TALLAHASSEE – In just two weeks, and in time for the summer tourist season, a new law designed to crack down on timeshare fraud goes into effect – and it provides local law enforcement agencies with the tools needed to more aggressively chase down fake telemarketing firms that rip off timeshare owners trying to sell timeshare. The Timeshare Resale Accountability Act was passed by the Flor
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You probably didn’t mind that you had to share a hotel room at all when the children were younger. A room with two double beds may have seemed like more than enough room. However, now that they're older, you may be thinking twice about that single hotel room and how tight the quarters are going to be. Timeshare rentals don’t have to be costly, and they can give your family the space needed t
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WEST PALM BEACH – Michael Ferrari, a 27-year-old manager of a timeshare resale firm in West Palm Beach, has pleaded guilty to engaging in a scheme to defraud timeshare owners, the U.S. Attorney’s office just announced. On May 22, the office of Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced that a guilty plea had been reached in the Ferrari case, and that
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TAMPA, FLORIDA -- Finn Law Group, P.A., a Florida-based law firm, filed 101 separate but consolidated Consumer Complaints and Requests for Investigation to attorneys general in 17 separate states alleging unlawful timeshare sales methods, use of intimidation, and predatory sales tactics by Wyndham Vacation Ownership Resorts. In a news release issued on April 18, the law firm notes that “The
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BERWYN, PENN. – Robert Stinson, accused of having defrauded more than 260 investors out of more than $17 million, was sentenced this week to 400 months in federal prison. Investigators said some of the millions collected through Stinson’s scams were used to start several businesses, including one for a timeshare resort that would involve yachts. According to court records, though, thes
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MANDEVILLE, LOUSIANA – The former manager of a timeshare resort was arraigned on March 13, on charges that she and her husband stole $169,000 from the property’s homeowners association, which was a not-for-profit operation. Amanda Sturdivant, 42, of Covington, had been working as the office manager of Bon Temps Village, a timeshare resort in Mandeville, for the past three years. She was a
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LONGWOOD – Judy Pepper knows that vacation ownership properties are very popular in that tourist and resort Mecca known as Central Florida. “A lot of people love their timeshare,” she said. “Florida is a huge timeshare market. Some own more than one.” Pepper often hears from these folks – but not because she’s involved in real estate and timeshare resales, or because she work
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LAKE WORTH, FLA. – Two men were arrested last week, and charged with pretending to be working for the Florida Attorney General’s office while they were claiming to help victims of timeshare fraud get refunds. Instead, the office of Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said it was all a ruse. Nicholas Paul, the owner of Provident Choice LLC, and Gerald W. Clarke of William Clarke, P.A., got
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PORT WASHINGTON, WI – It’s a frequent complaint from travelers: those sounds-too-good- to-be-true vacation deal offering several nights at a luxury resort, for a suspiciously below average nightly rate. The catch, they often complain, is that the property is a timeshare and the guests are required to sit through a presentation on the benefits of what it’s like to own a timeshare – a p
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HUDSON VALLEY, N.Y. – A writer for The Times-Herald Record, a newspaper based in Upstate New York, has recorded the cautionary story of a woman determined not to allow her elderly mother to become another victim and sorry statistic by fake timeshare resale firms. In an article published on Feb. 17, writer Steve Israel chronicles how New Yorker Aviva Schwab is still trying to get justice for he
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