Anyone have experience with Castle Law Group, PC out of Tennessee

mikaey wrote:

Yes, I learned the lesson in a hard way. Since the seller is located in the same state as I live and very close, I am looking into bringing them to a small claim court. However, I really have to have a good strategy and again, persistence. In the end, they really misrepresented to me for the benefits I can get, plus no explanations about "negative" outcome. That is a clearly fraud to me.

You would have great difficulty pursuing a small claims court case, since your payment to Castle has already been refunded in full to you by American Express. In short, you have ALREADY been "made whole". Filing a civil suit against Castle would involve incurring significant personal legal expenses (...and having to get in line behind several "deep pockets" corporate entities already doing so). You could attempt to file a complaint alleging criminal fraud, but that would be a tough "sell" to busy prosecutors, particularly since you have already received a 100% refund (via American Express) of the upfront money you had previously forked over to those parasites.

I frankly don't see that you have any realistic further options available, unless you are willing to dig deep into your own pockets to file suit. Parasites like this "Castle Law Group" deserve all of the headache and inconvenience and scorn and exposure that can possibly be heaped upon them by the many consumers they have so shamelessly hoodwinked, but legal representation to pursue civil litigation would certainly be very costly.

Ironically, Castle Law Group principal Judson Phillips will have to hire and pay legal counsel to represent him in Federal court in Florida, since Phillips reportedly has no license to practice law in Florida. Personally, I hope that Judson Phillips has to spend a fortune in legal fees (and penalties) before all is said and done --- and I further hope that the "castle" ultimately crumbles and disappears FOREVER.

Let me know if you need a witness!

ken1193 wrote:

mikaey wrote:

susanl998 wrote:

Yes mikaey we were signed up with Castle Law Group, PC out of Tennessee Sue

I filed a complaint with Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. In the meantime, I disputed a credit card payment with American Express. Normally, you can only dispute within 60 days, but I did anyway. Board of Professional Responsibility opened my file and they had been communicating with me and Castle Law. In the meantime, whenever I got a letter from the Board, I sent a copy to American Express showing that there may be a disciplinary action against Castle Law. It took about 2 months, but I finally got a letter from American Express saying that they did own investigation and they credit the amount of $3,500. It was well worth the try. Although my original problem of getting out of Timeshare has not been resolved, at least I can use $3,500 to do something. Please do as I did, file a complaint against Castle Law and contact the Board of Professional Responsibility. There is an online form that you can file, but if not, fax # is (615) 367-2480. Any information you have should be clearly stated. Good luck.

Well done and congratulations! Calvin Coolidge (former Vermont governor and U.S. President) once observed that "Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent". Your persistence has clearly yielded some positive results for you. Castle Law Group actually has BIGGER problems now, having been named as defendants in several different lawsuits in Federal court in recent months. Judson Phillips is now headed for a day of legal reckoning.

I trust that you now know that paying money to some obscure entity will NEVER get you out of a timeshare ownership. It's time for you to pursue a "deedback" or a "giveaway" --- or maybe just simply walk away and allow foreclosure to inevitably occur. In any event, understand clearly that there are NO magic beans, elixirs or secret exit processes, so please don't pony up any more money to ANY OTHER upfront fee "exit / escape" parasites either.

I have had experience with them, they were suppose to help me get rid of my timeshare and possibly get my tax and maintenance fees back. I've been trying to get out of this since 2004, not too long after we bought it my husband found out he had a rare lung disease. We tried several times to make reservations, but they always said they were booked up, we gave a company over $600 to rent/sell it for us. Nothing has been mentioned from them at all. My husband passed away in 2006, I have no use for it anymore. I've owned it for 13 years and have never been there. I went online just going thru internet and came across Castle Law firm. I gave them a call. SOUNDED GOOD. I paid them over $2,000 up front. I heard from them quite a bit at first, then nothing. I read on web that they filed bankruptcy, and later I got an email saying they had a new email address and phone #. I've tried to call several times but message said due to high volume of calls, go to support@castlelawgrouppc.com. I've emailed them several times with no reply. I live on SS, I explained that to them. I can't afford losing that money. Please advise

jeffj321 wrote:

Hello maryw755,

Feel free to give me a call at the Firm. Ask for me direct. I will be glad to look into your file to provide some insight on the current status of your file. Thanks.

