Manhattan Club Lawsuit

Wow you are a rambucuous lot ,no I do not like my maintenance charges going so high if you all paid per your contract obligations this would not happen.no i do not work for the new owners.no I'm not in kahoots with the previous management.no I’m not a sales person when i purchased my unit i was given a one year trial the unit price was held and i loved the manhattan club and purchased after a year and my lawyer reviewed the offering documents ,this was way back when the manhattan club was first offered.Im sorry that so many of you secumed to the Las Vagus/Florida type of pressure ,buy now or it will be gone.I hope you all learned your lesson.pay your maintainance fees and down the road you will be able sell,stop the carping I did not make you purchase this wonderful asset.Welcome to the Big Apple.The fraudulant activity was investigated and the the results are readily available,paying more money to lawyers may help with your pent up anger but it will not change one iota of the AG settelment.Looking forward to my next weekend at the Manhatten Club and a nice walk in Central Park and a consert across the street at Carnegie Hall

christopher f,

your comments here are revoltingly sickening. it seems you look forward to pain and fraud and/or you are a lower level employee of a company that comps you with free accommodations, i'm not sure which. you accuse reasonable TMC owners of being rambunctious, then go on to fault us for not paying maintenance fees.....keep in mind that many of us still do pay........! yes, you'd make a great TMC salesperson, following the way eichner trained all other of his salespeople to defraud, mislead and cheat TMC purchasers. the one year trial you note is a figment of your imagination. not one of us owners was ever given a moment's trial period to decide if we liked owning at TMC, nor were we ever given time for our attorneys to look over our purchase papers/agreements. your comments are fictitious. we were, in fact, pressured, BIG TIME, to "sign now or the offer will be withdrawn," just like the las vegas/florida type of pressure. how dare you tell us to "stop the carping." in a way i sympathize with for you accepting this evil treatment by eichner; on the other hand you deserve it!!. keep in mind that the possibility of TMC owners to again file current complaints against TMC with the new york state attorney general still looms, and will be exercised as we see fit.

also, you might want to proofread your comments on redweek.com for spelling and grammar. perhaps intelligence and accuracy would serve you well. (yes, it's my writing style on redweek.com to use all lower case letters.) enjoy your next weekend in the big apple. don't forget to turn on your faulty space heater if your suite is uncomfortably cold. i understand TMC turns off the heat on april 17 and provides questionable heaters; wow, their generosity is overwhelming. bring extra quilts just in case. don't forget big umbrellas for your walk in central park. we'll be doing a rain dance in your honor. keep in mind that all concerts at carnegie hall are subject to cancellation, especially those you have tickets for.

christopherf82 wrote:

Wow you are a rambucuous lot ,no I do not like my maintenance charges going so high if you all paid per your contract obligations this would not happen.no i do not work for the new owners.no I'm not in kahoots with the previous management.no I’m not a sales person when i purchased my unit i was given a one year trial the unit price was held and i loved the manhattan club and purchased after a year and my lawyer reviewed the offering documents ,this was way back when the manhattan club was first offered.Im sorry that so many of you secumed to the Las Vagus/Florida type of pressure ,buy now or it will be gone.I hope you all learned your lesson.pay your maintainance fees and down the road you will be able sell,stop the carping I did not make you purchase this wonderful asset.Welcome to the Big Apple.The fraudulant activity was investigated and the the results are readily available,paying more money to lawyers may help with your pent up anger but it will not change one iota of the AG settelment.Looking forward to my next weekend at the Manhatten Club and a nice walk in Central Park and a consert across the street at Carnegie Hall

This is a frivolous person with a frivolous message. Don’t get upset. There are important matters at hand. This person is not important. Ignore him.

Well, if you think you were treated fairly, that you got a "good deal", then you have some serious mental issues and probably need someone handling a financial power of attorney for you as you clearly live in la la land. If you can't compute what you spent purchasing your asset ( and by the way, what do you think your asset is worth?) and then paying your yearly maintenance dues, do you think that you can not possibly do better renting a more luxurious accommodation when you occasionally visit NYC? Exactly, what type of unit did you purchase?? No - I agree with others - you're a plant and merely on here to try to disrupt the discussions.

Actually The first time we visited the sales office in Dec 1998 our will power was very strong. We finally got out of there by purchasing a 4 night trial. We figured we would enjoy 4 nights in Manhattan. I think the cost was $1400. Of course when we used the time, we had to go through another sales pitch. We really enjoyed NYC and fell for the pitch. Imagine being silly enough to have a mortgage to buy a timeshare!

