Meritage Management > New company wanting to buy your time share

Beware - I just got a call from Meritage Management "located" in Salt Lake City to buy my Playa del Sol timeshare. They used the exact same language as all the others trying to scam you. ("No up front fees... pay 5% commission 'after' the money is transferred to an escrow account..., limited time offer", etc.) Their website is set up "anonymously" (see whois.net) just as was Vacation Management International, Tribal Event Services, All City Management Group, etc. All known scammers.

I have asked the Utah BBB to initiate a report on Meritage for their legitimacy. It appears their address is actually an apartment building address.

In the mean time, beware and never ever for any reason pay money up front. Ask to use your own local escrow/title company.

erica415 wrote:

Beware - I just got a call from Meritage Management "located" in Salt Lake City to buy my Playa del Sol timeshare. They used the exact same language as all the others trying to scam you. ("No up front fees... pay 5% commission 'after' the money is transferred to an escrow account..., limited time offer", etc.) Their website is set up "anonymously" (see whois.net) just as was Vacation Management International, Tribal Event Services, All City Management Group, etc. All known scammers.

I have asked the Utah BBB to initiate a report on Meritage for their legitimacy. It appears their address is actually an apartment building address.

In the mean time, beware and never ever for any reason pay money up front. Ask to use your own local escrow/title company.

You would be better off to report them to the Utah attorney general's office .... the attorney general in Florida is on the war path to shut down timeshare resale upfront fee scammers.

They just called me and I started doing some research on them. If I do not pay anything how else can fraud be committed? Can they actually take my timeshare without paying me a dime?

joec503 wrote:

If I do not pay anything how else can fraud be committed? Can they actually take my timeshare without paying me a dime?

Believe me, they have no interest whatsoever in taking your timeshare. If they were, they would find scads of timeshares advertised that owners are desperately willing to give away for free without having to con the owners.

All they want is your upfront fee. To get it, they will give you some neat stories how they can sell or rent out your timeshare for a king's ransom but, in order to get the funds legally released to you, you have to pay some sort of fee, tax, etc.

It's all baloney.

I received a call from Meritage Management claiming to be doing business in Salt Lake City wanting to buy my time share for a lot more than I paid for it. They claimed that were no upfront fees and all they wanted was 5% commission after the sale was completed. They sent me proposal signed by Douglas Swanson, Meritage Management Director. On January 11, I received a call from Mr. Ed Morris (877/819-1598). He wants a copy of the time share contract to verify the info. Once that is completed he will send a sales agreement to sign, and then that will be forwarded to an escrow company. At this time he doesn’t have the name of the escrow company because it is selected by the buyer. On January 19, I received a contract from Meritage Management. The contract was signed by MM Director, Mr. Alan Sullivan. It specifies, among other things, that I may have to pay some transfer fees, taxes and other costs prior to receiving my money from the sale. If I don’t follow through, Meritage Management can bill me for the 5% commission on the expected sale price of $49,980.00. On January 20, I received a call from Mr. Ed Morris, asking me to read the contract over the weekend and he would call back on Monday to discuss the terms. I said let’s talk now. He pointed me towards an escrow company by the name of Silver Star Real Estate Group in Corpus Christie, TX. Upon logging in I found information on the account, including a reference to a reimbursement fee of $49,980.00. He told me that I had to pay these fees prior to the sale, but that Meritage Management would reimburse me at the close of the sale. I told him his whole contract was a deception to get me to pay $4,980.00 upfront fees. Once I paid that fee I would never hear from and would be unable to find him or Meritage Management since all of the contract info is invalid. They have gone to great lengths to write positive articles about awards they have received and the hiring of new executives. These articles are found on the internet when searching for their company name. Only when I checked with the proper government offices, do the real facts appear. There is no property record of their address in Salt Lake City Their phone prefix is from a town 105 miles away Their Fax number prefix is from another zip code in Salt Lake City There is no record of a business license for a company by the name of Meritage Management in Salt Lake City. Do not be fooled by these people. They only want your money. If you want to have some fun, try returning their calls using the toll free number they provide. In fact, make several calls. They get billed for all of these calls.

Thank you so much to the people that have posted here. I think you have saved me a great deal of grief and money! I, too, was contacted by Meritage Management about the purchase of my Playa del Sol Grand timeshare. I tried to do some internet research, and by all accounts, Meritage looks quite legit. Like the other posts, they sent me a purchase offer and said that an escrow company of the buyer's choice would be contacting me. That company was the Silver Star Real Estate Group. Then I learned that I would need to pay an upfront fee to the escrow company (this is how Meritage is able to state quite truthfully that they do no charge any upfront fees -- they leave that to the escrow agent). Fortunately, I found this forum before I went ahead with the deal.

It's a shell game. they just hide where the money goes. Never pay an upfront fee to anyone.

