Sell Timeshare

Sadly, it seems that many timeshare scams target the elderly, but then, a lot of fraudulent business or investment deals in general prey on some older people who may be more trusting or more willing to believe that they are being given all the facts in a credible way.

This week, the Arizona Corporate Commission ordered Leonard Clark Rhodes, Jr., of Gilbert, Arizona to pay $160,663 in restitution and $50,000 in administrative penalties for defrauding elderly investors in two different investment programs. I am going to give you several facts about Rhodes’s scheme, because I think the more we drag this type of timeshare fraud out into the bright light of day, the less likely people are to fall for it in the future.

Rhodes told investors that his Universal Lease program offered the timesharing of investment hotel units in Mexico and Central America. The timeshare unit “investors” (and I use the word with sarcasm because these people were victims, not investors) were given the option to use the timeshare units themselves or to use them as timeshare rental units. Using the timeshare units was downplayed as an option in the written and oral presentations to investors, and in many cases was not even an option that interested some older investors.

The option to actually use the timeshare unit applied only to “investors” (there’s that word again) who had contributed a minimum of $5,000, in return for which they received no choice of location or date of the timeshare vacation week they received. Personal use of the timeshare unit also carried with it annual fees ranging from $380 to $645, which could increase based on the Consumer Price Index.

In the Universal Lease deal, “investors” were given two other options, besides using the mystery-location timeshare units themselves. The first option was to use the timeshare unit as a rental for potential investment return, but again the timeshare buyer was only told the location, date, and timeshare unit he or she owned, after the timeshare transaction was completed. In this option, the timeshare buyer was responsible to find timeshare renters and handle the timeshare rental transaction himself. The timeshare buyer was still obligated for the same annual fees, and was also told that managing his own timeshare rental was likely to yield less return than taking advantage of the other option.

The second timeshare rental option was to let a “professional third party servicing agent” manage the timeshare rental, a choice that the timeshare buyer was told, “…provided a superior rate of return over most other investments…” Investors—the timeshare buyers—were told that the Universal Lease would yield 11 percent annual return over 25 years if the investor used the designated servicing agent to manage and lease the timeshare units.

If you would like to read the charges brought by the Arizona Corporate Commission for violation of the Securities Act of Arizona, click here.

I can only shake my head in disgust that people were defrauded of their money in this way and breathe a sigh of relief that the State of Arizona is demanding restitution for the timeshare fraud victims. So here’s my summary of what this timeshare fraud case should teach all of us:

1. If it seems too good to be true, assume that it is.
2. If someone tells you that timeshares are an investment, be skeptical of everything else that person says because it is a flagrant violation of Securities and Exchange Commission rules to represent in any way that a timeshare is an investment.
3. Never buy timeshare “blind”. You should always know what timeshare resort and what week you are purchasing, or if you are buying a floating week. Where your timeshare unit is located, and when your timeshare week occurs during the calendar year both help determine the fair price you should pay for timeshare. It is impossible to know you are making a sound purchase if you buy timeshare without knowing all the facts!

To learn more about buying, renting or selling timeshare, visit the website of timeshare resale and timeshare rental marketing company, Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Sell My Timeshare NOW just keeps growing.

Where will you be on Monday, December 17, 2007? If you are in Dover, New Hampshire, you could be about to embark on an exciting and rewarding new career, because Sell My Timeshare NOW is expanding.

Timeshare resales and timeshare rentals are thriving, as evidenced by the $254 million made in offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshares advertised on the Sell My Timeshare NOW website. Offers are up 16 percent from last year, which itself was a record-setting year.

With this much business, the only way we can continue to give top-notch customer service is to double our sales staff.

So if you are interested in a career where your income potential is linked directly to the effort and hard work you bring to the job, and if you like the idea of working for a growing timeshare company, that is setting new industry standards for service, performance, growth and excellence, then we invite you to visit our corporate offices.

Our hiring campaign kicks off with an open house, Monday, December 17, from 6:30PM to 7:30PM. The location is the Cocheoco Falls Millworks Building, 383 Central Avenue, in beautiful (and snowy) Dover, New Hampshire.

We are serious about this; so if you’re seriously interested, call us at (603) 516-0200 or toll free at (877) 815-4227.

I want to share with you our big news at Sell My Timeshare NOW. Last month, we passed the $241 million mark in offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshare properties advertised on our website. That surpasses last year’s total by nearly ten million dollars-and 2007 is not over yet!

The economy is shaky, inflation threatens, gas prices are high, real estate is soft…so why is the timeshare industry in such good shape? Because people may not be able to afford that new home they’ve wanted; and they may even be having trouble affording the home they are in, but they recognize that we all have our limits, and at some point our minds and bodies demand and deserve a little break time, nurturing, and relaxation.

When people start looking for affordable options in vacationing, it doesn’t take much research for them to discover that to buy timeshare or rent timeshare is one of the most affordable ways to vacation, especially if they buy timeshare resales!

When I tell you about $241 million in offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshare, I want to make it very clear that these offers don’t come to Sell My Timeshare NOW. I am talking about $241 million in offers to buy timeshare or rent timeshare that goes directly to the individuals or couples who actually own the timeshare property!

Our big news is reason to celebrate at Sell My Timeshare NOW, but in fact, it is really a reason for anyone who wants to sell timeshare to celebrate because it validates that there is a genuine resource timeshare owners can turn to when they want to sell timeshare they no longer use. Likewise, it validates to smart vacationers who want to buy timeshare or rent timeshare that Sell My Timeshare NOW offers an incredible inventory of right-priced timeshare and vacation ownership options, so that they can start enjoying the travel and recreation they not only deserve, but also genuinely need for their mental and physical health and wellbeing.

There is not much good news on the economic front these days-but to buy timeshare or rent timeshare from the current owner remains a proven win-win for everyone.

Click this link to read our latest press release about sales at Sell My Timeshare NOW.

Dennis Drummond was arrested last summer on a fugitive warrant in North Carolina and extradited to Massachusetts to face multiple counts of larceny. This was not Drummond’s first brush with the Massachusetts judicial system. Charges were brought against him in 1990, 2003, and 2005, all related to timeshare fraud.

In one lawsuit brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, a Massachusetts state court ordered Drummond to pay $1.3 million in restitution and fees for defrauding timeshare buyers of nearly $400,000 in money and property. The Commonwealth’s case was a civil suit and named Dennis Drummond, Linda Drummond, and Lindsey Drummond, as well as their companies, Global Marketing and Resort Marketing.

Drummond has yet to repay his debt in the civil suit, and now faces criminal charges as well. On October 18, he made bail and was released from the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth, MA. Let’s hope there is a way to finally hold him accountable for the charges of which he has already been convicted.

Just to keep things clear, I searched for “Global Marketing” and found no website for a company by this name. I also searched for “Resort Marketing” and found a company based in Alpharetta, Georgia, that assured me they were not the company listed in the 2005 lawsuit.

If you ever believe you have been the victim of timeshare fraud, whether you were trying to sell timeshare, rent timeshare or buy timeshare, you should contact the Office of the Attorney General for the State in which the timeshare company is located.

You also can file a complaint with the FTC if your grievance involves deceptive advertising. You can call them at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).

The Federal Trade Commission maintains an excellent webpage that advises on safe business practices when you buy timeshare, rent timeshare, or sell timeshare. The article is called, “Facts for Consumers Time and Time Again: Buying and Selling Timeshares and Vacation Plans.”