DRI wins court ruling against Exit company Timeshare Compliance / Resort Advisory Group

[TUGBrian]

So DRI is bad, but clearly exit companies are worse!

I have a personal problem with DRi due to the fact that they STILL no longer accept deedbacks from resale buyers thus leaving those owners hanging out to dry and push them right into the jaws of the sharks they pay their lawyers to go after in court....but i digress

Diamond Resorts Wins Ruling to Protect Customers From Nationwide Timeshare Consumer Scam

Landmark decision finds timeshare exit companies engaged in false advertising

www.hotelnewsresource.com

The suit filed by Diamond alleges that Pandora Marketing (d/b/a Timeshare Compliance) and Intermarketing Media (d/b/a Resort Advisory Group) and their attorneys, JL Sean Slattery, Carlsbad Law Group, Del Mar Law Group and Slattery, Sobel and Decamp engaged in false advertising, tortious interference with contract, California unfair business practices and civil conspiracy.

The court found: The unambiguous factual message that the defendants are communicating to the timeshare owners is that they are selling a service in which they and their lawyers legally cancel the owners’ timeshare contracts based on improprieties by Diamond. The defendants are not providing that service and they know it. The timeshare contracts are being cancelled because the owners follow the defendants’ advice and stop making payments on the contracts, which triggers foreclosure by Diamond based on default. There are no lawsuits to speak of. There are no cancellations based on threats of litigation. The terminations are not the result of anything that Diamond did or said in the marketing and sales of the timeshares. Instead, they are based on common, run-of-the-mill defaults.

This process is not “legal” as that term is generally understood within and without the legal profession and, therefore, the defendants’ repeated assertion that they accomplish cancellation by legal means is false. The owners are breaching their contracts based on defendants’ advice to stop paying Diamond and they in fact suffer negative consequences of breaching, including negative credit reporting and tax liability.

The court also determined that both Timeshare Compliance and Resort Advisory Group violated the Lanham Act by falsely advertising their “exit” services. While the parties will still need to go to trial on the issues of causation and damages, what is clear is that the defendants have been violating the law and harming consumers.

 

[dioxide45]

I wonder how much longer they will keep up or continue to file these litigations. Watching a recent video with Mike Flaskey, he indicated that the brands seemed hesitant to file these litigations because of the risk to the overall brand. DRI when it was independant was more free to file such litigations and take them further than most brands would.

 

[Kozman]

So DRI is bad, but clearly exit companies are worse!

I have a personal problem with DRi due to the fact that they STILL no longer accept deedbacks from resale buyers thus leaving those owners hanging out to dry and push them right into the jaws of the sharks they pay their lawyers to go after in court....but i digress

Diamond Resorts Wins Ruling to Protect Customers From Nationwide Timeshare Consumer Scam

Landmark decision finds timeshare exit companies engaged in false advertising

www.hotelnewsresource.com

I question DRI's logic in not being more flexible in accepting deedbacks. In my case I requested transitions and heard nothing back from them. Therefore, I quit paying and they voluntarily offered a deedback to me after about a year. I got rid of the timeshare without any additional expense. They could have had $1000 plus the maintenance fee paid if they had accepted my original request. Who won? They didn't. I didn't need an exit company and my credit was not dinged since I had no mortgage.

 

[pedro47]

Dump questions is this a win for DRI or the new owners of DRI Resorts? Hilton?

How does a DRI / Hilton OWNERS legally cancel a timeshare contract with this corporation?

That is the question the losing lawyers should be asking the DRI lawyers IMHO

 

[Arusso]

So DRI is bad, but clearly exit companies are worse!

I have a personal problem with DRi due to the fact that they STILL no longer accept deedbacks from resale buyers thus leaving those owners hanging out to dry and push them right into the jaws of the sharks they pay their lawyers to go after in court....but i digress

Diamond Resorts Wins Ruling to Protect Customers From Nationwide Timeshare Consumer Scam

Landmark decision finds timeshare exit companies engaged in false advertising

www.hotelnewsresource.com

That certainly seems to be the case. These lawsuits filed against the "TS Exit" companies all have a common motivation on the part of the TS companies. I believe this motivation is founded on the simple notion that they want "all" owners to respect the terms of ownership regarding payment of MFs. They also do not want a third party offering advice for payment to owners on a strategy in which the MFs are withheld.

Yet, we know that in the TS world, not all owners are created equally nor do they have the same privileges. These companies are differentiating and discriminating against a certain class of owners. Only some owners who purchased retail have the ability to be considered for a deed-back. The "others" are not. There either is or is not a legal basis under which the TS company has the right to discriminate between the two classes of ownership. is it based on contracts?

Many people have contracts that were executed years ago. Their ownership interests and obligations were representative of an era before resale venues even existed. Is there mention of ownership rights only if purchased from the developer? In this regard, there may be a technical difference between rights afforded ownership types based on whether or not the ownership is deeded real-estate or merely a RTU contract within a collection of properties. It would be interesting to hear from people with knowledge of both TS contracts and real estate as to whether the TS company can legally have such a discriminatory policy.

