Palmetto Consulting Timeshare exit company

[valbo97]

We went to a presentation by Palmetto Consulting Services and learned a lot of information which may or not be totally accurate. Has anyone else gone through their presentation? The following is my interpretation of what was presented and may or may not be accurate. The Palmetto people were very good salesman and these impressions may not be accurate.



The most concerning parts of their presentation and my impressions were that:

1. It is illegal to rent out your timeshare and you can be sued if you do and there may be a civil penalty of $10,000 for renting out your Timeshare. I think the argument was that the original contract we signed prohibits the rental of your unit. They also said that if the resort uses RCI or II the contract between the resort and the exchange companies prohibits members from renting out their units. There is also a new IRS requirement that any rental being made must be reported by the resort on a 1099 to the IRS. I have no idea if any of this is correct but it was a large part of their argument.



2. It is illegal for anyone to sell their timeshare. Our Deeds are worthless and meaningless. We own nothing- even if our Deed is to a specific unit for a specific period of time. Because we do not own anything we cannot assign or sell it.



3. All Timeshares are bound by Florida law per the courts. Florida is the controlling regulator of timeshares and Lobbyists have been very good at making sure developers and protected and the public ??? in Florida.



4. Anything said or alleged during a sales presentation is NOT admissible in court and salesman can say anything and not be held accountable per new laws.



5. Palmetto could not provide any cost estimate for getting out of a contract. Every deal is separate and they had to do a lot of work to see if they can help. They say they only accept about half the applicants for their services. It concerned me that they could not give any estimates because every transaction is different. I think they asked for $449 to begin the process but never got that clarified as I was overloaded with negative information.



6. Palmetto also said that the resorts are owned by the developer and we owners basically had no rights??? This is my interpretation but was what I got out of the conversation. We own at Pono Kai Interval owners Association and they said we were "owned" by Bluegreen but our current Management company is Pohaku which was founded by a former Bluegreen Employee. Again that was disturbing as who is really our Manager? When you hire a manager do they assume and ownership of the resort?



IF anyone has any input on these statements I would appreciate your inputs. These are my opinions of what was said and may not be accurate but it is what I thought after the meetings. The attempt to scare us was very successful and I am leery of the Timeshare exit industry as these guys are the ones that started it!!

 

[RX8]

It is all a bunch of lies. Well, all except #4 and that is why they can tell you a bunch of lies.

When you state “I am leery of the Timeshare exit industry as these guys are the ones that started it!!” is that because they told you that they started the exit industry? Their website is only a few months old (created October 20, 2022) so that would be another lie.

These are professional con men. Their “job” is to scare the heck out of you so that you will pay them thousands of dollars. It means nothing to them to lie.

Are you thinking of using an exit company?

Don't do it! New exit companies keep popping up all the time. There is no regulation so anyone, even criminals, can call themselves an exit company and begin soliciting for money. They all start off the same - glitzy website, no complaints on the web, big promises, some companies with glowing...

tugbbs.com

 

[TheHolleys87]

Wow, I’m glad you didn’t sign anything, because much of what you’ve written is completely wrong.

1. Whether renting your timeshare is allowed or not is in the legal documents for your timeshare. Many TS (DVC, for instance) specifically allow renting but prohibit “commercial” renting (and may not define “commercial”). However, both RCI and II rules do prohibit renting a reservation obtained via exchange.

2. That is absolutely false.

3. Timeshares are bound by the laws of the state where they’re located. Florida law does not control anything about TS located in other states.

4. True.

5. No comment.

6. The owners’ association is separate from the developer and from the management company. How each entity functions varies from one timeshare to another.

If you’re thinking of divesting yourself of your timeshares, keep reading here on TUG. Post a thread on the main Buying, Renting and Selling forum, including basic details about what you own, and you’ll get lots of help.

 

[HudsHut]

First of all, it does not matter what their name is. All of the exit companies work in the same manner. They scare you, make you think you won't be able to get out of the timeshare, and charge you a high fee.

Have you contacted your home resort's management company to ask if they have a deed back?
Do you own in Mexico?

Read here:

Free Timeshares

Timeshare ownerships offered completely free by owners! Rehome an unwanted timeshare at no cost! Timeshares listed here must be offered completely free!

tugbbs.com

People offer to give away their timeshares. Post what you wish to divest. Include lovely pictures.

You may post what you own in your Profile. Then we'll be able to give more specific advice.

 

[bnoble]

We went to a presentation by Palmetto Consulting Services

Let's start with: Why did you go to this? Were you already looking to get rid of this timeshare before you heard from them?

