The Manhattan Club

Manhattan Club Lawsuit

Mar 31, 2021

Here is a list of contact numbers at TMC sent by TMC: http://cepublic.manhattanclubinfo.com/vaw.asp?riid=6750&id=3B2B7A2E10F55F7C8C0D0773046519AC


Dks
Mar 31, 2021

Just contacted Zimmerman. It is not a class action suit. If you are not joining the lawsuit, you are not part of the settlement, if there is any. He sounded optimistic the case might be settled later this year.


L P.

Last edited by loisp65 on Mar 31, 2021 02:35 PM

Apr 01, 2021

Hello Rene We are also owners at TMC and have experienced the same headaches as so many other owners as evidenced by all the communication on this site. We have tried for years now to "sell back/give back" our unit to TMC to no avail. My wife has spoken a number of times to someone in PA who just keeps telling her we are "on the list"... We purchased in the 90's and have been paying the fee and taxes each year and in the last 9 years have not been able to use our unit at all.... previously, we also experienced the same nightmare of "no room available"... What, if any, update can you offer in regard to the contact you mentioned from Ashley Potestio to relinquish aka "Give back" your share/unit? Has there been any movement or conclusion to your request? We are anxious to be rid of our ownership and would gladly at this point, give it back... This year we have made a conscious decision to stop paying our annual fees and taxes... we realize this will impact our credit, but we can no longer justify the rising maintenance fees on top of not being able to make use of our unit... Any update information you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.... If there is a chance of relinquishing the unit in lieu of walking away, we would be very interested... Thank you, Frank Bonelli

reneei2 wrote:
I was a sales executive at the Manhattan Club for many years. I am also an owner. I bought flex time which Includes 3 weekends. I as my fellow sales associate co workers were told during our sales trainings and daily morning meetings that the maintenance fees would increase very minimal because our property didn't have the amenities as all other timeshare properties that are located in resort areas that have high maintenance fees due to the fact that those properties cost so much to maintain. Had I know that the maintenance fees were going to skyrocket, I would have NEVER bought a week of my own. Just like many of the people I sold to, and other owners who have bought in, I can no longer afford the maintenance fees. And I too could never get the days I requested when trying to book a reservation. I have been contacted by Ashley Potestio to relinquish aka "Give back" my share/unit. She is the manager of the "Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure Department". For those of you who have been contacted by Christine Stiles, we used to be co workers at the Manhattan Club together. She is now working in financial services based in PA.

Although I had bought my share at The Manhattan in cash, I am delinquent in my maintenance fees. I don't know if it is in my best interest to just "Give it back" after paying for my unit, plus all the years of maintenance fees I've paid in without inquiring about their class action suit. That is if there one even exists.

Renee Ippolito


Frank B.
Apr 03, 2021

Eichner is a total scam artist The MC is a cash cow for him and he is bilking the "owners" for millions every year. The AG settlement is a waste of time for what we owners have been put through. I can not believe he is out of the time share business One question is who is really running and managing the MC? - not Bluegreen. I understand they dropped out of the deal. Also, they have stopped making any improvement or investment in it and the place is showing it's age. Its only a matter of time and after Eichner has sucked every ounce of cash out of MC that it goes bankrupt!


Chuck N.
Apr 03, 2021

It seems in general, the timeshare industry is a scam and filled with crooks and crooked practices. It is an industry which needs to be looked into and highly regulated or not exist at all.


Dks
Apr 03, 2021

I agree with what you have written. I also am interested in knowing who actually is managing The Manhattan Club.I am surprised that they are still in business however I assume there are still many owners paying these outrageous fees year after year.


Kevin O.
Apr 04, 2021

If I knew what I know now about the time share industry I would never have bought 2 of them . Now my maintenance fees are north of $4K each and I’m not paying going forward. It just didn’t pan out the way they promised. Very sad and disturbing!! I’m wondering why their isn’t a over sight within this space. I may donate my timeshares to a charity. The names of some are : 1) Donate fir a cause2) Sky Youth 3) Gifts for Sight 4) The Charity Group 5) Helping Hands Across America6)Southern New Hampshire University Timeshare Donation Program


Gary P.
Apr 04, 2021

What happens when the timeshare is paid in full and the maintenance is paid until 2023. I am on the givebacks list and they don't know how long I will be there. Mind you they get to keep my 10,000.00 and I walk away from everything. they still are giving me a hard time. Why is that? We explained our situation and it's like "oh well" as far as I am concerned they could be making money on my timeshare right now. What's the holdup? Some information I wanted to share with the people who are still paying or stopped paying

