Federal Trade Commmission cracking down on upfront fee scammers ....

Court halts business at Lauderdale timeshare company

October 29, 2010|By Nirvi Shah, The Miami Herald

A federal court has agreed to temporarily shut down a Fort Lauderdale company that promised to deliver buyers to timeshare sellers across the country.

The Federal Trade Commission said Friday that Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group, two related companies, and six individuals are out of business for now while the FTC continues to investigate. Complaints say the company charged sellers an upfront fee — sometimes $2,000 or more — and promised it had a buyer lined up to buy the property.

But after the company got its money, customers learned there was no seller and found it difficult to get a refund, authorities said.

The case is part of an ongoing effort by the FTC to crack down on businesses that take advantage of consumers hit hard by the economic downturn, spokesman Mitchell Katz said.

The FTC said the number of complaints related to fraudulent timeshare resales has more than tripled in the past three years. In Florida, the attorney general's office and the Better Business Bureau have received thousands of complaints about timeshare resale companies including Timeshare Mega Media, rated an F by the BBB.

There is little demand for timeshares, properties bought to be used at least a week each year, and thousands are on the market.

In Henry Watson's case, selling his timeshare near Walt Disney World made sense now that he is retired from a job in New York and living in northeast Florida.

Watson, 70, paid a Virginia company about $100 to list his timeshare for sale. Then Timeshare Mega Media called, saying it had a buyer lined up if he would pay $999. But Watson's timeshare was never sold and he is still out the $999.

The FTC complaint says company representatives at a telemarketing boiler room on Oakland Park Boulevard told Watson and other customers that the fee they charged was for sales-related costs and would be refunded at closing. But after they paid, would-be sellers were sent contracts to advertise their timeshares, not sales contracts.

The complaint names Timeshare Mega Media and Marketing Group Inc., also doing business as Timeshare Market Pro; Tapia Consulting; Joseph Crapella, also known as Joseph John Philbin; Pasquale Pappalardo; Lisa Tumminia Pappalardo; Pasqualino Agovino; Louis Tobias Duany and Patricia A. Walker.

Phone numbers listed on the company's website were not in service Friday.

Watson said he isn't sure he will ever get his money back, but he is glad to hear the company may be closed.