# wall street journal article re: bankrupt upper crust vacation club



## ajamesshaw (Aug 6, 2006)

http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=31487515

Interesting article from WSJ, link only good for 7 days.

About the "tanner and haley" resorts:

"To Richard Korpan, Tanner & Haley Resorts seemed to have invented a great vacation concept. Its "destination club" offered members the run of a blue-chip portfolio of vacation homes -- with none of the headaches of actually owning them.

After plunking down a $450,000 membership deposit, the 64-year-old retired chief executive of Florida Progress Corp., an energy company, spent time in upscale homes in Telluride and Aspen, Colo., and in a luxury apartment in Manhattan. Tanner & Haley arranged for lift tickets for his family, stocked the homes with groceries before he arrived and even provided a birthday cake.

Best of all, says Mr. Korpan, his membership documents promised that once he had been a member for 18 months, Tanner & Haley would refund his membership deposit when he wanted out. Last winter, after he bought a second home in San Diego, he asked for his money back. At first, he says, the company said he'd receive it within 30 days. When that didn't happen, he says, it promised to wire the money within the week. Eventually, it stopped returning his phone calls."


----------



## mj2vacation (Aug 6, 2006)

ajamesshaw said:
			
		

> http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=31487515
> 
> 
> 
> Best of all, says Mr. Korpan, his membership documents promised that once he had been a member for 18 months, Tanner & Haley would refund his membership deposit when he wanted out. Last winter, after he bought a second home in San Diego, he asked for his money back. At first, he says, the company said he'd receive it within 30 days. When that didn't happen, he says, it promised to wire the money within the week. Eventually, it stopped returning his phone calls."



This last paragraph might just fall into the if it sounds too good....


----------



## timeos2 (Aug 6, 2006)

*It could have worked*



			
				mj2vacation said:
			
		

> This last paragraph might just fall into the if it sounds too good....



On the surface it would. But when you read the details they actually had a method that should have worked to accomplish the plan. They were buying real estate that was appreciating a a rapid pace and the refund occurred only when 3 new buyers paid to join the club.  The fact that the developer never actually bought all the properties and had other issues meant it was doomed to fail. 

Goes back to the deeded property vs RTU question that applies even when the amounts are much smaller as in timeshares.  I prefer a deed.


----------



## mj2vacation (Aug 7, 2006)

sounds like every other pyramid scheme that I have ever seen.

Those don't usually end well either.

If anyone purchases a DC or TS for profit motives (or because they can be liquidated easily) instead of for use they (more than likely) get burned.


----------