Jeff Johnson Castle Law Group, PC

Iliv I live

My advice would be to call the resort or have a family member on your behalf call the home resort and talk to someone who handles the deeds . You explain your circumstances and ask them to take it back . You should be firm and explain to them that you can no longer afford the maintenance fees and that it is in their best interest to take it back rather than let it go into default . You may even consider contacting a real estate attorney where you live and have them send a letter for you . At least you will be dealing with a licensed attorney right where you live and you have recourse if he fails to act properly .

I sympathize with your circumstances and I hope your home resort takes those into consideration and lets you out of your contract . Good luck and let us know what happens . Continue to monitor this forum for more ideas from others .

lindac1348 wrote:

I paid them over $2,000 up front. I heard from them quite a bit at first, then nothing. I read on web that they filed bankruptcy, and later I got an email saying they had a new email address and phone #. <snip> I've emailed them several times with no reply. I live on SS, I explained that to them. I can't afford losing that money. Please advise.

It saddens me deeply to have to tell you honestly that Castle Law Group is NOT going to ever voluntarily return ANY of the money you paid to them. It simply will not happen.

In my opinion, all you can really do at this point is to file a formal complaint against Castle Law Group with Tennessee state authorities. Read through this thread and you will find clear and specific instructions on exactly how to do that. At this late juncture, all you can do after filing your formal complaint is HOPE that restitution to Castle clients / victims MIGHT be ordered by the courts at some future point in time. Unfortunately, that is not likely to ever happen, particularly if Castle is now in bankruptcy, but filing a formal complaint would seem to be your one and only shot at ever even potentially receiving a dime back from those weasels. I am sorry that you ever chose to get involved with those deceitful parasites.

If your resort has not already foreclosed on your ownership for non-payment of maintenance fees over some years, DonP's advice to contact the resort to request a "deedback" should be pursued. If you have been paying those fees and the account is paid up to date and they decline to accept a "deedback", consider just STOPPING any and all future payments if the resort won't take back the ownership voluntarily, just letting them foreclose when they see fit. Make it THEIR choice. Good luck.

You are misunderstanding what I wrote. The case with Castle Law is done. I got money back and I am moving on to fight the Timeshare contract with the dealer who sold me the timeshare. That is what I meant, "bringing them to a small claim court."

ken1193 wrote:

mikaey wrote:

Yes, I learned the lesson in a hard way. Since the seller is located in the same state as I live and very close, I am looking into bringing them to a small claim court. However, I really have to have a good strategy and again, persistence. In the end, they really misrepresented to me for the benefits I can get, plus no explanations about "negative" outcome. That is a clearly fraud to me.

You would have great difficulty pursuing a small claims court case, since your payment to Castle has already been refunded in full to you by American Express. In short, you have ALREADY been "made whole". Filing a civil suit against Castle would involve incurring significant personal legal expenses (...and having to get in line behind several "deep pockets" corporate entities already doing so). You could attempt to file a complaint alleging criminal fraud, but that would be a tough "sell" to busy prosecutors, particularly since you have already received a 100% refund (via American Express) of the upfront money you had previously forked over to those parasites.

I frankly don't see that you have any realistic further options available, unless you are willing to dig deep into your own pockets to file suit. Parasites like this "Castle Law Group" deserve all of the headache and inconvenience and scorn and exposure that can possibly be heaped upon them by the many consumers they have so shamelessly hoodwinked, but legal representation to pursue civil litigation would certainly be very costly.

