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[2008] Florida Veterans Assistance Association [merged]
- Thread starter hope29
- Start date
tadb
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Hi. I too am interested in donating to this organization. I can't find anything negative in the news. They have been in business for quite a while and I have emailed three of their alleged clients (have not gotten any replys yet). I would be interested in what you hear. Would you contact me?
Thanks,
Tad
My $0.02 worth...
In regard to both of the above posts, I suggest first verifying that FVA will, in fact, accept the particular timeshare "offerings" at all in the first place. Donations of unwanted timeshare weeks are both useless and burdensome to ANY charity unless they can promptly turn that "donation" into actual cash by a quick turnaround sale. I suspect that in these times, charities may become more and more selective, since they are not looking for any albatrosses around their neck (....instead of around yours). Good luck.
In regard to both of the above posts, I suggest first verifying that FVA will, in fact, accept the particular timeshare "offerings" at all in the first place. Donations of unwanted timeshare weeks are both useless and burdensome to ANY charity unless they can promptly turn that "donation" into actual cash by a quick turnaround sale. I suspect that in these times, charities may become more and more selective, since they are not looking for any albatrosses around their neck (....instead of around yours). Good luck.
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T_R_Oglodyte
TUG Lifetime Member
FVA asserts that this fee includes all closing costs, which they pay when they subsequently "unload" a donated timeshare. Not much more than a year ago, when I had some correspondence with them, that fee was just under $400. I declined to proceed and just sold that particular timeshare myself for peanuts, with buyer paying their OWN closing costs. Writing a check in addition to making a donation of something of value just somehow didn't sit well with me, personally.
I'm not waving their flag, but I don't think FVA is a "scam". An expensive "donation" process, but (I believe) otherwise legitimate. What percentage of monies actually makes its way to Florida Veteran programs, however, I do not claim to know...
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We donated to them earlier this year and we thought it went smoothly. We got the maintenance bill, though, so I'm now in the process of trying to straighten out a mess. Our resort is saying it wasn't done properly but the closing company we used says that they got word from the resort that everything was taken care of. :annoyed: What's complicating things is that we had 2 deeds recorded: one when we bought, and one when we "upgraded" to UDI.
I tend to think this mess is an issue with the resort and not FVA and the closing company. I'm basing that on our past experiences with the resort.
I tend to think this mess is an issue with the resort and not FVA and the closing company. I'm basing that on our past experiences with the resort.
Florida veterans association
Anyone use this company for there timeshare? Would love to have some information on them as ive a son in the service for 16 years and thinking using them.
[I moved your first two posts on this topic to the existing thread since you decided to post here as well.-DeniseM Moderator]
Anyone use this company for there timeshare? Would love to have some information on them as ive a son in the service for 16 years and thinking using them.
[I moved your first two posts on this topic to the existing thread since you decided to post here as well.-DeniseM Moderator]
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DeniseM
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Are you thinking of buying from them, or donating to them?
Here are some previous threads on this subject:
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82924&highlight=florida+veterans+association
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43929&highlight=florida+veterans+association
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80323&highlight=florida+veterans+association
To find more, use the search function (Search this Forum button) and search for "Florida Veterans."
Here are some previous threads on this subject:
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82924&highlight=florida+veterans+association
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43929&highlight=florida+veterans+association
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80323&highlight=florida+veterans+association
To find more, use the search function (Search this Forum button) and search for "Florida Veterans."
Florida Veterans Assistance Association
I went ahead and donated my week to them.
I paid them $550 fee and guess what they ripped me off. I am still the owner of this timeshare after two monthls of grief with them and they will not refund me my money. I have been given the run around by this company for TWO months. They claim to have had a deal with Takeovermytimeshare.com and they claim that this guy ripped them off. Joel and Kim have done absolutely nothing to help me. The only thing JOEL wanted to do for me was to have me pay a additional fee of $395 to close my timeshare donation with another broker. Are you kidding me. I paid $550 and now they want me to pay another $395 to transfer my timeshare. If you are thinking about donating to this company. RUN THE OTHER WAY. I don't want anyone else to be ripped off by this company.
