Do I have any recourse / Does this seem fishy?

[lovemesometravel]

This forum seems to be mostly for timeshare owners so I'm not sure if my question will be well received, but I'm trying to get to the bottom of something with the time share week I rented from a timeshare owner. I'd appreciate your opinions:

I rented a week for a timeshare at a resort where I believe all the units are timeshare units. I rented from the owner, but she asked me to wire the money directly to the resort's bank in the United States to pay for some maintenance fees she owed. The cash was wired directly to their bank. So, I'm thinking there is no paper trail to link the owner to the rental income therefore making me wonder if she will report it and pay taxes on it. The virus happened and the island closed down and won't allow any flights in to the country so I am unable to travel there. The owner decided she would not refund my money or provide me with another week. She owns 53 weeks/units at this resort so she could do that. What she did offer was for me to pay an additional $1500 to rent another unit in the future (a $500 discount). So basically i paid $2000 on a unit I could not physically get to and now she has suggested I pay another $1500 for a unit in the future. I'm trying to figure out if I have any recourse? The wiring the money directly to Costa Linda seems a bit fishy now that I think about it. Any lawyers out there...is the resort on the line because they received payment for maintenance fees with money that was intended for a unit that I can not get to???!!!

 

[Eric B]

It does sound fishy. Not sure if you have any recourse, but the account you wired the money to probably wasn't the resort's. Here's what it says on the Costa Linda rentals portion of the resort's web site (emphasis added):

WARNING: Do not enter into any rental or sales transactions with persons offering their weeks/units for rent or sale without FIRST checking to see if they are indeed Costa Linda members and in good standing -- meaning that their financial obligations to the resort are paid in full. Call or email the Members Relations Dept at 1-888-809-7994 or at members@costalinda-aruba.com to check on membership status. If you conduct business without checking on membership status, you do so at your own peril. Costa Linda Beach Resort is not responsible for the outcome of transactions on the private rental and resales board.

Unfortunately in this day and age, hacking is inevitable. To avoid being scammed, do not respond to any email addresses/phone that does not match the one that is posted in the rental and resales boards. The safest way is not to wire money for payment. Send check in the name of confirmed owner.

 

[theo]

I rented a week for a timeshare at a resort where I believe all the units are timeshare units. I rented from the owner, but she asked me to wire the money directly to the resort's bank in the United States to pay for some maintenance fees she owed. The cash was wired directly to their bank. So, I'm thinking there is no paper trail to link the owner to the rental income therefore making me wonder if she will report it and pay taxes on it. The virus happened and the island closed down and won't allow any flights in to the country so I am unable to travel there. The owner decided she would not refund my money or provide me with another week. She owns 53 weeks/units at this resort so she could do that. What she did offer was for me to pay an additional $1500 to rent another unit in the future (a $500 discount). So basically i paid $2000 on a unit I could not physically get to and now she has suggested I pay another $1500 for a unit in the future. I'm trying to figure out if I have any recourse? The wiring the money directly to Costa Linda seems a bit fishy now that I think about it. Any lawyers out there...is the resort on the line because they received payment for maintenance fees with money that was intended for a unit that I can not get to???!!!

I will not offer any legal advice or any legal opinion, but what you portray simply does not add up on several fronts, on which I will offer only some personal observations:

For starters, I cannot easily imagine one individual owning 53 weeks at a single timeshare facility.

I also cannot imagine a legitimate owner asking a tenant to wire money to a resort bank account. Further, I cannot imagine an owner somehow knowing a resort's bank identity (and / or bank account number) in the first place. Did you obtain any form of verification of the account holder identity to which you (unwisely, I submit) wired money? It would not surprise me if the account to which you wired money actually has no affiliation whatsoever with Costa Linda.

There are some other oddities here, but I won't rattle on. My own initial reaction / belief is that you likely have been scammed.

 

[RX8]

I agree with @Eric B.

Even if this was legit I would have stayed away from anyone who admitted that they are past due on their obligations. Also, I would doubt that this person owns 53 weeks at the one resort. Call the number Eric has in his post and ask them directly.

