Time Share Debacle

My parents were suckered into a timeshare almost ten years ago by Bluegreen in Gatlinburg, TN. They were drawn in by the notion of having blissful family vacations in cabins, chalets, etc. that housed 6-8 people. They felt this would allow all the kids the opportunity to vacation together at no cost. However, what they did not know then is that year after year we would not be able to have enough points to actually book anything that large because it was always either too expensive in any of the seasons they could travel or not available to book. So year after year they paid a high price and $1200 in maintenance fees, only to never be able to use it. They were being swindled. So they went to Bluegreen in an effort to find a way to actually use the timeshare they had purchased, at which point they were told verbally that for not much more they could almost double their points and afford to stay almost anywhere. The lady wrote on a napkin the new amount for my mom to see, but did not clarify that would be in addition to the loan they were already paying off, and it would re-define the terms of the old loan additionally. So they would now begin anew paying towards principle. They received their first maintenance fee bill of $2500...it had doubled. My father is on disability from a Government job due to a brain injury caused by a tooth infection that got into his blood stream & my mother works at Walmart. They can not afford to even take a vacation, and having double the points still did not help because hardly any of the timeshare locations had availability for 8 people as promised, and at all three vacation windows with family there were not any resorts available 6 months in advance in the points they now had. This is not nice! They prey on those least equipped to afford their services, and then make it nearly impossible to use it.

When they could no longer afford to maintain the new loan amount, that was now doubled...they spoke with a third party consultant online, who advised that what Bluegreen was doing was illegal and that there was documented litigation of many have gone through their company and been able to win their freedom from the program. My parents followed their "legal" advise to discontinue their payments and refuse all collection calls for up to 6 months while they fought on their behalf. They required that my parents send $2200 to them and they would handle everything with Bluegreen and file a form that would keep anything from affecting their credit score. My dad would get the paperwork in the mail when everything had been settled. Instead my parents received a letter this month that they were in litigation, their credit has plummeted and rates are skyrocketing on the credit cards that have not dropped them. When my parents called the company they were told that the lady they had spoken with has since left the company and nothing had been filed on their behalf, but they would get some paperwork to them right out to have signed to proceed. The paperwork they received was to file bankruptcy. They have been swindled yet again. Today they received a notice that their bank accounts can and may be seized. At a time that they should be relaxing and enjoying their retirement years, they are now faced with many painful life lessons...and a very bleak situation.

My question is, is there any recourse? It has now been 8 months since they defaulted on two loans and additionally they can not afford they maintenance fees, so they have not been paid for this year. How do I advise them? Who can we trust for sound advice? Will it be helpful to contact Bluegreen at this point?

Sincerely, Kristi

I would advise you to consult a local real estate attorney where you live. Don't fall for the attorney scams posted in the forums. There should be a competent attorney where you live. Most of them offer free consultation .

Good luck and let us know how it works out for them.

kristii6 wrote:

My question is, is there any recourse? It has now been 8 months since they defaulted on two loans and additionally they can not afford they maintenance fees, so they have not been paid for this year. How do I advise them? Who can we trust for sound advice? Will it be helpful to contact Bluegreen at this point?

I'm sorry I didn't see this earlier.

I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY AND NOTHING I SAY CAN BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE.

You've got two different cases here...the first is against Bluegreen and the second would be against the company that was supposed to help. Your main damages are with Bluegreen, so that is the case to pursue.

Some states don't require attorneys to have malpractice insurance and there are plenty of attys in those states that don't carry insurance. Don't retain an uninsured atty.

Your dream attorney is a licensed, insured, consumer law attorney that actually has experience with timeshares. There won't be very many attorneys that fit that niche, but it's worth trying to find one. Failing that, any licensed, insured consumer law atty would be acceptable.

It make take some work to find the right lawyer. Prepare a letter to email to dozens of law firms. Cut it down to a very short summary of the basic facts. This is a rough draft of what you might want to write:

My parents (include your parent's ages and state of residence at the time of their purchase) purchased a points based timeshare on DATE from Bluegreen in Gatlinburg, TN. The total cost of the first purchase was AMOUNT. They found it impossible to get the reservations they wanted. On DATE they met with Bluegreen to complain about the lack of availability. The agent told them they needed to buy more points.

On DATE, based on Bluegreen's omissions and misrepresentations of material, cost related facts, my parents purchased more points. The total of the second purchase was AMOUNT. They received their first maintenance bill since the upgrade and were shocked at the total. They cannot afford this increase in fees.

My father is on disability from a Government job due to a brain injury caused by a tooth infection that got into his blood stream & my mother works at Walmart. They can not afford to even take a vacation, and having double the points still did not help because hardly any of the timeshare locations had availability for 8 people as promised, and at all three vacation windows with family there were not any resorts available 6 months in advance in the points they now had.

We are searching for an attorney with timeshare experience who can take the case on a contingency basis. I have gathered all of the purchase documents and can provide them upon request.

Thank you for your time, SIGNED

This summary informs the attorney of everything he needs to know.

You may have to contact 60 attorneys before you find the right one. Start by emailing the biggest consumer law firms from your parent's state, then try firms in TN, and those located in the state that has Bluegreen's home office.

If an atty is interested in the case he will immediately ask you to send him all of the purchase paperwork. In anticipation of that, the sooner you locate those documents and scan them so they can be sent electronically, the better.

Don't read anything into the fact that almost all of those you contact will reject the case. That is normal and will have little to do with whether you have a good case. It's a matter of finding the right attorney, at the right time for that attorney.

Finally, feel free to contact me at sbharbision@gmail.com. I will help as much as I can.

Kristi, I am interested in learning more about your situation. Please give me a call. I am RedWeek's chief correspondent.

jeff@redweek.com 310-801-3479

kristii6 wrote:

<snip> When my parents called the company they were told that the lady they had spoken with has since left the company and nothing had been filed on their behalf, but they would get some paperwork to them right out to have signed to proceed. The paperwork they received was to file bankruptcy. They have been swindled yet again. Today they received a notice that their bank accounts can and may be seized. At a time that they should be relaxing and enjoying their retirement years, they are now faced with many painful life lessons...and a very bleak situation.

My question is, is there any recourse? It has now been 8 months since they defaulted on two loans and additionally they can not afford they maintenance fees, so they have not been paid for this year. How do I advise them? Who can we trust for sound advice? Will it be helpful to contact Bluegreen at this point?

I am sorry for your folks' predicament. It is an unfortunate fact and reality of the slimy and greedy timeshare industry that in addition to deceitful timeshare developer sales parasites (Westgate and Wyndham are the worst, in my opinion), there are also various secondary levels of parasites preying upon the vulnerable seeking to "escape" (always for a substantial upfront fee, of course, despte the collecting entity having absolutely no ability to effect any such "escape" in the first place).

Few legitimate attorneys will touch "timeshare escapes gone wrong", since they know that the associated underlying contracts are solid and were entered into VOLUNTARILY. The best your folks might be able to do at this point is consult with a local attorney to discuss and mitigate to the best of their ability the impact of inevitable foreclosure on their timeshare ownership, how to best protect themselves going forward, and how not to be frightened or in any way intimidated by (or even bother to respond to) any doomsday threats or scenarios from hungry third parties looking to take advantage and cash in on someone else's desperation. At the very least, in the meantime, they should NOT pay ANY entity another penny --- including ANY parasitic entity promising non-existent miracles. Good luck.