[ 2012 ] Fairmont / Sunchaser / Northwynd official thread with lawsuit info!

[truthr]

Truth are VIA’s Contracts the same as Vacation Villa Lease Contracts. I have a Vacation Villa Lease and I Know that was the Contract I had right up to the Jeke Test case. I never received any thing from North mont saying my contract has changed. Even if they did Modification to the Lease it must not materially prejudice the rights of existing lessees. This means do not call us co-owners or VIA’s if you try to get rid of our Lease Contract. I just wanted to get your opinion because I will never allow Northmont to destroy my Lease. Besides the court cases started way before the Jeke case and they should not be able to make changes just to suit the mission Northmont is on.

Sorry Spark1 I don't have the answer to those questions.

 

[Spark1]

This is nothing less than a legal scam given license by a fragmented legal system mired in jurisprudence minutia and decades of negligent governments. Not just the current ones, governments of all stripes too afraid to upset Developers who are also political donors. Developers are not bad, but these are very sketchy. And lets face it, they aren't really Developers are they? More like un-Developers.

Panama Papers you say? Well, maybe it's something more than a legal scam.

I'm not in this fight with Geldert's Group. I am fighting this same fight on a different front by myself. It won't be long till I am where you are now. If I ever get before a Judge, I will calmly stand and start with, "Good Day Your Honour." Then I fear I'll blurt out, "It's not a F'ng Resort! My learned friend over there represents a serial teller of untruths, a man who misrepresents facts, and a person practicing a pretense to obtain money via deception." As I am dragged from the Court Room, I'll be screaming, "They want their money for nothing. They've run all six of their properties into the ground. They ruined a 100-year-old Dude Ranch. They've sunk six houseboats. It's a pattern. They've failed in every country they've been in. It's a shell game. They sell land and buildings that are shared with a larger group, and then they keep all of the money to themselves. It's no more complex than that your Honour. Visit the property! Their pool is a square hole in the ground filled with over-chlorinated water. My brother-in-law's trailer on a weedy lakeshore in Alberta is more warm and welcoming - and he still owes me for that lawnmower. I.T.'.S ... N.O.T ... A ... R.E.S..O...R....T!"

You are so right every one join the Canadian anti-fraud centre. Phone 1-888-495-8501. This is a scam and I really wonder what qualifies some of these Judges. When Justice Young ruled she said that Cancellation Agreement was legal and any one that has a Lease Agreement she is saying Lease owners have to pay the Special Assessments. Not true according to Honourable Judge J.T.McCarthy. Janet Lydiatt and Banff Rocky Mountain Resort Ltd. BC Protection and The office of the Superintendent does not want any thing to do with this they told me I have to deal with Alberta. Did any one find out if this Trustee was within his legal rights to do what he did? It looks like BC also will have to deal with Alberta. Justice Branch says we all should at least pay the cancellation. Did he ever read this Cancellation Agreement?. Does any one Know if any of theses timeshare owners ever got totally released from this disaster? I have asked my x Lawyer several times was it legal what the Trustee did and were any one released, he never answered me Why?

 

[truthr]

You are so right every one join the Canadian anti-fraud centre. Phone 1-888-495-8501. This is a scam and I really wonder what qualifies some of these Judges. When Justice Young ruled she said that Cancellation Agreement was legal and any one that has a Lease Agreement she is saying Lease owners have to pay the Special Assessments. Not true according to Honourable Judge J.T.McCarthy. Janet Lydiatt and Banff Rocky Mountain Resort Ltd. BC Protection and The office of the Superintendent does not want any thing to do with this they told me I have to deal with Alberta. Did any one find out if this Trustee was within his legal rights to do what he did? It looks like BC also will have to deal with Alberta. Justice Branch says we all should at least pay the cancellation. Did he ever read this Cancellation Agreement?. Does any one Know if any of theses timeshare owners ever got totally released from this disaster? I have asked my x Lawyer several times was it legal what the Trustee did and were any one released, he never answered me Why?

Reminder: Judges can only rule on what is presented to them and presented according to the Rules of Court.

 

[Scammed!]

