I own a timeshare in Orlando, Florida. I have never used my timeshare and was happy to receive a call from a woman that wanted to set up an appointment with me to discuss a method to get rid of the timeshare. I asked her a few questions but she had no answers, because she only sets up the appointments. I made an appointment and a gentelman named Don Pearson (AKA Donald Pearson with Herbalife) showed up at my house.
He made it seem like he was doing me a favor by even showing up. He claimed he had already fulfilled his quote for timeshares that he was buying up and that mine was not needed. He was willing to take my timeshare off my hands for the small fee of $6,000 (that his me paying him, not him paying me). He had a lot of slick lines and reasons for me to sell the timeshare now. Looking back now, I should have been suspicious that all his paperwork was poorly photocopied and not original prints. He also wouldn't let me keep any of the documents so that I could review anything. He claimed a new management company would be taking over the Vacation Villas management and that it would cost me thousands more per year for the HOA.
Luckily for me I didn't have that kind of money to spend on getting rid of a timeshare. I spoke it over with my wife and she refused to spend that kind of money regardless. I text Don back and told him we would not be selling the timeshare.
Don, again, doing me a favor, told me he had a friend named Blake Gordon that has a non-profit called Timeshare for a Cause that does the same thing as Don but for smaller price $2,063. Well, I thought that was just great and so I contacted Blake Gordon.
Blake didn't provide me a phone number or Fax number and would never sign his emails.
"No problem! Don does a good job on explaining our program. I understand the headache involved in getting rid of your timeshare and created this company to finally give owners a win/win situation. My website is down for updating, but I can still handle everything for you. I will send you a quit claim deed and an invoice through PayPal by tomorrow. Did you have any questions after speaking with Don?
Austin Aaronson, Esq.
Longwood,#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, January 19, 2015
Chances are good that during the sales pitch leading up to your timeshare purchase, you were promised that you were making a real estate 'investment', that there exists a substantial secondary market for timeshare resales, that your timeshare would appreciate in value, that there were people 'waiting in the wings' to purchase the same unit, time was of the essence, etc…
Sad to say, if there exists a secondary market for timeshare sales at all, it is extremely limited. But this has in no way prevented the formation of a cottage industry for another set of unsavory types in the "timeshare 'resale'" industry. These are individuals who typically work out of boiler room settings, who charge exorbitant fees, pocket the money, and thereafter generally do nothing. They are not licensed realtors, and their 'clientele' consists largely of elderly individuals who are especially vulnerable. The situation has become so dire that it has prompted the State of Florida, for example, to pass the Timeshare Resale Accountability Act. Dozen of criminal prosecutions have come out of legislation like this. According to Federal Trade Commission official Charles Harwood, quoted in the Bloomburg Report: “Timeshare resale scammers have cheated tens of thousands of timeshare owners out of tens of millions of dollars by convincing them to pay for a false promise.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-06/florida-prosecutors-say-191-timeshare-cases-filed-in-crackdown.html
The bottom line: Don't get scammed again. Your best chance to keep this from happening is to hire an attorney. We have been specializing in legally rescinding timeshares for some time now, with very favorable results.
You owe it to yourself to obtain sound, competent legal representation by counsel with over twenty-five years experience in contract litigation. You will be made aware of your rights in addressing the situation with professionalism and integrity. In many cases we can obtain a legal rescission of the contract so as to get you out from under that oppressive lifelong timeshare obligation. At the very least, there often exist good faith legal grounds to warrant a formal dispute invoking federal consumer law to protect your credit with the national bureaus. We'll be happy to discuss your rights free of charge at 407-644-1336. You may also visit our website at http://www.aaronsonlawgroup.com.