Ironically, Castle Law Group principal Judson Phillips will have to hire and pay legal counsel to represent him in Federal court in Florida, since Phillips reportedly has no license to practice law in Florida. Personally, I hope that Judson Phillips has to spend a fortune in legal fees (and penalties) before all is said and done --- and I further hope that the "castle" ultimately crumbles and disappears FOREVER.

mikaey wrote:

....I am moving on to fight the Timeshare contract with the dealer who sold me the timeshare. That is what I meant, "bringing them to a small claim court."

You certainly were not at all clear about your intentions, but I nonetheless wish you luck. I have spent a fair amount of time in court cases (...on the prosecution side only) over the years, but I frankly have no idea where you are going (or planning to go) with a small claims court case regarding a timeshare purchase which you (presumably) made voluntarily and of your own free will. I think your chances of successfully "challenging" that purchase now are essentially zero, but if you have the time and resolve to pursue this avenue anyhow, I certainly wish you the best of luck.

Anyone who is having the problem with Castle Law Group, please do as I said. File a former complaint to Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. The homepage is http://www.tbpr.org/for-the-public/complaints-and-inquiry You need to do this first and present all the necessary documents. After they open a case, they will let you know the file # and any correspondences must link with that file #. I can’t emphasize enough for you to act accordingly. If you are not confident to write a letter to them, ask your kids or anyone to help you out. Remember, you are not a lawyer, so technicality should not matter. (This works as your advantage, because you are free to say anything) Some said, file a complaint with Attorney General, but this won’t work, since Attorney General deal more with consumer matters. Filing a complaint against attorney must be placed in a special category, since they are licensed by state. Good luck and ask me if you have any questions.

You are right that I purchased a timeshare with my will, only because based on the information that they provided, which turned out to be false and deceiving. I already consulted a lawyer which were provided by my church and he gave me a few possibilities. I am strategizing my case.

yes... all bad. I hope this isn't too late.

also will have trouble with any of those who get their money up front. I understand from my efforts they don't have to do anything for a year except collect your money. I got relief from TS resort by my efforts. I refuse to pay the company (not Castle Law) and they are threating my with collection agency, bad credit, etc., but I did all the work. They can't get blood from a turnip. I have complaints with every State Attorney General office where they might have a tentacle. We must ALL disturb them as much as we can. They are as bad or worse than TS sales people

I have been defrauded, Castle Law Group PC out of Tennessee promised me cancelled my timeshare with Tahiti Village, Las Vegas, I paid them in full in October 2015 and kept contact with their representative, Chris Butler, Angela, attorney that my account is the process of being completed, last time I spoke to Angela, Chris Butler was on 05/03/17 and was promised that my account will be done. I have tried again and again to call them with no return calls and now I can't leave any message. I paid for their services via credit card in 2015. I would like to get my money back, but they're avoiding me. The Castle Group PC is a fraud and taking advantage of people like myself out of our funds, plus no closing my timeshare acccount.

Javier Sandoval PP

javiers31 wrote:

I have been defrauded, Castle Law Group PC out of Tennessee promised me cancelled my timeshare with Tahiti Village, Las Vegas, I paid them in full in October 2015 and kept contact with their representative, Chris Butler, Angela, attorney that my account is the process of being completed, last time I spoke to Angela, Chris Butler was on 05/03/17 and was promised that my account will be done. I have tried again and again to call them with no return calls and now I can't leave any message. I paid for their services via credit card in 2015. I would like to get my money back, but they're avoiding me. The Castle Group PC is a fraud and taking advantage of people like myself out of our funds, plus no closing my timeshare account.

Don't shoot the messenger, but there is NO chance that Castle Law Group is ever going to voluntarily return any money to you. No chance whatsoever. You can attempt a credit card dispute, but since you indicate having paid "Castle" over two years ago now, a credit card charge dispute now (two years and several months later) will be very difficult --- at best.