Everyday we need to fight, not just yesterday or today but everyday until this ends. Our job is not done until we get back control of our lives which has been taken from us. ...God knows I want mine back! Send Letters, emails, faxes everyday to Officials you haven't sent to yet. There's no end to the list. It only takes one person to hear us, and that one person out there could change our lives. It could be YOUR letter that catches their attention, and changes this mess we've been unfairly put in. We only fail if we don't do anything...And I have never failed.......

 

[ecwinch]

Edit: The quote below was previously wrongly attributed to truthr, when he was just quoting Spark1. Apologies for the mistake.

When Justice Young ruled she said that Cancellation Agreement was legal and any one that has a Lease Agreement she is saying Lease owners have to pay the Special Assessments. Not true according to Honourable Judge J.T.McCarthy. Janet Lydiatt and Banff Rocky Mountain Resort Ltd.

Just as an FYI - this point is expressly covered in the JEKE-v.-Northmont Reasons for Judgement on page 74 para 280.

In Lydiatt, the issue was responsibility to pay for certain “capital expenditures for renovations and redevelopment”, which included re-doing kitchens and bathrooms and updating mechanical and electrical systems. There was no mention of “capital costs” in the agreement. Judge McCarthy held that these capital costs could be properly included in a special assessment billed to owners: paras. 18-20. In the result, the owner succeeded in this litigation; however, it was only based on the fact that the special assessment was in excess of a 10% cap on annual assessment increases, circumstances not relevant here.

 

[Ultimate_Betrayal]

Just as an FYI - this point is expressly covered in the JEKE-v.-Northmont Reasons for Judgement on page 74 para 280.

In Lydiatt, the issue was responsibility to pay for certain “capital expenditures for renovations and redevelopment”, which included re-doing kitchens and bathrooms and updating mechanical and electrical systems. There was no mention of “capital costs” in the agreement. Judge McCarthy held that these capital costs could be properly included in a special assessment billed to owners: paras. 18-20. In the result, the owner succeeded in this litigation; however, it was only based on the fact that the special assessment was in excess of a 10% cap on annual assessment increases, circumstances not relevant here.

Eric, it's great to have your participation and even better knowing other people have an interest in our challenge.

Taking the time to review the documents and taking the time to analyze them shows you have a true interest - Eric thank-you and I can only assume you are an educated professional yourself and I just wanted to say thank-you for your participation.

Its great to see the support of at at least 2 Tugbbs moderators now who have commented and we value your input.

Unfortunately a lot of what has transpired over the last 4 years affects more than just the resort we have our own timeshare at and it's great to see that word may be getting out beyond our group.

A lot of the decisions that have been made that negatively have impacted us can now be used to affect other resorts especially if this is the beginning of a business decisions that will enable companies to see the potential to capitalize additional revenues in a similar manner.

 

[Spark1]

Hello moderator: would you please tell me what Fairmont Vacation Villas Consumer Protection Agreement Means? Also tell why the President,Fairmont Resort Properties LD Collin Knight witnessed this document with his Signature. My spouse and I had to go threw every item on this document from 1 to 18 and initial and then Collin Knight signed. This is how item number 9 reads. I understand that the annual maintenance fee is currently $_441 gst incl per week of ownership. Said fee shall cover maid service,utilities,insurance,taxes,refurbishing and general maintenance.Fees are subject to increases as costs increase. If you cross reference this over to my 2002 Vacation Villa Lease to Item number 9 operating costs and reserve for Refurbishing it is saying the same thing. Now what won the case for Janet Lydiatt and the Banff Rocky Resort Ltd case was the knowledge of The Judge J.T. McCarthy. He used the Fair Trading ACT of Alberta to handle this case. This is not a Condominium. “Time Share Contract” is identified under the Fair Trading ACT, “time Share Contract” means a Contract in which an individual acquires the right to us, occupy or possess real or personal property whether or not it is located in Alberta. The Time Share Regulation A.R. Came in 1999 and it replaced the Condominium ACT. Moderator please read the 2002 Vacation Villa Lease contract over and also read the Canadian Consumer Handbook over under the topic Knowing Your Options and you will see the description of a “right-to-use” Time Share. Keep in mind in my case we paid $25000.00 up front fees and used the resort, for 12 years and paid maintenance fees. Just because we did not feel the Cancellation Agreement was designed so you might not ever get released,keep in mind majority of us are seniors quoted by Service Alberta. There is nothing in my 2002 Lease Agreement that states we have to pay Special Assessments. I was at the court June 28/2017 and what I heard in the room Justice Youngs biggest concern was Albertan’s winning their cases and this would tie up the Alberta Courts for years. I almost jumped up and said Albertan’s have the right to Justice. I also feel All Canadians and Americans have the right to justice. I bet I have talked to and emailed back and forth to BC Protection and the Office of the superintendent more than most Albertan’s. What is your opinion on the upfront money that Northmont never talks about. Do you feel there should of been a forensic Audit done on this resort so 14500 Time Share owners know where the money went?

