lady probably sat thru a Westgate presentation....

[TUGBrian]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-westgate-resorts-last-condo-standing-20160526-story.html

 

[Lisa P]

My goodness! If this article is accurate... Westgate received permits to move forward on their expansion which assume they own all of the property. But they did not own this whole ownership condo. Yet, they went ahead and bulldozed not only the common areas of the complex but the rest of the townhouse BUILDING around this one unit. Bulldozers caused damage to the unit itself making it unsafe, unusable, and subject to fines by the county! WHAT??!?! Look at that photo! Unbelievable! Doesn't the fact that they did not bulldoze this one unit demonstrate knowledge they did not own the entire property? And doesn't that point to culpability on a fraudulently obtained permit?

Further (and again, assuming that this article is accurate)... Now that Westgate has bulldozed and destroyed the neighborhood complex, they claim to have offered "twice its value" at $150,000 for the property, originally purchased for $154,000, 30 years ago, when it was part of a neighborhood community. Really??? How are they able to declare this to be the value of property which they have damaged? Simply incredible!!! Billionaire bullies, David Siegel and Westgate! Shame, shame, I hope the courts have a field day and I hope this family benefits.

 

[Tia]

It's just wild what's going on here

 

[Ty1on]

Fraud, conversion, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

 

[baf99]

I'm not sure how it works in Florida, but in California when I owned one of seven townhouses in a complex, I owned one seventh of the entire structure, not all of the unit that I occupied. So, did Westgate destroy this woman's property when they took down the other units? When the exterior of my unit was damaged the HOA covered the insurance deductible, which means that essentially I only paid one seventh of it. Florida could be different of course. This will probably be confusing the courts for a while.

 

[dioxide45]

Another question is, does Orlando need another timeshare? Let alone another Westgate?

 

[am1]

Another question is, does Orlando need another timeshare? Let alone another Westgate?

I guess taxes, jobs and maybe something on the side trumps reality.

 

[Ty1on]

Siegel calling anyone greedy makes me laugh uncontrollably.

 

[Ace]

As the owner of one of the condos in this complex, doesn't she also own a common interest in the tennis courts, palm trees, and whatever else was bulldozed away? And then they bulldozed into the side of her house? I'm going to Orlando in August. I might have to drive by this place just to see in person what it looks like!

 

[carl2591]

David Siegel and Westgate Resorts, Orlando !

another shining example of greed gone amuck.

 

[Phil Doherty]

Westgate

If I were a child of the owner--I would be bringing this to the Florida Supreme Court. I guess I don't have all of the information, but it seems as though if someone causes damage to someone's legal residence--they should be responsible to fix it. These timeshare Big Boys have to be put in their place. One of the previous messages said it right. "Who Needs Another Timeshare in Orlando"---especially Westgate who already had a really bad reputation with their selling practices.

 

[am1]

We are all enjoying this but the reality is the place should and will be torn down. It is just a matter of how much the compensation and penalties will be. No matter what they are Westgate will still make money off of it.

 

[disneymom1]

This is sad. Westgate is forcing this lady out. As the 9th biggest tax payer, I am guessing they have a few political connections in the crooked world of politics/pay to play system. This lady's condo will be destroyed, Westgate will have to pay this lady some money and get a fine/slap on the wrist - basically, Westgate will get away with this and Westgate will proceed to build a few months behind schedule.

Westgate (aka Wastegate) already has many timeshares in Orlando. They build them to look nice, sell them thru high pressure sales tactics, and when the buildings are sold Westgate does the absolute minimum required to maintain them. The older buildings don't generate any more money so they need to build brand new ones to generate more money and keep feeding the greed. Who knows - David Seigel may be looking to build a second 90,000 square foot home. Bet when he goes on vacation he doesn't stay at one of his own timeshare properties!!

 

[deslagle]

Once owned at Westgate

I think this type of bull dozer destruction without a permit could be a problem for Westgate..
But the owner of the existing condo does not have the resources to fight a big
company like Westgate. I am rooting for her though. It is legally her unit still.

I bought at Westgate Vacation Villas after a con job by a saleman. circa 1993.
We ended up with a different unit which we discovered when we brought the 5 of our family to Kissimmee to use the timeshare a few years later.
We live in Washington STATE, not to be confused with DC, and it costs a lot to get 5 people to Kissimmee.
I got no where with Westgate at the local office about not having a full 2 bedroom unit while in Kissimmee after we arrived.
But when I got home I had copies of the VHS presentations of the unit we bought and all the legal proof. Westgate honored it and we were upgraded to the unit we bought.

