Timeshare Scams

[jeffrey]

Unfortunately there are a number of scams out there that you need to be aware of if you are trying to sell your timeshare. If you do any type of advertising of your timeshare (especially online) there is a good chance that one or more of these scams will be presented to you.

One of the more common scams going around is one where a person pays your asking price (or sometimes a bit more). As payment, they send a check which is usually a certified check or foreign bank check of some type that is significantly more than the price agreed upon for the timeshare. They tell you to cash the check and when the check clears, send them the difference. What happens is that your bank will clear the check, but the check will be found to be counterfeit at a later date and will bounce. You will then be stuck with your timeshare plus out whatever money you sent.

Another common scam is receiving an invitation to a local hotel in your area where a meeting room has been reserved. Once there, you will receive an offer of several thousand dollars for your timeshare. In addition, they will do a hard sell of a vacation package which is usually a couple thousand more than they offer for the timeshare. The value of the vacation package is minimal - a couple of hundred dollars at most (although it will sound wonderful, there will be a lot of hidden fees and it is nothing as it is described - remember the promises on your timeshare in the first place and why you are there trying to sell it?) - meaning that even if you pay the difference between what they offer for the timeshare and the vacation package, the scammers still come out far ahead and you may even still be stuck with your timeshare.

As with most scams, the people trying to part you from your money are playing on your hope that you found the perfect solution to your timeshare problem. If anything sounds fishy or a bit too good to be true, step back and search (or leave a question here) to get more information (if they say the offer is only good at that instant and the offer is withdrawn if you leave, then you know it's a scam).

[tron7]

Subject: FBI agents have arrested an American hotel owner


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...1,636967.story
Mexico hotel owner charged in swindle of time-share leases
By Rudolph Bush
Tribune staff reporter

December 28, 2006

FBI agents have arrested an American hotel owner on charges he ran a $400 million pyramid scheme through the sale of time-share leases in Mexico.

Michael E. Kelly of Cancun was arrested Friday in Jacksonville, Fla., and charged with cheating hundreds of investors, including several from Illinois.

According to a criminal complaint released Wednesday, Kelly sold "universal leases" on Mexican time shares to investors who thought they would get return rates of up to 11 percent.

Kelly, 57, purportedly told the investors that an independent third-party company would rent their time shares. He promised that the investors would receive high returns even if their properties weren't rented, the complaint alleges.

In fact, Kelly owned the third-party companies and controlled the returns provided to investors, authorities allege.

An attorney for Kelly could not be located Wednesday. He is in custody in Florida and is expected to come to Chicago for an initial appearance at a future date.

According to authorities, Kelly's scheme netted some $400 million from investors from 1997 to March 2004.

During that time, he owned five hotels in Mexico and one in Panama. Time shares at the Mexican hotels were used to further the scheme, authorities allege.

Although many investors initially did receive returns on their leases, the scheme collapsed when several states cracked down on Kelly's operation and new investors from the U.S. dried up, authorities allege.

Meanwhile, Kelly used the proceeds of the scam to pay for a lavish lifestyle that included a private plane, a yacht and Cancun homes for himself and three children, authorities allege.

He also bought a luxury car dealership in Georgia that required regular infusions of cash to stay afloat, according to the criminal complaint.

Once the bottom dropped out, investors stopped receiving any returns and began asking for their money back.

One victim in Illinois took a reverse home mortgage to fund a $100,000 investment in the time-share scheme. Another put $500,000 of his own money and $305,000 of his mother's into Kelly's time-share business.

Someone working for one of the purported third-party companies told another investor that the chance of getting any money back was "slim," the complaint alleges.

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rrbush@tribune.com
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

[jgonzalez]

This person is the owner of Avalon Hotels. this hotel is selling timeshares as of today with the same techniques as before.

Be very careful with aproached by this resort in Mexico.