Posts filed under 'Perceptions'
During the last week, timeshare resale related stories have appeared in the news twice – which is actually a lot for a niche industry! Additionally, both stories relate to previous posts here at Helptimeshare.com:
The Good
Back in May, I pointed out the threat posed to timeshare owners by timeshare recovery companies. Yesterday this issue was highlighted in an article by Diane Lade of the Sun Sentinel. In it, she states that the “Florida Attorney General has received more than 600 complaints in the past 12 months” regarding recovery companies. While it’s great to see these fraudulent entities receiving some attention from the media and regulators, I have to wonder how many thousands of timeshare owners have been victimized in the four months since I originally reported on the problem. Lade goes on to point out that some timeshare resale companies have “closed down but then reopened as a timeshare recovery business” – an astute observation echoing my post describing a recovery company as “a failed timeshare resale company.”
According to Lade, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumers Services regulators are hard-at-work investigating “about 20 timeshare recovery businesses.” Hopefully, these efforts will protect timeshare owners from being conned out of their hard-earned money. …and Kudos to Lade and the Sun Sentinel for calling attention to this phenomenon!
The Bad
On September 3rd, an article by Jon Burnstein (also of the Sun Sentinel), provided some follow-up information on the ongoing timeshare fraud saga of Timeshare Mega Media. In what the FTC has called a “naked fraud,” Timeshare Mega Media contacted timeshare owners claiming “we have a buyer for your timeshare.” According to Burnstein, the operation collected an “estimated $5 million in less than a year,” before closing their doors in May 2010. Not to sound like a broken record, but HelpTimeshare.com reported on the “It’s Already Sold” scam back in February of 2010. Apparently, our warning went unheeded by some 10,000+ consumers in Florida alone… More to the point of why I consider this a ‘bad’ story, Burnstein repeatedly refers to Timeshare Mega Media as a “timeshare resale company.” He goes on to refer to the timeshare resale industry as “fraud-riddled,” and states that “many of the unscrupulous resale companies operate the same way.” I suggest that, for anyone in the media, using this sort of language is, at best, irresponsible: Timeshare Mega Media was clearly anything but a timeshare resale company. According to Burnstein’s own article the company was no more than a criminal front, operated not by timeshare industry professionals but by felons and associates of major crime families.
Please, call them “fake” timeshare resale companies or something, but a distinction needs to be drawn by the media between criminals and timeshare resale companies. There is nothing to suggest Timeshare Mega Media, or its affiliates, had any connection whatsoever to the actual timeshare resale industry. No one in the press refers to the Swiss Watch Industry as “fraud-riddled,” though fake Rolex watches are still a-dime-a-dozen throughout the U.S.
September 7th, 2011
During the last month alone, 3 high-profile timeshare scams have been raided by police in Orlando, Florida. In at least twenty news pieces on these developments, the public has been treated to images of SWAT teams busting down doors, police confiscating computers and printers, and the ubiquitous ‘deal board’ being dragged from a shady office by regulators. Taken at face value, these images may be reassuring; certainly, scandalous Florida-based timeshare resale companies give the industry a bad name. But, it takes a timeshare industry insider to recognize these stories are not good news – not at all. Behind the headlines are regulatory follies that threaten the very existence of a secondary timeshare market.
Exactly one year ago, this blog warned of a timeshare scam designed to convince owners that their properties were ‘already sold.’ Of course, to complete the deal required payment of an enormous up-front fee. Despite our best efforts (and those of numerous other legitimate timeshare companies) to warn timeshare owners, some continue to fall for this obvious fraud. The effects of the ‘It’s Already Sold’ scam have been devastating to real timeshare resale companies: forcing them to become apologists for their now-tarnished industry.