I went ahead and donated my week to them.
I paid them $550 fee and guess what they ripped me off. I am still the owner of this timeshare after two monthls of grief with them and they will not refund me my money. I have been given the run around by this company for TWO months. They claim to have had a deal with Takeovermytimeshare.com and they claim that this guy ripped them off. Joel and Kim have done absolutely nothing to help me. The only thing JOEL wanted to do for me was to have me pay a additional fee of $395 to close my timeshare donation with another broker. Are you kidding me. I paid $550 and now they want me to pay another $395 to transfer my timeshare. If you are thinking about donating to this company. RUN THE OTHER WAY. I don't want anyone else to be ripped off by this company.
Carolinian
TUG Member
Isn't this outfit tied in to one of the Postcard Companies?
I would offer to have your own attorney, licensed in the state where the timeshare is located to prepare a deed to whomever they wanted. That way you would control the cost of the closing and that is was done properly. I would never fork over money for them to have some third party you don't know do the closing.
Many of these outfits use timeshare closing companies run by laymen who don't know how to prepare a proper deed in at least some jurisdictions, and even if a deed does get recorded, it may well be void. Many of the deeds in North Carolina into postcard companies which use these timeshare closing companies are void.
I would offer to have your own attorney, licensed in the state where the timeshare is located to prepare a deed to whomever they wanted. That way you would control the cost of the closing and that is was done properly. I would never fork over money for them to have some third party you don't know do the closing.
Many of these outfits use timeshare closing companies run by laymen who don't know how to prepare a proper deed in at least some jurisdictions, and even if a deed does get recorded, it may well be void. Many of the deeds in North Carolina into postcard companies which use these timeshare closing companies are void.
We know some people IRL who had good luck with donating to FVA so we had gone ahead with it. We got a receipt from them a couple months ago but we still own the timeshare and I just paid the maintenance fees on it. I can't get ahold of Kim because her inbox is always full when I call. I guess the above posts make sense on why she hasn't returned an earlier phone call. 
My Experience with FL Vets
I gave them $225 over three months ago. The only thing they did as promised was to charge my credit card the $225.
They assured me that in 30 days my TS would be transferred to another owner. After 30 days of hearing nothing, I called them. After much effort on my part, it was discovered that nothing had been done on it. I faxed another copy of my deed to them and a week later they were not sure if they had it or not. Finally I got some paperwork from TakeOverMyTimshare (TOMTS). I had it notarized and mailed back to them. A couple of weeks later I got an email from TOMTS stating that they were no longer doing business with FL Vets. I called TOMTS and he said he had shredded all of the paperwork and that FL Vets had never given him any money so he had stopped working with them. He said if I paid him $500 he would transfer my TS in about 30 days. I called FL Vets and after awhile spoke with Joel Markman who is the CEO, or something like that. He said that TOMTS was never supposed to get paid, they were to make money from selling the donated TS. He said to fax him another copy of my deed and they would transfer it in about 30 days, to FL Vets, but I had to pay another $400 to cover the cost of the transfer. I asked about the $225 I had already paid and he said that was a finders fee. I faxed a copy a week ago and have heard nothing from them. Joel said they have been a good organization for 12 years and had never had a problem like this. He did not explain why such an experienced and reputable organization got involved with TOMTS and why they lied and didn't follow up or follow through. They only time anything ever got done is when I bird dogged it.
I suspect that FL Vets has been, and has the potential to be again, a reputable organization. However, they act like a TS company that is just trying to rip off people. They repeat the mantra of "you can deduct up to $5,000 on your taxes by donation a TS to them" and they will not listen to any reason or argument to the contrary. They give the distinct impression that you can deduct all of the fees they charge, the cost to them to get rid of the TS and $5,000 on your taxes. It is very difficult to get a hold of anyone there and when you finally do start working with someone he is gone a few weeks later and no one knows anything.
