Manhattan Club Lawsuit

marthac189,

i've had the experience, and this is not an opinion........it's fact:

unless maintenance fees are paid for the reservation period that you want: " FUGGETTABOUTIT". your maintenance fee payment must be up-to-date BEFORE making reservations. the reservation dept may be able to tell you which of the dates you want are currently available, but no definite reservation can be made prior to maintenance payment.'

you could try to have the res dept hold the dates you want for a few hours, pay your maintenance fee, then book a definite reservation.

GOOD LUCK. i think we still miight be operating under "MR FRAUD, AKA, IAN EICHNER" until a legal settlement is available to us. who knows how long that might take? WE NEED HELP............................AND INFORMATION............. FOR US TO PROCEED FINANCIALLY BENEFICIALLY AND FAIRLY ACCORDING TO HOW THE LIES, SCAM, AND FRAUD HAS AFFECTED US ADVERSELY, FISCALLY AND OTHERWISE.

keep in touch.

chris

marthac189 wrote:

In the past my husband and I have been quite disturbed about the rising maintenance fees but have managed to pay them and get dates we liked if we booked 9 months ahead. Having to book so far in advance is incredibly inconvient and we have sometimes had to forfeit the days. Originally we looked into Redweek as a way to recoup some of the maintenance fee and we came across this group which I have been following for quite some time.

We just tried to make reservations. I checked and found the nights were available through Trivago. We then called member services and were told they were not available to us. They said they were the rental units and we are owners.

We have not paid our maintenance fee for this year yet because it is not due and because we understood from reading that it is advisable to try to make reservations before paying.

Any advice would be helpful. In addition paying the fee this year will be extremely difficult for us.

I'm confused about the rental on that other web site - does that mean one of the owners has listed his/her week for rent on that site? The Eichners aren't still able to rent out weeks, are they?

Anyone who pays the exorbitant maintenance fees is a sucker since rooms are available at better hotels for less...Doubletree is right on Times square ...it is newer, has MUCH BETTER elevators..and almost always has suites available whenever you want...that's why I'm not paying any fees to the crook!! ...Les Lindenberg

It horrifies me to think that someday if we are able to "return" our unit, we may have to pay all the maintenance fees that are outstanding plus the late fees that have been added before anything can be resolved. This is approaching $9000CAD for us so far.

chrisv126 wrote:

marthac189,

i've had the experience, and this is not an opinion........it's fact:

unless maintenance fees are paid for the reservation period that you want: " FUGGETTABOUTIT". your maintenance fee payment must be up-to-date BEFORE making reservations. the reservation dept may be able to tell you which of the dates you want are currently available, but no definite reservation can be made prior to maintenance payment.'

you could try to have the res dept hold the dates you want for a few hours, pay your maintenance fee, then book a definite reservation.

GOOD LUCK. i think we still miight be operating under "MR FRAUD, AKA, IAN EICHNER" until a legal settlement is available to us. who knows how long that might take? WE NEED HELP............................AND INFORMATION............. FOR US TO PROCEED FINANCIALLY BENEFICIALLY AND FAIRLY ACCORDING TO HOW THE LIES, SCAM, AND FRAUD HAS AFFECTED US ADVERSELY, FISCALLY AND OTHERWISE.

keep in touch.

chris

marthac189 wrote:

In the past my husband and I have been quite disturbed about the rising maintenance fees but have managed to pay them and get dates we liked if we booked 9 months ahead. Having to book so far in advance is incredibly inconvient and we have sometimes had to forfeit the days. Originally we looked into Redweek as a way to recoup some of the maintenance fee and we came across this group which I have been following for quite some time.

We just tried to make reservations. I checked and found the nights were available through Trivago. We then called member services and were told they were not available to us. They said they were the rental units and we are owners.

We have not paid our maintenance fee for this year yet because it is not due and because we understood from reading that it is advisable to try to make reservations before paying.

Any advice would be helpful. In addition paying the fee this year will be extremely difficult for us.

Chris, I agree, that it's still business as usual at TMC...Nothing has changed! I tried to be in touch with Louis Solomon at the NYAG's office. He returned my call that I wasn't here to receive. I have called him back twice to no avail...I am going to write him, to keep him/them informed and in the loop of what we owners are going through and the questions we have now, that might affect what they decide to do in the details of the settlement...it seems the only thing we can do.

After review of the NYAG/TMCNY settlement, here are my thoughts regarding the primary points: Based on the NYAG/TMCNY settlement terms, any owner who did not pay annual maintenance fees between years 2011 through 2014 will not be eligible for any part of the first disbursement stage of $3,250,000. Many of those individuals who did not pay, I am sure, will cry foul and/or not fair. However, the settlement outline is quite clear. The second and third stage disbursement of restitution are more open to interpretation. Although it is quite clear that individuals must remain a current TMCNY owner in good standing at the time of each stage of the restitution to be eligible. Additionally, I suspect that although not specifically stated, owners will have to be current regarding maintenance fees as well. My assumption is based on the fact that the qualifications and all disbursement stage descriptions are outlined in one section (#69). Furthermore, non-paid maintenance fees are part of TMCNY property revenue and value which will be calculated into the selling price of TMCNY when sold. Therefore, those said fees in arrears could continue to be eligible for collection by the future owners or current ownership could retain if more beneficial than write-off.

A suite at Doubletree at times square is about $350/night booking for a week in November.

