One-hundred thirty complaints against two Largo, Florida timeshare companies have resulted in an investigation by that state’s Attorney General, announced this week. One of the companies has also conducted fraudulent operations in New Mexico as well.
D&D Vacations, Inc and B Brothers Marketing Firm have been accused of scamming timeshare owners. The companies are accused of telling owners who wish to sell that there is a buyer ready to deal, and requesting an up-front advertising fee. Once the fee is collected it turns out that there will be no purchase. The fees collected have been sizeable, ranging from $499 to $1500.
The complaints against the companies were filed on the same day, although separately. There is the appearance that the two cases are connected. However the official response from the Attorney General’s Office was that the cases “are not related at this time.”
D&D Vacations operates under several names, apparently in more than one state. They are also known as United States Property Services and Vacation Property Services, and New Mexico officials are also investigating their practices. They are known to contact people by telephone and make an offer for their timeshare which is generous. After the call, they are charged a fee, purportedly for advertising. If the person disputes this charge they may be threatened that their phone conversation was recorded and serves as a verbal contract. The company promises unrealistic sale prices for timeshares, and has been accused of posting false information and pictures of properties on their web site.
Senior citizens are often the target of these telemarketing ripoff schemes. The Rio Rancho Observer of Sandoval County New Mexico reported in February that the company was reputed to be calling owners of vacant land, offering high purchase prices, and extracting an immediate credit card payment to secure the transaction, which was then never completed. The New Mexico scams are reported to have netted United Property Services between $300 and $800 for each “successful” call.
B Brothers Marketing also operates under several names, including Preferred Property Services. Both of these are listed in the Florida State Division of Corporations database as being owned by American Mortgage Assistance LLC with president Ameit D. Balkissoon of Largo. In yet another layer of attempted obscurity American Mortgage Assistance is registered to a Clearwater firm, Kojo Enterprises Inc. The names of two Florida men were able to be determined as officers of Kojo: Joe Loy of Clearwater and Nick Kopteros of Tarpon Springs. B Brothers was dissolved in September of 2008
D&D aka United States Property Service is owned by Thomas J. Coots of Largo, Florida.
The Better Business Bureau has reacted quickly to the many complaints and lists both companies as having a rating of “F.”
Timeshare owners can protect themselves from these type of ripoffs and scams by being suspicious of any telemarketer that makes offers that seem unreasonably good. And of course, one should never give out credit card information to anyone whose identity cannot be verified. One complainant in Florida was alerted to the possibility of a scam because the number on caller ID did not match the callback number she was given.
About the Author: The timeshare experts at Apex Professionals, LLC, concentrate on helping disillusioned timeshare holders to rid themselves of unwanted maintenance fees, unnecessary assessment costs, and to do away with those annoying high-interest mortgages by offering to take over unwanted timeshare agreements instantly. Related posts:
Our company Premier Timeshare Resale is a legitimate timeshare reseller with no upfront fees and we have had several calls a day lately from people who thought we were “Premier Timeshare Solutions” or “Premier Timeshare Vacations”. Callers had stories similar to those in the article above. Callers claim they were told the company had a buyer waiting but that they had to pay an upfront fee of several hundred (as high as $1500) to receive the purchase contracts. Once they paid, they were told the sale fell through and the fee was not refundable.
Timeshare Owners Beware! Never ever pay a fee upfront or in advance no matter what they call it!
This firm contacted us on February 24th of this year. They claimed to “have a buyer for our timeshare”. The buyer was willing to pay top dollar (almost $15,000), and all we needed to do was pay $1250.00 for a “title search, document preparation, and closing fees”. We paid the $1,250.00 and were told to expect the completed closing documents once the title search was done. We were told the buyer had already committed to the sale.
After waiting the 2 weeks and hearing nothing, we called Premier (several times until we were finally able to get someone on the phone) only to be told the buyer had backed out last minute. We were also told that our “title search” funds were non-refundable and they abruptly brushed us off. We realized at this point we had been taken. We have since been given the run around by Premier Representatives, and no sale or follow up whatsoever.