I am seriously considering other options. I would think that you could just advertise your TS with the offer to pay all the closing costs and give someone $200 to take it. You would be better off then dealing with FL Vets, with less expense.
I gave them $225 over three months ago. The only thing they did as promised was to charge my credit card the $225.
They assured me that in 30 days my TS would be transferred to another owner. After 30 days of hearing nothing, I called them. After much effort on my part, it was discovered that nothing had been done on it. I faxed another copy of my deed to them and a week later they were not sure if they had it or not. Finally I got some paperwork from TakeOverMyTimshare (TOMTS). I had it notarized and mailed back to them. A couple of weeks later I got an email from TOMTS stating that they were no longer doing business with FL Vets. I called TOMTS and he said he had shredded all of the paperwork and that FL Vets had never given him any money so he had stopped working with them. He said if I paid him $500 he would transfer my TS in about 30 days. I called FL Vets and after awhile spoke with Joel Markman who is the CEO, or something like that. He said that TOMTS was never supposed to get paid, they were to make money from selling the donated TS. He said to fax him another copy of my deed and they would transfer it in about 30 days, to FL Vets, but I had to pay another $400 to cover the cost of the transfer. I asked about the $225 I had already paid and he said that was a finders fee. I faxed a copy a week ago and have heard nothing from them. Joel said they have been a good organization for 12 years and had never had a problem like this. He did not explain why such an experienced and reputable organization got involved with TOMTS and why they lied and didn't follow up or follow through. They only time anything ever got done is when I bird dogged it.
I suspect that FL Vets has been, and has the potential to be again, a reputable organization. However, they act like a TS company that is just trying to rip off people. They repeat the mantra of "you can deduct up to $5,000 on your taxes by donation a TS to them" and they will not listen to any reason or argument to the contrary. They give the distinct impression that you can deduct all of the fees they charge, the cost to them to get rid of the TS and $5,000 on your taxes. It is very difficult to get a hold of anyone there and when you finally do start working with someone he is gone a few weeks later and no one knows anything.
I am seriously considering other options. I would think that you could just advertise your TS with the offer to pay all the closing costs and give someone $200 to take it. You would be better off then dealing with FL Vets, with less expense.
I recieved a response last night from them, as they are not registered here I will summarize for them.
Florida Veterans Assistance entered into an arrangement with "Take over My Timeshare" to help them unload approx 200 timeshares that had been donated to them.
As it turns out, Take over my Timeshare turned out to be a giant scam/fraud/ripoff and has since dumped those 200 timeshares back to Florida Veterans Assistance.
This puts them in a terrible situation both financially and time wise.
They have personally placed roughly 40% of those timeshares with other legitimate brokers and are working to get that number to 100%
They have guaranteed me that they WILL place the remaining timeshares and get them sorted out, or the owners will get a refund.
They have been long time supporters of TUG, and do a very good thing for our war veterans as a charity, so we will stand behind them as they work towards making this very bad situation right, I believe they will, and this thread will remain open until that is so.
I would urge anyone who has an outstanding timeshare with them to either give them time to sort through this, or in some cases contact them for clarification on where their donation stands.
you can contact fvarep@verizon.net for questions, but please bear in mind that this is a terrible situation for them, so yelling and screaming in an email isnt going to help matters any.
Florida Veterans Assistance entered into an arrangement with "Take over My Timeshare" to help them unload approx 200 timeshares that had been donated to them.
As it turns out, Take over my Timeshare turned out to be a giant scam/fraud/ripoff and has since dumped those 200 timeshares back to Florida Veterans Assistance.
This puts them in a terrible situation both financially and time wise.
They have personally placed roughly 40% of those timeshares with other legitimate brokers and are working to get that number to 100%
They have guaranteed me that they WILL place the remaining timeshares and get them sorted out, or the owners will get a refund.
