Jul 20

On July 14, 2010, Florida state investigators raided a timeshare call center in Ormond Beach, Florida, after receiving dozens of complaints.  The company, operating under the name Buy Owner Resort Marketing, has been promising to help customers sell their timeshares but is just one of the timeshare industry con artists that are taking money from timeshare owners and not delivering on their promises.

The company had already been shut down in March for being an unlicensed telemarketing company.  When the state learned that it was still operating, agents served a warrant.

The State Attorney General’s Office has been receiving complaints from timeshare owners all over the country.  The complaints were all the same story: the company promised to sell or rent out their timeshare but just took their money and they never heard from them again.

Timeshare owners said they’ve paid thousands of dollars in upfront fees, appraisals and closing costs.  Representatives for the company refused interviews.  Employees deny any wrongdoing.

The Better Business Bureau has given this company an “F” rating and there are over 20 unanswered complaints.

There are no records of any timeshares ever being rented or sold.

Once again, the state of Florida has shut down this company.  There are still other companies operating just as this one did all over the country.

Getting out of your timeshare doesn’t have to be this burdensome.  Contact Timeshare Relief to get rid of your timeshare without having to deal with rip-offs such as these companies.

More information on this story can be found at WFTV.

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Aug 06

Last month we missed an important court case that will have far-reaching impact to the largest timeshare market in the US, the great state of Florida.

After eleven years in the court system, Circuit Judge Kevin Davey ruled that timeshare resale companies cannot collect upfront fees for listing timeshares for sale in Florida.  Also, all the companies are now required to have real estate licenses in order to sell timeshares.  The new rulings stemmed from a case won by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation against Stroman Realty for unlicensed practice of real estate and charging upfront fees for timeshare resales.

How this will change the timeshare resale market is unclear.  Companies may forgo doing business entirely in the resale market as buyers are already scarce and the possibility for those companies to make a profit with resales may become very slim with the new rules.  If that happens, timeshare owners in Florida will be on their own for the most part if they decide to sell their timeshares.

For the source of this blog entry, please see the story by Liza Park.

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