And now for something totally different, I searched, I swear

In early Feb.09 we traded in 2 of our timeshares for one more suitable for us, Coral Resorts, Hilton Head. The resort gave us an $8000 discount for these 2 properties, and they have honored that deal. We then received a request from WB Marketing co. for quit claims, on these 2 properties, which we sent. Last week we received a bill for maint.and taxes. Phone calls to the county clerks where these 2 properties are located reveal that this marketing co. filed for deeds on several properties, BUT NOT OURS. Reading the fine print of our contract it states that the process of transference can take up to 12 months. Anyone with a brain knows that this is B.S. Had I known it was going to take so long we could have rented these two properties at a giveaway price of at least the maintenance fees. Never the less, it *appears* that we on the hook, by contract for the property assessments, at least until, WHEN? We assume, as owners of record we could still rent these two properties, but my wife, and I are vacationers, not rental agents, we want them gone. Now here’s the kicker, seems this marketing co. no longer exists! The WB Marketing Company 1500 Beville Road #606-323 Daytona Beach, Florida 32114 Phone and Fax 1-386-756-4512 or 1-386-259-4984 Email beth@wbmco.com Sooo, What now Maynard? Can we sell these 2 properties knowing that someone, somewhere is holding the quit claims? Note, I may have tipped my hand by recently attempting email contact, no response, but it has not bounced back. If they are filed with the clerks, but not transferred with the resorts, does that mean we are stuck paying assessments FOREVER? Does Coral Resorts bear any responsibility?

With all due respect, given the apparent intricacies of this situation, you should probably (and soon) consult competent legal counsel (...it MAY be best to seek out a FL bar attorney, in view of the "marketing company" location) to examine your situation. I'd first gather up, copy and organize ALL pertinent documentation, dates, names and places so that all of those details are clear and readily available for assessment.

Yours is a difficult and tenuous predicament. Many important and relevant details cannot possibly be known to (or confirmed by) readers here --- particularly how or when a "marketing company" reportedly entered the picture at all if / when your original transaction was directly with a resort. It's not at all clear (to me, anyhow) when, how (...or why) you reportedly "quit claimed" your ownerships over to a third party marketing company in the first place.

In any event, anonymous input from the Internet is definitely NOT the best avenue for legal guidance in this matter. In my personal opinion, you need a lawyer --- and soon. If those quit claim deeds suddenly (even if belatedly) now get recorded with the applicable County, the situation just becomes even murkier still...

I would contact Coral Resorts since they are the people you dealt with when you traded the your timeshares in for one at that resort. They are the ones that put you in the situation you're in and I would go to the ends of the earth to see that this was rectified by the resort ASAP ... it's their responsibilty, not yours, until this is rectified by the resort then they HAVE NOT honored the deal .... I'm perplexed why WB Marketing was involved in the first place since you did not deal with them, you dealt with the resort.

Sorry if I was unclear. We were made aware of, and gave consent to, Coral Resorts referring us to WB Marketing Co. at the signing of our contract, Oct.15, 08. We were also informed that the marketing co. was an independent, not affiliated with Coral Resorts. One would have to be a bit naive, to believe that there wasn't some type of working relationship, for it was mere moments after we said no, that they *found* this marketing co. At the time it sounded like a pretty good deal. We get a property we're more likely to use, and has far more trade value, we get rid of two of our loser properties, and their assessments, without hardly having to lift a finger, plus we get $8000 off the sticker price. They originally tried the, we can rent your properties for you routine,(LOL), before they finally came up with this deal. The marketing co. contacted us for authorizations, and quit claims which were sent, Nov.5, 08. They then contacted us for finale documents, and authorizations for a WARRANTY deed, which was sent, Feb. 5, 09. Somewhere around this time we paid the assessments on these two properties, and understandably so. WB Marketing Co. filed dissolution, and went inactive Sept. 25, 09. Any, and all input, and advice from members would be greatly appreciated until we seek legal counsel, which will be soon!

dd

We probably won't do anything without first getting some form of professional, or legal advise. I must say your response is creative, thoughtful, and dare I say, imaginative, and who knows, that just might work. Thank you! Wish I'd thought of it.

karik27 wrote:

...deed it to a straw party and then back again to yourself...........that might work.

It might "work" --- or it might instead be construed as an overt act of willful and pre-meditated fraud, particularly since the OP has ALREADY previously signed a quit claim deed over to someone else -- a deed which could actually be officially recorded at any time by the grantee....

OP can certainly choose his / her own course of action, but I will again simply repeat my advice to first seek competent legal counsel before independently (and very unwisely) pursuing ANY "creative" or "imaginative" (...but potentially criminally fraudulent) alternatives.

