Has anyone dealt with Bill Cani of Gold Key Development?

[New Englander]

He is offering to "buy" our timeshares for $1 -- which is fine, because we are attempting to give them away. As sellers, we choose the closing company, pay all closing costs and when the deal is finalized, we pay him $500. So instead of paying the next years' maintenance fees (which are $960) as an enticement, we would be paying him $500. Does this sound legit?

Any red flags, things we should be aware of? This potential buyer apparently has a large inventory of ts that he rents on eBay. If he can't rent/profit, I believe he lets them go into foreclosure. If the deed has been properly transferred, should this concern us? Thanks!

 

[DeniseM]

This sounds like a Viking Ship operation. If he has already developed a bad reputation for abandoning timeshares, your management company may refuse to transfer the title to him. If that happens, it's still yours, no matter what paperwork you have signed.

 

[tschwa2]

I just posted about him on face book. What he does is takes it and then he prepares his own quitclaim deed, deeding it back to the resort without their permission or knowledge. He says he has done it 14 times and so far none of the resorts have decided to fight him and have all accepted and transferred out of his name. I said while possibly not illegal, it is unethical and constitutes fraud in my opinion. I think he does it to smaller resorts that don't have the means or expertise to legally fight the transfers and he is absolutely sticking it to other owners at those resorts.

 

[New Englander]

This sounds like a Viking Ship operation. If he has already developed a bad reputation for abandoning timeshares, your management company may refuse to transfer the title to him. If that happens, it's still yours, no matter what paperwork you have signed.

Thanks for this information. I've seen the term "Viking Ship" operation a couple of times today and not exactly sure what it means. Does it involve a pass-through to another entity? Kind of like "money laundering?" Showing my ignorance here!

 

[DeniseM]

The Vikings loaded their dead on ships, sent them out to sea, and set them on fire.

Viking Ships Timeshare companies deed unwanted timeshares to an LLC or some other straw company and abandon the deeds.

This means the remaining owners have to cover the cost of recovering the deed and paying the maintenance fees for the owner who defaulted.