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Florida Veterans Assistance Association

milotcat

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Hi, have been contacted by the above named organization because i tried to donate my t/s. At the time, they didnt want it but now they claim they have a third party who will take it, if I make a donation of $450 to FVAA. Has anyone heard about FVAA? They appear to be a non-profit organization but I am leery of paying to give the t/s away. They claim I can write off up to $5,000 for donating it, including the $450. Any info would be great.
The t/s is Bluebeard's Castle and i have been contacted by scammers, so if you are a scammer, don't waste both our times. All I want is info on FVAA, not someone else looking to "help" me out. Thanks.
 

Bill4728

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Here is a thread talking about FVAA thread

It seems like there are questions about the company.
 

esk444

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Ask if they are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and ask for their tax identification number. You can verify its validity at irs.gov or guidestar.org.

Most states also require charitable organizations that solicite donations to register with the state (usually the attorney general's office). Ask the org. address, what agency it is registered with, and its registration number. You can verify it by calling the particular agency.

If they are legitimate, you really need to consult your tax advisor as the proper donation amount.

Update: seems like the Florida Veterans Assistance is a legitimate charity, however, they or the promoters of the timeshare donation service's advice of up to $5K deduction is very dubious.
 
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ronandjoan

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We donated a week to them last year, one which we could not sell, and my husband is a veteran so he was interested. Christine at The Timeshare Company answered us more via phone and emails than Kim McBride did at Fl Veterans, but , yes, we paid the fees, paid the 2008 maintenance fee and was able to use the week for that year , and are waiting now for the final paperwork. The title has been transferred, we have checked on that. FL Veterans has answered our questions (after several messages, and says they wait until there are at least 80 final packets before they mail out any.

They said the tax ded value they would give would be $1000.
We are happy to be rid of it and not pay the M/F any more.
 

luv2vacation

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ronandjoan - could you share what TS you donated and please PM me the info to donate? I have 1 TS I have been trying to get rid of for years, they just don't sell. Shame, it's a nice place and trades good, we've just gone in a different direction with our TSing and have outgrown it.
 

fvarep

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Fighting Back - Provide Good Service - Legitiment