Thanks Louise for confirming that trial periods were common practice when we purchased our time share.

Yes Louise A, I did use a lawyer but not recently. This whole process began 5 years ago in 2014 & was stalled for a couple of years by the NYSAG investigation beginning in July 2014. In Sept 2014 under lawyer's direction ,I ceased "mortgage payments",maintenance, etc. In Oct 2014 a rep from TMC financial services called & stated that if not paid up account will be reported negatively to the 3 major credit bureaus & also acknowledged that they were contacted by my lawyer. TMC then sent a letter stating that if payment was not received by 10-31-14 they "may" assign account to their collection agency (this never happened) . All letters & phone calls were referred to lawyer. TMC monthly statements still came in like clockwork every month. On Feb 6th 2015 I received phone call from TMC advising at this time TMC is unable to make any moves Re: The Manhattan Club case index 451536/2014 filed with New York County Clerk on 07-25-14 hearing scheduled for Fri 03-06-15. I did attend one court hearing, approx 15-20 TMC owner's present, Eichner not present was represented by a team of 5 or 6 high end lawyers all at one table. Further court dates scheduled were postponed at least 2 or 3X One court hearing attended with about 15 TMC owners assembled in courtroom. At this hearing the court officer announced that unfortunately the hearing had been cancelled at the last minute & there was no time for notifications. I believe Eichner has been previously employed as an ADA in the NYC Court System. He would know how to work it. On 08/16/17 NYS AG Schneiderman(no longer in office due to sex abuse scandal) settles case for $6.5 million. A claims administrator will handle restitution to owners. On 08-23-18 my lawyer called to advise that TMC is ready to do a "deedback" also at this time BlueGreen is now new owner of TMC as per settlement clause. On 01-22-19 I received deedback documents from lawyer signed & had notarized & sent back, this may take 6-8 months due to high volume of deedbacks. On 04-25-19 I received a check for $100.00 from TMC Timeshare Association. There are no negative reports on my Transunion, Equifax or Experian statements, in fact TMC transactions are not mentioned at all positive or negative. On one of the three it showed up briefly in 2014 but was removed. There is one controversial item here: YES, I paid upfront to accomplish this. There is an angry, bitter sounding gentleman on one of these blogs that sounds like a broken record with his mantra of: NEVER PAY UPFRONT TO ANYONE THAT SAYS THEY CAN GET YOU OUT OF YOUR TIMESHARE! He boasts that he stood his ground like John Wayne & forced his way out of 2 timeshares. GOOD FOR HIM! There is a second gentleman that totally agrees with him but adds: "Have you tried calling them up to take it back or try to advertising it for sale". YEAH RIGHT! Let me know how that works out. To sell mine I would have to use the same devious tactics that were used to sell it to me in the first place even if giving it away for free.I'm not cut from that ilk of character. I will agree that there are scammers on both sides of the timeshare aisle the ones that sell it to you & the ones that get you out of it. The bottom line is that what I paid to get out is $5,000.00 less than what TMC was demanding in past due remaining "mortgage", maintenance,tax, etc. Just wanted to put this out there. Do not ask who my lawyer is find your own & negotiate a deal.I don't want the expected accusations of being a scammer or "shill" for one of those sham companies. I will say that my lawyer was no one ever mentioned on these pages or advertised on any media. Best wishes to those who want out.

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Louise A., I believe it will go well for you. It may take a few months because of large backlog of deedbacks. Apparantly there are many jumping out of this "Ponzi scheme" gone bad.The package is from a new dept of TMC called Timeshare Intervals located in New Jersey. There's a.letter in package from a TMC rep in the "Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure Dept".There seems to be a lot of jumping from state to state for different depts. For instance TMC is located in NY of course. "Mortgage" (T Park Central)statements have an office listed in Phoenix or Scottsdale,Arizona. The Financial Services Dept lists an address in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania but has a 212 NYC area telephone code.This guy should be sitting in a cell with Bernie Madoff.