Ironically, as I am writing this, my TV is on in the background tuned to a cable news channel........guess what commercial just aired? You guessed it, a nationally known TS Exit company !

 

[Arusso]

Dump questions is this a win for DRI or the new owners of DRI Resorts? Hilton?

How does a DRI / Hilton OWNERS legally cancel a timeshare contract with this corporation?

That is the question the losing lawyers should be asking the DRI lawyers IMHO

1) in the eyes of the less informed, DRI/Hilton comes out to be the winner, in the eyes of the informed both DRI/Hilton and the Exit company are both loosers because they use the same misinformation to sell a product.

2) if I understood, your second question correctly, I believe an honest Exit company function as brokers using a POA executed by the owner to negotiate a deed-back. The dishonest ones use the tactics we are all familiar with.

3) if the defense attorneys asked the question of the plaintiff you proposed, we would all love to know if they gave a truthful answer.......

 

[TUGBrian]

I doubt timeshare companies have issues with "3rd parties offering useful information".

scammers and exit companies however do not do that and simply fleece owners out of even more money.

charging someone hundreds if not thousands of dollars to trick them into defaulting is not in any way shape or form considered a legitimate strategy.

 

[TUGBrian]

this story was the impetus for this weeks TUG video:

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Well said @TUGBrian. Diamond is spending millions in legal fees to shut down timeshare exit companies and millions in foreclosures when owners are given no choice but to walk. Yet timeshare exit companies wouldn't exist if Diamond would take back all resale timeshares and charge a reasonable fee in their Transitions deedback program This kills the market for developer purchased owners to exit and recoup any of the money they spent to purchase and forces resale owners to have no choice but to walk away or fall victim to the Timeshare Exit companies. Shame!

I wonder if Hilton Vacation club is aware and has evaluated this policy? It seems that the only people who win are the lawyers.

People attending presentations should be loud and clear about this policy as to why they should never buy DRI trust points to put pressure on the organization to change it's draconian policies. Only then will the corporation notice and do something about it.

 

[pedro47]

this story was the impetus for this weeks TUG video:

Thanks you TUGBRIAN. EXCELLENT! Video
Outstanding comments. IMHO.

 

[Carolinian]

From the perspective of an individual timeshare member, there is a real question as to who is the bigger shark here, DRI or the exit companies? To me they both stink.

From a decade as a director and officer on a member-controlled HOA board, I have seen that it is a better policy to accept deedbacks. It is cheaper for the resort than a foreclosure and it gets the week back in inventory quicker for resale or rental.

 

[TUGBrian]

100% having a strategy in place to deal with this situation is better than forcing owners into the open arms of scammers....

there is really no excuse, especially for a major developer still in active sales.

 

[pedro47]

Did the lawyers for DRI had to explain to the court system?. How a DRI owners and DRI resale owners can exit their timeshare system?

 

[DRIless]

Dump questions is this a win for DRI or the new owners of DRI Resorts? Hilton?

How does a DRI / Hilton OWNERS legally cancel a timeshare contract with this corporation?

That is the question the losing lawyers should be asking the DRI lawyers IMHO

Your "honest opinion" doesn't really matter. If DRI would just accept all paid off deed backs, regardless of the source, they wouldn't have any problems. Maybe they think that would degrade their cachet. It would clear the books, give them back inventory that they'd be able to sell for full retail value because points are points, they're always NEW.

 

[DRIless]

Did the lawyers for DRI had to explain to the court system?. How a DRI owners and DRI resale owners can exit their timeshare system?

Of course not. If DRI would just accept all paid off deed backs, regardless of the source, they wouldn't have any problems. Maybe they think that would degrade their cachet. It would clear the books, give them back inventory that they'd be able to sell for full retail value because points are points, they're always NEW.

 

[DRIless]

100% having a strategy in place to deal with this situation is better than forcing owners into the open arms of scammers....

there is really no excuse, especially for a major developer still in active sales.

If DRI would just accept all paid off deed backs, regardless of the source, they wouldn't have any problems. Maybe they think that would degrade their cachet. It would clear the books, give them back inventory that they'd be able to sell for full retail value because points are points, they're always NEW.

 

[DRIless]

From the perspective of an individual timeshare member, there is a real question as to who is the bigger shark here, DRI or the exit companies? To me they both stink.

From a decade as a director and officer on a member-controlled HOA board, I have seen that it is a better policy to accept deedbacks. It is cheaper for the resort than a foreclosure and it gets the week back in inventory quicker for resale or rental.

PLEASE call them and tell them. If DRI would just accept all paid off deed backs, regardless of the source, they wouldn't have any problems. Maybe they think that would degrade their cachet. It would clear the books, give them back inventory that they'd be able to sell for full retail value because points are points, they're always NEW.

 

[DRIless]

Dump questions is this a win for DRI or the new owners of DRI Resorts? Hilton?

How does a DRI / Hilton OWNERS legally cancel a timeshare contract with this corporation?

That is the question the losing lawyers should be asking the DRI lawyers IMHO

Don't know what a 'Dump question ' is but if DRI would just accept all paid off deed backs, regardless of the source, they wouldn't have any problems. Maybe they think that would degrade their cachet. It would clear the books, give them back inventory that they'd be able to sell for full retail value because points are points, they're always NEW.

