Lawsuit may be derailed by changes in Florida TS law

[Talent312]

Some of you may vaguely remember a thread concerning amendments to Florida TS laws which favored the TS industry at the expense of consumers. Well, it seems that at least some changes may have been sought by Marriott in part to derail a pending lawsuit.

From:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...share-legislation-20170719-story.html?ref=yfp

“It seems obvious that because defendants [MVC] could not justify the legality of their conduct under existing law, they endeavored to change the rules,” [Plaintiff's attorney] wrote to the court. Because of the new law and definition, the company and its attorneys at Greenberg Traurig say much of the pending lawsuit is without merit, telling the judge in the case that the recent change in law “effectively eliminates several of plaintiffs’ claims in whole or in part.”

The change in the law spells out who is an “interest holder” in a points-based time-share plan, in a 130-word paragraph. The changes in the law say that historic time-share owners, who still own deeded weeks of time, are not “interest holders” in the company’s current points-based system. The new definition of “interest holder” was proposed in Senate Bill 818 just weeks after [Plaintiff's attorney] argued its definition in briefs filed in the pending lawsuit.

Edited to Note:
There may be a difference with point-systems that tie their points directly to the underlying deeded week they sell. The point here is more that major players in the TS industry are not above throwing their weight around to stack things their way.
.

 

[SueDonJ]

Note an ongoing discussion related to the lawsuit against Marriott Vacations Worldwide is here: [2016] Another lawsuit again [Lennen v. Marriott]

This thread will remain open for discussion of how this change in law might affect other timeshare companies which have Points systems that overlay existing Weeks systems but please try to limit discussion about its effect on Marriott timeshares to the existing linked thread. If too many duplicate posts result from this thread, we'll have to close it. Thanks!

 

[crashemt]

Among other allegations, the lawsuit charges that MVC and First American Title Insurance Co. are engaged in a racketeering scheme to make money illegally from the fees charged on time-share transactions, under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

"The company and First American created a RICO criminal enterprise for … the purpose of allowing the company to make withdrawals from [an] escrow account … in connection with sales of invalid time-share estates, providing First American with a robust revenue stream of escrow fees and title insurance premiums despite the absence of title,"

With one slight change to the wording above, how many timeshares could be accused under RICO?

The company and First American created a RICO criminal enterprise for … the purpose of allowing the company to make withdrawals from [an] escrow account … in connection with sales of invalid time-share estates which both companies knew to have no inherent material value, providing First American with a robust revenue stream of escrow fees and title insurance premiums despite the facts regarding title and sale.

Given FL's robust fraud wording regarding representation of property sales and mortgages, we only need to await an attorney brave enough to file on behalf of an entire property. One can only hope.