Manhattan Club Lawsuit

I don't know how sanguine you should be. I completed the paperwork in May of 2021 and have been sent the exact same email each time I wrote to ask about the disposition of my ownership interest: "We have all we need. Your account is deactivated and you are no longer an owner. The check will be mailed to you, just not sure of the timeframe. Thank you." When I check the New York state property records though, no transfer of ownership has occurred, so technically I AM still an owner and I suspect you are too. Does anyone know what's happening? Are they saving them up in batches for Bluegreen? Or is another scam about to be uncovered? Do we have to go back to the Attorney General's office or is there some other place we can pursue consumer protections?

Please reach out to Mr. Zimmerman at JMZ@TMCSuit.com, to discuss this issue.

I have owned since July 2000, always paid my dues on time, enjoyed the visits, which for many years were a bargain if only considering the maintenance fees. Got plenty of perks back then, including extra nights at Park Lane. For past 5 years could not visit for various reasons, and sold usage or deposited with RCI. When time came to pay current fee in advance, I declined, saying I would prefer to wait until the very last minute, since I had placed my name on THE LIST several months ago. I was rewarded with give back offer "in lieu of foreclosure". To confirm I am no longer an owner, I submitted a reservation request by email, and got a reply that I am no longer an owner and not eligible to reserve. I loved my visits, never thought I would not be able to recover maybe half of my outlay. Sad to admit I was scammed by the big guy, but happy I am out.

Why? I expect that we would be hearing more from folks involved with Zimmerman if he was making any progress. It has been years, and I understand his fees are going up.

Great attitude! I couldn't agree ore.

peterh25 wrote:

I have owned since July 2000, always paid my dues on time, enjoyed the visits, which for many years were a bargain if only considering the maintenance fees. Got plenty of perks back then, including extra nights at Park Lane. For past 5 years could not visit for various reasons, and sold usage or deposited with RCI. When time came to pay current fee in advance, I declined, saying I would prefer to wait until the very last minute, since I had placed my name on THE LIST several months ago. I was rewarded with give back offer "in lieu of foreclosure". To confirm I am no longer an owner, I submitted a reservation request by email, and got a reply that I am no longer an owner and not eligible to reserve. I loved my visits, never thought I would not be able to recover maybe half of my outlay. Sad to admit I was scammed by the big guy, but happy I am out.

Before I agreed to buy back I insisted on them guaranteeing I would get papers to reflect the buy back. I made copies of the papers sent to me to sign before I sent them back. Eventually I was emailed the final papers and it took near a year to get the paltry hundred dollars back. You can go on ACRIS to check to see that you no longer own it.

Please see: https://www.docketalarm.com/cases/New_York_Southern_District_Court/1--20-cv-07042/Acklin_et_al_v._Eichner_et_al/

Responses to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss were recently filed.

I of course meant, "I couldn't agree more."

I was told it would take at least 9 months to get my check, and that my copy of documents signed by all parties would eventually arrive. I get the subtle feeling I might be getting scammed again, but still happy to be out.

Hi. I got the $100 back a long time ago, over a year or so, but when I checked ACRIS just now it shows the original purchase in 2011, but not the return back to them. Is there something specific I need to do to find it? When I search my name it comes up with the original documents and nothing since. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Patti

What do we search for on this website to find out?

I have some questions - who is actually buying back all these weeks? And is the owner of these repurchased weeks paying the full assessment on them? What is happening to the purchased weeks - they are practically worthless so no resale value. Are they being rented and if so, who is receiving the money? Is the Manhattan Club staff renting them and is the repurchasing owner (s) getting the same treatment those of us who are paying the annual assessment get if they are not paying the same amount in assessments that the rest of us are? I'm curious as to why anyone would want to buy these weeks if there were initially more weeks sold than were legally available for sale? Does the repurchaser get priority when booking his week?

Lots of questions about the mysteries of TMC's current status. Supposedly they are not allowed to sell timeshares as a result of the settlement with the NYS AG. So I'm not sure anybody outside of TMC knows what they're doing or intend to do with reclaimed units. Somewhere there is a grand plan, I presume.

But I want to address one you asked about number of units and the idea of overselling the inventory. Several plaintiffs in various cases over the years have lost on factual ground, because of their presumption that the 286 (or whatever) units could be multiplied by 52 and that was the inventory. In reality there were so many different plans, that nobody can tell you what the real inventory was. And nobody so far has been successful at obtaining the owner's list (some owners wanted to organize the owners). Some plans were every 2 or 3 years with restrictions on which days, and all sorts of combinations.

You can go on Travelocity and get a room at the TMC for a fraction of what owners pay per night. This is my biggest argument against against management. I believe TMC is nothing more than a hotel that owners are footing the bill for. I think their plan is become a luxury hotel. The fact that the building has been meticulously maintained is 100% owners money. If it wasn't for us they wouldn't have been able to pull off luxury. Now that renovations are complete and penthouses are finished they can make up thier loss of maintenance fees with hotel revenues. Eventually the price of the room stays will be unbelievable. That's my guess at what's happening here.

Distributing an owners list is a bad idea. Do you want people from all over the world to have name, address, phone number, etc.?

Isn’t there a suit which was filed a yr or so ago representing a few hundred of us . If memory serves me correctly the D.A. wouldnt take case. I thought at the time there were other options. Can anybody involved comment regarding this. Reason I ask is it seems highly unlikely we will realize any restitution. If so I understand why people are selling back units . Is there any reason for owners to think otherwise over foreseeable future

Ok I’m about to relinquish my ownership for 100. Is there anybody on this site who says this is a bad move. Lately there has been little from the one time vocal contingent which argued against. Is their still hope, especially from most recent suit ( a year or so ago) which held out hope. Thanks

I was thinking the same thing. I’m not paying my maintenance fee after this year. My contract ends in August. I also joined the law suit however I’m ready to give up as well. This whole process has been very stressful and my investment has become a piece of ****!

Agreed . The fact a suit against corruptness can’t be heard in a city such as nyc is mind blowing

kurtj22 wrote:

Ok I’m about to relinquish my ownership for 100. Is there anybody on this site who says this is a bad move. Lately there has been little from the one time vocal contingent which argued against. Is their still hope, especially from most recent suit ( a year or so ago) which held out hope. Thanks

As I have always maintained, it is a very personal and individual decision. Some people want to continue to fight. They don’t want to lose their investment and allow Eichner and his cronies to continue to get away with what they have. I can understand their point of view. I, on the other hand, had inherited 2 time shares, could not afford skyrocketing maintenance fees, did not want potential inheritance issues lasting in perpetuity and I didn't want to be tied down to going to NYC every year for two weeks. In addition, I didn't want to throw good money after bad by getting involved in lengthy lawsuit with no guarantee of a timely and satisfactory outcome. We already had suffered through a 4 year investigation with an additional 3 years waiting for them to dole out a pittance if any restitution and Eichner still getting away with fraud.