Wow, look at what I found out about Meritage Management, you all have hit the nail on the head...gezzz... actually it's really scary. Word for word it's unbelievable. It appears to me Meritage Management, is burning the bridge at both ends and possibly into trouble with the law. Forums such as this one carry such weight. I want to thank each and everyone of you for helping learn what it was I needed to find out about Meritage Management. Outstanding!

I also received sales offers from a "Murphy and Cohen Real Estate and Equity Group" in New York City. Their "partner" escrow company is "Atlanta United Title and Escrow Services" in Atlanta. The scam here involved sending a wire transfer of nearly $6,000 to a bank in Mexico! The bank is right near my timeshare resort (Sheraton Buganvilias in Puerto Vallarta) which leads me to believe there may be employees or management of my resort involved in this.

The "wire transfer instructions" listed Chase Bank in New York City as an "Intermediary Bank," and so I went to a Chase branch in San Diego. I worked with a very sharp bank officer who used Google Earth to see the addresses given and the buildings. Neither showed such an operation. One had a Bail Bonds (big tipoff!) office next door, so he called them (number posted in photo). He also looked at a list of qualified realtors and escrow companies and again, these crooks were not listed. Also no Better Business Bureau membership (same as Meritage). It is very hard to resist these calls because they offer such lucrative prices. But do your homework carefully!

I will double-check this, but I like the comment above that states the 801 area code is not even in Salt Lake City!

I believe operations such as these should be reported to Federal law enforcement since they are doing their scam across state lines and, in the case of my experience, internationally.

My check of Wikipedia shows that the 801 area code does, in fact, cover at least part of Salt Lake City.

It is not the Area Code but the prefix for the business number that is not in the Salt Lake City area

scotth422 wrote:

It is very hard to resist these calls because they offer such lucrative prices.

Which is exactly how these scam artists are able to reel in their victims.

The saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!" so sellers need to do their homework.

Both my husband and I become cautious when about 2 years after we bought into Playa del Sol for $9,000 we have been offered over $22,000 for it. As we were starting to fill out the required legal paperwork we thought, where will the money be going once we sign these forms?

My husband happens to be in the real estate field and began checking out both companies that had contacted us and had been soliciting us. We were contacted from both Meritage Management and getting calls from Silver Star Real Estate Group, the escrow company that the money flows through. We found out that neither company is licensed to conduct real estate transactions. We contacted the bank that they mentioned the money would go through, and the bank said” that doesn’t sound like one of our accounts”. Playa del Sol, mentioned that no one should be contacting their members, so beware!

I was contacted by meritage management recently and boy did it sounc great .FINALLY I could dump my crappy timeshare Mayan Palce! I recieved a call from a Brian James who said he would be my "broker" and to call him back and we would talk. I repeatedly attempted to call him back and...hmmm, he was never there or available to take my call. I just called the one of the numbers and....hmmm the mailbox was full(Probably with pissed off people who weren't getting their calls returned) and the other number was disconnected. I have also, recieved a call from another management company called Approved Property Management for the same thing. Well now that I am wise I will take it with a grain of salt. I have already been ripped off from companies claiming they would sell for me with a small registration fee. The best way I have been advised is to go through a real estate agent. I am going that route. I am so frustrated with this timeshare thing, it really is a rip off all the way around.

how do I get my money back?

I can't believe I really fell for this scam,and I'm a real estate broker myself???? After wiring funds to a bank in MX, I'm unable to reach anyone at Silver Star or Meritage. I'm ashamed at myself for believing them, and not doing this search beforehand. Can a Class Action Lawsuit be filed?

susanc904 wrote:

I can't believe I really fell for this scam,and I'm a real estate broker myself???? After wiring funds to a bank in MX, I'm unable to reach anyone at Silver Star or Meritage. I'm ashamed at myself for believing them, and not doing this search beforehand. Can a Class Action Lawsuit be filed?

I seriously doubt it .... you're dealing with Mexico not the USA. You, being a real estate broker, should KNOW that there is never, ever an upfront fee paid to you to list a home for sale .... why would it be any different for a timeshare?

Thanks so much to all of you for your posts. I was so wanting to believe that this was legit!! I did a little research on the internet and when Meritage contacted me I flat out told him I didn't believe that this was legit, but he did an amazing job of convincing me, like most of you said, that I didn't pay any money until I got my money. A "William Walker" left a message about the contract and when I tried calling back all I got was a message and no return call.

Thank you again, you have saved me time, money and peace of mind.

tammaram2 wrote:

Thanks so much to all of you for your posts. I was so wanting to believe that this was legit!! I did a little research on the internet and when Meritage contacted me I flat out told him I didn't believe that this was legit, but he did an amazing job of convincing me, like most of you said, that I didn't pay any money until I got my money. A "William Walker" left a message about the contract and when I tried calling back all I got was a message and no return call.

Thank you again, you have saved me time, money and peace of mind.

Somewhere along the line you would have been asked for an upfront fee of some kind. Also, when someone cold calls you out of the blue with a fantastic deal then it's a scam.

calling me for resale of my timeshare . Has anyone heard of them or dealt with them?