Class Action Against Diamond Resorts?

marks1499 wrote:

Perhaps the primary discussion should be a civil action to rescind Diamond ownership's/contracts. Sufficient corporate malfeasance has occurred and continues to occur to provide credible grounds. Any interest by a competent attorney to provide contingency representation will be contingent on organization by individuals expressing their unfortunate turn of events on this site. If refunds of purchase monies can be achieved hard to see how that can be viewed as overreaching. What the attorney's make at that point becomes irrelevant.

Well said Mark. It is a myth that the only way out of a DRI contract is a surrender. The average individual has sufficient grounds to get out with a refund. And certainly, if people would work together, there are grounds for a class action.

I think the class has to insist on full transparency with any law firm that represents them. There have been some big class actions that were plagued with corruption. I think any honest firm would be anxious to reassure the clients by making all records accessible to them.

You have a better chance of winning the Nigerian lottery than finding an attorney that will take the case on a contingency basis. Be prepared to put money upfront and waiting at least six years to get it through the courts. That is the way the system works. By then then you might get offered a trinket for a settlement. The attorneys will make a ton of money whether you win or lose. Don't forget that during this period you will have to continue to pay the maintenance fees every year. As far as transparency good luck. If you are lucky enough to talk to a staff member you will be told " we'll get back to you ".

I have no stake in this matter. I'm just letting everyone know the way the system works. Don't shoot the messenger.

As timeshare attorney Mike Finn pointed out in the Class Action article he wrote and I posted on this thread last week, the reason a class action is not appropriate is because the damages to the individual plaintiffs are too different. I have talked to three lawyers about it. We have all seen those class action ads for things like medical devices or a drug reaction. The same damage happens to all the plaintiffs.

Please file complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under the Mortgage option even if there is no mortgage. You can also file orally. Westgate is currently under investigation and Diamond employs many of the same tactics. Any article referring to the investigation mentions Diamond as a target.

In a Capitol Forum report about Diamond Resorts, written and published by attorney Clarion Johnson; one person that works for the Florida AG office, who of course asked to remain anonymous, said Florida is flooded with timeshare complaints but only pursue a few. With our Florida AG Pam Bondi making headlines this week due to the illegal donation she received from Trump, I think it is safe to say Florida is on the side of the developers. If you are lucky enough to live in New York or TN, for some reason the AGs in those two states are on the side of the timeshare owner, having taken action against timeshare companies. ARDA is the lobby group that strongly supports AG offices. Don't give them the $5 voluntary contribution when you receive your maintenance fee bill!

If the AG offices won't pursue the bad timeshare companies, the only court left is the media. Public opinion made Mylan reduce the cost of an Epipen. It's too late for us if you are already reading RedWeek, but there must be writers, media people and others with time and talent out there that can reach AARP and the public BEFORE a prospect goes on their first "Tour". At least our children will know better.

donp196 wrote:

You have a better chance of winning the Nigerian lottery than finding an attorney that will take the case on a contingency basis. Be prepared to put money upfront and waiting at least six years to get it through the courts. That is the way the system works. By then then you might get offered a trinket for a settlement. The attorneys will make a ton of money whether you win or lose. Don't forget that during this period you will have to continue to pay the maintenance fees every year. As far as transparency good luck. If you are lucky enough to talk to a staff member you will be told " we'll get back to you ".

I have no stake in this matter. I'm just letting everyone know the way the system works. Don't shoot the messenger.

1. I know several attorneys that take TS cases on a contingency basis! Many states award attorney's fees to a winning plaintiff. So why wouldn't an attorney, that believes he has a strong case, take it on a contingency?

2. When you speak of six years I assume you are referring to a class action? An individual case should be resolved in less than a year.

3. If you bring an individual action against a TS, you will not pay any maintenance fees while the action is pending.

"As timeshare attorney Mike Finn pointed out in the Class Action article he wrote and I posted on this thread last week, the reason a class action is not appropriate is because the damages to the individual plaintiffs are too different."

Mr. Finn's article did not make a sweeping statement that class actions are not appropriate. He explained why a claim of “fraud in the inducement” cannot be litigated via a class action. Mr. Finn went on to state that his firm has "successfully initiated multiple class action litigation against timeshare resort developers".

If you believe you have grounds to sue DRI you should absolutely find a lawyer that will pursue your claim. If for any reason you decide against filing an individual claim your only remaining hope of recovering money is via a class action.

Class actions are not necessarily the ideal option for a consumer. Unfortunately, for many consumers a class action is the only option that might result in any kind of refund.

