Any success with using California Attorney General or Real Estate Commission in overt cases of well documented contract misrepresentation?

[leeston]

Hello all, complete newbie here and love the wealth of information on this forum. Apologies if i have missed any info / answers on this site wrt my question. Looking to see if anyone has had success with disputing their contract with the Attorney General in Californa or Real Estate Commission? Figured it may be worth writing a letter. When i contacted the ARDA they suggested this would be the best course of action for my case. I have documented at the time all of the blatant misrepresentation that occurred in the sales presentation but didnt know whether contacting the aforemtioned would be a waste of time? I have a North Star Welk Platinum Points timeshare which i signed in December 2021. I am also convinced not to enlist an exist company or lawyer. I do have some knowledge of contract / business law as this was my undergraduate degree but not related to the crazy timeshare world. Thanks in advance or any info, Lee

 

[Passepartout]

It wouldn't hurt to write a letter or two. Keep your expectations low. They (might) open a file- or add your letter to an existing file for consideration if they get enough others to pursue investigation. We are aware of other states getting results against unfair- and illegal sales practices. Usually, however, all the TS outfit says is essentially, 'verbal promises' are not binding. The buyer had the opportunity to review the final contract and to rescind it for XX days before it became binding. That they chose not to rescind the contract for (now 10+ months) makes the contract valid.

Jim

 

[bnoble]

If you have the time to spare, it doesn't hurt to try. But, it is an uphill battle. First, nearly every timeshare sales agreement has you initial a clause that states you are not relying on any verbal representations, only what is written in the contract. Second, what you mean by "documented" will probably play an important role. Did you take notes during the meeting, with the date in writing, and you retained that physical document? Better yet, did you record the meeting? Or are you going on your recollection of what was said that you wrote down later---and the longer you waited the less helpful it is likely to be.

So, it is probably worth making a complaint, but don't expect your complaint alone to do anything to unwind your purchase. As @Passepartout says, the most likely "positive" outcome is that your complaint is added to enough others that it spawns a more thorough investigation.

 

[LannyPC]

I agree with BNoble above where (s)he says "If you have the time to spare, it doesn't hurt to try. " However, the biggest piece of advice we here at TUG like to give to people in your situation is to not go seeking the "help" of companies, charities, or law firms that claim they can cancel your contract or sue the sales people.

 

[Patri]

All that matters is what is in print, not what anyone said.

 

[leeston]

All that matters is what is in print, not what anyone said.

 

[leeston]

Or perhaps it doesnt. Just wanted to update others on my situation in case it gives a glimmer of hope if you were grossly lied to and misled into the timeshare contract. I just wasnt willing to let them get away with it. I wasnt naive about timeshares prior to the sales presentation in the sense that i knew their was risk, i knew they are often unscrupulous and will lie and as such i looked through the contract closely. We had a specific use case for a timeshare and we were confident it would work for us. We tried to use it for a year whilst paying for both the loan and the maintenance fees. It was made clear to us that at the presentation that as long as we were reasonably flexible with dates there would be plenty of options for the location we wanted to use the timeshare and since we had a lot of flexibility with when we could travel we genuinely thought we would be able to book a couple of weekends a year. After one year of throwing money down the drain i decided to do something i have never done before which is default both on the maintenance and on the loan. It felt very uncomfortable. I have never defaulted on anything in my life. I also have a law degree which made it feel even worse for some reason. I knew my credit score would be hit but was willing to take the hit as it seemed nonsensical to perpetually throw money down the drain for something that i could not use (and we were lied to many times). I contacted the ARDA and Attorney General in California & Real Estate commission and although they acknowledge receipt of my letter they didnt follow up with me. The ARDA gave me fabulous advice on how to proceed which was stop paying and then contact the credit report agencies and explain the situation. Anyhow, my credit score was hit with late payments and eventually the dreaded repossession. I wrote letters to the credit report agencies explaining at length the situation and followed up with phone calls. Today, all negative notations on the credit report were removed. I am extremely relieved. Hopefully that gives others hope if they encountered a similar situation.