Thank you

Jessie M Owens


Jessie O.
Apr 05, 2021

I have over the last 19 years


Gary P.
Apr 05, 2021

From reading some of the most recent posts, I can see that there are some newcomers to the "Manhattan Club" complaint sites who haven’t had a chance to dig into the history of The Manhattan Club (TMC) fraud. Frustrated over our inability to ever get a room at our timeshare, I started googling a couple of years ago to see if there were other owners as frustrated as I was. I really got an education when I found the RedWeek.com site, and reviewed all the pages of postings on their “Manhattan Club Lawsuit” link. There are literally thousands of owners who feel as cheated as I do, who have posted complaints. I've been following the RedWeek site since then, and the majority of owners have the same complaint; for years, despite paying our fees, we have been routinely cheated out of the use of our timeshare while the Eichner family and a small circle of TMC insiders have enriched themselves at our expense. The icing on the cake for me and my wife, and what finally convinced us to stop paying TMC, was when we read the NY Attorney General's July, 2015 court filing, which itemizes a remarkable list of allegations of civil and criminal conduct on the part of The Manhattan Club. This includes the charge that for years, Eichner has been personally skimming 4-6 million dollars a year from TMC through a shell management company that had no employees and provided no services to the operation of the timeshare property. In reading through the filing, I got sick as I learned how badly we have been cheated and how unscrupulous and devious the principals at TMC were as they perpetrated their fraud against us, in our case, for over 10 years. They denied us the rooms we were entitled to while renting those same rooms to the general public via the Internet. The enormity of the fraud and the magnitude of the numbers is staggering... at least 14,000 owners, 250 rooms, 52 weeks a year ( in some cases they actually sold more than 52 weeks a year per unit!) at $2500-$4000 annual maintenance payments each. If you haven't already read this court filing, it is a MUST read for any Manhattan Club owner. Here is the link to that 2015 AG court filing: You may have to paste it into your browser. You’ll be astounded at the mountain of evidence the AG has collected during his investigation of TMC. Reading it convinced us we had been defrauded and our contract broken, thus giving us grounds not to honor it ourselves, and rightfully ceasing all payments to TMC. https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=arMAhc2Z8epneiTXUbb_PLUS_yQ==&system=prod By withholding the last five years' maintenance payments for 2 units, we have kept approximately $50,000, and kept it out of the hands of the scam artists running TMC . Knowing what we now know, I'm amazed that anyone would voluntarily continue to send these crooks money. I encourage all owners to revoke your credit card authorization, stop sending checks, stop funding the effort of the very people who are screwing us. Please contact Jean-Marc Zimmerman, the attorney representing our group of defrauded timeshare owners, and ask him to represent you, too. You can reach him at 908-768-6408

Bob Biello rbiello2@gmail.com


Robert B.
Apr 05, 2021

Here is the website again:

https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=arMAhc2Z8epneiTXUbb_PLUS_yQ==&system=prod

Bob Biello


Robert B.
Apr 05, 2021

Barbara you should absolutely stop paying fees. Nothing will happen to your credit and TMC will do nothing . Eventually you will get a buyback offer that will let you $100 for your unit. I did not pay fees for 3 years and then took the buyback and I was so happy to get this albatross off my back.


Ellen Y.
Apr 05, 2021

For sure they are renting out all our units and making more money. They do not lose.


Gerry C.
Apr 05, 2021

If you donate them, they become responsible for the maintenance fees. They may not appreciate tgat


Roger S.
Apr 05, 2021

Donating to a charity is not good for the charity. It just transfers your maintenance burden to the charity.


Dennis C.
Apr 06, 2021

The charity does not have to accept the timeshare. You will still be on the hook.


William M.
Apr 07, 2021

The charities realize maintenance fees are attached


Gary P.
Apr 12, 2021

Why are we not suing the Board members as well? They are not representing us. Melissa


Melissa J.
Apr 12, 2021

melissaj288 wrote:
Why are we not suing the Board members as well? They are not representing us. Melissa

That is an excellent question. I have been questioning the conduct of the three “non-sponsored” members of the Board of Directors for several years. I have never received any response from my correspondence to the three Board of Directors. It seems that all they do is approve outrageous fees year after year and apply their names to threatening foreclosure letters.


Kevin O.

Last edited by kevin631 on Apr 12, 2021 05:37 PM

Apr 13, 2021

Fellow Owners, Thousands of us have been cheated and scammed for years by an unscrupulous band of crooks lead by Ian Bruce Eichner. The NY Attorney General conducted a multi-million dollar, 3-year-long civil and criminal investigation into their illegal conduct and then settled with Eichner and his cronies as they admitted their criminal conduct. They were allowed to walk away SCOTT FREE by paying a token financial settlement, and by promising to stop breaking the law. To add insult to injury, the AG agreed that the restitution will only be paid to owners who, despite being defrauded for years by TMC, continued to pay maintenance fees to the criminal enterprise. The NY Attorney General’s undercover investigators have evidence of all the fraudulent sales tactics recorded on video. The crooks admitted to it all as a part of the settlement! What CRIMINAL punishment is being imposed? NOTHING! And they are still violating the settlement with impunity! I’m having a hard time understanding why everyone on this site is not cheering at the thought of finally having a lawyer who is willing to take on TMC on our behalf with each of us only being asked to contribute a small retainer; less than we have been paying EVERY YEAR in maintenance to TMC. The sale to BlueGreen has apparently collapsed, so now is the time for us to take aggressive legal action and bring pressure to bear.

Please stop rationalizing over why you can’t, won’t, or shouldn’t take any steps to fight back. After being screwed so badly and investing thousands of dollars, why would you consider walking away for a lousy $100? I want some justice, don’t you?! I want the people who cheated me to be held accountable, don’t you?!

I urge all TMC owners to contact Jean-Marc Zimmerman at (908) 768-6408 and ask him to represent you too.

Bob Biello rbiello2@gmail.com


Robert B.

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