How does that suite compare to what we have at the Manhattan Club - kitchenette- 2 bathroooms?

I checked the Doubletree suites - they are smaller and only have 1 bath. Plus, on top of the quoted rate, you would be charged taxes.

Hi Chris,

Our maintenance fee is not due yet. They said the dates were only available to renters, not owners. This has been a difficult year. If we can get the dates we want, although maintenance fees are exorbitant I will pay one last time and hopefully we will hear what happens with the settlement. Do you know if they flag accounts due to be paid that are up-to-date?

Thanks, Martha

That is $9000 the rest of us had to make up. Perhaps we should be first in line when payments are made.

sharon177 wrote:

It horrifies me to think that someday if we are able to "return" our unit, we may have to pay all the maintenance fees that are outstanding plus the late fees that have been added before anything can be resolved. This is approaching $9000CAD for us so far.

williamm465 wrote:

That is $9000 the rest of us had to make up. Perhaps we should be first in line when payments are made.

sharon177 wrote:

It horrifies me to think that someday if we are able to "return" our unit, we may have to pay all the maintenance fees that are outstanding plus the late fees that have been added before anything can be resolved. This is approaching $9000CAD for us so far.

According to what I understand about the settlement, which I read, is that those of us who have paid the maintenance fees and used the property will be given some money in the 2nd and 3rd years of this 3 year process.. Who knows how much that will be? I fault Eichner, not other owners for the situation we are in. All of us have different circumstances and we all did what we had to do according to our personal circumstances, to cope. I gave back one of the two timeshares I inherited, because I could not afford $6000 in fees. Let's not be hard on each other...we did not create this situation, Eichner and his cronies did.

Has anyone out there had any success selling their unit? As you know there are a plethora of companies that ask for say, $1,200 and say they will sell. Buy pays closing costs. I am in a situation where I can't keep paying the maintenance fees (current through 2017) and paying down what is in the estate I am executing. The time share is in my deceased sister's estate, and I am the administrator. And what does "three year process" mean. Thanks much, Tim

williamm465 wrote:

That is $9000 the rest of us had to make up. Perhaps we should be first in line when payments are made.

sharon177 wrote:

It horrifies me to think that someday if we are able to "return" our unit, we may have to pay all the maintenance fees that are outstanding plus the late fees that have been added before anything can be resolved. This is approaching $9000CAD for us so far.

Williamm465, I have no problem with you being first in line. I don't have a problem with not being in line at all. That was $9000 in Canadian funds. 1 USD = 1.30 CAD at the moment so it is actually much less that others are covering on our behalf. I also believe that although TMC says that is the reason the fees have risen, they would have raised them to that level anyway (because they can)

I'm not holding back on paying the maintenance fees out of spite...it breaks my heart not to be able to. I loved staying there. However, our situation changed and you can't get blood from a stone.

I am possibly interested in joining the class action suit. Please forward the paperwork.

Is there a class action suit in progress?? I was in hopes that those of us who were dissatisfied with what had transpired at Eichner's direction would be able to force him to repurchase our timeshares - after all, he claimed that they were such a good investment. He should want them back. I am very disappointed at the settlement - it let him off the hook with just a slap on the wrist.

defrauded-by-eichner owners,

who gives a ** about "sharing" the $6.5m fine that the court imposed on eichner. do the math: there are between 14-18, 0000 owners, according to who's counting. that amounts to about $2-300 per owner. that's close to the cost of a moderately priced nyc dinner for 3 or 4, personally, i want to keep what i own at TMC, under these circumstances.........without the pittance that appears to be divided among owners.

1. lower maintenance fees by 25% or more per weeks owned. 2. make desirable reservation time more readily accessible to owners. 3. give owners total priority over "other renters" who get accommodations via booking.com or other internet reservation companies.

at this point, according to the still-unknown settlement, my opinion is that RESTITUTION OF ANY KIND is a pipe dream.

i believe that, although this isn't a part of his legal duty, mr schneiderman, the nysag, should, out of moral decency, offer owners some form of firm and legal advice as to how to proceed prior to and after the so-called settlement. he should also be instrumental in speeding up the settlement process. many TMC owners are also new yorkers, eligible to vote in upcoming elections. i'm sure that should be one of mr schneiderman's considerations in offering his assistance to all TMC owners.

keep in touch.

chris

THERE IS NO CURRENT LAWSUIT.

REPEAT, THERE IS NO CURRENT LAWSUIT.

Still hard to believe the title can't be changed.

Chris I agree with you. The compensation is a ridiculous small amount. Why can't that award go to the association budget where it could offset future dues? And part of the agreement from the lawsuit should be that their should be a whole new board voted on by the owners. It would be great if there was an active interest from owners to work on the budget to benefit all of us. I'm sure there is plenty of fluff.

Not sure why their has been a legal settlement but we have no representation or even a liaison between the state attorney and our association? What are we waiting on and for how long?? Crazy! Miriam

I spoke to the AG office last week. The assurance document is on the AG on-line site. A claims person from the AG office is still being put in place.

I was told to look at section #62-64 on the assurance document as it addresses what the owners will get. If you read that section it is unclear what owners will get and they told me many owners may get nothing out of the settlement. They could not tell me if I was one of the owners that would benefit from the settlement despite the complaint I filed years ago with the AG office when this all started.

I was told if I was entitled to a claim settlement I would recive a check in the mail. That is it!