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I am perhaps missing the point why we are all not joining together with Zimmerman in clawing open the agreed can of Eichner smelly fish and finding out what is the truth. We all recognize the bricks of the Club could be worth a great deal of money if we had a real open management board who represents us and charges reasonable fees. Seems like many are jumping ship and selling out for $100 for what costs them thousands . Others claim to be happy as is and somehow write big checks believing it will somehow get better. Seems to me Zimmerman is moving and once he has owners list available, we can work toward getting good people on the board and the rest will begin to clear up. I am thinking some smart guy is gathering $100 deeds and once this mess is ultimatly cleared will find the market would be glad to pay thousands to buy interest. Are there ANY reasons that ANYONE would offer why we all should not invest $1500 to retake control of our club and protect the possibly valuable ownership rights rather than give them away for $100. PLEASE let me understand the reason people have for not joining in legal representation and why they are choosing to be excluded should the suit be successful. I am trying to be respectful but as mr Gump said.... Stupid is as stupid does..... tell me why YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON ????? SID FELDMAN

It's amazing. Googling the company "Timeshare Interval" in NJ returns the the full name of the company such as "Timeshare Interval Administration LLC" where the owner is Heather Nelson, who's "Previous positions at The Manhattan Club include Director of Contract Processing and Administration, Manager of Sales Administration, Manager of Pending Department, and Contract Coordinator." Pursuant to the web page, the company was established in "June 2018 – Present 1 year" but is not registered in New Jersey state.

When looking at the picture of Heather Nelson it reminds me the alias person who's name was Heather Gries and who was an employee of the Manhattan Club Financial department at the address in East Stroudsburg, PA, though to my belief I met Heather at the Manhattan Club' 26-th floor several years ago. Look at the picture, what would you think?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-nelson-91159ba0

gerards23 wrote:

Louise A., I believe it will go well for you. It may take a few months because of large backlog of deedbacks. Apparantly there are many jumping out of this "Ponzi scheme" gone bad.The package is from a new dept of TMC called Timeshare Intervals located in New Jersey. There's a.letter in package from a TMC rep in the "Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure Dept".There seems to be a lot of jumping from state to state for different depts. For instance TMC is located in NY of course. "Mortgage" (T Park Central)statements have an office listed in Phoenix or Scottsdale,Arizona. The Financial Services Dept lists an address in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania but has a 212 NYC area telephone code.This guy should be sitting in a cell with Bernie Madoff.

Would be greatly appreciated if someone posts here a copy-paste of the $100 buy-back contract. I am sure there is something there that will hurt the owners sooner or later.

louisea75 wrote:

I guess part of what makes me nervous is that someone on the FB group has said that Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure will hurt your credit rating as well and this deed back program is another scam and another time that TMC will rip you off. My goal is to be released.

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Sid, I am not willing to throw good money after bad. That is why I have no interest in joining the Zimmerman lawsuit. The Attorney General for the State of New York never charged anyone criminally after all was said and done. They ultimately settled for very little which tells me this case is not as strong as everyone thinks it is. Another gentleman who posted in the past few days says that when he went to a hearing there was a team of lawyers representing Eichner. I may be wrong but it seems to me that a sole attorney, who's expertise is not in this area of law, will have a difficult time getting anywhere with this lawsuit. Think about it, the AG was not able to prosecute this Eichner and the AG has unlimited money and resources. If Zimmernan wins it will be the stuff that movies are made of! Unfortunately I am not expecting a Hollywood ending with this matter. Let's face it, we were all scammed. I believe that the quickest way to a resolution is to have ALL owners stop paying their maintenance fees immediately. That would bring them to their knees in very short order. I stopped paying years ago because I believe that they breached their contract with me first. As an owner, I could NEVER get a room when I needed it unless I planned 9 months out but could go online and make reservations a few days prior to my stay. I know some on this chain say that all of the owners should pay their fees as per the contract but in most cases the owners are not getting what they contracted for...why would they keep paying? With no money to operate the building they will have to reach a resolution with all of the owners. Right now they have the best of both worlds - they get to continue their scam AND they get some of the people who were scammed to pay for it.

sidneyf6 wrote:

I am perhaps missing the point why we are all not joining together with Zimmerman in clawing open the agreed can of Eichner smelly fish and finding out what is the truth. We all recognize the bricks of the Club could be worth a great deal of money if we had a real open management board who represents us and charges reasonable fees. Seems like many are jumping ship and selling out for $100 for what costs them thousands . Others claim to be happy as is and somehow write big checks believing it will somehow get better. Seems to me Zimmerman is moving and once he has owners list available, we can work toward getting good people on the board and the rest will begin to clear up. I am thinking some smart guy is gathering $100 deeds and once this mess is ultimatly cleared will find the market would be glad to pay thousands to buy interest. Are there ANY reasons that ANYONE would offer why we all should not invest $1500 to retake control of our club and protect the possibly valuable ownership rights rather than give them away for $100. PLEASE let me understand the reason people have for not joining in legal representation and why they are choosing to be excluded should the suit be successful. I am trying to be respectful but as mr Gump said.... Stupid is as stupid does..... tell me why YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON ????? SID FELDMAN

