Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Timeshares Only - Advance Fee Alert

Beware Of Paying Advance Fees To Sell Timeshares

LABELLE, FL. -- Tens of thousands of resort apartment owners have been seeing ads for Timeshares Only LLC on television and other media. And after contacting the company, owners report being asked to pay from $500 to $600 to list their resort condo unit for sale or rent.

What reportedly happens is the company salespeople insist the unit you own is a "very popular" one and they are sure they can sell it. After writing a check, many owners are finding they've just thrown away hundreds of dollars for nothing.

Timeshares Only, it seems, just collect the fee, then places ads for the timeshare on a website. What they don't tell owners is there's a glut of timeshares for sale, and it's unlikely any timeshare unit is going to sell. Most timeshare owners can report how difficult it is to get rid of unwanted condos, it's even hard to give them away because of the high maintenance fees due and the declining market price of the units as they age.

The Better Business Bureau of Central Florida has registered 42 complaints against the company in the last three years, 27 about advertising and sales issues, and 15 about their product and services.

Timeshares Only also advertises under Vacations Only and MHC Timeshares Only, LLC. It's offices are located at 2966 Commerce Park Dr., Orlando, Fl. 32839. It's parent company is Equity Lifestyle Properties, Inc. 

Company owners are Nesoi Partners LLC, Bert Blitcher, Maruice Aubrey, all of Boca Raton, Fl. and Seth Rosenberg of Chicago.

Our advice: Never pay anyone a fee in advance to sell or rent a timeshare property. Most states have strict regulations about timeshare sales companies, and if you have a problem contact your state consumer or real estate licensing agency.

Make sure you find out if the timeshare company you deal with is a real estate agent or just offering an advertising service. If they're an advertising service, find out where they advertise timeshares for sale and check it out. You probably can advertise on your own for less money and more effectively.
In most states, including Florida collecting advanced listing fees is prohibited. Section 721.20(6), Florida Statutes, prohibits the collection of any advance fee for the listing of any timeshare and requires that any seller of a timeshare plan be a licensed real estate broker, broker associate or sales associate.

Be sure to get all promises in writing, but remember that even then, those promises are only as good as the company that stands behind them.

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