It is extremely important to report improper business practices to the appropriate government agencies. The higher the number of complaints that are filed, the harder it is for the TS industry to persuade the government to look the other way. The appalling practices that have gone on for decades, will continue unabated until the volume of complaints reaches a level that cannot be ignored.

Hi,

I have just lodged my complaint with AZAG today after Diamond seized over $15,000 of my stock recently and basically cancelled all my access to my account. These criminals need to be stopped and I fear that if the regulators do not do something shortly about the way that this industry is turning, and being bought up by big private equity/big public equity firms, big corporate finance will win again and consumers will end up with endless streams of money going out. I have what Diamond recently valued at over $700,000 of product...it's hardly worth $7 when one considers how they have jacked up maintenance fees, but I guess that's the beauty of them telling us what their value is, and closing off resale opportunities to our resale of the Club access. Thanks for being a voice that helped initiate my efforts to further press for reform and consumer action on these matters.

Why an attorney may not want to do this on a contingency basis, the cost and the number of clients and DRI will obfuscate and delay and manipulate on and on... I was involved with the first Class Action and it was a sell out by the main clients and their attorneys... The potential cost to get this into a court not to trial but just prepared for trial could cost several hundred thousand dollars $ 200,000,, another 50,000 at trial and if DRI lost they sure as hell will appeal... Prove criminal fraud and the State Attorney General will prosecute

I purchased my timeshare in 2001 for $14,000. At this point I just want to get out. I hired the Abrams Firm and have nothing to loose. They will charge $3,000 once I'm out, no upfront fees.

monicap122 wrote:

I purchased my timeshare in 2001 for $14,000. At this point I just want to get out. I hired the Abrams Firm and have nothing to loose. They will charge $3,000 once I'm out, no upfront fees.

Do you mean you are paying a firm $3,000 just to to get you a surrender?

Yes... but at least I will get rid of the maintance fees. I tried to sell yhe timeshare with no luck. I Do not know another way to get out. ... it is very frustrating. ..

NEVER pay anyone money upfront that claims they can get you out of your contract . Monica sounds like she's trying to steer people to this law firm by mentioning them by name. Beware of low life attorneys that use the forum to solicit business. This is their form of ambulance chasing. Who in their right mind is going to give an attorney three thousand dollars when they can do it by themselves. This smells like a scam to get your upfront money. Don't fall for their SCAM !

Monica, DRI has been offering a Deed back option since March of last year.. I believe it is still going on. DRI will charge $250 per contract.

DRI now accepting deedbacks The financial dept apparently Voluntary Surrender Program:

In order to qualify, the HOA (MFs) must be up-to-date and the owner must have a zero balance on the loan.

To start this process, the owner must send an email to: lossmitigation@diamondresorts.com and or leadcollector@diamondresorts.com with the subject line stating: Inventory Takeback.

In the email itself the owner must include: -Resort Name -Owner(s) Name(s) -Account Number -Inventory owned (ie. weeks, points, etc) -any other important information regarding the deed

within 7-10 business days, the Diamond Resorts will send an action required correspondence, where the owner will have 15 days to return.

Note: the owner is responsible for any fees associated with the paper work, such as notary, postage etc.

You can also call 877-497-7521, option 1 English, then 3 is direct to Loss Mitigation.

_______

In all likelihood this is the approach the lawyer will take to get you out of your contracts. See if you do it yourself first if you can get out of your $3000 obligation to the lawyer. __________________

@Monica:

Before you simply give your property back and accept a total loss, I recommend that you consult a consumer law attorney OR a timeshare attorney that DOES NOT steer you towards accepting a surrender. "Timeshare attorneys" that regularly process surrenders, have little incentive to investigate and explain all of your legal options to you, as they are ethically bound to do. There is more profit for them in a surrender than there is in litigation.

A surrender is the worst possible solution for you...don't accept it! You may very well be able to obtain a refund. Don't give up on pursuing that remedy!

Good luck.

As soon as I posted here, I received a swarm of emails from timeshare attorneys, so I'd be very surprised if Monica has not been already contacted by some of these opportunists.

And yes, for $250, Diamond may exercise their own surrender, so why would we pay $3,000. Some of these firms wanted as much as $10,000 in my case. And that was for a surrender. Hard to tell who the real crooks are at times?!?

The sharks just want your upfront money. If you can negotiate your own surrender then you save all that money the sharks want from you and in the end you get the same results. Attorneys are bottom feeders.

@Justin:

There is no question that if you are determined to do a surrender you should do it yourself.

However in my opinion, very few people if any, should GIVE back their points.

FWIW, I've spoken to quite a few people that got prices from surrender companies/attorneys. It appears to me, they try to charge each client an amount equal to two years worth of assessment fees.