 

[lovemesometravel]

Hi all - thanks for the replies. I was very diligent before I rented. I've been to the resort before but rented with a different owner. I called directly to the resort with the number i personally found online. I spoke to their financial manager who's information I got from the resort directly. He emailed me and send me the banking information. I went online and double checked that the information he gave was in fact the actual bank for the resort. I wired the money. I called the resort myself and asked if they received the funds. The financial manager said they did and would have the front desk send me my confirmation and reservation number which they did. I asked the resort if they knew this person and they said 'yes and that she was in good standing' that is their policy when you rent from one of their owners to call the resort and ask about the person trying to rent the week. This person has reconfirmed to me that she does own multiple units and it's her business (and also runs a real estate business in New York). Would the resort be liable in this to refund my money?

 

[Eric B]

This isn't intended as legal advice, of course, but I don't believe you ever had any sort of contractual relationship with the resort. You were renting from the woman in New York. Any recourse you legally have would be for a contract between you and her. It's been a long time since I looked at that sort of thing, but I seem to recall that some states require contracts to be in writing if they are for real estate sales or rentals longer than a year or for transactions greater than $1,000. No idea what is required in New York or Aruba or how the choice of location for the obligation would be handled.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

This forum seems to be mostly for timeshare owners so I'm not sure if my question will be well received, but I'm trying to get to the bottom of something with the time share week I rented from a timeshare owner. I'd appreciate your opinions:

I rented a week for a timeshare at a resort where I believe all the units are timeshare units. I rented from the owner, but she asked me to wire the money directly to the resort's bank in the United States to pay for some maintenance fees she owed. The cash was wired directly to their bank. So, I'm thinking there is no paper trail to link the owner to the rental income therefore making me wonder if she will report it and pay taxes on it. The virus happened and the island closed down and won't allow any flights in to the country so I am unable to travel there. The owner decided she would not refund my money or provide me with another week. She owns 53 weeks/units at this resort so she could do that. What she did offer was for me to pay an additional $1500 to rent another unit in the future (a $500 discount). So basically i paid $2000 on a unit I could not physically get to and now she has suggested I pay another $1500 for a unit in the future. I'm trying to figure out if I have any recourse? The wiring the money directly to Costa Linda seems a bit fishy now that I think about it. Any lawyers out there...is the resort on the line because they received payment for maintenance fees with money that was intended for a unit that I can not get to???!!!

If you're not getting satisfaction on your first transaction then why would you even consider sending another $1,500....? I'd worry more about getting back what you've already spent.

If you do want to go back to the Resort then consider doing business with the owner whom you have rented from in the past.

Best of luck, and welcome to TUG.



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[lovemesometravel]

Thanks Eric! I think I'll contact the resort just in case and maybe they will say something to her and she will be nervous about me poking around. I'm sure I'd have to hire a lawyer to get the bottom of all of this and I'm not sure it's worth the time and money. I wish I had the knowledge to understand if I had a leg to stand on with her so I could press her and hopefully she'd give me a refund or another week.

 

[lovemesometravel]

Of course we'd never ever give her $1 more. That is why I was shocked at the audacity of her asking for more money. Clearly, we do not have a good working relationship at this point. We have no business doing more business. I would have been happy with a $1000 refund (she loses half and I lose half). All of my friends are getting full refunds from their rentals on VRBO and other private owners, but I would have been happy to get half.

 

[emeryjre]

You had a verbal agreement with no recourse. You sent off the money. Even if she was in a position to provide you with a unit, (which it sounds like she did based on your research), once the island went in to a lock down, she was unable to fulfill her end of the bargain. Unfortunately you chose to self insure against such an event. Without some written agreement to fall back on, you have no recourse except to beg her to do the right thing. You could go to a yelp type website and tell people about how unfair she was in these circumstances, but other than that I think you are without options.

 

[TUGBrian]

also have never heard of a financial adviser position at a resort.

 

[Eric B]

also have never heard of a financial adviser position at a resort.

Those are the sales representatives that tell you what a great investment buying retail timeshares is....