 

[Spark1]

Sorry Spark1 I don't have the answer to those questions.

I am asking you because I never read a 2010 VIA Contract.

 

[Ultimate_Betrayal]

One of the many great people I am corresponding with has shared a fantastic letter they have sent out and consented that I post as an example of the steps they personally are taking.

Here is where this letter has been sent:
BC Ministry of the Attorney General, Honorable David Eby, Minister
The Law Society
Their MLA
Their MP

Please take the time to do what you can and reach out to the people that represent us who are there to help serve and protect us – Your voice matters, let it be heard!!!


Dear Sir:

I am writing to ask for help in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice that is presently being perpetrated on citizens of British Columbia and Alberta.

There are thousands of citizens and taxpayers presently being threatened by a $24,000 demand (or greater in several cases) to be released by Northmont, the company that owns Sunchaser resort at Fairmont Hot Springs.This ransom is being demanded by Northmont to surrender a fully paid one week timeshare that many have paid tens of thousands of dollars to own in the first place.

We have been misrepresented by our legal counsel who has negotiated this absurd deal with Northmont without first reviewing and receiving approval from his 1400 plus client group. He has given us just a short time (over Christmas) to accept the offer or no longer be represented. We have paid him good money to protect us and our ever increasing bill with Northmont, who is charging over 26% per annum in interest charges. Northmont has also unilaterally changed our contracts which seams to be another travesty that somehow the courts never seemed to identify. I understand there may be some support in the new law ( Bill 31) but I need to look into this further.

You will hear that this went through the courts and the lawyers were directed by the Judges to follow certain protocol in resolving this issue, and they have not done so. Instead they have negotiated (behind closed doors) a deal that will put over $30,000,000 in Northmont's coffers, force the surrender of thousands of timeshares back to Northmont and in the end leave many people in dire financial straits. The people subject to this action have already lost the right to use their time share which have many, many years of life left. Mine for example had over 20 years remaining.

Thousands of seniors and young families or being forced to turn over large sums of money with little hope of anyone to turn to. We are pleading to our elected and government officials, legal community, and other organizations responsible to protect the public for help.

We earnestly request that you take action on behalf of the citizens of BC that have nowhere else to turn.

Sincerely

 

[Spark1]

Regarding Judge Young, if you read her decision it includes ALL Geldert clients - at least that is how I read it but again I am not a lawyer.
The reason it was before her was because she was promised (by our attorney) that it would all be heard before her to not burden the courts.
In most instances there were already individual Statement of Claims filed. So her ruling encompasses all Geldert clients. Again that is how I read it.
Also it is impossible for any one to advise any one of us without having all the documents pertaining to this debacle. Too many winding, intertwining webs.

We would of been better off without this unexperienced Lawyer and study this case for ourselfs and saved badly spent money. I sent this man tons of material and I know I should of saved my money and time because I feel he filed it into G for garbage. What frustrates me this case should of been over in no longer than 6 months. It will be 5 years coming up and Northmont loves that because they feel they could gain 38 million more on top of the 20million they already they collected.

 

[Spark1]

I have read posts where Darren Thomas has told you it is to late and there is nothing he can do for you. I again I have talked to him several times. Darren it is not over until it is over. What you needed to is focus on what us tax payers are paying for. You know who I am and you also know that I was the one that took several documents about this resort including that Cancellation Agreement form to Service Alberta. Service Alberta went threw that material and decided to move it to the RCMP. I feel we can not totally say that the activaties were totally in BC. Both of these suppliers are from Alberta. Also I feel it is more important to Justice Young to do what ever she can to make this go away. She was very concerned about about Albertan’s tiring up the court rooms. Remember I was in that court room and I heard all of her conversation. When I heard her concerns I thought to myself,she does not care about us Albertan’s getting Justice, it is all about money and and space in the court rooms. This case must Carry on so Albertan’s can get Justice because what is going on is unfair practices which reads if the supplier or consumer lives in Alberta, the offer or acceptance is made in or sent from Alberta,or the unfair practice is made or received in Alberta and involves a supplier’s representive. I am talking about the Freedom to Choose, every document come out of Calgary. Many of the Seniors have Lease agreements and we do not Know or Care what VIA’s are.

