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Manhattan Club Lawsuit
Even though I am not interested in going to small claims court, out of curiosity, I did go on the how to file in Massachusetts Small Claims Court website. It costs between $50 and $150 to file and looks like a lot of paperwork. Also if an award is made and defendant doesn't pay there can be a contempt of court charge and possibly imprisonment. I share this because it appears to differ state to state, so if one is interested, best to check out the details on your states website. If you don’t live in NY, It depends on the jurisdiction in which you live whether you can file a claim and you most likely will have to go to NY to file in small claims court. The consensus from all I read is “Out-of-state small claims lawsuits tend to be expensive and unwieldy”.
sunildajs wrote:chrisv126 wrote:"$200 to discuss" ........i have a hard time with that one. in the past, you have been so altruistically helpful to all in this redweek forum. now, all of a sudden, you're charging for your learned expertise. perhaps a lesson from bob (who wrote such a well-researched and near-perfect letter to send to the NYSAG) who permitted us to literally copy his letter, or parts thereof (as suits our individual needs) is in order. sharing your expertise as learned from all of our complaints has been appreciated. charging for this expertise..............that's another (unfortunate) story.irenes93 wrote:Manhattan Club Death by 1,000 tiny cuts. Today I had my Small Claims hearing against O Park Central and Bruce Eichner. It costs me $20 to sue. The Small Claims court lawyer who reviewed the case said after reading the Attorney General's settlement there was nothing in the settlement that prevented me from filing a small claims action. The matter has been referred to the Judge. Winning I get only $5,000 this year but it is better than the $400 I might get in a couple of years. In court TMC had three lawyers and a court reporter versus me. But, I had the court lawyer. I urge every Manhattan Club owner to file a Small Claims action against the Manhattan. The case has been continued until Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 6pm at the Harlem Justice Center Small Claims Court, 170 E. 121st Street, New York, New York. If anyone wants to talk to me privately about the case call. I charge $200 to discuss. You don't have to talk to me. You can file your own action just by paying the $20 fee. I have put so much time into this TMC legal effort I can't spend any more time without compensation. I can tell you the details of what happened and what my strategy is.Chris 126. It's really all self explanatory. You just google small claims court in you county. Go and inquire. Just a little time.
Dks
I am glad you were able to file, however I live in Hawaii and I think it would be necessary to file in NY (jurisdiction) so it isn’t feasible. I am the Trustee of my Father’s Trust that included TMC. I am also a beneficiary, we just want to be released. I paid the dues this year Jan/2018 which holds us current until Jan 2020. Hope it can all be settled by then, the current Trust Estate bank balance is only $2,235 and has no other Assets. Sheryl
Sheryl D.
Does the filing have to be done in NY?
sunildajs wrote:irenes93 wrote:Manhattan Club Death by 1,000 tiny cuts. Today I had my Small Claims hearing against O Park Central and Bruce Eichner. It costs me $20 to sue. The Small Claims court lawyer who reviewed the case said after reading the Attorney General's settlement there was nothing in the settlement that prevented me from filing a small claims action. The matter has been referred to the Judge. Winning I get only $5,000 this year but it is better than the $400 I might get in a couple of years. In court TMC had three lawyers and a court reporter versus me. But, I had the court lawyer. I urge every Manhattan Club owner to file a Small Claims action against the Manhattan. The case has been continued until Thursday, April 26, 2018 at 6pm at the Harlem Justice Center Small Claims Court, 170 E. 121st Street, New York, New York. If anyone wants to talk to me privately about the case call. I charge $200 to discuss. You don't have to talk to me. You can file your own action just by paying the $20 fee. I have put so much time into this TMC legal effort I can't spend any more time without compensation. I can tell you the details of what happened and what my strategy is.Irenes93...BRAVO, BRAVO!!! This is EXACTLY what I was saying and got ridiculed by some wingnut. It costs you $20 and some time, and it costs them employing 3 lawyers and court personnel, and possibly $5000! YOU ROCK!!!! Please let us know how you did when you do go.
Jody C.
sheryld52 wrote:I am glad you were able to file, however I live in Hawaii and I think it would be necessary to file in NY (jurisdiction) so it isn’t feasible. I am the Trustee of my Father’s Trust that included TMC. I am also a beneficiary, we just want to be released. I paid the dues this year Jan/2018 which holds us current until Jan 2020. Hope it can all be settled by then, the current Trust Estate bank balance is only $2,235 and has no other Assets. Sheryl
Sheryld52, it seems to me that you shouldn't be held to a contract someone else made. Just saying, that you should probably be able to get a lawyer to write them a letter saying that you have no obligation to accept this obligatory payment of dues, after the estate is out of funds. .
Sunilda J. S.