 

[DRIless]

I question DRI's logic in not being more flexible in accepting deedbacks. In my case I requested transitions and heard nothing back from them. Therefore, I quit paying and they voluntarily offered a deedback to me after about a year. I got rid of the timeshare without any additional expense. They could have had $1000 plus the maintenance fee paid if they had accepted my original request. Who won? They didn't. I didn't need an exit company and my credit was not dinged since I had no mortgage.

ME TOO! If DRI would just accept all paid off deed backs, regardless of the source, they wouldn't have any problems. Maybe they think that would degrade their cachet. It would clear the books, give them back inventory that they'd be able to sell for full retail value because points are points, they're always NEW.

 

[TUGBrian]

and the hits keep coming for timeshare compliance/resort advisory group....appears wyndham just won their case and a 16 million dollar judgement!

Shutts & Bowen Litigation Team, on Behalf of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Secures $16 Million Award in Federal False Advertising Lawsuit Against Fraudulent Timeshare Exit Firm

ORLANDO, Fla., August 21, 2024--The Court issued an injunction, stopping defendants from engaging in unlawful conduct, ultimately protecting not only WVO, but the consuming public.

finance.yahoo.com

 

[RX8]

and the hits keep coming for timeshare compliance/resort advisory group....appears wyndham just won their case and a 16 million dollar judgement!

Shutts & Bowen Litigation Team, on Behalf of Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Secures $16 Million Award in Federal False Advertising Lawsuit Against Fraudulent Timeshare Exit Firm

ORLANDO, Fla., August 21, 2024--The Court issued an injunction, stopping defendants from engaging in unlawful conduct, ultimately protecting not only WVO, but the consuming public.

finance.yahoo.com

Surprisingly, both Resort Advisory Group and Timeshare Compliance are BBB Accredited businesses with A ratings.

Pandora Marketing LLC | Better Business Bureau® Profile

This organization is not BBB accredited. Marketing Consultant in Aliso Viejo, CA. See BBB rating, reviews, complaints, & more.

www.bbb.org

Resort Advisory Group | Better Business Bureau® Profile

BBB accredited since 7/18/2016. Timeshare Advocates in Irvine, CA. See BBB rating, reviews, complaints, get a quote & more.

www.bbb.org

The article you posted today states that the two companies found liable are Intermarketing Media, LLC (Resort Advisory Group) and Pandora Servicing, LLC. Pandora Servicing, LLC is a related company to Pandora Marketing, LLC (which is Timeshare Compliance). The original lawsuit listed Intermarketing Media, LLC and Pandora Marketing, LLC so it is possible that the article today may be mistaken. At any rate, they are all related companies anyway and the BBB should know about it. I sent an email to the California BBB advising them of the judgement. I also made them aware of a potential outstanding Bankruptcy filing by Pandora Marketing, LLC. This BK is not listed on the BBB profile. Just an FYI @STLBBB

Case number: 2:24-bk-20022 - Pandora Marketing LLC - Wyoming Bankruptcy Court

Case number: 2:24-bk-20022 - Pandora Marketing LLC - Wyoming Bankruptcy Court

www.inforuptcy.com

 

[TUGBrian]

is certainly frustrating to discover what it takes to lose an A rating with the bbb....

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

I have nothing against the BBB, but their rankings come from alleged customers. It would be easy for, say, 100 employees or "plants" to give the company glowing reviews. Or, they fool customers into thinking they won when they didn't (aka resort filing foreclosure). I'm not saying it's illegal or unethical, you simply must take reviews "with a grain of salt".

TS

 

[dioxide45]

I understand that BBB ratings are based on the business responding to complaints and any follow up. Not necessarily the end resolution.

 

[RX8]

I have nothing against the BBB, but their rankings come from alleged customers. It would be easy for, say, 100 employees or "plants" to give the company glowing reviews. Or, they fool customers into thinking they won when they didn't (aka resort filing foreclosure). I'm not saying it's illegal or unethical, you simply must take reviews "with a grain of salt".

TS

Reviews have no impact on the BBB ratings. Unfortunately, there are people who have legitimate complaints that mistakenly post a BBB review instead. Doing so can act as a warning to others but it has no negative impact to the rating. The business doesn’t even need to respond to reviews. With complaints, the rating will be impacted but less so if the BBB responds to that complaint, even if it is a generic “Sorry we screwed you over, one of our team members will reach out to you”.

You are correct that people should take reviews with a grain of salt. Many of these timeshare exit companies are run by unethical and immoral individuals. Posting fake reviews would be just another day at the office. Looking at positive reviews of these two companies, many are just way over the top to be legit. People paying thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars, typically do not get that excited about it.

Just an FYI, the address listed on Resort Advisory Group’s BBB profile and their website is no longer their address. That address is listed for rent as of today. I do not know how long it has been available, could be for six months for all we know. A legit company would at least update their address and notify their customers of an address change.

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/8961-Research-Dr-Irvine-CA/18441817/