Manhattan Club Lawsuit

Bethc222,

I could not agree more. There are people on this site that seem to have nothing better to do than take shots at every reasonable option to resolve this -- especially if it costs money.

I've already joined the lawsuit because the only reasonable option is for the true owners to gain of the Board or for the defendants to settle with the named plaintiffs, and ANYBODY who thinks they can get this done for less than $1,250 is delusional.

And while there may need to be a call for additional funds, as I read the documents there is no obligation, beyond the initial $1,250, because I can leave the suit at any time.

So, there is a risk, but the cost is low, and I believe that after the Attorney General's settlement, the odds are pretty good that the defendants will at least settle with the plaintiffs.

NEW REPLY from ATTORNEY: please read!

A recent post suggested that TMC timeshare owners engage in an “en masse” refusal to pay maintenance fees and avoid committing to a lawsuit. However, this may not provide a viable exit strategy because any prospective successor to the Eichners as Sponsor, e.g., BlueGreen, may well sue all owners who are delinquent in paying their maintenance fees, or at least begin collections. Failure to pay maintenance fees may adversely affect your credit scores and/or your ability to claim a favorable tax event from your ownership of your TMC timeshare.

We are aware of various services that charge significant fees to extricate owners from their timeshare obligations. They do so for a good reason. Simply ignoring the obligation to pay maintenance fees will not make it go away, and AG Schneiderman’s settlement does nothing to relieve owners of such obligation. Further, few owners will actually see any money from the AG’s settlement, which leaves all owners liable for their timeshare maintenance fee commitments.

Our considered approach offers TMC timeshare owners an opportunity both to obtain monetary damages for the harm they have suffered, a likelihood of avoiding liability for maintenance fees and real estate taxes, and a return on investment by liquidation of TMC.

TMC is a significant asset, and the timeshare owners have a significant interest in that asset. Unfortunately, the actions of the Sponsor in paying itself significant management fees, charging unreasonable maintenance fees, earning significant revenue from aggregators they allow to sell TMC rooms online while claiming rooms are unavailable for timeshare owners, and failing to cooperate with those owners who seek to sell their timeshare interests, have rendered such ownership interests essentially worthless. We seek to rectify this unfair circumstance in which the only party benefitting from this valuable asset is the Sponsor.

We respect the decision of those owners who choose to simply stop paying maintenance fees, or to maintain their active membership, but believe that the definitive action with modest investment that we propose will produce a return on investment and vindication of rights for timeshare owners.

Jean-Marc Zimmerman

Zimmerman Law Group

233 Watchung Fork

Westfield, NJ 07090

jmz@tmcsuit.com

How many have signed up thus far???

Why is it that some people question the motives of those with whom they disagree?

I have said for months that not paying maintenance fees is not a good idea--possible credit problems, penalties, possible law suit. Perhaps those who are withholding will listen to Attorney Zimmerman.

As I have stated before, I am one of the lucky ones. I have seven days every two years. I am able to book ten to twelve months ahead have ever lost one day. Only once I booked a little lste and could not get my preferred dates--my fault. I realize that most people can not book so far in advance.

I agree that maintenance fees are way out of line. I wish all who sign up with Mr. Zimmerman the best of luck. My comments are not to criticize anyone, I am just attempting to provide a little clarity concerning a very complicated situation. There are no easy answers.

Fellow Owners, Thousands of us have been cheated and scammed for years by an unscrupulous band of crooks lead by Ian Bruce Eichner. The NY Attorney General conducted a multi-million dollar, 3-year-long civil and criminal investigation into their illegal conduct and then settled with Eichner and his cronies as they admitted their criminal conduct. They were allowed to walk away SCOTT FREE by paying a token financial settlement, and by promising to stop breaking the law. To add insult to injury, the AG agreed that the restitution will only be paid to owners who, despite being defrauded for years by TMC, continued to pay maintenance fees to the criminal enterprise. And the AG didn’t want paying the financial settlement to be too burdensome for the crooks, so they get to spread out its payment over 3 years.

The NY Attorney General’s undercover investigators have evidence of all the fraudulent sales tactics recorded on video. The crooks admitted to it all as a part of the settlement! What CRIMINAL punishment is being imposed? NOTHING!

