Manhattan Club Lawsuit

Kylie,

Thanks for the post.

How do the rest of us include active links in our posts?

Thank you. I will send a similar letter conforming to my fact pattern tomorrow. This is a big help. Everyone should do the same thing. The higher the volume of letters they receive, the more they will pay attention to the matter. No need to reinvent the wheel as far as composing the letter goes.

robertb1802 wrote:

Here is the text of my letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asking them to open a federal investigation into the fraudulent operation of TMC. Everyone is free to use as much or as little as they see fit. -------------------------------------------------------------------

February 17, 2015 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 1700 G Street N.W. Washington, D.C. 20552 Re: Manhattan Club Timeshare Scam Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to request that your agency open a federal investigation into the fraudulent and deceptive practices of the Manhattan Club and its related companies.

The Manhattan Club is a New York timesharing company from which we purchased and financed timeshares in 2005. They have recently been charged by the New York State Attorney General with committing fraud against its timeshare owners, and is now the subject of an extensive fraud investigation into all aspects of its finances. Here is the link to the press release issued by the Attorney General which outlines the charges against The Manhattan Club.

http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-announces-court-order-barring-sales-manhattan-club-timeshare-hotel

My wife and I purchased 2 timeshare units at The Manhattan Club in 2005, and entered into a financing purchase agreement for one of the units through their finance subsidiary, "O. Park Central LLC." Unfortunately, we learned right after we purchased that the sales pitch was blatantly false. Rooms were never available to us when we called to try to reserve, no matter how far in advance we tried to book. Rooms ARE NEVER available to timeshare owners who call to try to make reservations. We were mislead by sales representatives during the purchase of our units and we have been denied the right to use our units for many years. The Manhattan Club has engaged in a scheme to manipulate the issuance of room reservations which has denied owners rightful access. At the same time, cash paying, non-owners can easily purchase rooms on any of the hotel reservation sites on the Internet.

I would also like to make you aware that the NY State Supreme Court has issued an injunction against The Manhattan Club which prevents the timeshare organization from taking any steps at foreclosing against owners for non-payment whom they may have defrauded. The Manhattan Club is also enjoined from selling any new timeshares, or draining its bank accounts or the bank accounts of its affiliated companies. Here is the link to the actual injunction issued by the court.

http://www.ag.ny.gov/pdfs/Order%20signed%207-24-2014.pdf

My wife and I have excellent credit, and for 10 years we have diligently paid The Manhattan Club on time. However, we have come to realize that The Manhattan Club and its timeshare operation is nothing more than a "Ponzi Scheme", similar to the scam perpetrated by Bernard Madoff. We refuse to be ripped off any longer. We have reached the end of a reasonable person's ability to accept such dishonest and fraudulent treatment. We have paid them for 10 years for the use of a timeshare which they have continuously and routinely denied us access to.

Their conduct has been so egregious and has affected so many owners throughout the US that we are asking your agency to open a federal investigation into the fraudulent and deceptive practices of the Manhattan Club and its related companies. Estimates place the number of affected owners at 15,000-20,000, most of whom do not live in New York State, and makes it an appropriate subject for a federal investigation by your agency.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions regarding this matter.

Sincerely Yours, Robert Biello rbiello2@gmail.com

This was posted on Facebook:

Gregory Hyer 2:15am Feb 19 We received a phone call today from an attorney at the NY Attorney General's Office regarding our written complaint. Spent about an hour on the phone with her, going over details of our sales meeting with the Manhattan Club, reservation issues, billing issues. contact with the club and anything else to assist with the case. She said they were in the process of contacting as many owners as they could, starting with those who sent in written complaints. (I was told they did obtain personal contact information for all owners). If you have not mailed a written complaint into the NYC AG yet,, please do so now, so they will be sure to contact you to hear first hand your side of the story.

The Consumer Fraud Protection Bureau is asking for feedback on Deeded Properties but aren't including Timeshares Per Corrine on Facebook. We TMC owners with deeded timeshares should contact them to make sure timeshares are included.

The following was posted on the Facebook page by Jonathan Philipson. ======================================================= If anyone in this group is interested in joining our group to get a foot in the door with the AG investigation please contact me at jdp441@gmail.com. We need a pledge of $500. Thanks ========================================================

I just joined the law group. I urge everyone to email him to join. $500 is a small price to pay to at least get some legal advice to help us deal with this issue. If you want your interests represented with the AG, you must take action.

