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Re: Manhattan Club Lawsuit (by Chris V.):
jill, i respect your opinion as i do most other contributors to this forum. however your statement that "not all were victims of (alleged) criminal practices" i totally disagree with that opinion, even the word ALLEGED...these criminal practices were actually proven and no longer ALLEGED. although there may be circumstances among owners that differ, we were ALL VICTIMS OF LIES AND FRAUD THE MOMENT WE WALKED INTO THE SALES SCENARIO THAT BEGAN IN THE INFAMOUS 2ND FLOOR SALES OFFICE. all of us were financial victims of the fraudulent sales presentation and the 400% +/- raise in our maintenance fees over the ownership timeframe. these are the criminal activities that ALL OWNERS WERE SUBJECTED TO, and in my opinion, the court should act in our behalf to assist us to recover our financial losses including the reservation time that was paid for and often never available to many owners. these criminal activities were clearly proven via the nysag's actual taping/filming at the sales presentation..............this in itself helped mr schneiderman to win his case against TMC.
keep in touch.
enjoy labor day!
chris
jills465 wrote:Deborah and others - I'm not a lawyer but have worked in litigation as a paralegal for 35-plus years. The requirement in Wikipedia that "we all must be injured in the same way" disqualifies TMC owners from being in a class suit (in my opinion, of course). Of the 15,000 - +/- owners, not all were victims of (alleged) criminal practices. Also, the case settled b4 a court judgment, so the fact that TMC was investigated for fraudulent activities is not proof they were guilty of any wrong doing. That's why cases settle. CD litigation looks like class action but only named plaintiffs get relief from the developer's defective housing construction. Others in the neighborhood who have the same leaky roofs or cracked foundations are out of luck if they are "absent" from being named in the complaint. With TMC, the civil charges are more breach of contract claims. (Private citizens can't file criminal charges- only municipalities can.). There were differing kinds of sales contracts; different sales practices used against different people. Finally, class actions usually involves thousands (not just "more than 40") of people who are unknown to the court until the handful of named plaintiffs can get certified by the court as representative of unknown victims.