I feel that I have been taken advantage of by Targa Marine/Bryan Ferguson also. I entered into boat partnership agreement in April 2008. The boat I took on was a 2001 Donzi 28ZX, awesome boat in excellent condition. 10k CASH down got me in it with monthly payments of $664.50. The partnership term was for 24 months marketed by Targa Agent Micheal Thompson. Both Micheal and Bryan were good friends of the boats primary partner Kent Vincent and assured me that this was an excellent chance for me to get into a great boat and in 24 months try to refinance this through my bank.
All payments were made on time and I even made an extra month payment so there would be no question on my intentions of keeping this boat. On or around December 2008 my "marketing agent" Micheal Thompson calls me and says Kent may be in financial trouble and may have to file bankruptcy. RED FLAG. Micheal tells me to keep on making timely payments and he will update me on status of primary partner Kent.
I hear not a peep from Micheal or Bryan for 7 months until finally primary partner Kent calls me looking for physical location of the boat (my house). Kent tells me he cant get in contact with his "good friends" Micheal or Bryan and his banks lawyers are looking to pick up the boat. PANIC RED FLAG. Kent did tell me that he had several payment checks of mine that he would send back to me(still waiting) and told me he was very sorry for all of this mess.
I never got the chance to take my partnership agreement to the full 24 month term. Micheal and Bryan wont answer any of my calls. I thought maybe since Kent was such a good friend and I a cash paying customer could get into another boat with a lessor broker fee since my partnership agreement was not fulfilled. WRONG.
So to anyone thinking about participating in this type of partnership agreement BEWARE! There is NO protection for you if your primary partner files bankruptcy or defaults on his loan. DON'T learn the hard way like I did or your wallet will be a lot lighter.