I wish there was an ombudsman who could help the owner (lady) out in this situation. It appears to me the unit is unusable and that is not legal for Westgate to have done that to her. The permit to bulldoze had expired. No insulation in that hot area is suicide for the owners family to use it.
In good faith Westgate should up the offer to $200,000 and build a replica of her old unit directly above where her condo stands currently on whatever floor she wants (yes, with an elevator) and let her use it 2-3 weeks a year for her family with no maintenance fee. Everything fully up to code. She should still have a usable unit on the hallowed ground where she bought the original condo on. It would be the only solution because the ground would still be hers somewhere above where her condo stands now and Westgate should take the loss.
It is only fair.
Instead of complaining is there a way we can help her out? I still live in Washington state. I no longer own at Westgate.
Any semi retired Florida lawyers who lives in Florida willing to help out a nice
elderly lady?
deslagle

 

[Ty1on]

I think this type of bull dozer destruction without a permit could be a problem for Westgate..
But the owner of the existing condo does not have the resources to fight a big
company like Westgate. I am rooting for her though. It is legally her unit still.

I bought at Westgate Vacation Villas after a con job by a saleman. circa 1993.
We ended up with a different unit which we discovered when we brought the 5 of our family to Kissimmee to use the timeshare a few years later.
We live in Washington STATE, not to be confused with DC, and it costs a lot to get 5 people to Kissimmee.
I got no where with Westgate at the local office about not having a full 2 bedroom unit while in Kissimmee after we arrived.
But when I got home I had copies of the VHS presentations of the unit we bought and all the legal proof. Westgate honored it and we were upgraded to the unit we bought.

I wish there was an ombudsman who could help the owner (lady) out in this situation. It appears to me the unit is unusable and that is not legal for Westgate to have done that to her. The permit to bulldoze had expired. No insulation in that hot area is suicide for the owners family to use it.
In good faith Westgate should up the offer to $200,000 and build a replica of her old unit directly above where her condo stands currently on whatever floor she wants (yes, with an elevator) and let her use it 2-3 weeks a year for her family with no maintenance fee. Everything fully up to code. She should still have a usable unit on the hallowed ground where she bought the original condo on. It would be the only solution because the ground would still be hers somewhere above where her condo stands now and Westgate should take the loss.
It is only fair.
Instead of complaining is there a way we can help her out? I still live in Washington state. I no longer own at Westgate.
Any semi retired Florida lawyers who lives in Florida willing to help out a nice
elderly lady?
deslagle

You just used Westgate and Fair in the same paragraph.

 

[TUGBrian]

hahahahah

option 3 sounds like a deal!


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-westgate-resorts-widow-holdout-20160608-story.html

 

[TUGBrian]

another update on this....i think the county offices are scared of westgate...that response is pretty ridiculous especially when they admit publicly that westgate was in the wrong:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-westgate-resorts-widow-hearing-20160622-story.html

what is the point of the county planning office if not to prevent things like this from happening in the first place, surely since they clearly know its wrong they should want to make it right.

(or maybe im just biased given whos on the other side of the fight)

 

[TUGBrian]

and another update....

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-westgate-condo-war-20160713-story.html

I am at a loss for how westgate can continue construction despite having their permit pulled by the county.

different set of rules I suppose...this is sickening.

 

[rhonda]

Thanks for posting the update.

I am at a loss for how westgate can continue construction despite having their permit pulled by the county.

Snippet from the recent article, "Westgate has not yet been served with a stop work order and construction crews were still working Wednesday afternoon."

 

[TUGBrian]

I know, thats the crazy part.

how does the county on one hand deem the permit invalid...but not issue a stop work order.

its like they just want to say publicly they have pulled the permit...but arent really going to make them stop building.

 

[dioxide45]

Why doesn't or didn't Westgate just use imminent domain in this case? Trying to use it now would be bad PR with all the current press. But they probably could have easily used it before without a problem.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Why doesn't or didn't Westgate just use imminent domain in this case? Trying to use it now would be bad PR with all the current press. But they probably could have easily used it before without a problem.

Private companies cannot use eminent domain. Only government agencies, and then it is supposed to be bona fide public use.

 

[Roger830]

Here's another piece with photos and a short video of a meeting where Westgate was told to settle with the woman.

A comment by a reader: "Time shares are obsolete, now you have the internet to find bargains; who the heck would want a Time Share?!"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...halt-begin-building-condo-refused-payout.html

 

[ChillyWilly]

Fraud, conversion, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

the county, county officials, Westgate all should be dragged into supreme court and levied the most egregious fines possible for dereliction of duty, endangerment, abuse of power, county officials should be fired for this ....Absolutely sickening, absolute power

 

[dioxide45]

Private companies cannot use eminent domain. Only government agencies, and then it is supposed to be bona fide public use.

While companies don't, the governments do do it on behalf of the company and the bona fide public benefit is the additional tax dollars to the city. They don't take property soley for the use by the government. Lots of private enterprises are the delegates to land taken through eminent domain.

It is possible that lots of condos were already taken this way and this one somehow slipped through the cracks.