 

[MarcieL]

One of the many great people I am corresponding with has shared a fantastic letter they have sent out and consented that I post as an example of the steps they personally are taking.

Here is where this letter has been sent:
BC Ministry of the Attorney General, Honorable David Eby, Minister
The Law Society
Their MLA
Their MP

Please take the time to do what you can and reach out to the people that represent us who are there to help serve and protect us – Your voice matters, let it be heard!!!


Dear Sir:

I am writing to ask for help in one of the biggest miscarriages of justice that is presently being perpetrated on citizens of British Columbia and Alberta.

There are thousands of citizens and taxpayers presently being threatened by a $24,000 demand (or greater in several cases) to be released by Northmont, the company that owns Sunchaser resort at Fairmont Hot Springs.This ransom is being demanded by Northmont to surrender a fully paid one week timeshare that many have paid tens of thousands of dollars to own in the first place.

We have been misrepresented by our legal counsel who has negotiated this absurd deal with Northmont without first reviewing and receiving approval from his 1400 plus client group. He has given us just a short time (over Christmas) to accept the offer or no longer be represented. We have paid him good money to protect us and our ever increasing bill with Northmont, who is charging over 26% per annum in interest charges. Northmont has also unilaterally changed our contracts which seams to be another travesty that somehow the courts never seemed to identify. I understand there may be some support in the new law ( Bill 31) but I need to look into this further.

You will hear that this went through the courts and the lawyers were directed by the Judges to follow certain protocol in resolving this issue, and they have not done so. Instead they have negotiated (behind closed doors) a deal that will put over $30,000,000 in Northmont's coffers, force the surrender of thousands of timeshares back to Northmont and in the end leave many people in dire financial straits. The people subject to this action have already lost the right to use their time share which have many, many years of life left. Mine for example had over 20 years remaining.

Thousands of seniors and young families or being forced to turn over large sums of money with little hope of anyone to turn to. We are pleading to our elected and government officials, legal community, and other organizations responsible to protect the public for help.

We earnestly request that you take action on behalf of the citizens of BC that have nowhere else to turn.

Sincerely

There are many of us who are being invoiced for much more than 24000.00 our total is close to 40,000.00 by M.G.'s latest "approximation" of 26.8% of the Nov. /16 invoice plus another 20%. Like most we are seniors in our 70's and on a fixed income, so this means a bank loan! I am incensed that we engaged a lawyer for 4 years and this is the result. We could've arrived at this conclusion on our own. M.G. and his cohorts argued convincingly only one point, at the original B.C. trial for a test case, thus all our contracts mirror Jeke! Our counsel gave up our rights to our individual contracts in order to have the court recognize their arguments. M.G. had promised us a test case was the way to proceed, he then failed to prove mismanagement, giving NM justification in charging us whatever they chose. Barry King tried to submit the contract issue, at the Edmonton court hearing, but Judge Young ruled it was re-litigation of matters already covered at the Jeke trial.

 

[newname]

I have been is this fight since the begining, no matter which way I look at this it is not right what Northmont is doing. I cannot understand how they can rewrite the contracts in there favour and get away with it and not pay there proportionate share. I am quite discussed in the outcome. However even if Northmont decides to let us of with the RPF and associated interest, Northmont has the exclusive discretion to set the price of relinquishment. I do not see how we can win that one.

 

[Palms to pines]

All of this is just a mess.I still do not understand why MG could use our money to hire no end of researchers to discover facts he didn’t have the savvy to get entered into court, numerous other lawyers to do his presenting at trials and hearings, but he didn’t hire a professional negotiator to help him in final discussions with Northmont. He gave up everything- no aggressive petition response, no proceeding to class action , and Northwynd got precisely what they wanted and with loan shark interest rates. We received our invoice yesterday - just shy of $40,000.00. Like we can spare that.

