Large Timeshare Exit Companies Oppose Legislation That Protects Consumers
Powerful Lobbyists in Florida Have Been Hired to Defeat FL
HB 435/SB 1430
WASHINGTON, March 11, 2019
– The American Resort Development Association-Resort Owners Coalition
(ARDA-ROC), representing more than 1.5 million timeshare owners, strongly
supports (FL HB 435/SB 1430), a bill that provides consumers with many of the
same protections they are afforded when they originally purchased their
timeshare.
Wesley Fianancial Group,
Reedhein & Associates, which does business as Timeshare Exit Team, and at
least two other companies, operating in the timeshare exit space, have hired powerful
lobbyists to fight the bill and the common sense regulations it provides.
“These exit companies are strongly against this bill because it eliminates
their ability to take upfront fees, in many cases in excess of $5,000, until
the service they promise is delivered,” said ARDA-ROC Chairman Ken McKelvey. “Currently
these firms use much of this money to market to new customers and not for
services.”
HB 435/SB 1430 provides the following common sense protections
for timeshare owners engaging with third party exit companies:
- Defines what constitutes timeshare
exit assistance or relief services, and clearly identifies and prohibits timeshare
exit industry practices that are harmful to consumers.
- Requires written agreements prior
to performing the promised exit services, the delivery of important
information to the consumer prior to entering into any agreement, and
provides consumers with a meaningful cancellation right.
- Protects consumer funds by
prohibiting advance payment or requiring escrow of such funds until
promised services are completed.
- Prohibits false and misleading
representations used to recruit consumers to engage an exit company.
The timeshare industry,
with more than $9.6 billion in annual sales and over nine million owners
strong, has become a target for unscrupulous individuals and companies. Many
third-party exit companies present owners with misleading information, often
using scare tactics, in order to get unsuspecting owners to sign up for
services that require large upfront fees.
“We need to protect our owners from becoming victims. Owners are being
scammed and told information that is not true by third-party entities. As a
result the industry is moving to communicate better with owners who want to
understand what options are available for exiting their product” continued McKelvey.
This information can be found at www.ResponsibleExit.com.
States are cracking down on
these deceptive practices. “A top priority for our industry and owners, and for
law enforcement and other agencies, is to protect consumers from dishonest
individuals or companies trying to take advantage of them,” continued McKelvey.
“This legislation will help accomplish that priority”
Most recently, the Supreme
Court of Tennessee disbarred attorney Judson Wheeler Phillips, founder of the
Castle Law Group, on a myriad of charges relating to consumer fraud complaints.
“The constant pressure that our member companies, owners and federal and state
agencies are putting on disreputable timeshare exit companies has again
produced a positive result for the consumer,” said Robert Clements, Vice
President of Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel for ARDA.
“Seeing significant actions
against these companies sends a very clear message to others trying to take
advantage of timeshare owners: You won’t get away with it.” Clements continued.
Here are a few red flags of
exit and resale scams that owners should keep top of mind:
Someone contacts an owner
and says that they have an “interested buyer” for the timeshare.
Someone calls claiming to
be a representative of ARDA or ARDA-ROC. Owners are contacted by ARDA and
ARDA-ROC only when requested.
A company promises to
modify, cancel, or transfer an owner’s timeshare for a large upfront fee.
An exit company requests an
upfront fee, or the wire transfer of money for a “service,” “tax,” or other
“requirement” for the sale or transfer to be completed.
If an offer sounds to good
to be true, it likely is.
Until stronger regulatory
provisions are enacted into law to prevent this practice, owners who believe
they have been unfairly taken advantage of or defrauded by a timeshare exit
company should contact their state Attorney General, local law enforcement or the
ARDA-ROC Consumer Support Team at 1-855-939-1515.
For more information on
options for exiting timeshare, visit www.ResponsibleExit.com.