So we began to do some research on this firm and found many others on line who have had same or similar experiences with this same firm. It turns out this company was just incorporated 2 weeks before the call we received from them. We have also searched all the addresses on the corporations of C&G Marketing Associates and the many other corporations under similar names with the same officers, and they are either private residences or mail boxes. After looking further we believe this firm was not even a licensed marketing firm in the state of Florida.
It appears (at least to us) that this is nothing more than a scam which takes advantage of people like us who wish they had never even bought a timeshare to begin with. To add insult to injury we are now scammed for another $1,250.00 which we truly cannot afford in this economy. It is heartbreaking!
Glad I read this – have been contacted by Suzie Sullivan several times saying that someone wanted our time share but we needed to send the fee of $1888.54. Said they would accept a certified check…has anyone been dealing with this person. I would love to sell, but very suspicious about this and we, also, have been offered top $!
My 2 sisters have a timeshare in Orlando but are in nursing homes and I have power of atty. for them.
They got ripped off 2 time before I took over their finances. Is there a way I can sell it with no risk or money up front?
A sale will probably result through ebay, but usually for very little money. An ad placed in a reputable Magazine such as timesharing today with a reasonable listing price could work. Normally you can not expect to get a high price because of the number of timeshares for sale at any one time. I say sell and get out of the annual maintenance fees. Whatever you do, DO NOT pay any sort of upfront fee. Normally, they take your money and nothing happens.
Good Luck
We (Premier Timeshare Resale) are still receiving calls almost daily. Recently we are told the company is “Premier Timeshares” and they are telling the sellers that they need to pay the upfront fee for closing costs, identical to Robert Montgomery’s experience above. Obviously, this company is still operating and ripping people off. If you have been contacted by this company please report them to the Better Business Bureau, Attorney General’s office and where ever else you can.
Ok…..your scaring the _ _ _ _ out of me now. In the middle of a transaction with these folks and became suspicious!!
Has anyone had a positive response?
BBB information is limited to two complaints.
Received call from Premier Timeshare saying that they had a family. They even gave me the family name..made it should legit, but said that I could apply my payment of 1358.00 for deed and titel search on a CC. Got suspicious when they said I need to pay them first before reading over the contract. That was the deal breaker. Never give money before reading and signing a contract.
We were contacted today by Suzie Sullivan, an I have to admit the offer sounded good,Thaitie Village is filibng bankrupsy on the sales division and Premier is offering $5k more than we paid. Wanted us to put on credit card. She said it is safer and they will not execpt cashiers check. The only stipulation is that it is not in foreclosure. Thanks to you who take the time to post this type of info, because of what I have read and BB Bureau Rating of “F” I think I will pass but still unsure about passing up a rare deal..Besides we like our timeshares. Interested in seeing how Reggie makes out..please keep us updated.
Is premeir timeshares legit or just a company that takes the money and runs like most of them. We got the same song and dance about our condos.
HELLO, I am so confused!! I have listed our Timeshare with 3 different Companies of the last 2yrs. NO SALE YET??? Apex tried to get us to give it to them for 3,000.00 to free us of burden???
Last night recieved a call from Premier Timeshare Resale. ” We have a buyer for your property” They put 5% down and we need you to pay $l,3–.– to get title search, etc… Will be refunded these fees with closing. 45 day turn around??? I don’t know if this is real or NOT??? HELP???
i know of many companies operating like this, where they say they have buyers inplace and take an admin fee, I t seems to be very common practice, they adertise in local papers looking for staff, very obvious. why do they get away with it? why don’t the police get involved?
The company has contacted me fresh several times, each call a few weeks apart. Apparently they don’t keep good records on the folks who see through their scam right away and keep declining their offers.
Each time I would say, “Mail me my contract. If everything is in order I will send you my check.” I never received anything from them. Nor did they ever receive any payment from me.
This and other such companies are outright frauds. Apparently they have enough lawyers to advise them how to keep themselves covered. The only true defense is to understand that legitimate realtors do not ask for money up front. There is always an exchange of contracts before any money changes hands.