General Discussion

Timeshare Relief, INC

Feb 15, 2013

NEVER pay anyone an upfront fee to dispose of your timeshare. Your money and the scammers will disappear before your very eyes.


Don P.
Jun 12, 2013

I used to work for this company, or rather thier DBA Pacific Transfer. Here are some things you should know. You sign up with Timeshare Relief and pay them a couple thousand. They give your file to another office in their building called Pacific Transfer (they also own this company) and the agents there send you the paperwork (LPOA) which is a power of attorney only for the purpose of transferring your timeshare (Limited). You sign and get notarized. They either record a deed in the county where the resort is located (can be time consuming) or work with the resort to transfer your membership/points. It has to be transferred to someone so they use another company, not owned by them. This is where the sketchy stuff happens. This company is based out of another state but doing business in the same building. They put it on ebay. If it doesnt sell, they put it in someones name who, does in fact exist, but may or may not ever pay the fees. In fact, they change this persons name once the resorts start refusing to transfer because that person now has ten timeshares they are not paying fees on. Timeshare Relief does want to help (of course they want a lot of money for something you could work out with the resort yourself) but they ignore the less than ethical means by which they are helping you and turn a blind eye so they have plausable deniability. Most resorts, if you call them and let them know you are about to sign with these companies, will help you out, just to avoid the potential problems. Always try to work with your resort first. They charge a fraction of the cost. You can also contact the county recorder in that area for assistance with deeds and recordings. Its much cheaper and less time consuming.


Anonymous P.
Jun 12, 2013

Call Manhattan Club, they do take some memberships back.


Anonymous P.
Nov 13, 2013

This company is a bunch of crooks and bigots. They are robbing you of your money by trying to charge outrageous fees which Donate for a Cause will do for a fraction of the price or you can contact the resort directly yourself. Timeshare Relief, Aston Marketing Group, MSIQ merchant solutions, Black wolf, grey wolf, Pacific Transfer, Transfer America, Transfer Smart, Lease to own reality, Donate Title, Resort Members Acco., Resort Management Acco., pretty much any and all of these companies are set up to lure in people who don't know the new name so they can scam you. Brain Walsh is probably the worst offender of this followed by Robert Podlesni under instruction under the CEO David Halpern (a loser who failed with his own scam timeshare relief company and was then brought in for these). They hire people based on how dire of a situation they are in so they may force people to work minimum wage. They even used to screw employees by filing taxes as if employees were shareholders and lying to the IRS. They also use the title transfer company that they own (which is illegal) to "complete" these deals which they usually sign into one of the people who works there name until they can find a live buyer for it. They also lump in Vacation smart International and Destination Vacation 365 to lure you into an overpriced vacation package which doesn't save you any money at all and always back pedal on their word, including but not limited to, ripping people off on "free" airline vouchers, most of which never existed. They also own Lease to Own reality (Lease 2 own reality) another scam company with the sole purpose to screw you at every chance.

All in all do not use or support this company by any means. There are much better solutions to your timeshare without having money stolen from you by these people.

Resort Member's Association owned by David McMillan. He also owns TimeshareCure, TransferSmart, Right Choice Transfer, Pacific Transfer, Pacific Title, Pacific Property Transfer, Timeshare Relief and a few others. Pacific Transfer is a DBA for Gray Wolf Transfers, Inc, which you can see here:

http://www2.dre.ca.gov/PublicASP/pplinfo.asp?License_id=01916780

They are only registered as a corporation, and they have none of the required real estate licenses to render the services they claim to offer. Most of the other companies aren't registered at all, they don't exist on paper.

Also, here is a list of various lawsuits and investigations:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2013/06/docs/130606timesharechartactions.pdf

On page 3 under California you can see that TransferSmart has been issued a Final Order to Desist and Refrain for operating illegally in California. On Page 4 second from the top you'll see Donate Title (Resort Member's Association) where it says, "Referral to the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General ("OAG") for purposes of enforcing a subpoena under CGS § 42-110k. The OAG will be seeking a court order requiring compliance." and there's an ongoing investigation.

These companies are all registered to an address in Torrance, CA. I know someone who visited the address, and there is NO OFFICE THERE! Mr. McMillan's address however up in Palos Verdes is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in California if not the nation (it must be nice, I wonder how he sleeps at night).

On occasion there will be a fluke and a property will actually be transferred, but keep in mine this has been done illegally and you will then be involved in an illegal operation.

You can report them to the Police Department in your area but make sure they know to forward the complaint to the Police Department in Torrance, and also to forward the investigation to your financial institution.

You can file online FTC complaints here:

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/#&panel1-1

You can file FBI complaints here:

http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

You can file Complaints with your Attorney General, the Attorney General in Florida, and file a complaint with CA Bureau of Real Estate here if you'd like:

http://www.bre.ca.gov/Consumers/FileComplaint.html

...and don't forget to file complaints with the BBB as well, because some people still assume that a good rating on the BBB means a company is trustworthy.

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, I do not give legal advice, I'm merely a person who did the basic research for information that the average person might not know is readily available. (all information anyone can find on Google). If you choose to file any complaints or reports based on my information it is because you have made the decision to do so. Any decision to file these reports should be preceded by your own research. Don't take my word for it, do the research and if you so choose to, file your respective complaints based on a well informed decision to do so. Good luck!


Anny G.

Last edited by annyg on Nov 13, 2013 11:52 AM

Nov 14, 2013

anonymousp2 wrote:
I used to work for this company, or rather thier DBA Pacific Transfer. Here are some things you should know. You sign up with Timeshare Relief and pay them a couple thousand. They give your file to another office in their building called Pacific Transfer (they also own this company) and the agents there send you the paperwork (LPOA) which is a power of attorney only for the purpose of transferring your timeshare (Limited). You sign and get notarized. They either record a deed in the county where the resort is located (can be time consuming) or work with the resort to transfer your membership/points. It has to be transferred to someone so they use another company, not owned by them. This is where the sketchy stuff happens. This company is based out of another state but doing business in the same building. They put it on ebay. If it doesnt sell, they put it in someones name who, does in fact exist, but may or may not ever pay the fees. In fact, they change this persons name once the resorts start refusing to transfer because that person now has ten timeshares they are not paying fees on.

Resorts are starting to catch on to the the above Viking Ship operations. Many resorts are insisting on verification of the transfer of ownership to another person.


R P.
Oct 12, 2016

Do you know if this company is still in business?


Stacy G.
Jun 22, 2017

It's not as hard to get out of these contracts as consumers think. Most companies are putting it in their budget to pay for cancellations now. I know my old site budgeted for a few million because they know there are MANY companies now that are assisting with cancellations.

The reason many companies often collect fees upfront is because no one wants to pay someone to get them out of their contract...... a lot of people feel as though they lost twice if they have to pay ANOTHER fee just to cancel something they have paid a ton of money into. Once the consumer is free and clear of their deed or contract they fail to pay the company that helped cancel their contract. Just being honest of how it works and why some companies ask to be paid upfront.

Whats even more sad is when we get calls that people want help SELLING their timeshare. That's like selling someone a lemon car. Many timeshares are for list for sale for $1 on eBay because they just want relief from MF.

Timeshares aren't necessarily bad, it's just people aren't properly taught how to purchase them.


Sara M.

Last edited by phyl21 on Jun 22, 2017 04:17 PM

Jun 22, 2017

Saram280 is a SCAMMER posting his or her SCAM in several threads in the forum. I reported the SCAMMER to Redweek. Anyone dumb enough to contact this low life deserves to lose their hard earned money .


Don P.

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