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Manhattan Club Lawsuit
Like Rogers334, we bought for cash in 2005, also joined RCI in '14 , but have not been that thrilled with RCI. We have been mainly Manhattan Club users but find it highly annoying that RCI/tmcny owners are treated like ordinary RCI folk whose home base is NOT tmcny. Previous to joining RCI we could book our largely 1-nite stays 9 mo. in advance. Now we must make reservations through RCI 11 months in advance. Also, if one goes on "Booking.com" or similar outfit, there are always hotel rooms available at tmcny, but we can not get a reservation as RCI members. We have considered giving up the RCI points, since many tmcny owners report that it is relatively easy to make reservations now that so many owners are not paying the annual fees. We have found that only RC:I Gold Crown resorts have the quality that we desire. Some of the reviews of non Gold Crown resorts are rather grim. We don't know quite what to do re the Zimmerman, Esq proposal. I guess my gut is to wait out the 3 year AG-Manhattan Club agreement and hope they really do sell to a respectible outfit. But it does make us wonder if there are any "teeth" to the AG settlement. Seems it may be like winning $X in a law suit but collecting the $ is not possible. We also find it extremely unfair that the board with Eichner as Pres is continuing to run things. Seems to us that he should have had to relinquish all control immediately with an administrator appointed to run the place as well as figure out how to dispense the penalty funds to owners. Dee
Dru M.
bethc222 wrote:I'm so glad Mr. Zimmerman is willing to take on TMC and I don't think he'd attempt to do this litigation if he didn't believe he has a good or reasonable chance of winning. For me, I was lied to upfront in TMC presentation in 2011 and have vowed never to pay TMC and these crooks another dime. I want out of this mess and there's never going to be any other way to get out without litigation because I can't sell it or give it away for free. If $1,250 can get me just out of this mess, let alone possibly bring some sort of financial restitution, then it's worth ten times that amount. I'm in and hope a lot of you are too.
Bethc222, I agree with your sentiments and I am certainly mulling this over as well. I have a great deal invested in this SCAM and the only thing I have to lose is $1250. I agree that this is a reasonable fee considering the time Mr. Zimmerman has already invested. I'm interested to know how many of the 18,000+ owners are going to go into this. I think we have strength in numbers however if only a handful of us are willing to pay the $1250 Mr. Zimmerman may not want to proceed. For those of us on this blog, are you willing to disclose your decision?
Becky F
I'll pass. I don't know this law firm, their track record, their reputation. The $1,250 is an initial payment, not a final one. One wonders, if it is such a good suit, why they don't file it as a class action, absorb the costs and charge 40% of the settlement.
Bruce G.
I shared my decision... I am not risking throwing good money after bad esp. since this may not be the only money this attorney will require, plus the 30% he wants on top of that and how long will his efforts take? years, probably. I will see what happens with the settlement in the next 2 years, since we are through a year, almost, with the (3 year) settlement terms. At that point we will be at 7 years with this fiasco. I am not wasting any more life force over this. Good luck to everyone!
beckyf76 wrote:bethc222 wrote:I'm so glad Mr. Zimmerman is willing to take on TMC and I don't think he'd attempt to do this litigation if he didn't believe he has a good or reasonable chance of winning. For me, I was lied to upfront in TMC presentation in 2011 and have vowed never to pay TMC and these crooks another dime. I want out of this mess and there's never going to be any other way to get out without litigation because I can't sell it or give it away for free. If $1,250 can get me just out of this mess, let alone possibly bring some sort of financial restitution, then it's worth ten times that amount. I'm in and hope a lot of you are too.Bethc222, I agree with your sentiments and I am certainly mulling this over as well. I have a great deal invested in this SCAM and the only thing I have to lose is $1250. I agree that this is a reasonable fee considering the time Mr. Zimmerman has already invested. I'm interested to know how many of the 18,000+ owners are going to go into this. I think we have strength in numbers however if only a handful of us are willing to pay the $1250 Mr. Zimmerman may not want to proceed. For those of us on this blog, are you willing to disclose your decision?
Dks
I strongly support the sentiments of those favoring Manhattan Club owners going on the offensive against Eichner and his cronies and signing on with Jean-Marc Zimmerman and suing the bastards. Just for an FYI, over the last 2 years I have been in contact with three other law firms exploring the possibility of bringing an action against TMC. Sue is absolutely right… hundreds of dollars an hour, tens of thousands in retainers. For an individual to do this is impossible from a cost standpoint. A group of several hundred of us joining together and kicking in $1250 each is a no brainer to me. That’s half of one year’s maintenance!! Since we purchased in 2005, TMC has cheated me out of ten times that!
Thousands of us have suffered for years at the hands of an unscrupulous timeshare company whose owners and agents committed PROVEN CRIMINAL ACTS against us, which were all ignored by the NY attorney general. But he was able to chalk up “a win” against TMC by getting them to sign a virtually meaningless “Notice of Discontinuance” which no one has done anything to enforce. I see this possible representation by Mr. Zimmerman as our last hope of gaining any possible restitution from these crooks.