Making matters worse for the industry, reporting on timeshare scams rarely draws a distinction between real timeshare resale companies and criminal fronts. A notable exception is Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who warns of “scammers posing as timeshare resellers,” describing them as “fake.” All too often, descriptions of timeshare-related crimes are so vague and subjective they border on misleading: The Orlando Sentinel quoted police Sgt. Amy Ameye, stating victims “were told If you send money… we will get the paperwork going, we will get your timeshare sold for you” – a statement that could conceivably apply to any timeshare resale company, legitimate or otherwise.
In a press release from July 2010, the Florida Attorney General describes “actively pursuing timeshare resellers as part of a statewide initiative” – a blanket statement that presumably includes all timeshare resale companies. Given Florida’s prejudices, should it really surprise anyone that timeshare scams there have exploded? The State’s witch-hunt regulatory environment leaves no room for legitimate timeshare resale companies.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
The ‘It’s Already Sold’ timeshare scam is clearly a crime that should be prosecuted. Possible Federal and State charges include Grand Theft, Organized Fraud, Intentional False Advertising, Mail Fraud, Wire Fraud, and that’s just for starters. So what crimes were the Orlando timeshare scammers charged with? Unlicensed Telemarketing, a third degree felony in Florida.
In Florida, timeshare resellers fall under the authority of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DOACS), where they are regulated as telemarketing companies. According to DOACS investigator Sasha Velez the problem of timeshare resale scams in Orlando is “huge… We have over 40 to 50 cases unlicensed right now that we are looking into.” Of course, no one asked Ms. Velez the obvious questions:
What if these Orlando timeshare scams had telemarketing licenses? Would you have allowed them to continue defrauding consumers across the country? What if they scammed people in person, or via email?
This is the down-side of excessive regulation; the need for regulators. Folks that may be well-meaning, but just don’t get it. Solutions put forth by the DOACS, and others in Florida, have sought to criminalize the entire timeshare resale industry. The problem in Florida is not timeshare resale companies, it is criminals. If your State has criminals committing wide-scale fraud, the solution is not issuing telemarketing licenses, it is criminal prosecution.
February 16th, 2011
One of the goals of writing this blog has been to spark conversations about selling timeshare, and the timeshare resale market. I believe that by exchanging ideas, both within the industry and with individual owners, a path forward will emerge – one that facilitates stronger resale values for owners, and fosters a more positive view of timeshare ownership. It’s in this spirit that I dutifully read the blogs and articles about timeshare resales that appear in my feed reader. Sadly, most of what’s out there is either spammy auto-generated nonsense, or simply a rehash of news stories appearing elsewhere. That said, times they are a changing…
Recently, some thought provoking dialogue has been taking place on the Wall Street Journal Online Community boards – an effort spearheaded by Richard Marquette, a commission-only timeshare broker. Topics have included resale values, ownership transfer procedures, and avoiding timeshare scams. Mr. Marquette is a vocal opponent of paying any fee to advertise your timeshare – a great concept if your timeshare can be listed on a commission only basis. (Timeshare brokers often limit themselves to high-line properties like Disney, Hilton, etc.) Overall, though, the dialogue has been informative and positive thusfar.
Elsewhere on the internet one of my favorite timeshare commentators, Mark Silverman – Timeshare Examiner, has been hard at work producing an exhaustive analysis of the secondary timeshare market. Mr. Silverman is a print journalist and radio commentator with a real love for the timeshare product that shows through in his perspective. He’s also probably also the only person talking about timeshare that can be reasonably considered unbiased. (Which is why we’ve linked to his website since the start of this blog.) Take the time to read his series of articles on the timeshare resale market and you won’t regret it!
There will always be conflicting ideas about how timeshares should or should not be sold, and that’s okay. Anyone with the courage of their convictions shouldn’t be threatened by an opposing viewpoint. What’s needed is an honest and open dialogue about the industry’s struggles. We can start with the common ground: timeshare owners should not pay a company that calls and tells them the timeshare is already sold, relief companies (or postcard companies) are poisonous to resale values, and timeshare owners deserve a robust resale market. Beyond that, only good can come from having more intellectually honest discussions about selling timeshare.
January 20th, 2011
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