Well said, and point taken. I believe karik27 was half kidding when he said, "....................that might work", and I have to admit that for more than a few moments my minds gears were turning. I can assure you that we will seek counsel here locally first, and in Florida if need be. The, "grantee" is, The WB Marketing Company, --- which no longer exists, hmmm, there go those gears again. ;)

aimeeb18 wrote:

The "grantee" is The WB Marketing Company, --- which no longer exists.

Many important and relevant facts and details are unavailable here, but one reason I specifically suggested contacting a FL bar attorney (...and just for the record, I am NOT one...) is that you may not really know (or be able to conclusively determine from afar) whether this particular "business" is actually lawfully dissolved, or merely has no functional address / telephone number at this time. This distinction COULD be important if there is one (or more) named individual(s) within in that "company" organizational documents who can possibly now be chased, found, served and perhaps ultimately be held personally accountable.

In any event, I wish you luck; this is not a situation likely to be easily or quickly resolved. Until a new deed gets officially RECORDED with the applicable FL county in the name of another, it would appear that YOU may well still be appropriately regarded as the ongoing owner of record in the meantime. Maintenance fees, interest and late fees will continue to steadily accrue, so initiating some proactive measures sooner rather than later would certainly be in your best interests. Again, good luck.

P.S. All of the necessary and pertinent facts and details are not in clear evidence or available here, but with the limited information presented thus far it would initially seem that you don't (and won't) have much (if any) recourse directly with the resort itself. The resort (or so it seems to me) has already fully met its' obligation, having provided you with $8,000 in value toward your new purchase. Unless the resort had some sort of known (and demonstrable) ownership or fiduciary affiliation with this (...possibly now defunct?) "marketing" company, I fail to see how the resort could now actually be in any way culpable for the actions, inactions, decisions or failures of an entirely unrelated and independent business entity (assuming, of course, that the "marketing company" really and truly IS (...or was) unrelated and independent of the resort.

Have you contacted Coral Resorts ..... I still say they are responsible for all of this ... they were the ones that recommended the marketing company that you say is no longer in business ... the resort should be held accountable.

I also have to ask why you signed a contract that stated it could take up to 12 months for completion of the transfer? I've never heard of a transfer that took 12 months.

dd

karik27 wrote:

I don't see why it wouldn't work........if someone promised you something; a deed was signed and never recorded then it simply doesn't exist in the eyes of the recording agency. Beat them to the punch; do another deed to someone; then redeed back to your self..........once your first deed records, then that 'wild deed' is moot.........? I'd be curious to see what your legal team would say.

From what I gather, she doesn't want the deeds any longer ... she traded them in for a unit at Coral Resorts. The problem is the deeds are still in her name and she is still being billed maintenance fees by the two resorts she supposedly traded in to Coral Resorts because the marketing company didn't follow through ..... there's something very fishy going on here, it would seem, between Coral Resorts and some sort of bogus marketing company.

jayjay wrote:

I've never heard of a transfer that took 12 months.

Based on the limited information provided, one possible scenario / explanation which I can envision here (..and I readily admit that it's nothing more than an educated guess) is that the "marketing company", much like the practices common to some "PostCard Companes", may have actually *intended* to find a buyer (on eBay or elsewhere), knowingly and willfully declining to record the quit claim deed in the meantime(showing THEM as grantee) UNTIL such time as that new buyer was (hopefully) found. At that time, the OP "quit claim" deed could be promptly recorded and then be (virtually immediately) followed by a warranty deed recorded in the name of a new buyer / grantee. Writing the "...up to 12 months" time period into the contract was likely consciously and deliberately done by the marketeers NOT because it ever takes that long to actually record a deed (it certainly doesn't --- not anywhere), but instead to "buy" themselves plenty of time to go out and find a new owner / buyer / grantee. By this strategy, the cagey "marketing company" would keep itself legally detached and "off the hook" from any and all maintenance fees, etc. which would accrue. However, maybe when tough economic times (and an increasingly cautious and skittish timeshare buyer populace) perhaps "starved" the marketing company out of viability, perhaps they simply decided then to just give up, close their doors and walk away.