 

[valbo97]

Let's start with: Why did you go to this? Were you already looking to get rid of this timeshare before you heard from them?

We went to hear what they said( also a promise of plane tickets and hotel stay for 3 days 2 nights)-- thier pitch was they could lower our maintenace fees, covid was changing some requirements and they wanted to inform us about new laws that would affect us.
we do want to get rid of our hawaii property in the next couple years.
We have never traded in the 20 years of timesharing but do go to the places we own.

 

[andre10056]

4. Anything said or alleged during a sales presentation is NOT admissible in court and salesman can say anything and not be held accountable per new laws.

I'm actually so angry right now that you were told all of those lies (all of them) in an effort to scare you. But let me respond to #4 as there has been some confirmation...erroneous confirmation...that #4 is accurate. Of course, it's the one that all liars hope you'll believe.

Number 4 is actually the biggest lie of all.

There is absolutely nothing that is automatically not admissible in court in the US legal system. A judge will have to rule on whether or not something is inadmissible in response to the other party's motion but as soon as you make an allegation of being lied to (i.e.fraud), I guarantee you that it will be admissible. 100% guarantee you unless the judge has been paid off by whomever defrauded you or the judge hates your ethnic group or something else that has nothing to do with the correct practice of the judiciary.

If you HAVE been the victim of fraud when you purchased the timeshare, you might do a search for "Hawaii timeshare attorneys" to see if there might be an attorney who accepts no money upfront and will accept legal fees only if they're successful in getting you whatever your objective may be. I know nothing about this creditor/debtor law firm, but an ad like this is what you'd be looking for:

Nevada Timeshare Lawyers - No Upfront Fees - A+ BBB Rating | The Law Offices of Kenneth H. Dramer, P.C.

Experienced Timeshare Lawyers. NO UPFRONT FEES. Cancel Your Timeshare or Don't Pay a Fee. You Have Nothing To Lose Except Your Timeshare. FREE CONSULTATIONS.

dramerlaw.com

Again, I know nothing about this company but someone like this is worth at least contacting. In fact, who knows in what jurisdictions they may practice.

In fact, as part of your overall due diligence, you might contact the BBB and the local state bar association about the law firm.

Again, I don't know what your objective may be and what your current financing status is. But I would think that a Hawaii timeshare might have some value and it may easily be given away (at the very least) if it has been paid off. So you may have multiple options.

In fact, perhaps you might get on ebay or redweek and see if your Hawaii timeshare may have some value (on ebay, do an "advanced search" and then select "completed auctions"). Rather than give away a valuable asset that could conceivably sell for at least something. Or ask here on TUG after precisely identifying what you own.

 

[bnoble]

We went to hear what they said( also a promise of plane tickets and hotel stay for 3 days 2 nights)

Okay, good. You are currently happy with your timeshare, you've owned it for 20 years, and you use it. But you went to hear them, mostly for the free trip. Now, ask yourself a few questions. First: Do you trust your 20 years worth of first-hand experience with your timeshare, or what someone else tells you you should think about it? Second: If what they were offering was such a great idea, why would they have to give you a trip to get you to show up and listen?

The answer to those questions should tell you all you need to know. This outfit is trying to sow "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" (also known as FUD), to get you into a state of desperation. This is hard to see through sometimes, but in this case, hopefully you are starting to see it for what it is.

 

[valbo97]

Okay, good. You are currently happy with your timeshare, you've owned it for 20 years, and you use it. But you went to hear them, mostly for the free trip. Now, ask yourself a few questions. First: Do you trust your 20 years worth of first-hand experience with your timeshare, or what someone else tells you you should think about it? Second: If what they were offering was such a great idea, why would they have to give you a trip to get you to show up and listen?

The answer to those questions should tell you all you need to know. This outfit is trying to sow "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" (also known as FUD), to get you into a state of desperation. This is hard to see through sometimes, but in this case, hopefully you are starting to see it for what it is.

Thank you. We were concerned because of what they said. I did not not believe them but was scared by the blatant efforts to push us. We have owned over 14 timeshares and onlyu bought on secondary market. Sold most of them myself when done with them

I hoped this might help others who are dumn enough to go to these presentations to be aware that it is crap they are selling

 

[RX8]

Edited: This is a reincarnation of a previously recognized scammer Release Consulting.

I looked at the at their website. I think George Santos is a partner of this business.

