upfront, to cover legal fees, warning bells sounded in my head. I notice the other two people who have posted on this site are also from Canada. Is it possible that Canadians are being marketed because we are unfamiliar with US laws?

I was told that recent American law forbids his company from handling the actual transaction--that the buyer and seller must deal with each other directly. The money up-front, he said, is to prevent me from taking advantage of his efforts by selling to the buyer and refusing to pay his commission.

Can someone familiar with US law tell me if this is the case? It seems unlikely to me (real estate companies around here take their commissions AFTER the sale, not before) but I would hate to give this company a bad name if, in fact, they are legitimate.

Margaret
Alberta
Canada