For those of you who may have come lately to this site, or haven’t suffered the same financial losses as others, it’s worth reviewing a little history to understand the magnitude of the fraud perpetrated against many owners by The Manhattan Club.
Our decision to purchase was based on a sales presentation, during which just about every claim or promise made by the sales rep has proven to be false, misleading, or an outright lie; and the NY Attorney General’s undercover investigators have evidence of it all recorded on video. Unfortunately, we learned shortly after we purchased that the sales pitch was blatantly false. Rooms were never available to us when we called to try to reserve, no matter how far in advance we tried to book. Rooms ARE ALMOST NEVER available to timeshare owners who call to try to make reservations. We were misled by sales representatives during the purchase of our units and we have been denied the right to use our units for many years.
The Manhattan Club’s obligation to me as a timeshare owner was to make 7 days per year available to stay at the property. Instead of making those days reasonably available, The Manhattan Club engaged in an organized scheme to routinely tell me, and other timeshare owners who called to make a reservation, that the requested days were not available; while at the same time, Manhattan Club representatives were selling the same rooms for the same dates to the general public on the Internet. Could Eichner’s network of shell corporations and conduct fall under the RICO statute?
In 2014, once complaints against the company ran into the hundreds, the New York State Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, started an investigation of the Eichners , The Manhattan Club, and all its related companies, charging them with committing fraud against its timeshare owners. The Eichners et al were the subject of an extensive civil and criminal investigation by the NY AG, which was concluded last July. Based on evidence gathered by the AG, we have learned that Eichner has been personally skimming 6 million dollars a year from The Manhattan Club through a shell management company called “Urban”. For years, this company had no employees and provided no services to the operation of the timeshare property, yet our timeshare corporation was paying Urban (Eichner) $6 million a year!
In their July, 2015 filing with the NY court, the Attorney General enumerates a remarkable list of allegations of civil and criminal conduct on the part of The Manhattan Club. In reading through the filing, one can't help but be struck by the enormity of the fraud which the Eichners, The Manhattan Club, and related companies have carried on for years. Here is the link to that AG filing. This document is a MUST READ for anyone who wants to see what the AG investigation uncovered.
https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=arMAhc2Z8epneiTXUbb_PLUS_yQ==&system=prod
Based on those 2015 allegations by the NY AG, my wife and I concluded that The Manhattan Club had breached its contract with us. We informed the club of that fact and stopped paying the mortgage loan on the one unit we financed, as well as the annual maintenance fees on the two timeshare units we own. We have decided not to continue to fund The Manhattan Club's fraudulent, criminal enterprise.
It was announced in August, 2017, that the NY Attorney General had reached a settlement with the Respondents in this case, and ended his investigation into the operation of The Manhattan Club timeshare with the signing of an “Assurance of Discontinuance.”
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/manhattan-club-aod_0.pdf
Read this settlement document. You’ll be amazed at the criminal wrongdoing Eichner and his cronies have admitted to, with no consequences.
While it is true that the settlement… if it is ever enforced… may result in the removal of some really “bad apples” from the NY timeshare business, it fails to address most of the allegations of wrongdoing committed against us individual timeshare owners by Ian Bruce Eichner, and his close circle of associates. In the ensuing 10 months since the signing of the agreement, NOTHING HAS CHANGED IN THE OPERATION OF THE MANHATTAN CLUB.
During his investigation, the NY Attorney General gathered evidentiary proof together with admissions of guilt in the settlement, that Mr. Eichner, members of his family, and a close circle of associates played a direct role in carrying out a huge timeshare scam against an estimated 14,000 to 18,000 owners for at least 10 years, defrauding us out of tens of millions of dollars. Thousands of timeshare owners have suffered very significant financial losses due to the fraudulent, criminal conduct of the Eichner family, The Manhattan Club, and its related companies.
With such a preponderance of evidence in hand, I am at a complete loss to understand how the AG could choose to ignore 3 years of investigative effort and all the evidence of misconduct it uncovered, and end his investigation with nothing more than a financial slap on the wrist to Eichner, while leaving thousands of defrauded owners out in the cold, and in legal limbo as to their ownership status.
For the foregoing reasons, I am encouraging all aggrieved owners of The Manhattan Club to join in the suit against these crooks. Reach out to Jean-Marc Zimmerman at jmz@tmcsuit.com and tell him to want him to represent you.
Bob Biello
Robert B.
All the facts presented are true, and everyone has agreed to them. The missing link is why is the Attorney General allowing this to continue? What legal recourse is there from the legal system, before any of us proceed to spend more money on something that should and needs to be handled in the media. Why has no one contacted the New York Media I.E. Television, radio, newspapers to review what has happened and been documented, and forced the hand of these crooks to continue collecting monies from unaware, or disinterested owners. Fraud is fraud, a legal matter, and should be handled in this manner. Investigative reporters would eat this type of news, and run with it. Who cares what happens to the culprits, they have already admitted to their guilt, but have not been sanctioned. I do not know anything about these lawyers, and most of us do not also, that does not mean they are not reputable. Upfront costs make me wonder, saying there may be other costs down the road, and then 30% of the outcome, does not leave a lot for us owners. The Eichners have many companies, like shell companies to hide their money if convicted and fined, and we may never be able to recover what dollar amount would be the outcome. Just look at to what they have already done, and without no consequences. If a legal firm truly feels they have enough evidence, which already has been discovered, there is no discovery necessary, which should result in less legal costs. Present the facts already there, guilt already admitted to, and proceed with a law suit that should not only cover their costs, but allow us owners to recover our expenses and investment. As long as no one is watching the course of action taken, the legal bills will continue, and we will receive less in recovery. I would like this law firm, to give evidence of what they say they can do, except a reasonable amount of time and money invested, and hold them to it. If they are worth their reputation, they will agree. Otherwise, I think we should not hastily jump into something that clearly has not been spelled out.