(1) They claim on their website “Set out in 2018 to Ensure timeshare owners have a real solution for exiting their agreements Palmetto Consulting Services has definitely lived up to its goal. Reports show that the team has completed thousands of case files.”.

This is a complete lie since their website was created only on October 20, 2022 and not five years ago in 2018. This “news article” is dated November 1, 2022 so it was written (obviously by the company itself) just 12 days after they started. They also filed an LLC the same date on 10/20/2022 so that further cements their claim as a bogus lie.

(2) Lies about the timeshare lasting perpetually if the owner passes away.

“…should the timeshare be declined by an individual from the will or trust perpetuity starts to take action. Perpetuity is any security or other bond with no fixed maturity date, like the timeshare’s deed and contract. The law of perpetuity states that it holds an estate inalienable for a period fixed beyond certain limits by law. ”

(3) It doesn’t appear that the website has been updated since the day it was created. That means they claimed to have helped thousands and have never failed a case the day they created their website (see picture below).

“Palmetto Consulting Services and our consultants have assisted thousands of timeshare owners in the removal process. We have never failed a case file.”

(4) They claim to be at 1125 48th Ave North
Myrtle Beach. According to Zillow and Trulia, this is a 2 bdm 650 sq ft condo. This business has zero internet hits for that address.

(5) I had completed everything above when I got to #5, a review of their phone number. It should be no surprise that their number (800) 580-3720 comes up with another exit company - Release Consulting, a company that was previously called out for similar lies. That company also had stolen reviews on their website, fake glowing Google reviews as well as shills posting on TUG. They have simply changed their name and continue to scam people. Note that the website releaseconsulting.net now directs to Palmetto’s website.

Release Consulting.net

Any information on this T/S exit company?

tugbbs.com

In summary: These are bad people indeed. Expect to be scammed if you give them even a dime. All those people that paid thousands to Release Consulting expecting a money back guarantee got scammed when they went out of business. Expect the same when Palmetto closes up and opens under a new name.

 

[LannyPC]

These are my opinions of what was said and may not be accurate but it is what I thought after the meetings. The attempt to scare us was very successful and I am leery of the Timeshare exit industry as these guys are the ones that started it!!

Almost everyone here on TUG is leery of the TS exit industry. Even if an exit company is legit, we never recommend using it. At best, an exit company is going to charge you thousands of dollars to do something that you can do yourself for a lot less money.

 

[CPNY]

We went to a presentation by Palmetto Consulting Services and learned a lot of information which may or not be totally accurate. Has anyone else gone through their presentation? The following is my interpretation of what was presented and may or may not be accurate. The Palmetto people were very good salesman and these impressions may not be accurate.



The most concerning parts of their presentation and my impressions were that:

1. It is illegal to rent out your timeshare and you can be sued if you do and there may be a civil penalty of $10,000 for renting out your Timeshare. I think the argument was that the original contract we signed prohibits the rental of your unit. They also said that if the resort uses RCI or II the contract between the resort and the exchange companies prohibits members from renting out their units. There is also a new IRS requirement that any rental being made must be reported by the resort on a 1099 to the IRS. I have no idea if any of this is correct but it was a large part of their argument.



2. It is illegal for anyone to sell their timeshare. Our Deeds are worthless and meaningless. We own nothing- even if our Deed is to a specific unit for a specific period of time. Because we do not own anything we cannot assign or sell it.



3. All Timeshares are bound by Florida law per the courts. Florida is the controlling regulator of timeshares and Lobbyists have been very good at making sure developers and protected and the public ??? in Florida.



4. Anything said or alleged during a sales presentation is NOT admissible in court and salesman can say anything and not be held accountable per new laws.



5. Palmetto could not provide any cost estimate for getting out of a contract. Every deal is separate and they had to do a lot of work to see if they can help. They say they only accept about half the applicants for their services. It concerned me that they could not give any estimates because every transaction is different. I think they asked for $449 to begin the process but never got that clarified as I was overloaded with negative information.



6. Palmetto also said that the resorts are owned by the developer and we owners basically had no rights??? This is my interpretation but was what I got out of the conversation. We own at Pono Kai Interval owners Association and they said we were "owned" by Bluegreen but our current Management company is Pohaku which was founded by a former Bluegreen Employee. Again that was disturbing as who is really our Manager? When you hire a manager do they assume and ownership of the resort?



IF anyone has any input on these statements I would appreciate your inputs. These are my opinions of what was said and may not be accurate but it is what I thought after the meetings. The attempt to scare us was very successful and I am leery of the Timeshare exit industry as these guys are the ones that started it!!

