Watching Out for Timeshare Fraud in Florida

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services regulates telemarketing within the state. Earlier this month, Scott Andrew Friedman of St. Petersburg, was arrested for running an unregistered telemarketing operation.

Friedman’s business, Premier Timeshare Vacations Inc, was contracting with consumers to advertise their timeshares for sale. The business was operating, despite not being registered by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and having received a cease-and-desist order directing them to stop telemarketing operations until the business was properly registered.

According to myfoxtampabay.com, Friedman was arrested and charged with, “telemarketing without a license and hiring unregistered sales people”. Both offenses are third-degree felonies.

Friedman’s arrest came only a few days after the Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement (OALE) arrested two Redington Shores men charged with the same felony acts as Friedman. James Ezell and Robert Vaughan were arrested regarding their business, US Properties Listings LLC, which contracted with consumers to sell advertising for vacant land and timeshares.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, agencies in both New Mexico and Florida had received numerous complaints about US Properties Listings LLC.

If you have a complaint against a Florida timeshare company or telemarketing company, you can file your complaint by calling the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at 1-800-HELPFLA.

Sell My Timeshare NOW always enthusiastically supports efforts by regulatory agencies to keep the timeshare and timeshare resale industries upfront and above board.