They have been long time supporters of TUG, and do a very good thing for our war veterans as a charity, so we will stand behind them as they work towards making this very bad situation right, I believe they will, and this thread will remain open until that is so.
I would urge anyone who has an outstanding timeshare with them to either give them time to sort through this, or in some cases contact them for clarification on where their donation stands.
you can contact fvarep@verizon.net for questions, but please bear in mind that this is a terrible situation for them, so yelling and screaming in an email isnt going to help matters any.
Brian,
They have also promised me that they will place my timeshare with another broker but I have to dish out to them another $395. I am not paying this company another dime and they refuse to refund my initial $550. I know they told you that they are working on this situation but guess what "NO THEY ARE NOT". I don't believe a word that JOEL and KIM tell me. They are a bunch of liars and are not helping me in any case. JOEL hung up on me and has not taken my phone calls since. SO I am sorry that you believe this BS that they are dishing out to you but if it was you in this situation you definately would have a different outlook on this issue.
They have also promised me that they will place my timeshare with another broker but I have to dish out to them another $395. I am not paying this company another dime and they refuse to refund my initial $550. I know they told you that they are working on this situation but guess what "NO THEY ARE NOT". I don't believe a word that JOEL and KIM tell me. They are a bunch of liars and are not helping me in any case. JOEL hung up on me and has not taken my phone calls since. SO I am sorry that you believe this BS that they are dishing out to you but if it was you in this situation you definately would have a different outlook on this issue.
There is more info on several charities including this group on another thread.. http://www.timeshareforums.com/foru...ting-your-timeshare-charity-did-work-you.html
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I'm confused...
With all due respect and in the interests of full disclosure, isn't the "not very positive" FVA info (and numerous other, separate posts about various other charities) over on TS4MS actually your own postings, just placed under a different user name over on TS4MS?
You provided some very good and quite useful information about numerous charities "over there" and I certainly appreciate and applaud those efforts. I just don't understand why you would choose to state on TUG that you "found" those postings on TS4MS when, in fact, they were actually your own postings to begin with. That's your prerogative, but a bit puzzling nonetheless since it's really more of a "referral" to your own previously posted material than a "discovery" of the postings of others.
With all due respect and in the interests of full disclosure, isn't the "not very positive" FVA info (and numerous other, separate posts about various other charities) over on TS4MS actually your own postings, just placed under a different user name over on TS4MS?
You provided some very good and quite useful information about numerous charities "over there" and I certainly appreciate and applaud those efforts. I just don't understand why you would choose to state on TUG that you "found" those postings on TS4MS when, in fact, they were actually your own postings to begin with. That's your prerogative, but a bit puzzling nonetheless since it's really more of a "referral" to your own previously posted material than a "discovery" of the postings of others.
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Help!
Brian,
I was told by Joel that the money I already paid was a finders fee and that I would have to pay an additional $400 for them to transfer my TS. He never mentioned refunding my money or anything like that.
I resent a copy of my deed, for the third time, on 12/12/08 and have heard nothing. I realize they are busy and it is the holiday season, but the story they are telling you does not match up with my experience.
I appreciate your help on this. I would rather pay a good organization that helps vets, than pay someone to take my TS, but they have not come through. What do you think I should do?
Thanks,
Joe
Brian,
I was told by Joel that the money I already paid was a finders fee and that I would have to pay an additional $400 for them to transfer my TS. He never mentioned refunding my money or anything like that.
I resent a copy of my deed, for the third time, on 12/12/08 and have heard nothing. I realize they are busy and it is the holiday season, but the story they are telling you does not match up with my experience.
I appreciate your help on this. I would rather pay a good organization that helps vets, than pay someone to take my TS, but they have not come through. What do you think I should do?
Thanks,
Joe
email me your contact information and permission to give it to them (as mentioned before...I wont give out any TUG personal info without your express permission) and Ill have Kim get to the bottom of it.