Henry D.
I HAVE TRIED TO FIND INFO ABOUT THE ZIMMERMAN LAW GROUP, WESTFIELD, N.J. THEY ARE NOT LISTED IN ANY LAWYER LIST, THEY DO NO HAVE THEIR OWN WEBSITE, I HAVE NOT FOUND ANYTHING ABOUT THEM OR THEIR PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS, HISTORY, NUMBER OF ATTORNEYS, OR ANYTHING. THIS MAKES ME WONDER BEFORE INVESTING ANY MONEY, THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED. IF ANYONE CAN FIND ANYTHING ON THEM, PLEASE SHARE. WE ALL HAVE INVESTED A LOT, AND I AM NOT READY TO SPEND MORE MONEY WITHOUT KNOWING DETAILS.
Henry D.
I'll keep this short. As implied in my original post, I am opposed to the legal action proposed by the attorney. I am happy with the current fee structure in return for what I get from RCI. I have not tried to stay at TMC during visits to NYC using RCI, There are far too many interesting boutique hotels to stay at now. IN reviewing what I posted I should correct what I said about my points and RCI. I get 122,00 points per year from RCI. The majority of resorts are between 30,000 and 50,000 points per week. I frequently rent two studio units which is far better than just a two bedroom unit with a single bath etc. Do the math, I get 3 plus weeks for my one week from TMC.
Roger S.
I can only hope, that more people are willing to give this law firm the respect they deserve. Just google them under “ Jean-Marc Zimmerman Law Group NJ “ and you will be able to read up on them. You can read about the attorneys their firm and their accomplishments in many different areas . their proposal to take on our issues with the Manhattan Club is solid and promising. I am happy to join . Brigitte
Brigitte T.
Paying attorney upfront is not the norm. I’m in a class action suit in SC and no up front fees were ever in play. No way would I give this attorney any fees...he gets 33% upon settlement ... what incentive does he have if he’s paid thousands of $$ up front. Crazy.
Elaine F.
This is the law firm's website: https://www.zimllp.com If you google his name Jean-Marc Zimmerman, plenty of links come up.
henryd30 wrote:I HAVE TRIED TO FIND INFO ABOUT THE ZIMMERMAN LAW GROUP, WESTFIELD, N.J. THEY ARE NOT LISTED IN ANY LAWYER LIST, THEY DO NO HAVE THEIR OWN WEBSITE, I HAVE NOT FOUND ANYTHING ABOUT THEM OR THEIR PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS, HISTORY, NUMBER OF ATTORNEYS, OR ANYTHING. THIS MAKES ME WONDER BEFORE INVESTING ANY MONEY, THESE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE ANSWERED. IF ANYONE CAN FIND ANYTHING ON THEM, PLEASE SHARE. WE ALL HAVE INVESTED A LOT, AND I AM NOT READY TO SPEND MORE MONEY WITHOUT KNOWING DETAILS.
Sharon L.
From reading Mr. Zimmerman's email, my understanding is that he is not proposing a class action lawsuit. He is proposing a lawsuit by aggrieved owners against TMC and its directors and owners, with the goal of gaining financial compensation for their losses. One can choose to participate or not. If the lawsuit is successful, those who chose to participate will receive compensation. Those who chose not to participate will not. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of work are involved in preparing such a lawsuit, it will take many months, and the legal team doing the preparation needs a minimum of compensation for their time. I think that the fee schedule that Mr. Zimmerman is proposing is reasonable, given the amount of legal work involved. Of course, there is always a risk that a lawsuit will not be successful, especially given the other side's considerable legal resources. But, with all due respect to the dialogues, opinions and discourses on this website, no matter how logical, well thought out or passionate, they will not provide the owners with compensation for their losses. Only a successful lawsuit against TMC will achieve that goal. Hence, we will likely join the lawsuit.
Arlene A.
I agree with this post. I mean really, this is a perfect class action suit. Why Zimmernan does not want to initiate is questionable. I just do not like this. If lawyer had confidence he would initiate class action where a lot more publicity would help us. Other class action lawsuits in Miami high rise buildings were initiated and back in 2008 or so. I know because I was involved in buying a condo. What gets me is the explanation the law firm gives is weak and not comprehensive in anyway. Me, I am skeptical .....
Mitch B.
It would cost an enormous sum (e.g. tens of thousands of hours) to fight the billionaire titan. Perhaps after watching the NYSAG with virtually unlimited resources and power of the state, battle for years, and come away with so little, was too intimidating.
Dennis C.