Imho, once again, competent legal counsel should be sought before concocting any creative "self-prescribed solutions" --- some of which could potentially constitute outright fraud. No need to create bigger problems than those already sitting right there on the table now. Creating more "wrongs" won't magically make this matter "right".....

aimeeb18 Now here’s the kicker, seems this marketing co. no longer exists! The WB Marketing Company 1500 Beville Road #606-323 Daytona Beach, Florida 32114 Phone and Fax 1-386-756-4512 or 1-386-259-4984 Email beth@wbmco.com

Another thing, you say the marketing company no longer exists ... how do you know that ... did you try calling the phone number or what?

jayjay, of coarse!!! The first thing we did when we got the bill was to try and contact them. The two numbers listed above, “have been disconnected, and are no longer in service”. Their simple one page website, wbmco.com, is still up, but trust me, nobodies home but the date stamp. The address now belongs to a religious drug, and alcohol rehab clinic, in a strip mall, and this may take a little effort on your part, but I believe you, and others will find it useful,-- go to sunbiz.org , on the left, click, look up business name, now, click, inquire by name, type in wb marketing company, they are on top of the list, click their name. Now you tell me, what do YOU make of that? And yes Virginia, I have tried to track down Walter, Beth, Megan, and Cindy. I am sorry that my info has been fragmented, and “limited”, this is a work in progress. If you folks would like to know something, please ask. Something I just discovered last night, the prefab release forms for WB Marketing were FILLED IN BY the staff at Coral Resorts, and dated Oct. 14 ’08. The contract to purchase is dated Oct. 15 ’08. Culpability? My wife, and I have set up an appointment with a real estate attorney, with timeshares on her shingle. We will keep you up to date. BTW, my wife Aimee set this account up long ago, I am her husband Todd.

dd

karik27 wrote:

....if the guess is that the marketing company no longer exists....

Creating duplicate, phony deeds as a "solution" (with valid, signed quit claim deeds already out there floating around in SOMEONES possession somewhere) is a truly and uniquely unwise plan, with all due respect.

If the "marketing" company was incorporated, there are names and addresses of the corporate officers on record (info easily retrieved from FL public records by a FL attorney, if so). In the Internet era, one can "run", but can only very rarely successfully "hide".

Doing nothing is obviously not a viable option. However, knowingly and willfully committing fraud by creating new phony deeds, while knowing full well that valid deeds were already prepared and signed (albeit not YET recorded) previously shouldn't be an option given any serious consideration either. The goal, as I see it, is to LAWFULLY get out from under the current unrecorded (...thus far, anyhow) deed. Perhaps a FL attorney can even "persuade" the resort into taking (and recording) a deedback and calling the whole thing a "wash". The resort might find this a more palatable choice than being potentially named in a lawsuit, being subpoenaed for depositions, hiring their own legal counsel and spending valuable time in court for the OP to get to the bottom of the matter. To get the grease, the OP need to promptly become a very squeaky wheel --- but hopefully in a LAWFUL manner. As already stated, initiating new wrongs will NOT actually make anything "right" here...

Finally spoke with an attorney, by phone. The first conversation was with an assistant, who I know as fact reviewed this thread, and possibly briefed her boss, who called me several hours later. While not ruling it out entirely, she advised against any type of straw deed filing. This is understandable, for a court could easily consider these *maneuverings* as intentional fraud. A thought occurs to me, and one I failed to mention to the attorney, and to you folks, what if we go ahead and put these two properties back on the market, and sell them? Which btw, would be over a year since they first acquired these deeds. Should it go to court, could it not be argued that we considered the deeds were abandoned by the WB Marketing Company? Should there be a lawsuit, wouldn't it take place in the courts where the properties are located? If these people can't even afford to file the deeds, and take possession, what are the odds of them mounting a long distance court battle? This attorney suggested contacting a Florida attorney, TO DO WHAT? Hunt down whoever is in possession of these deeds, and once found, again, TO DO WHAT? Ask them nicely to either, tear them up, or file them? And, at what cost? She also suggested contacting Coral Resorts, which is something we may do, but let’s face it, this will not be fruitful. When questioned on these two points this attorney had no response other than to state that her hourly rate starts at $250 an hour, (sigh). For those of you that are unfamiliar with attorney math, that is over six dollars a minute! Her price no doubt would have been much more if she would have known that the co founder of Coral Resorts, and the man that is holding our note, is in fact, also an attorney. In a, “LAWFUL MANNER”, indeed, btw, what’s in your wallet ken? Just kidding sir, your input has/is very much appreciated. Something to note, sensing that there wasn’t something quite right, this was the only timeshare of our 8 purchases, where we did not put down anything more than the minimum, and pay it off within the year. Our kindest regards; Todd,& Aimee

dd

aimeeb18 wrote:

She also suggested contacting Coral Resorts, which is something we may do, but let’s face it, this will not be fruitful.

Getting in touch with Coral Resorts was my VERY FIRST suggestion to you, but you wished to ignore it.

Coral Resorts are the ones that recommended the marketing company in the first place so the resort definitely has some responsibilty concerning this incident .... they may be able to help track down the deeds somehow.

I question why you are so hesitant to get in touch with the very people that caused this mess in the first place ... Coral Resorts.

If you don't follow the advice I and the attorney gave you, then I have no further suggestions to offer ... you're own your own .... good luck !