Diamond Resorts reduces owner benefits again!

Anyone wanting to start an International case against them let us try here on St Maarten... I have the lawyer you can contact as well Mr Edwin MADURO emadurolaw@hotmail.com Try him... he won my cases for me Pamela

We owned points at Ka'anapali Beach Resort until 2010 when we were talked into changing our points into the Hawaii Trust (and to purchase more). We were told that this would lower our annual dues as the expenses would be spread over a greater group of owners. This was very emphatically explained to us by both the salesperson that we had known for over 5 years and the Sales Manager. We were also told another untruth, but that does not involve this issue. If this water intrusion issue has been been around for years, as confirmed by the Diamond letter I received with my invoice, the potential assessment should have been disclosed. If a possible outstanding assessment isn't disclosed in AZ real estate, it is fraud. Are there any other owners out there in the same situation? We don't own at Poipu and have never even been there. Obviously we wouldn't have purchased into the trust if we knew that an assessment greater than our dues would need to be paid within a year.

I purchased a timeshare at Ka'anapali Beach through Diamond Resorts. During a sales presentation I was told I would save money on maintenance fees if I moved my deeded property ownership into the Hawaii Collection which included the Point at Poipu. On October 14, 2011 I received a maintenance fee invoice which increased by $2,363.50 or 140%. The increase is for a project that starts on 6/11 and takes 5 yers to complete, yet they are requiring me to pay 84% or $2,000 by 1/1/12 or face additional fees, penalties, suspension and possible foreclosure. The Board knew of these issues for three years, but waited until 10/11 to communicate this to the owners. A five year project should not include 84% of the money upfront based on estimates and not actuals. There was simply one line item for the total due by the Hawaii Collection of $25,356,399 (total project cost $65.8M) with little to no details. This gives new meaning to "Corporate Greed". A corporation of this size should be able to finance the project and pass this along to the owners over a 5-Year period based on actuals and not estimates. Requiring me to pay an additional $2,000 or 84% by 1/1/12 with an advanced notice of 2.5 months is nothing shy of a corporate scandal. During the sales presentation I was told that I would save money on maintenance fees when mgmt. knew of these costs for three years and failed to include this information in the sales presentation. They simply needed more people to pay for their mistakes. A formal request for detailed information will be sent to Diamond Resorts with the appropriate Attorney Generals Offices copied. The sales presentation to move my deeded property to the Hawaii Collection was done with management's full intent and knowlege that my maintencance fees would significantly increase. On the Assessment Payment Schedule, only one group of owners can finance over 5 years, those with 51,000 points. What does that represent, 1% of the owners? So, the remaining 99% are basically paying upfront. I am part of the 99%, shall I bring some protest signs for my next visit to Maui?

There appear to be suspicions of fraud. I know that I received our notice through the United States Postal Service. Isn't there a federal statute on utilizing the USPS in the commission of a fraud. It just seems that maybe someone that is suspicious should maybe look into that... if they were interested.

Hi, I apologize to the person who contacted me about forwarding my letter sent to Arizona Real Estate Dept on the fraud that DRI seems to continue to commit after having lost lawsuits filed by shareholders. I was homeschooling at that time and misplaced your contact information. Please send me your contact info again. I can be reached at 626-791-1096!

So do I understand this correctly? DRI has increased maintenance fees and applied the 'water intrusion' assessment to folks who do NOT own at Poipu, also? (I got our 2012 maintenance bill via email on October 5 and at first, glance just assumed it was only for we Poipu owners). How many thousand's of people does that include? If Poipu has 199 units, times 52 weeks, that's over 10,000 owners, assuming they're all deeded owners, which they're not. If a small percentage of us are still deeded and the rest are points, plus points owners from Kaanapali, that's tens of thousands of folks who are affected. There must be some owners who are lawyers out there and who can start organizing and take up this case. All the ranting and raving on these forums does no good til we get a plan in action.

There are owners that are attorneys. You would certainly think that it would be in their interest to get involved...

If DRI were a bank, the Federal Reserve would have shut them down long ago... Diamond Resorts cares very little for its members, they dislike the "Deeded Owners" as they stand in their way of total control without any hinderance from members, as they already have the "Points Members" controled... The ability to sell an unlimited number of memberships, far beyond the total units available X 52 weeks annually, is nothing short of a fraud, that makes a 'Ponzi Scheemer' jealous...

The fact that they lie to prospective buyers & existing members should not surprise anyone following the postings here at RedWeek.... The real shame is that not one official agency of any governmental body has taken action against this huge fraud taking place each day... The Hawaii Collection especially, the State of Hawaii has a huge potential problem with its image, for it has many Vacation Ownership companies that operate in this vacation state... The fact that Diamond is perpetrating this huge fraud, and that so many members have filed complaints, you would think that the State Attorney General would investigate their sales and business methods, as they clearly violate REAL ESTATE LAWS OF FULL DISCLOSURE...