You would be wise to follow the advice already provided elsewhere in this thread and file formal complaints with the appropriate state authorities in Tennessee --- BOTH with the TN Attorney General and, separately, with the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. Specific contact avenues for BOTH of those entities can be easily found by searching through this thread.

Your best hope of ever getting a dime back in this matter is *IF* the TN Attorney General goes after Castle Law Group for consumer fraud *AND* successfully prosecutes them *AND* obtains a court order for restitution to Castle "clients". Unfortunately, in my opinion, it is unlikely that ALL of those things will occur. Even if it got to the point of court ordered restitution, it is very likely that "Castle" won't have a dime left by then anyhow, not least because they are already looking at major legal defense costs in (3) separate civil lawsuits in Federal court. Also, they have reportedly filed for bankruptcy, which suggests (but certainly does not prove) that their "assets" MAY already be gone and that they MAY now be insolvent. The good news about that (if it's true) is that if they are now essentially "out of business", then they hopefully won't be taking advantage of any more new "clients".

By the time "Castle Law Group" finishes with the (currently three separate) lawsuits already in progress against them in Federal court, filed by corporate entities, "Castle Law Group" will be lucky to even continue to exist AT ALL. Who knows? Castle principal Judson Phillips might end up being disbarred and working in a "Tea Party" mail room, putting stamps on envelopes to solicit "Tea Party" contributions.

I am sorry for your predicament. Regrettably, your faith in those weasels was completely unfounded; it was a mistake to have ever paid them a single penny.

Apart from your unfortunate involvement with "Castle Law Group", you are still going to have to initiate action on your own regarding potential "deedback" to Tahiti Village --- assuming that there hasn't already been a foreclosure. Good luck.

edwardb323 wrote:

also will have trouble with any of those who get their money up front. I understand from my efforts they don't have to do anything for a year except collect your money. I got relief from TS resort by my efforts. I refuse to pay the company (not Castle Law) and they are threating my with collection agency, bad credit, etc., but I did all the work. They can't get blood from a turnip. I have complaints with every State Attorney General office where they might have a tentacle. We must ALL disturb them as much as we can. They are as bad or worse than TS sales people

Very smart to contact all the AGs! Good work.

javiers31 wrote:

I have been defrauded, Castle Law Group PC out of Tennessee promised me cancelled my timeshare with Tahiti Village, Las Vegas, I paid them in full in October 2015 and kept contact with their representative, Chris Butler, Angela, attorney that my account is the process of being completed, last time I spoke to Angela, Chris Butler was on 05/03/17 and was promised that my account will be done. I have tried again and again to call them with no return calls and now I can't leave any message. I paid for their services via credit card in 2015. I would like to get my money back, but they're avoiding me. The Castle Group PC is a fraud and taking advantage of people like myself out of our funds, plus no closing my timeshare acccount.

Javier Sandoval PP

In addition to the advice given you might also contact the attorney general in your home state. AGs work together and can help each other collaborate with information, so the more people’s attention you bring this to, the more your chances of some kind of success increase. Understand that I’m not an attorney and I’m not giving you legal advice, I’m just pointing out facts.

Additionally, credit card companies allow you to file disputes and initiate chargebacks if you paid for something you never received. You might be able to get your money back through your credit card company.

I’m so sorry this happened to you and I wish you the best of luck.

mikaey wrote:

Anyone who is having the problem with Castle Law Group, please do as I said. File a former complaint to Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. The homepage is http://www.tbpr.org/for-the-public/complaints-and-inquiry You need to do this first and present all the necessary documents. After they open a case, they will let you know the file # and any correspondences must link with that file #. I can’t emphasize enough for you to act accordingly. If you are not confident to write a letter to them, ask your kids or anyone to help you out. Remember, you are not a lawyer, so technicality should not matter. (This works as your advantage, because you are free to say anything) Some said, file a complaint with Attorney General, but this won’t work, since Attorney General deal more with consumer matters. Filing a complaint against attorney must be placed in a special category, since they are licensed by state. Good luck and ask me if you have any questions.