This is how it goes, TS sales reps lie and people spend a TON of money on something they are clueless about. They then get fed up and frustrated and think TS are a scam. They then call a TS exit company to correct their costly mistake.

The exit company knows the type of client they are getting. They are getting someone who already fell for so called lies and mistruths and spent tens of thousands of dollars, so they can in turn do the same and take your money to fix your mistake. In reality, you’re just getting suckered twice. It’s a genius strategy actually, it’s not right, just genius.

 

[RX8]

Like Release Consulting, Palmetto Consulting has a “news article” at their website touting their expertise. Release Consulting had blatant lies in their article, even coping verbatim from a template found on the internet that they were a top company in India.

Palmetto claims in their article “Palmetto Consulting Services was recently added as only the second organization to become fully accredited by Timeshare Owner Rights Organization.”. Funny thing is, there are ZERO internet hits for any organization called the Timeshare Owner Rights Organization. Any one else heard of this organization? My guess is this is yet another lie by these scammers.

 

[andre10056]

The reason I'm reluctant to continue to post on this thread is because I think the OP may have been a bit less than truthful in his posts. For example, in post # 1 above, the one where he expresses shock about what he was told and asks if there's any truth to it, he wrote:

"2. It is illegal for anyone to sell their timeshare. Our Deeds are worthless and meaningless. We own nothing- even if our Deed is to a specific unit for a specific period of time. Because we do not own anything we cannot assign or sell it."

Ohmigod! That's horrible! I can't sell it!

And then in post #9 he wrote:

"We have owned over 14 timeshares and onlyu bought on secondary market. Sold most of them myself when done with them"

Huh? He quickly went from wide-eyed innocent babe in the woods to patting himself on the back for "only buying on the secondary market" and "selling them all himself when done with them".

A little bit of a discrepancy there. I would say that it's possible we were duped into responding.

 

[CPNY]

The reason I'm reluctant to continue to post on this thread is because I think the OP may have been a bit less than truthful in his posts. For example, in post # 1 above, the one where he expresses shock about what he was told and asks if there's any truth to it, he writes:

"2. It is illegal for anyone to sell their timeshare. Our Deeds are worthless and meaningless. We own nothing- even if our Deed is to a specific unit for a specific period of time. Because we do not own anything we cannot assign or sell it."

Ohmigod! That's horrible! I can't sell it!

And then in post #9 he wrote:

"We have owned over 14 timeshares and onlyu bought on secondary market. Sold most of them myself when done with them"

Huh? He quickly went from wide-eyed innocent babe in the woods to patting himself on the back for "only buying on the secondary market" and "selling them all himself when done with them".

A little bit of a discrepancy there. I would say that it's possible we were duped into responding.

If anything, we weren’t duped then. Next time someone comes here looking for information on palmetto exit company, maybe they will come across this thread and see our responses. Hopefully we can help someone in the future.

 

[andre10056]

If anything, we weren’t duped then. Next time someone comes here looking for information on palmetto exit company, maybe they will come across this thread and see our responses. Hopefully we can help someone in the future.

Good point.

 

[valbo97]

The reason I'm reluctant to continue to post on this thread is because I think the OP may have been a bit less than truthful in his posts. For example, in post # 1 above, the one where he expresses shock about what he was told and asks if there's any truth to it, he wrote:

"2. It is illegal for anyone to sell their timeshare. Our Deeds are worthless and meaningless. We own nothing- even if our Deed is to a specific unit for a specific period of time. Because we do not own anything we cannot assign or sell it."

Ohmigod! That's horrible! I can't sell it!

And then in post #9 he wrote:

"We have owned over 14 timeshares and onlyu bought on secondary market. Sold most of them myself when done with them"

Huh? He quickly went from wide-eyed innocent babe in the woods to patting himself on the back for "only buying on the secondary market" and "selling them all himself when done with them".

A little bit of a discrepancy there. I would say that it's possible we were duped into responding.

y post was and is based upon a concern and also a desire to let others know what kind of things are being said. I was not patting myself on the back only pointing out I have had a bit of experience dealing with timeshares. The laws they were touting were all fairly new and I wanted reassurance I was not in jeopardy/ IF you feel duped it is because you have a lot of experiences I do not -- sorry

 

[valbo97]

If anything, we weren’t duped then. Next time someone comes here looking for information on palmetto exit company, maybe they will come across this thread and see our responses. Hopefully we can help someone in the future.

Thank you for your response-- I wanted to share an experience and get reassured--- Sorry I kinda thought that was one of the things tug did.