What is the email address for the NY AG office to send our complaint to? DFG

robertb1802 wrote:

The following was posted on the Facebook page by Jonathan Philipson. ======================================================= If anyone in this group is interested in joining our group to get a foot in the door with the AG investigation please contact me at jdp441@gmail.com. We need a pledge of $500. Thanks ========================================================

I just joined the law group. I urge everyone to email him to join. $500 is a small price to pay to at least get some legal advice to help us deal with this issue. If you want your interests represented with the AG, you must take action.

I'm not sure what each of us paying $500 to a "law group", i.e. a group of lawyers, "to get a foot in the door with the AG investigation" will do for us MC timeshare holders. As we all know, the AG is representing the State of NY, not the timeshare holders, and any punitive or other damages collected by the AG's action will go to the State of NY, not the timeshare holders. The most we can hope for is that the AG is able to stop the MC's past & present scams, of which they have ample proof from their undercover "potential clients." We won't get any money out of this. So what is this group of lawyers going to get out of the AG investigation for us, that costs us $500 each? They're not talking about a class action suit for specific damages, they're talking about "getting a foot in the door with the AG investigation" for a mere $500 each. We already have that for free. Does not sound like a good idea to me. And how do we know they really are a group of lawyers or that they'll do anything. I've been scammed enough already by TMC. I recommend everyone hold onto their $500 for the time being.

I agree with Sally. I think the only relief we can expect is the ability to get reservations at TMC with relative ease and, possibly, more reasonable maintenance fees. TMC will declare bankruptcy before giving any cash back.

When I purchased my MC interest, I received a title insurance policy from First American. I recently made a claim to FA to confirm to me that I actually own an interest in real property and that 100% of my "unit" had not been previously conveyed, thereby giving me nothing. I also claimed that the title I received was illusory since I was unable to use the interest or receive rents or profits from the interest. I don't expect anything, but have at it if you want to try. I think First American should be ashamed to involve itself with these crooks. They're one of the better title companies out there, and since I am a title attorney, I know.

Please advise us on the outcome of your claim. Thank you.

Hello; being an attorney, do you think it would be worth while to file a joint complaint with the Federal Trade Commission since so many owners live across NY state lines. What about the Federal Post Office, a complaint of mail fraud? My Email address is jpdeversr@icloud.com.

Robertb1802: thank you for the letter. Considering that the AG is representing the State of NY, not the timeshare holders, and any damages collected by the AG's action will go to the State of NY, complaints to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau look like the best possibility to not NY state owners. Just a thought.

One of the owners - Hyer (sorry for misspell) mentioned that he (she) received a phone call from the AG office. Just wondering whether he (she) is a NY resident or any other state resident.

Deborahn127, could you please kindly post your claim to FA ? I would like to make the same claim. Many thanks for your post. fibonacci1212@gmail.com

Many thanks to Kylie and Jeff Weir of redweek.com for their excellent customer service and integrity. redweek.com has single handedly informed and updated Manhattan Club owners with current and accurate information on the NY Attorney General's investigation of TMC. Kudos redweek!

In case anyone missed it, excuse the re-post: http://blog.redweek.com/2015/02/attorney-general-launches-outreach-to-manhattan-club-owners.html

The Attorney General's office is now following up with owners who have submitted written complaints. Many owners have spent over an hour on the phone with them, as a result - finally being heard. If you haven't submitted something in writing to them, you can still do so. The person in charge is:

Brenda Heredia of the Real Estate Finance Bureau, based in Manhattan. She can be reached at 212-416-8956; her fax is 212-416-8179. Her e-mail is: Brenda.Heredia@ag.ny.gov.

I don't see Ms. Heredia listed in the RE Finance Bureau. Are you sure this is correct contact info?

The Manhattan Club filed bogus mortgage documents with my timeshare. I paid for my timeshare in full within one month of purchase. Despite that the Manhattan Club filed and still has on file a mortgage for my timeshare purchase. They never pursued me for payment of this bogus mortgage. Several TMC owners contacted me with the same story. They paid in full but still had a mortgage filed in New York State's real estate records.

We also paid in full in a month I am skeptical that they did the same to us how do we find out? Also I think they did some funny stuff with the deeds.

My claim was denied. Unfortunately, I actually DO own an interest in a MC unit. I would be happy to send you my letter via email if you would like. Assuming that you have a FA policy, I think you should confirm that you actually own something.

Property record information is available online for Manhattan. http://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/2266/property-record-information you will be directed though this link. I printed out my deed and my bogus mortgage.