 

[MarcieL]

Had a very informative discussion with the Bank and our financial advisor. NM can try to collect from you and threaten all kinds of actions NONE of which will be honoured by any financial institution in Canada.
However if they take you to court and sue you for payment they cannot touch pensions, RIFFS etc EVEN if they get a judgement against you. Their ability to collect legally is very restricted, but they can badger you relentlessly without going to court. But that amounts to Huff and Puff. I am sure that Judge Young will enjoy having all these trivial civil cases on her docket considering what I heard her say to NM'S hard to hear mumbler
last year when he said he was still going to file individual claims.
All we wanted to do when they came up with the plan to renovate and realign was to say goodbye it is yours to do with as you please and turn it over to them as per our contact section 13 or in the worst case free of charge.
Thought that was the premise of the court case we all just went through collectively, but our representation got that objective confused by making an agreement for us ( without consultation with us) to pay more than the cost of our initial purchase of the lease.
Still going to follow up with Service Alberta , elected MLA's and play the Elder Abuse card as well

Most pensions are deposited into bank accts online. All banking is automated, thus if a garnishee is placed on your acct. the funds will be taken automatically. Automation cannot discern the money source! Cars and houses are also subject to liens, unfortunately. Isn't this a nice predicament to face in our senior years?

 

[Jack0123]

Placing a caveat on one personal property may also be one of there options

 

[Bewildered]

Here is another example of an awesome one-off letter for your elected officials. Again I am not part of the large facebook group but please someone spread the word on that forum to get going on some political/media pressure, without it all these facebook postings of facts/non-facts mean nothing.

Dear MLA/MP


I am a local constituent in ???? and writing you today to make you aware of a white collar crime being perpetrated against thousands of Canadian citizens and yet the court system appears to have their hands tied to prevent a corporation from extorting tens of millions of dollars.


I will attach the Alberta Court papers that were filed in October 2017 and will give a brief point summary of the facts to the best of my knowledge.


Fairmont Vacation Villas in Fairmont, BC. operated a business of selling timeshare weeks. Due to poor management over the years they began to fail and applied for creditor protection in 2009.


In 2012 Northmont bought the resort in a bankruptcy acquisition and quickly further mismanaged the resort from a 5 star rating to a state of deterioration. They made plans to sell off assets, close buildings, stopped sending the required financial statements, etc. It became very obvious that they purchased this resort knowing full well that they were planning to levy massive fees on the Owners which they did and quickly launched civil suits against thousands of people.


In an attempt to find a resolution to this Geldert Law of Vancouver BC was hired to represent many BC and AB owners in the hopes of finding a resolution.


There were concerns that even if you paid the fees there was no guarantee that they wouldn't levy more fees or that they were planning to re-align the resort and close down many of the buildings. Many people wanted to simply get released from their timeshare and were willing to pay a fee to be legally freed from the resort.


Through these years, the owners were not permitted to use their owned weeks at the resort but Northmont was free to rent out owners week all while charging them a 27% compounded interest rate on the fees they levied. This has been happening since 2013, so the interest amounts are astounding.


However, the units that Northmont themselves own, (weeks owners paid large sums of money back to Northmont to be released from or unsold units), they are not paying any of these said fees. My understanding is they own around 40% of the units and are not paying the same fees they are suing other owners for.


When this case appeared in Alberta courts, the judge strongly suggested that a Northmont negotiate a fair settlement instead of having thousands of individual court cases coming forward. Judge Young was also very concerned about the interest and other costs and asked that this be worked out. If a reasonable agreement could not be reached then it would need to play out in the courts.


Fast forward to today:


All along the various law offices working with and on behalf of Geldert Group have been giving assurance that we should be able to get a decent settlement. In March we were offered an exit for approximately $13,800 but Geldert felt we would do better so most people continued on.


December 14, 2017 the "fair settlement" that Northmont bullied and threatened to all the owners was we are forced to pay all charges with the 27% compounded interest but then add to that total another random 20% to be released and return our asset back to them, for a total settlement of 120% of last compounded statement. The price basically doubled since March.


If any owner does not pay in full by February 15, 2018 they will increase the 20% to 42% so the settlement is now minimally 162% of last compounded statement and they will refuse to release you or come up with any price they deem to release you.