TMC’s obligation to timeshare owners was to make 7 days per year available to stay at TMC. Instead of making those days reasonably available, TMC engaged in an organized scheme to routinely tell us rooms were not available, even if they were. At the same time, TMC was selling the same rooms for the same dates to the general public on the Internet. Can anyone say, “RICO”?

Despite paying my fees for 10 years, I have been routinely cheated out of the use of my timeshare while the Eichner family and a small circle of TMC insiders have enriched themselves at my expense. Again, based on evidence gathered by the AG, we have learned that, for years, Eichner has been personally skimming over 6 million dollars a year from TMC through a shell management company called Urban. This company had no employees and provided no services to the operation of the timeshare property, yet our timeshare corporation was paying them $6 million a year! I’m having a hard time understanding why everyone on this site is not cheering at the thought of finally having a lawyer who is willing to take on TMC on our behalf with each of us only being asked to contribute a $1250 retainer. With the sale to BlueGreen just announced, now is the time for us to take aggressive legal action and bring pressure to bear. The last thing a prospective purchaser wants to hear is that the property is mired in lawsuits. Please stop rationalizing over why you can’t, won’t, or shouldn’t take any steps to fight back. I want some justice, don’t you?! I want the people who cheated me to be held accountable, don’t you?!

I urge all TMC owners to contact Mr. Zimmerman at jmz@tmcsuit.com, and ask him to represent you too. Bob Biello

Practically every day the same individuals are posting the same arguments concerning hiring this law firm. If this is such an important issue then these attorneys should start their own website where those that are interested can post, preach,discuss, etc. on that topic. Why is this law firm having owners plead their case on the Redweek and Facebook pages? Some owners are not financially able to or are not interested in spending anymore money on this issue. Constantly posting the same argument and trying to influence owners might not be successful. Those that are interested in hiring this law firm will those that are not able or willing to will not.

Attorney, why are you on this website? Don't you know this is the Manhattan Club Lawsuit website which was started by people unhappy with TMC and want to bring a lawsuit? Again, what are your motives to advise people who want to organize and start a lawsuit against TMC to stop? You, my friend, are on the wrong website.

Why am I on this website? The same reason you are. I am an owner that has an opinion on this issue. I suggest you take a deep breath and realize that everyone has an opinion whether you agree with it or not. Please do not try to intimidate or bully owners. Maybe YOU are on the wrong website.

Do not try to intimidate or bully owners because they might have a different opinion.

Just a reminder for those of you who are interested in attending TMC members board meeting on Aug. 9, 2018, here is the time and location: AMA New York Conference Center, 1601 Broadway (48th and Broadway) 8th floor New York, New York 10019 on August 9, 2018 at 9:00am. 1-800-891- 3570 #2204

You need to call TMC to receive invitation to attend the meeting. Otherwise, you will be turned away.

We turned our unit back to MC for$100, did all paper work and sent it back to them for signature and payment. This was exactly when they were asked to cease and desist! Do we never received the final papers or check from them. What is our status in regard to ownership? I have no idea what my rights are in this case. Would appreciate some enlightenment. Thanks so much. Fredi OHara 609-932-1721

Fredio Call Lynne O'Donnell in financial services...she will likely tell you what she told me a few months ago and we have to wait until everything is "settled"

Please add us to the law suit. We live in Oregon and usually can book a whole week but only if we do it a year in advance. We have tried to break it into 3 days and 4 days on either end of our Europe trips. Last time we could get the three days before but not the four days after. They would not credit these over to the next year so we lost four days. At $2600 for the fees that cost us almost $1500 for nothing.

I urge posters to be careful about posting incorrect or misleading information which simplifies a complex situation for us all. There are many many different ‘plans’ with different names - biennial, bi-annual, triennial, split, 5 weekday only... adnauseum ... not just the 7 days/yr all of which which makes the vacancy/availability calculations virtually impossible. AND... litigation will require DOCUMENTATION of some sort, to show that you were denied usage making the legal hurtles high.

yes, proof of denial of usage will become a necessary issue...........if that's the complaint being brought for legal settlement. there are other issues, vis a vis, the ultra-exorbitant maintenance fees which can be easily identified and proven simply by providing the fraudulent maintenance fee schedule for all types of ownership types......fraudulent because TMC sales lies and deceit led purchasers to believe that fees would escalate "only slightly" as time goes on. 400% in less than 9-10 years is hardly a slight increase.

thinking twice about participating in zimmerman's proposed lawsuit is in order; i'm leaning positively at this point. it's a terrible miscarriage of justice that schneiderman left us TMC owners in such a tenuous situation. we should all appeal to gov. cuomo and have schneiderman censured for doing such an inefficient job concerning his joke of such poor litigation. eichner, et al, should be in jail by now for the proven crimes (per schneiderman) that he and his crew committed, e.g., sales fraud AND mail fraud (a federal crime.) if zimmerman's lawsuit becomes a reality, i hope these crimes can be used against eichner: to make owners financially whole, and for eichner to spend some "quality time" behind bars.