I was the executor and inheritor of two timeshares at TMC...I was not able to disown them. I was urged to get rid of them by my lawyers but when I tried it was impossible. I was told I either had to inherit everything or nothing....that I couldn't select what I didn't want. Maybe I got really bad advice. I gave one back to the club for $100 which I haven't and won't receive until everything is resolved. I have met two couples at the club who shared that they somehow managed to have their ownership "disappear" after they die so their heirs won't be stuck with them. I wish you luck.
sunildajs wrote:sheryld52 wrote:I am glad you were able to file, however I live in Hawaii and I think it would be necessary to file in NY (jurisdiction) so it isn’t feasible. I am the Trustee of my Father’s Trust that included TMC. I am also a beneficiary, we just want to be released. I paid the dues this year Jan/2018 which holds us current until Jan 2020. Hope it can all be settled by then, the current Trust Estate bank balance is only $2,235 and has no other Assets. SherylSheryld52, it seems to me that you shouldn't be held to a contract someone else made. Just saying, that you should probably be able to get a lawyer to write them a letter saying that you have no obligation to accept this obligatory payment of dues, after the estate is out of funds. .
Dks
I have said this before and a New York attorney made the same comment months ago: you cannot be forced to inherit and pay the maintenance fees. The attorney who contributed quite a bit on this subject put it quite clearly. You execute a disclaimer within 9 mos. after death. Don't try to sell it or do anything. His comment was around April of 2017. I am putting this information with my Trust documents so my children can decide whether or not they want the timeshare when the time comes! There is a little more to this so you really need to follow the legal steps. See your estate attorney. If you've already paid the assessments it's a bit late to do anything, I would think.
Laura H.
If that is the case, I wish I had known...I was involved with 3 attorneys, one in NY (and actually talked to and got advice from two others in NY, one supposedly a big shot) and was never told the information you are sharing. It's is really good that you know this and are including this information with your trust documents (have you confirmed this with any other attorney or with the State?). My mother only started realizing what a scam she had become involved with and then died before she could do anything about it.. I will be seeing an attorney soon to update our trust and wills and will see what he can do, as we don't have children, though we have cousins etc to whom we would like to leave some of our estate and we don't want to saddle them with this situation. I hope there may be a way out with new owners of the club, if that ever happens.
laurah136 wrote:I have said this before and a New York attorney made the same comment months ago: you cannot be forced to inherit and pay the maintenance fees. The attorney who contributed quite a bit on this subject put it quite clearly. You execute a disclaimer within 9 mos. after death. Don't try to sell it or do anything. His comment was around April of 2017. I am putting this information with my Trust documents so my children can decide whether or not they want the timeshare when the time comes! There is a little more to this so you really need to follow the legal steps. See your estate attorney. If you've already paid the assessments it's a bit late to do anything, I would think.
Dks
I am going to re-post what I just posted in our MC Facebook Group pages. Here it is: To my Manhattan Club friends! First, thank you to all of you who have emailed attorney Jean Marc Zimmerman already! We have over 100 replies - and YES he is working on the questionnaire to send back to you. Margo Cooper Rappel - thank you for helping Jean Marc with some of the administrative duties! All of this takes time and energy so thank you!
To those of you that need his email again - if you are interested in pursuing any legal action (whether it be to just get out, or to stay and lower maintenance, or want to try and recover damages for fraud) - you should email Jean Marc Zimmerman at his email:JMZ@ZIMLLP.COM. NOTE: Some of you have replied and given me your email addresses - please note I cannot do this for everyone. Each owner MUST email him individually so that we can have a clear process and track members submissions.
He will send you a questionnaire soon (being finalized) Once he reviews them - we may do another conference call to discuss his strategy. Don't hold me to that though.
As to small claims court action: Here is Jean Marc's reply to me: "It has to be filed in NY. It's a NY contract. Eichner will appeal all such decisions. He was represented in court by three attys. The court is not going to automatically award 5K. Damages have to be proven. Owners might get a much smaller amount, moreover that doesn't eliminate the ongoing obligation to pay maintenance fees. Also we are looking to recover more for owners" .....Jean Marc Zimmerman reply.
From Sue - As an owner - please do whatever you feel is good for you whether it's emailing Jean Marc or writing letters to NYAG, judges, or all of the above! I would never say that one way is better than another but my hope is that Jean Marc gets hundreds of owners emailing him! With 18K members - we have a long way to go to get the word out! Corinne Smith - you are always a wealth of information for this group and it's so appreciated. Teamwork!
Let's just all do SOMETHING and everyone put some energy into this thing - let's GET THESE FRAUDS!
Sue O.
From what I have been able to find out: IT IT NOT WISE TO HAVE TMCNY IN TRUST! Admittedly, ours is in a trust, but we intend to get it out. I am not sure then if we could put some statement in the “pour over will” stating that at our demise the onterest in TMCNY would automatically go back to TMCNY, but that is our hope.
Dru M.
Thank you Sue for what you are doing. We have been generally pleased with the MC over the last 10 years or so, but now find our circumstances are different. We too would like to get out. Hope Mr Zimmerman can help. We have just mailed him our interest in his efforts. Thanks again. Bob & Jan Marth
Robert M.