For example: Mary owns 5,000 points, all payments are up to date, and her assessments are $1,000 a year. She will be charged $2,000 for her surrender. In contrast Ann owns 30,000 points, all payments are up to date, and her assessments are $5,000 a year. For some reason Ann will be charged $10,000 for a surrender.

This is one sweet deal for the individual brokering the surrender. He gets paid thousands of dollars for sending an application to a developer. His work on the two example cases will be the same. His prices are not related to the amount of work he has to do, his prices are fixed according to what he thinks a consumer will pay. Most people expect to live at least two more years, so they think they are going to lose two years worth of assessment fees whether they pay it to DRI or to the broker. The difference is, if they pay it to broker after two years they are out. It makes economic sense to someone that thinks a surrender is the only way out and who doesn't realize he can do the surrender himself, to pay the broker's fee.

Surrender brokers, whether attorneys or not, are definitely bottom feeders. I consider them a thinly disguised arm of the TS developers. They move in to squeeze the last possible dime out of people that are crying uncle.

I would not call a legitimate, competent attorney a bottom feeder. Attorneys are the people that enforce our civil laws. It is only the fear of being sued that keeps businesses partly honest. Can you even imagine what the world would be like if we didn't have attorneys ready to hold people and businesses accountable for civil wrongs? I don't think the honor system would work very well for most of us.

You don't need a broker or an attorney to surrender your timeshare. This is just a spiel to get you to spend your money on an attorney. Attorneys are bottom feeders period. If they use the forums to drum up business then their even lower than bottom feeders.

I can see why TUG banned you. You are trying to steer people to an attorney using their forum .

@Don:

Of course you don't need an attorney to do a surrender! But I don't think anyone should ever GIVE back something they paid tens of thousands of dollars for!

You and I have very different ideas about how people should deal with DRI. I absolutely think people should get an attorney. I recognize that the average person doesn't know how to find the RIGHT KIND of attorney. But the right attorneys are out there (by the hundreds, lol), and they can get refunds for people.

I am not trying to steer people to any given attorney. I am trying to tell them to FIND A GOOD ATTORNEY rather than settling for a surrender.

I will be giving this same advice over and over in any forum that will let me. My advice is apparently going to conflict with yours. But I don't see any need to personally attack anyone that has a different opinion.

I am not going to accuse you of pushing surrenders because I have some fantasy that you are a shill for the developers. Such accusations just detract from the whole conversation.

People are trying to find out what to do. They come here and see that one person suggests a surrender, another suggests finding an attorney and another will tell them to live with what they have purchased and make the best use of their points. Presumably these visitors are adults. They should know better than to make an important financial decision without investigating all of their options. My advice is only intended to make sure they investigate the option of getting an attorney.

The fact is that people would be best served if we responded with ONE comprehensive, unbiased list of the various options. That post should include a list of red flags and some information about what we would ALL agree they should avoid. I would be very happy to work on constructing a post like that with you. Any of the regular posters here that wanted to sign off on it could do so. Those that disagree could write their own "form" post explaining their "dissent", lol. I think it would really be cool if the people that came here could get all of that information in just a couple of responses. Maybe, just maybe, TUG would even follow our example. I would be very happy to work on constructing a post like that with you. I'm sure we would find we actually have the same opinions on all of it.

What you are talking about is a " lawyer letter " . It's a common practice to have an attorney send a letter on your behalf. It shouldn't cost more a hundred and fifty dollars. The bs you're spreading about getting money back is a SCAM !!! That's just a scam to get more money.

You signed a legally binding contract and no lawyer in the world can change that unless they can prove fraud. The fraud here is you asking people to contact you outside the forum. That's how scammers work. They isolate their victims and then convince them if they pay a large upfront fee they have a better chance of getting money. Then they keep the money.

I will continue to expose your scam. Your rant is a dead give away that it's a scam.

Susan sent me an unsolicited email encouraging me to contact her to help me get a refund from Diamond. To me this is equivalent to placing an ad which is clearly against the rule as noted above.

I read an email from an honest timeshare attorney writing to someone I am helping to be released from a contract. I am a form CASA supervisor who used to write court reports and and attend hearings and trials on behalf of foster children. As Diamond owners become victims the moment the contract is signed, should they need to sell and can't, I saw this as a situation that needed advocacy and reform.

I just returned from the Canary Islands where there are 2024 timeshare cases, including 90 against Diamond due to Spain enforcing an EU Directive banning perpetual contracts. The attorney I refer people to said that he is able to obtain a refund in less than five percent of the cases brought before him. He specializes in timeshares, carrying 500 cases. He has provided free advice to all I have contacted him about, but there is one person who definitely needs an attorney. I agree not all timeshare attorneys are on the up and up.