Complaints can also be filed directly through Email at cap@tbpr.org and others have also filed complaints with the TN attorney general as well as the attorney general in their home state. I STILL get calls every single week on my personal cell phone from Castle clients, and I’ve been gone almost a year and a half. People tell me that they have also contacted the FBI as well as the FTC. Who knows what will eventually happen, but I can imagine that if so many people are complaining that eventually SOMETHING will tip the scales.

I’m SICK every time I get another call from another victim. When I worked there, we were led to believe that everyone was so noble and it was a “Christian law firm”. I don’t think Jesus approves of this...

Voluntarily deleted post. I had misread an email address referenced in a post above, but have since answered my own question (after putting on my reading glasses). (-:

basically you are saying "You have been educated. Education is expensive". Is there any class action I can sign on to?? While we are on Castle what about Vacation Consulting in Springfield MO? They seem to be crooked as well.

edwardb323 wrote:

basically you are saying "You have been educated. Education is expensive". Is there any class action I can sign on to?? While we are on Castle what about Vacation Consulting in Springfield MO? They seem to be crooked as well.

Your words, not mine, but you are nonetheless absolutely correct. Getting scammed is indeed costly. Unfortunately, it is also rarely reversible.

Castle Law Group is currently being sued in Federal court in Florida by three different corporate entities, each of which has their own well paid attorneys looking out for their corporate profit interests, not those of hoodwinked Castle "clients". If Castle survives those multiple civil lawsuits, it seems unlikely that they will have a dime left when all is said and done. In fact, Castle Law Group may very well not even continue exist AT ALL unless they somehow manage to magically prevail in those lawsuits (which is extremely unlikely --- at best, in my personal opinion).

To answer your question directly, there is no class action lawsuit to "sign on to", nor will there be one. That is simply not a realistic option. For starters, you would NOT find any attorney anywhere willing to touch this smelly Castle mess with a stick --- let alone invest time and effort to initiate a plainly futile class action law suit. Legal actions take time and money and you can't get blood from a stone, so what would even be the point of attempting a class action lawsuit against Castle Law Group? This input is surely not what you want to hear (feel free to shoot the messenger) but it is the simple and unvarnished truth nonetheless.

Personally, I'd like to see the Tennessee Attorney General go after Castle Law Group for consumer fraud, entirely separate and apart from any potential bar / law license action by the TN Board of Professional Responsibility. However, I cannot honestly say I am confident that will ever actually happen.

I repeat my prior suggestion to file formal complaints with the two separate TN state entities clearly identified elsewhere within this thread. The ONLY remaining hope at this juncture, in my opinion, is the VERY remote possibility of court ordered restitution somewhere far down the road. This is highly unlikely, at best, particularly if Castle Law Group has already filed for bankruptcy as has been reported. Filing formal complaints with TN state entities (which costs you absolutely NOTHING, by the way) is an easy course of action available to you NOW. Follow or ignore that recommendation as you may see fit.

You can look at all the different "exit" scammers you want, including the one you have named above; there are always plenty of them around. However, the plain and simple truth is that *NO ONE* possesses any mystical powers to magically extricate you from a legally binding contractual obligation. If you want to get out of a timeshare ownership, there are several courses of action to pursue, none of them costing a penny out of pocket. Paying big money to ANY useless "exit / relief / escape / rescue" operation is NOT going to achieve your desired result. Like it or not, there are no magic beans or secret "escape" processes out there. Nonetheless, it is your prerogative to throw more money at other useless "exit" parasites, but you'll only be making your "education" even MORE expensive if you do so.

Yes, We met with their consultant on October 28,2016. Have tried to contact them often . Left messages, no return calls . Have only spoken to some one, one time , she gave me a promise which is all we have ever gotten from them. Yes, of course they wanted their money up front . Now when I call they give me a number of another company to call. We feel that they took our money and said good bye.