So basically 2000+ Albertans alone are being held hostage by Northmont who is demanding a random payment for an owner having a single week of approximately $24,000. (Some folks own multiple weeks). That is 48 Million dollars. The price of that ransom will be increased to an unknown sum if you cannot or do not make payment.


They have also assured people that if you do not pay, not only will the ransom fee increase to whatever they determine but they will start legal proceedings via liens on our property, seizing assets etc.


Northmont has a history of doing this type of scenario, buying failing resorts at a bargain price, force owners to pay huge sums of money for renovations or pay huge sums of money to be released all while Northmont increases the value and retains their asset. It is a legal scam that steals money from the owners who have no protection.


Owners are left holding the bag. They bought their timeshare for tens of thousands of dollars on average, are unable to use it and now must pay tens of thousands again to simply give it back. How can this happen?


This does not seem like a scenario that one would see in Canada unfolding and nobody seems to be taking notice at all.


I am reaching out to you today in a last ditch effort to help.


Sincerely,

 

[Palms to pines]

Very good. MG told me that NM owns a “ full 50percent “ of the timeshare weeks. I hope this letter writing campaign puts a stop to this extortion and NM gets investigated.

 

[Ultimate_Betrayal]

Here is another example of an awesome one-off letter for your elected officials. Again I am not part of the large facebook group but please someone spread the word on that forum to get going on some political/media pressure, without it all these facebook postings of facts/non-facts mean nothing.

Dear MLA/MP


I am a local constituent in ???? and writing you today to make you aware of a white collar crime being perpetrated against thousands of Canadian citizens and yet the court system appears to have their hands tied to prevent a corporation from extorting tens of millions of dollars.


I will attach the Alberta Court papers that were filed in October 2017 and will give a brief point summary of the facts to the best of my knowledge.


Fairmont Vacation Villas in Fairmont, BC. operated a business of selling timeshare weeks. Due to poor management over the years they began to fail and applied for creditor protection in 2009.


In 2012 Northmont bought the resort in a bankruptcy acquisition and quickly further mismanaged the resort from a 5 star rating to a state of deterioration. They made plans to sell off assets, close buildings, stopped sending the required financial statements, etc. It became very obvious that they purchased this resort knowing full well that they were planning to levy massive fees on the Owners which they did and quickly launched civil suits against thousands of people.


In an attempt to find a resolution to this Geldert Law of Vancouver BC was hired to represent many BC and AB owners in the hopes of finding a resolution.


There were concerns that even if you paid the fees there was no guarantee that they wouldn't levy more fees or that they were planning to re-align the resort and close down many of the buildings. Many people wanted to simply get released from their timeshare and were willing to pay a fee to be legally freed from the resort.


Through these years, the owners were not permitted to use their owned weeks at the resort but Northmont was free to rent out owners week all while charging them a 27% compounded interest rate on the fees they levied. This has been happening since 2013, so the interest amounts are astounding.


However, the units that Northmont themselves own, (weeks owners paid large sums of money back to Northmont to be released from or unsold units), they are not paying any of these said fees. My understanding is they own around 40% of the units and are not paying the same fees they are suing other owners for.


When this case appeared in Alberta courts, the judge strongly suggested that a Northmont negotiate a fair settlement instead of having thousands of individual court cases coming forward. Judge Young was also very concerned about the interest and other costs and asked that this be worked out. If a reasonable agreement could not be reached then it would need to play out in the courts.


Fast forward to today:


All along the various law offices working with and on behalf of Geldert Group have been giving assurance that we should be able to get a decent settlement. In March we were offered an exit for approximately $13,800 but Geldert felt we would do better so most people continued on.


December 14, 2017 the "fair settlement" that Northmont bullied and threatened to all the owners was we are forced to pay all charges with the 27% compounded interest but then add to that total another random 20% to be released and return our asset back to them, for a total settlement of 120% of last compounded statement. The price basically doubled since March.


If any owner does not pay in full by February 15, 2018 they will increase the 20% to 42% so the settlement is now minimally 162% of last compounded statement and they will refuse to release you or come up with any price they deem to release you.


