The other day I took a call from someone who wanted to sell their time share. We spent some time on the phone discussing the market conditions, our fees and the value of his time share. He mentioned to me that he has had his time share for sale with a company based in Orlando for about three years. He then gave me the name of the company and told me he keeps calling them to lower the price but nothing happens. As soon as he gave me the name of the company I knew he had not yet figured out that he had been scammed three years ago. I asked him how much money he’d given them up-front. He told me $495 and asked how I knew he’d paid up-front.
Category Archives: Timeshare News
Florida Attorney General Targets Timeshare Resale Scams
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi recently announced a major new push to clean up the timeshare resale scams that have plagued consumers for too many years. The legislation targets people and companies who contact timeshare owners, claim to have a buyer available if the timeshare owner wants to sell, but the timeshare owner must pay a set amount of money upfront. Of course, no sale ever takes place and the time share owner is out a few hundred dollars. In other words, the very scams our company has been warning you about for many years.
* A timeshare resale advertiser may not misrepresent a pre-existing interest in the owner’s timeshare.
* A timeshare resale advertiser may not mislead a customer as to the success rate of the advertiser’s sales.
* A timeshare resale advertiser may not provide brokerage or direct sale services.
* A timeshare resale advertiser must honor a cancellation request made within seven days following a signed agreement.
* A timeshare resale advertiser must provide a full refund by a timeshare owner within 20 days of a valid cancellation request.
* A timeshare resale advertiser must not collect any payment or engage in any resale advertising activities until the timeshare owner delivers a signed, written agreement for the services.
* A timeshare resale advertiser must also provide a full disclosure statement printed in bold type, with no smaller than a 12-point font, and printed immediately preceding the space provided for the timeshare owner’s signature.
* A timeshare advertising agreement must be put in writing.
* A company that violates these provisions has committed a violation of the Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act with a penalty not to exceed $15,000 per violation.
Island Consulting Realty
800-809-6020 or 941-922-3808
www.TimeSharesToGo.com
Co-Founder: Licensed Timeshare Resale Brokers Association
RCI Platinum Membership vs Regular Membership
So for some of you this may be old news. But for all the rest of you that are like me, you’ve probably gotten info in the mail from RCI telling you the benefits of their new Platinum Membership upgrade and you’ve put it aside (forever) because you’re too busy doing other things right now. Well, that’s what we’re here for. We’re going to give you a synopsis of the new program along with some pros and cons to at least give you a heads up on if you’re missing something or not.