Complaint Review: Wyndham - Nationwide

Wyndham's timeshare company ran my credit and signed me and my wife up for credit cards without our permission. We were told we were getting a huge discount on the timeshare and would therefore have to pay nothing at closing.  We found out later that Wyndham gave us three new credit accounts, charging them up to the max.  The credit card company says its Wyndham's fault and we had to talk to them, Wyndham then blames us essentially saying we authorized them to apply us for new credit accounts.  That's all BS and the sales person knows it.  I just researched this and found a few webistes that state Wyndham is doing this to everyone, and that this violates federal law.  Wyndham basically commited financial fraud on us.  Everyone needs to be aware of what is happening behind the scene during these sales.  PLease read teh following I found about this activity and who to contact about it.  These Sales Practices Violate Numerous Credit Related Laws.

It has long been rumored that Wyndham Sales agents routinely completed credit applications for their sales prospects (for third party credit accounts such as PayPal, Barclays and Bank of America Credit Cards) without the prospective owner’s knowledge or consent.  However, when Wyndham changed its commission plan for sales people a few years ago, the above described practice got way out of control.

The revised Wyndham compensation plan allowed the agent to get significantly higher commissions for all cash sales (paid in full at closing), or sales where the prospect paid a large deposit (percentage of the purchase price) at closing (e.g. 50%).  The new opportunity to make greater commissions has resulted in the aggressive push by Wyndham sales representatives to qualify every prospect for third party credit, resulting potentially in a fully paid timeshare closing, or at least a substantial down payment.

Unfortunately for the sales person, when they asked the prospect if they would like to pay for the timeshare by going thousands of dollars in debt to 3 or more creditors, the customer would start looking for the nearest door.  So instead, the sales people made that decision for them by completing credit applications on behalf of the client, thereby securing one or more credit accounts in the client’s name that would be used to pay for the timeshare.  At closing, the Sales Person would fly threw the signing of 100 pages of documents, telling the upgrading owner that they qualified for no down-payment, etc.  The unsuspecting owner often wouldn’t know they had just obtained two or three more credit cards or credit accounts (charged up to each cards credit limit) till the bills started arriving in the mail month(s) later.

Unfortunately for Wyndham and its sales force, this conduct violates far too many laws to recite in this article, not to mention constitutes intentional financial fraud on both the timeshare owner AND the third party creditors.  As far as the owner is concerned, such activity by Wyndham violated numerous federal statutes including the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), Federal Credit Practices Rule, Federal Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), Federal Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”), Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Fair Credit Billing Act, Rights to Financial Privacy Act, not to mention all of the mortgage related federal laws that regulate creditor transactions.

Also, the creditors such as Bank of America or PayPal (Bill Me Later) may soon start asking why the new accounts signed up by Wyndham have such a high default rate.  If such an investigation is conducted by a bank, they will also find another dirty secret of Wyndham’s operation.  When Wyndham’s sales people complete the credit applications, they tend to, in the words of a Wyndham Whistle-blower, “make the clients financial condition looks so much better than it is.”  According to another sales person, “if their credit looks weak, it’s not uncommon for the owner’s income to rise by a zero or two.”

Finally, because the prospective buyer or upgrading owner isn’t exactly aware they are getting new credit cards, etc., the transaction also violates disclosure provisions in various laws.  For example, under the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), a creditor or issuer must provide comprehensive disclosures when the new credit is solicited or opened.  Regrettably, such required disclosures do not occur “during” a Wyndham timeshare transaction.  While our investigation found that some buyers may eventually receive information from the creditor by mail weeks or months later, the prospect is not provided the disclosures when required by law – “with a solicitation or an application.”  The whole point behind the disclosure requirements is to provide the potential debtor with adequate information BEFORE entering into a credit agreement so that they will be able to make a “fully informed” credit decision. 

While Wyndham’s sales activities violate numerous laws (e.g. Wyndham timeshare owners are not informed about the legally required mortgage rescission period), this paper is not intended to be a law review article on Consumer Financial Protection Laws.  Instead, this article is provided for three purposes: 1) To warn Wyndham’s prospective timeshare buyers of these illegal sales tactics; 2) To call upon Wyndham to put an end to these activities; and 3) To inform previous buyers that they may have one or more legal causes of action against Wyndham and its sales agents. 

I selected this article because we believe the fraud depicted is a routine pattern and practice at Wyndham.  Sales fraud has become inherent throughout Wyndham Vacation Ownership and needs to be stopped.  It is time for Wyndham’s Board of Directors to take a stand against this corporate corruption.  We believe the failure on the Board’s part to root out these practices constitutes a breach of their fiduciary duty to Wyndham’s shareholders, and in our opinion makes them culpable for the company’s fraudulent practices. Each of the following are responsible as Board Members – Stephen Holmes, Myra J. Biblowit, Brian Mulroney, George Herrera, James Buckman, Michael Wargotz, Pauline Richards, as well as all Directors and Officers of Wyndham Vacation Ownership including Franz Hannng and Ryan Morettini.

I also call on all attorneys at Wyndham to stop fighting these poor elderly seniors that did nothing but rely on the misrepresentations of your sales people to their very destructive detriment.  You add insult to injury when you drag out their administrative or legal claims.   Wyndham Lawyers Scott McLester, Lynn Feldman, Gregory John Bendlin, Charles Bott, Thomas Alan, Ryan Morettini and all the other Wyndham lawyers need to start having some compassion on these poor elderly people!  Your Sales Force has lied and deceived these owners relentlessly.  You know these claims and complaints are truthful.  You should do the right thing and pay back these innocent people for the wrongs perpetrated by your client - Wyndham! 

Finally, I call on the outside counsel that represents Wyndham in the many lawsuits filed across the nation.  Lawyers such as the following should take notice that participating in a cover up of such activities is at a minimum a violation of your professional code of conduct, and may constitute much more significant legal breaches. 

Kaitlyn M Burke, Littler Mendelson, PC

Kent Michael Fandel, Graham & Dunn PC

Eugene (Gene) Podesta, Jr., Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC

Joy A. Boyd, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC (Nash)

Andrew W. Coffman, King & Ballow

Stephanie Leigh Adler-Paindiris, Jackson Lewis LLP

Mary Ruth Houston, Shutts & Bowen, LLP