So basically 2000+ Albertans alone are being held hostage by Northmont who is demanding a random payment for an owner having a single week of approximately $24,000. (Some folks own multiple weeks). That is 48 Million dollars. The price of that ransom will be increased to an unknown sum if you cannot or do not make payment.


They have also assured people that if you do not pay, not only will the ransom fee increase to whatever they determine but they will start legal proceedings via liens on our property, seizing assets etc.


Northmont has a history of doing this type of scenario, buying failing resorts at a bargain price, force owners to pay huge sums of money for renovations or pay huge sums of money to be released all while Northmont increases the value and retains their asset. It is a legal scam that steals money from the owners who have no protection.


Owners are left holding the bag. They bought their timeshare for tens of thousands of dollars on average, are unable to use it and now must pay tens of thousands again to simply give it back. How can this happen?


This does not seem like a scenario that one would see in Canada unfolding and nobody seems to be taking notice at all.


I am reaching out to you today in a last ditch effort to help.


Sincerely,

Bravo

 

[ecwinch]

Eric, it's great to have your participation and even better knowing other people have an interest in our challenge.

Taking the time to review the documents and taking the time to analyze them shows you have a true interest - Eric thank-you and I can only assume you are an educated professional yourself and I just wanted to say thank-you for your participation.

Thanks for the kind words.

Also is does this link omit any of the salient documents covering this issue?

https://sunchaservillas.ca/renovation-program/court-proceedings/

 

[truthr]

Thanks for the kind words.

Also is does this link omit any of the salient documents covering this issue?

https://sunchaservillas.ca/renovation-program/court-proceedings/

I can answer that.
Although there are a lot documents on that site it is not complete.
Just like, unfortunately our own lawyer has not provided all the documents to his clients.

 

[ecwinch]

I can answer that.
Although there are a lot documents on that site it is not complete.
Just like, unfortunately our own lawyer has not provided all the documents to his clients.

Thanks for the quick reply. I probably should have phrased my question differently.

Does this link omit any of the salient decisions of the respective Alberta and BC courts on this matter?

As I mentioned earlier, from 50,000 ft this issue seems to have received significant review by the court. By my count, at least two bench trials spanning multiple days, with the outcome of major case being upheld on appeal.

ps. And again my apologies for mis-quoting you previously.

 

[truthr]

Thanks for the quick reply. I probably should have phrased my question differently.

Does this link omit any of the salient decisions of the respective Alberta and BC courts on this matter?

As I mentioned earlier, from 50,000 ft this issue seems to have received significant review by the court. By my count, at least two bench trials spanning multiple days, with the outcome of major case being upheld on appeal.

ps. And again my apologies for mis-quoting you previously.

Thanks for acknowledging and correcting the mis-quote.

Oh the twists and turns in this ever confusion winding road with yes many court trials/hearings, etc. is confusing for even those who read and re-read all that has been provided by our lawyer, on the internet and even paid to get (yes I have paid to get court documents that to this day have not been revealed to the litigation group clients by their own attorney).

The significant review by the courts - unfortunately for us and the courts all was not presented and within the Canadian judicial system the judges can only rule on what is presented, when and how it is presented.

Due to all the twists and turns and missed opportunities now that the courts have ruled in favor of our opponent he feels he is in the position to demand, individually $10,000 - $100,000 and collectively over $30 million payment to him, for people to be released from the VIA's without knowing all the particulars (including the amount one would have to pay) before agreeing to this wonderful "settlement" he has concocted with the approval of our lawyers.

 

[Lily123]

Here is another example of an awesome one-off letter for your elected officials. Again I am not part of the large facebook group but please someone spread the word on that forum to get going on some political/media pressure, without it all these facebook postings of facts/non-facts mean nothing.

Dear MLA/MP


I am a local constituent in ???? and writing you today to make you aware of a white collar crime being perpetrated against thousands of Canadian citizens and yet the court system appears to have their hands tied to prevent a corporation from extorting tens of millions of dollars.


I will attach the Alberta Court papers that were filed in October 2017 and will give a brief point summary of the facts to the best of my knowledge.


Fairmont Vacation Villas in Fairmont, BC. operated a business of selling timeshare weeks. Due to poor management over the years they began to fail and applied for creditor protection in 2009.


