Consumer Traps & Tips--A weekly service of the Palm Beach County Consumer Affairs Division

Topic: Timeshare Marketing Scams

Trap: Darla from Wellington owns a timeshare in Missouri – and now wishes she didn’t. Darla posted her timeshare on the Internet, hoping to sell it quickly. She received a call from a company salesman who said he had a buyer with a good offer who could close in two weeks. All Darla had to do was pay $1,400 to get the legal work started. Darla gave him her credit card number. A week later, Darla received a package. Instead of the promised closing documents, it was an agreement to “market” her timeshare. Now, the company only gives her excuses and won’t send her refund.

Tips: Nationwide, timeshare reselling and marketing is a big problem. In economic hard times, owners of timeshares are desperate to sell them. Fraudulent companies, and even individual scammers, will contact timeshare owners with offers to buy or sell their units. They dangle the promise of thousands of dollars to anxious sellers. Many times they will ask for an up-front fee for “title work” or to “start the legal process.”
• Don’t accept verbal promises. Request and carefully review written proposals. Check out the company’s reputation.
• You should never have to pay upfront fees as a seller of real estate. All such fees are normally deducted at closing – not before.
• Never give out bank information or your credit card without a complete contract which you understand and meets your needs.
• Florida timeshare sellers must be licensed by the Department of Business & Professional Regulation. Call 850-488-1122 to check out your company.
• If problems can’t be resolved, contact the attorney general in the state where the company is located.

For more information, call Palm Beach County Consumer Affairs at 561-712-6600 (Boca/Delray 888-852-7362 toll free) or visit www.pbcgov.com/consumer to see if other consumers had complaints against the timeshare reseller you are considering.

Dennis Moore, Palm Beach County Consumer Affairs Division, 561-712-6600 Boca/Delray/Glades toll free: 1-888-852-7362, Fax: 561-712-6610, 50 So. Military Trail, Suite 201, West Palm Beach, FL 33415
Check out our website at: http://www.pbcgov.com/consumer

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