dear John, I also have discontinued paying outragious fees 2 yrs ago and had trouble getting bookings and I unlike most people bought my ownership on the resale market from someone who saw handwriting on wall. I paid a fraction of what others paid ,......but I recognize that the building once put into the hands of honest board members still has a great market potential once stableized . At 73 I may not be rushing back , but I occationally buy lottery tickets and my feeling is that a $1500 bet with Zimmerman may give the suit members a great bonus. The new owners? are succeeding in stealing ownership for $100 . I contend the bricks at that location are worth many millions once cleared up. Zimmerman has already started tearing apart the veiled issues and your good money concept seems VERY short sighted. JOHN ya paid many thousands already, I agree dont pay the bastards, but put $1500 on red or black with Zimmerman (TAX DEDUCTABLE????) AND HOLD ONTO A PIECE OF THE PIE. Please tell me a real good reason why I am in error and why ALL of us should not stand up for our lost inverstment.

Dear johnH, one correction to your statement regarding the court appearance in which one gentleman on Redweek stated there were a team of owners there with legal representation. Your statement is incorrect.......there were a team of lawyers representing Eichner NOT THE OWNERS. This statement was posted by Gerard S and I quote “I did attend one court hearing, approx 15-20 TMC owners present, Eichner not present was represented by a team of 5 or 6 high end lawyers all at one table.” You are absolutely correct in assuming that Eichner has a fierce team of high end lawyers. I would expect no less of a crook and scammer of Eichners level to attack his legal problems in such a fashion. He has tons of money at his disposal that he stole from thousands of people he scammed. You are absolutely entitled to disagree with the owners joining the Zimmerman lawsuit however the Zimmerman lawsuit is the first suit to be handled on an individual client basis I believe. It is true that the class action suit was unsuccessful however one owner (Irene Smalls), who handled her own case, did win in small claims court. This fact tells me that it is possible to have that Hollywood ending. Good luck to you on getting your deed in lieu of foreclosure accomplished. It has been successful for many owners who want out. I’m putting my money on Zimmerman. He is working tirelessly on our behalf which is worth every penny I’ve spent. I wish those of us who have joined Zimmerman good luck as well because after all, we have taken a road less traveled but a road that could possibly have better pavement.

John - First of all, you obviously have not followed the work product that Zimmerman has produced. He is making progress and has spent time researching and advancing our cause.. Second, I don't think you realize that we timeshare owners own the building and the land which has been pointed out to you as being valuable. It is worth something and the person or entity scooping up these weeks for $100 obviously realizes that and (3) the former attorney general had other more pressing matters and did not do us justice - he had evidence and perhaps you weren't aware that he had an uncover sting which netted very incriminating evidence of wrong doing BUT Eichner had previously worked in that office - he had contacts and that seems to be why a sweet deal was offered to Eichner. We had no one looking out for us and the Attorney General was on his way out and our grievances were apparently of minor concern to him. If you can justify in your mind just writing off your investment because you don't want to join the Zimmerman suit, that is your prerogative. I will point out to you that I have a legal background, I joined the Zimmerman suit, I have followed the progress he has made, and I am satisfied that the small retained I have paid is well worth it.

I agree with John H 1000%. My husband and I owned a penthouse suite for 14 years and as of January 2019 we have stopped paying our maintenance fees. Out of pocket over $50,00.00. But life goes on.

You are correct, I misused the word "owner". I should have said Eichner but my point is still the same. Eichner's team of attorneys have the ability to jerk a single member law firm around for a long time to come. To make matters worse, Mr Zimmerman has been sanctioned at least once by a Federal Court - to the tune of over $500,000 for filing 100 unfounded claims for one client as well as disposing of evidence, just so they could get quick settlements in each case. Eichner's firm has 1,100 attorneys and they will not take Zimmerman seriously. Furthermore the courts may not either once they see his prior record. The quickest way to get these clowns into court is for everyone to stop paying immediately. At that point you may have to retain an attorney but they will have to open themselves up to discovery in order to pursue their claim against you. I am sure that they will not want to have to sit for depositions. TMC owners unite! Stop paying. You are enabling them to continue to carry out their scam at your expense. For those who have retained attorney Zimmerman, I hope I am wrong and I wish you luck. It really doesn't matter how we get justice but this scam that defrauded thousands of us out of large sums of money should not be allowed to stand. I am wondering one other thing - how many of you were brought to TMC through an American Express promotion? That is how I was introduced to this scam. Since the original offer came through American Express I assumed that they had vetted The Manhattan Club prior to offering it to its members. In my case I believe that American Express has some liability in this matter also.