This is incredible that no one in the States can do anything against Stephen Cloobeck but when you have friends as politicians what can be expected. Here on the island of St Maarten I did place the truth about Stephen Cloobeck and Diamond resorts International on a site www.canyoutrusttem.com search Diamond Resorts International Stephen Cloobeck with his Elizabeth Brennan did not like the truth and tried to sue me for slander. They lost as the Judge said it was all the truth and he knew more,Cloobeck and Brennan appealed and in the COURT of APPEALS in ST Maartent they lost again... It is appalling that those people think that they can do what they like here on St Maarten. They have not respected what the Judge said either and they were advised to open a financial transactions office here on St Maarten. TODAY newspaper did write a story about the $32 million collected in maintenance fees only at one resort...he has another Royal Palm.. What you need to do is get it all on the show America Greed on either CNBC or MSNBC.. it is a perfect story for that show. I am going to continue but i don't have the $1500 to start the case against them for the fraudes again where they have collected my fees then rented the unit to Thomas Cook clients. They told RCI I had rented out the unit myself.. I met the Thomas Cook clients so Stephen CLOOBECK and Diamond resorts International received DOUBLE payments for that week.. they refuse to give me contracts since 2009 for the other two weeks they have rented out that isSIX weeks more they owe me... This man has to be investigated as I wrote before and the Judge saw...

We just got our bill for the "water intrusion" fee to the tune of $2445.00. I called an complained and was politely told that this was my "owner" responsibility even though we never even stayed at Poipu. They can charge us anything at anytime and we have no recourse but to pay. We bought when Kaanapali was Embassy Suites...then it was sold to Sunterra...and now Diamond. You can't give these timeshares away. We also have a Marriott timeshare...no problems, no issues. I am furious.

is there anyone organizing the owners on this? I am an odd year owner and am shocked at the $3k bill I received. Please add me to your list of emails. jeb.inter@att.net Joan Brothers

is there anyone organizing a group to fight this?

jeb.inter@att.net

i am in the same position.

Can I please confirm that only the owners at Poipu as well as the Hawaii Trust were charged for the water abatement fee? No owners at other resorts, correct? Thank you

NO! If you own in Hawaii, they hit everybody with the fee. We own at Kaanapali and have never even been to Poipu and we got the $2450 assessment. I asked the lady who I spoke with what would stop them from assessing us $10,000! They can do anything they want.

philipb 106 - Sorry if I'm asking the same question two times, but I'm a bit surprised. Do you own at Ka'anapali in the Hawaii trust or just as a Club member? We also have never been to Poipu but converted to the trust last year which is why I assumed we got hit with the assessment. The letter that we received says that both owners at Poipu as well as owners in the trust (in our case originally Ka'anapali) were the ones that were charged.

Completely Outraged! WTF? Stop this plane and let me out. It might be cheaper to just walk away from it.. anyone interested in a 2br in Poipu? It's a steal!

Same for me, I'm in to start a class action suit. I would be happy if I could get 50% of what I paid.

I'm with ya!

Our problem with Sunterra, turned DRI in Sedona: We took it to the Real Estate section of the Attorney General's office. Filled out the paperwork, with lots of research and data about the misleading information given when they wanted to sell, including the cover-up of the lawsuits and cover-up of the pending sale to DRI by Sunterra though we questioned them directly about these items. Can you imagine that Arizona 'lost' my complaint?! Actually, they'd forwarded it to NV, conveniently for them!! After I heard nothing, I discovered their action, which allowed them to be inactive. How can it be that once it was again in their hands they were unaware of the Statement of Information required by Arizona law, which gave 6 years to cancel the agreement due to some of their fraud? And, DRI was required to give This Statement of Information before the sale, which they didn't! The Real Estate Office was unaware of this law in their own state...and weren't interested in pursuing the reality of the law. They didn't care about people who'd contacted me (using our contact info on this site) fearful of losing their good credit score because they no longer desired to pay for a product that they weren't actually receiving as promised.

After 1+ years haggling with AZ this is my conclusion: Our government(s) is(are) not about protecting the innocent, or those who obey the law, but those that bring in bigger "bottom-lines". We have officially evolved backwards towards a third-world country when this happens. It's not just DRI that is betraying us...but our own government which reneges its office in favor of those who further their gains.

It's not just DRI that needs to be brought to court, sadly. But - "who will guard the guardians?"

Not right, DRI. Not right, Arizona. There is a reality greater than the bottom line. Unfortunately for you, the equations will eventually be balanced and you will regret that you hoped your actions and inaction would go uncorrected. The correction will come and it will be more painful for you than for all of us. For only a little while longer we will experience the pain of ever having come across your pitiful business called Diamond Resorts International. If only I could warn the world!!!

RE: "I asked the lady who I spoke with what would stop them from assessing us $10,000! They can do anything they want. "

So, this was my complaint in Sedona. We asked Sunterra (of course they were hiding that they were in the process of being sold to DRI) whether the assessments would go up. They covered up the truth hidden in their "Statement of Information" required by AZ law. They didn't provide it before our signing (and only provided it afterwards in an unreadable format). They state that there is nothing to stop them from assessing any assessment they desire.

This is why the state's requiring this STatement of Information before signing is KEY! Only here do they tell the truth. And, that is why they don't give it until after you sign. And they don't provide give it in a way that it can be read. When I finally was able to open up the CD, in big, bold letters AZ requires them to write a notification: "We recommend that you do not sign documents until you read these disclosures." AZ knew it was problematic, you see. They think they're covered because they tell them to give it before you sign. But...if AZ doesn't hold DRI accountable, the law is useless.