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Re: Manhattan Club Lawsuit (by Jonathan P.):
Here is a letter from Mr. Wasser that I think explains the purpose of our group and what we are trying to accomplish. Please let me know at jdp441@... if you would like to join the cause. Jonathan
Hi Jonathan - You asked that I describe my conversations with Manhattan Club time share owners who call and ask about our group. I get about 2/3 calls per week, and I spend about 20+ minutes each with them (and don’t charge that time to the group.) The first thing I tell callers is that we’d love to have them as part of our group. And then I describe what our group hopes to strategically accomplish.
I make it clear that we have no current plans to commence a suit against the sponsor. We don’t have the resources for such a suit. At least one previous privately brought action has been dismissed by the Courts.
I have long believed, even before the current NY Attorney General action, that the best and most cost-efficient way towards relief was through the NY Attorney General's office. The Attorney General has the resources and the full weight of government to go toe-to-toe with the Manhattan Club sponsor. It took a while for the Attorney General to get up to speed, but I think that for the past year they have been doing a bang-up job and have kept the sponsor on his heels.
Will the Attorney General action continue? Will the Attorney General arrange things so that relief will be awarded to all time share owners? Will all time share owners equally participate in any award of relief?
Time share owners understandably want answers to those questions. But there is no way that anyone can give an answer these questions in good conscience. We just don’t know. I think it's clear that fraud has occurred. I also think that at the end of the day, the Attorney General will compel some relief. Who will benefit and how much? No one can say at this point.
However, all time share owners are the victims of fraud, and that provides common ground.
Our group was created in the hope that we could establish some sort of relationship with the Attorney General's office. We've communicated certain things to Attorney General over the past few months which we’ve learned from our group members and which we hope will factor into the Attorney General’s view of the case. Also, the larger our group becomes then the larger the feelers we will have to put out, and the bigger the information net we can make available for the benefit of the Attorney General.
If our group becomes large enough then I'm hoping that we might even be consulted if the Attorney General seeks owner feedback on a settlement proposal - though I can't promise that.
Finally, we keep track of the Attorney General’s filings in the pending Court case as it progresses, and report to the group members as to these filings.
Doug