An interesting story which raises several questions...
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I recently purchased a timeshare resale (at Jean Lafitte House in New Orleans) from CJ Timeshares. I paid all of the money into escrow, as provided by CJ's "preferred" closing company, Timeshare Closing Services Inc (TCSI). My 2012 Maintenance fees have been paid already (as part of the closing), and both the original timeshare ad and the escrow agreement state that I will have access to my 2012 week, as per the agreement.
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The developer (George Friedman) stated that "TCSI is a scam, and the sale is bogus. Get your money back". WTF? He subsequently told me that "they're a relief company, originally headquartered in Missouri, not registered in Florida" and he WON'T honor the sale. (We've been communicating entirely by text messages, and the definitive message from him said: "Mgt is telling you that you are not an owner and will not be occupying the unit.") <snip> I responded by asking him: "George, what if I find someone else to handle the closing? (eg Chicago Title) As I said, I assume the original owner wants to sell, and I definitely want to buy..."
He responded: "Its a muddy situation right now."
Here's my theory: I got a steal of a deal on this week (it's a Jazzfest week in New Orleans and it was 1/5 the current market price), and I think the developer is trying to kibosh my deal, buy the week back from the original owner and keep it for himself. The seller was asking $2,000, and he can basically cover the purchase price of the week with one week's worth of rentals during the Fest. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this before? As far as I know, the developer DOESN'T have any kind of "first right of refusal" to buy back the week.
What's my recourse? What happens if a developer refuses to allow a transfer between a buyer and seller? I'm seriously concerned here... :>(
The first question that comes to
my mind is "who is the lawful, deeded owner of record for this timeshare week
right now --- and /or who has lawful Power of Attorney on said owner's behalf"?
Unless it's the developer (which it almost certainly is
not, if CJ Timeshares somehow got its' hands on it, most likely via a PCC-acquired Power of Attorney), it would seem to me that George Friedman is just making some irrelevant, unconvincing and meaningless noises through a body orifice other than his mouth...
If the current lawful owner of record is
not the developer but is instead a subsequent purchaser, and that subsequent purchaser executed a PoA for someone to handle the lawful disposal of his / her ownership, then Mr. Friedman has absolutely
no say in the matter whatsoever, absent any clear and specific ROFR language pre-existing within the original developer sales contract. There is
nothing at all "muddy" about this, imho.
It sounds to me at first blush like "greedy sour grapes" on Mr. Friedman's part, since he may well have failed, in this specific instance, to "get back" a decent week which he could then likely have sold all over again for good money. He may now belatedly (and desperately) just be grasping for a way to somehow still be able to do exactly that. However,
unless there were clear and specific ROFR terms and conditions included within the content of the original developer sales documents (...do you
know?), I suspect that Mr. Friedman is just plain SOL, whether he likes it or not (and
regardless of his completely irrelevant personal opinion about TCS).
That being said. CJ Timeshares (and TCS)
still need to get their acts together for any ownership change to proceed (via a new recorded deed) to a lawful, successful completion and closure. I can only say "good luck with that", based upon my one (...stumbling, but ultimately successful) encounter with CJ Timeshares.