In 2012 Northmont bought the resort in a bankruptcy acquisition and quickly further mismanaged the resort from a 5 star rating to a state of deterioration. They made plans to sell off assets, close buildings, stopped sending the required financial statements, etc. It became very obvious that they purchased this resort knowing full well that they were planning to levy massive fees on the Owners which they did and quickly launched civil suits against thousands of people.


In an attempt to find a resolution to this Geldert Law of Vancouver BC was hired to represent many BC and AB owners in the hopes of finding a resolution.


There were concerns that even if you paid the fees there was no guarantee that they wouldn't levy more fees or that they were planning to re-align the resort and close down many of the buildings. Many people wanted to simply get released from their timeshare and were willing to pay a fee to be legally freed from the resort.


Through these years, the owners were not permitted to use their owned weeks at the resort but Northmont was free to rent out owners week all while charging them a 27% compounded interest rate on the fees they levied. This has been happening since 2013, so the interest amounts are astounding.


However, the units that Northmont themselves own, (weeks owners paid large sums of money back to Northmont to be released from or unsold units), they are not paying any of these said fees. My understanding is they own around 40% of the units and are not paying the same fees they are suing other owners for.


When this case appeared in Alberta courts, the judge strongly suggested that a Northmont negotiate a fair settlement instead of having thousands of individual court cases coming forward. Judge Young was also very concerned about the interest and other costs and asked that this be worked out. If a reasonable agreement could not be reached then it would need to play out in the courts.


Fast forward to today:


All along the various law offices working with and on behalf of Geldert Group have been giving assurance that we should be able to get a decent settlement. In March we were offered an exit for approximately $13,800 but Geldert felt we would do better so most people continued on.


December 14, 2017 the "fair settlement" that Northmont bullied and threatened to all the owners was we are forced to pay all charges with the 27% compounded interest but then add to that total another random 20% to be released and return our asset back to them, for a total settlement of 120% of last compounded statement. The price basically doubled since March.


If any owner does not pay in full by February 15, 2018 they will increase the 20% to 42% so the settlement is now minimally 162% of last compounded statement and they will refuse to release you or come up with any price they deem to release you.


So basically 2000+ Albertans alone are being held hostage by Northmont who is demanding a random payment for an owner having a single week of approximately $24,000. (Some folks own multiple weeks). That is 48 Million dollars. The price of that ransom will be increased to an unknown sum if you cannot or do not make payment.


They have also assured people that if you do not pay, not only will the ransom fee increase to whatever they determine but they will start legal proceedings via liens on our property, seizing assets etc.


Northmont has a history of doing this type of scenario, buying failing resorts at a bargain price, force owners to pay huge sums of money for renovations or pay huge sums of money to be released all while Northmont increases the value and retains their asset. It is a legal scam that steals money from the owners who have no protection.


Owners are left holding the bag. They bought their timeshare for tens of thousands of dollars on average, are unable to use it and now must pay tens of thousands again to simply give it back. How can this happen?


This does not seem like a scenario that one would see in Canada unfolding and nobody seems to be taking notice at all.


I am reaching out to you today in a last ditch effort to help.


Sincerely,

The court document referred to in this letter was a PDF attached to email sent out and named:
GELDERT LAW / re: update for October 30, 2017

 

[den403]

Re: Cancellation of Lease

Sunchaser Vacation Villas


Good morning,


Please note that the cancellation of your lease with Sunchaser Vacation Villas has now been completed. All financial obligations on the lease has been adjusted and the Vacation Interval Agreement is now null and void.


You will find attached a copy of the Cancellation Agreement (2 pages) and the Surrender and Indemnification Form (1 page) that has been approved by a Representative at Northwynd Resort Properties. Please keep this for your records.


If you have any questions regarding this matter, do not hesitate to contact our Vacation Ownership Services Department at 1-877-451-1250.


Best regards,


Leanne Tucker

Project Development Manager

Northwynd Resort Properties

5799 – 3 Street SE

Calgary, Alberta

T2H 1K1

This was sent from a friend in 2013
She paid to leave
She has had no repercussions or heard from them again
She paid 1700 to leave as she had purchased years prior

MG told me to pay to stay would allow them to charge me what ever they like and change my contract
He stated if we paid to leave we would never be released as of how it was written

So I retained him!
Bad move on my part

I do believe I would have been free and clear
Of course back then he contacted you by phone