In my opinion, lawyers will always be lawyers. They will say anything necessary to MAKE MONEY by scaring people with legal jargon and idol threats.

I wouldn't pay any maintenance fee, period, to a company that doesn't live up to its agreement, whether on paper or otherwise. I wouldn't pay a lawyer one single penny. So far, what have they done? They will keep things in the air in order to suck all the money they can from all parties involved.

I don't believe that the Manhattan Club is going to take any of its owners to court to pay maintenance fees, when they can generate more money from reselling the property.

I have been selling timeshare for over 15 years in the U.S., Mexico, Caribbean and Canada, and have worked as a director of sales and marketing. I have even worked for the Manhattan club in their marketing department which is located in Pennsylvania.

Unless you own a deeded week, you have no control of what you have. Deeded weeks are always the best. DO NOT convert to points or a floating week. NEVER. You will always lose control.

The resorts will always have plenty of rooms for the general public in order to generate more profits and invite new guests on a timeshare presentation. You're only protection is a deeded week.

Do not pay a lawyer anything - unless they can guarantee a win in writing. They will not. It will just go on for years while they have all your money.

Walk away and take your losses. Is it really worth all the headaches, arguments, going back and forth for another how many years? Really.

I am writing a tell all book on the timeshare industry in North America and it should be published by Aug. 1. Visit my FB page Sell My Timeshare Now (no affiliation with company with the same name). This is personal.

I support the timeshare industry, unless they mislead their owners. This is where I draw the line.

How do you manage to "Walk away and take your losses" without any repercussions?

Do you really think Bluegreen (or any other purchaser of TMC) will forgive the unpaid maintenance fees? On the balance sheet it is a substantial asset, easily into six figures.

William, why do you constantly talk about the people who are not paying their fees? Why are you so obsessed with it? Everyone has made their choices here based on their personal circumstances, and you should respect that... instead of constant fear tactics that you put out there to people about what is going to happen to them. I'll take my chances...thank you very much. And I'm not a deadbeat by the way. I have a FICO score of 800+ and I am never late or delinquent on anything. My husband and I made a financial decision that this was such a bad investment and we've lost so much money on it already that I refuse to give these admitted crooks another penny. If it ends up affecting my FICO score, then so be it. That's on me, not you. I'll deal with that then and that's the chance and the risk that I take and I'm willing to take it. If you choose to pay and are happy with getting the use out of your time then good for you but there are many others who aren't going to throw any more good money after bad. One of the things that boggles my brain about this whole thing is that through the investigation and settlement with the attorney general, it was proven and admitted to that TMC acted with unclean hands and that the sales tactics that they use were misleading and deceptive.. and a lot of it just outright lies. So to me, THEY breached the contract not me. How can anyone be held to a contract that was entered into under false pretenses to begin with? I will wait to see this unfold. In the meantime , if you could please refrain from badgering people who made a different decision than you did. It makes me wonder if you're a shill and I'm not alone...

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By debral251 Wayne, I agree. It doesn't seem financially feasible that TMC or another new owner would take thousands of people to court who live in many different states. I think there is a good likelihood that at some point they will make an offer to just have you turn your timshare in and walk away.... cut your losses ...and there are many that will do just that, given the option. And TMC or whoever else can recover the loss of maintenance fees by reselling or renting the units to the public, without incurring legal fees to go after everyone... especially given all of the illegal tactics that they've admitted to committing... admissions that people can use to fight them. And as I have said previously, this $1,250 INITIAL retainer that Zimmerman is asking for, I'm fairly certain is only the beginning. And once you're in after making the retainer payment, your choices will be to continue giving this law firm money as they continue to ask for it, or to back out and lose what you've already given them. No thanks. I've spent enought money already on this bad investment... and I'm going to chalk it up to just that. I'll wait it out..But I wish the best of luck to those who choose to jump on board going that route.