I have been with the FVA Asst. Assn. for 8 years - I take pride in my job. Regardless of these comments because of one company for 250 timeshares 3-4 years ago, or the fact that Joel's middle name is Martin, we still often get the same negativity, however, public perceives different - I get people who understand the situation open mindedly- with business nothing is perfect, and those contact me. I am personally tired of the attacks on our Charity, we are a Charity since 1996 - We have transferred approximately 20,000 timeshares, and out of that, had a company return 250 to us. We did our best at handling the situation as we could. I have had return clients from that mess. I personally think timeshares are nothing but a rip off - people need to be posting about the companies that rip the public off everyday for money and never talk to them again in hopes their timeshare is sold. Giving timeshare companies money to rip you off to get nothing - we, although, some not as smooth as others, have gotten far more many people out than not, and have satisfied problems by either refunding or placing with other companies. I don't know of any thing that runs perfect in any situation - problems occur in everyday business and life. The FVA has never walked away from any problem on timeshares. We complete transfers and there are MANY satisfied donors out there. Unfortunately, little negativity goes along way, people are SO skeptical by being ripped off by listing companies, they want to ruin our standing as a long time Charity who does a good service. As a 501 C-3 Charity, registered by State of Florida, and regulated by the IRS, we are required to uphold a responsibility to the public and the Veterans. As a Registered Charity, we must participate in program services, which is what funding goes to. A recent article says we give Vets 18% of funding - we charge a fee, split in half for service of transfer, and other half to funding Vets, we could bring our percentage up to a higher percentage by charging the public more. If we were not participating in State requirements, we would not be a Charity still to this day, 15 years later.
We are in no-way a SCAM, we are a legitiment charity raising funding to, first and foremost fund veterans, and our office to continue to run and
provide an awesome service in my and many's opinion. I apologize to any one that has had a bad experience, however, it has never been our intent to take advantage of anyone, again, nothing in life is perfect, and we, at the end of the day, satisfy. If you go to the BBB, you will see we have had 9 complaints, all of which are satisfied.
We are under NO investigation by the Agricultural & Consumer Affairs Department - Please feel free to call - we did as an article states we are under investigation, we are not! It's unfortunate that a "DO GOOD" Charity has to experience slander for all the good we've done.
The negativity in the tug posts are same people over and over debating if we are legitiment since 2006, 2007, 2008. Show me a perfect operation - with no problems - love to see it - I challenge it.
I can only tell any interested donors who feed into this - we are legitiment and will provide a good service, we will not accept something we cannot transfer. I'm not sure what everyone is missing - REGULATED AND REGISTERED - THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WILL NOT ALLOW US TO RIP PEOPLE OFF AND CONTINUE TO HOLD A LICENSE! I have been with the FVA Asst. Assn. for 8 years - I take pride in my job. Regardless of these comments because of one company for 250 timeshares 3-4 years ago, or the fact that Joel's middle name is Martin, we still often get the same negativity, however, public perceives different - I get people who understand the situation openmindedly- with business nothing is perfect, and those contact me to donate. I am personally tired of the attacks on our Charity, we are a Charity since 1996 - We have transferred approximately 20,000 timeshares, and out of that, had a company return 250 to us. We did our best at handling the situation as we could. I have had return clients from that mess. I personally think timeshares are nothing but a rip off - people need to be posting about the companies that rip the public off everyday for money and never talk to them again in hopes their timeshare is sold. Giving timeshare companies money to rip you off to get nothing - we, although, some not as smooth as others, have gotten far more many people out than not, and have satisfied problems by either refunding or placing with other companies. I don't know of any thing that runs perfect in any situation - problems occur in everyday business and life. The FVA has never walked away from any problem on timeshares. We complete transfers and there are MANY satisfied donors out there. Unfortunately, little negativity goes along way, people are so skeptical by being ripped off by listing companies, they want to ruin our standing as a long time Charity who does a good service. As a 501 C-3 Charity, registered by State of Florida, and regulated by the IRS, we are required to uphold a responsibility to the public and the Veterans. As a Registered Charity, we must participate in program services, which is what funding goes to. A recent article says we give Vets 18% of funding - we charge a fee, split in half for service of transfer, and other half to funding Vets, we could bring our percentage up to a higher percentage by charging the public more, as we make nothing on these impossible to get rid of timeshares. If we were not participating in State's requirements, we would not be a Charity still to this day, 15 years later.
We are in no-way a SCAM, we are a legitiment charity raising funding to, first and foremost fund veterans, and our office to continue to run and provide an awesome service in my and many's opinion. I apologize to any one that has had a bad experience, however, it has never been our intent to take advantage of anyone, again, nothing in life is perfect. If you go to the BBB, you will see we have had 9 complaints, all of which are satisfied.
We are under NO investigation by the Agricultural & Consumer Affairs Department - Please feel free to call - we did, as a recent article stated we were under investigation, and, again, we are not! It's unfortunate that a "DO GOOD" Charity has to experience slander for all the good we've done.
I can only tell interested donors to research - do your homework - don't get ripped off. The FVA is a legitiment charity and will uphold our committment to the public, even when put in a bad situation, however, we are much more careful about the companies we work with.
These posts don't tell the good service we've provided - only mad people who took their past frustrations out on us.
To address the newest "slander", this ridiculous article about Joel Markman and his name - we provided information that his name is Joel Martin Markman - he was a Sargent - ABC decided to leave the middle name part out of their story. We have written to them - and this subject has no bearing on the service we do. I am providing a copy of DD214 and letters from various institutions and public we have funded, along with testimonials from many VERY HAPPY donors, which are all real!
I believe in our service and I will continue to fight against "slander" against us.
Those of you who choose to fall into this slight negativity, and not relieve yourself of your timeshare – good luck in your endeavors! We have done nothing wrong.....other than to provide thousands of people relief of their timeshare and provide our Hero's funding.
 
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