Manhattan Club Lawsuit

hello laurah136, all you have written here is indisputable, beyond a doubt! you can see that many owners represented on RW.COM are making attempts to right so many of the wrongs we have suffered at the despicable hands of TMC, the principals of which have no conscience. " What is needed is legislation." your quote. that should have been an extension of the former nys attorney general, eric schneiderman's litigation vs TMC. instead, all he got was a feeble SETTLEMENT, nearly worthless to owners. noting schneiderman's efforts, in his case vs TMC , should have perked the ears of LEGISLATORS, BOTH LOCAL AND NATIONAL, and then for them to develop legislation stopping this outright robbery, and establish consumer protection laws against timeshare thievery.

"The whole industry is fraught with scams. There are no regulations and the organization that gets your money purportedly to help you, helps the developer." again your quote. the scope of the fraud and scams is nationally timeshare-industry-wide. we need to publically confront our legislators to take notice of this thievery that is being perpetrated consistently. our legislators need to acknowledge this white-collar crime spree and write laws to stop its continuance.

i applaud all owners who are attempting to achieve justice for all TMC owners. each in his/her own way is contributing toward that end, including mr zimmerman and those who established the COALITION OF FINANCIALLY DISTRESSED TMC OWNERS. we can work together toward judicial satisfaction. on the other hand, if there aren't national and state timeshare regulatory agencies established to back us immediately, our chances of achieving justice with only the owners' efforts will continue to be a struggle and a major challenge; however, with perseverance, WE WILL PREVAIL

laurah136 wrote:

What is needed is legislation. All timeshares should have an exit program. What one does when younger becomes no longer feasible or wanted in later years because of age and because of all the costs that are added, whether it be by the timeshare companies or the exchange companies. We now have added to the brew companies that will get you out of your timeshare for a fee. The whole industry is fraught with scams. There are no regulations and the organization that gets your money purportedly to help you, helps the developer. Nip it in the bud.

On Thursday, November 8, 2018 I got from the Civil Court Judge in New York a stay on any foreclosure by the Manhattan Club of my timeshare pending the outcome of my jury trial against TMC. There is a preliminary hearing on December 12, 2018

Irene Smalls

hello irenes,

does your current civil court result filter down to all TMC owners who might be facing foreclosure? were you actually threatened with foreclosure proceedings directly by TMC or were you concerned about the letter that TMC sent via email?

chris

irenes93 wrote:

On Thursday, November 8, 2018 I got from the Civil Court Judge in New York a stay on any foreclosure by the Manhattan Club of my timeshare pending the outcome of my jury trial against TMC. There is a preliminary hearing on December 12, 2018

Irene Smalls

Irene, May I please have the name and contact info of your attorney. I too am planning to litigate. You may send it directly to my email ( jackrainieri@mail.com ) if you wish. Thanks, Jack

I took the letter from the three Board members to the Court. That is the basis on which the Judge granted the Stay against Foreclosure. This action is specific to the lawsuit I filed individually.

I am arguing my case myself. My civil lawsuit is pro se. I do not have an attorney.

Irene Smalls

Irene, I wish you much luck and success in your effort. You may be the person who leads the rest of us to victory!

Irene - best of luck to you . I have good feelings that you will prevail. It's the year of the WOMAN!!!!

Irene, you have continued to be a fierce and amazing force in this whole TMC mess. I'm beyond impressed. I hope all goes well with your lawsuit.

I missed it where is the explanation of the New York rule against perpetuities? thanks

What letter from the board members, Irene?

?

Chris V. do you or any other current owners prefer to buy my Penthouse Suite for the $100. that Manhattan Club is offering me in lieu of forgiving me the back payments that I owe? I see where you suggest I don't sell to them, but you are not really giving me a way out like they are either. I own a "shooting star" week with 2 weekends and paid over $40K, but it is nearly worthless with the scams the M/C have been pulling. I think if you suggest someone doesn't sell, you need to suggest another way out, not one that will ruin our credit.

hello, cliff20, am not an attorney qualified to offer legal advice. i simply offer my PERSONAL OPINIONS regarding options in dealing with the TMC criminals. to those of us whose finances do not permit keeping our shares and prefer to give it away without further TMC foreclosure activity, OPTION ONE IS AVAILABLE, and TMC will pay you $100 to use it; this will not affect your credit as i read this option. my suggestion OF NOT SELLING (tmc shares are currently close-to worthless) is that if you can hold on until the conclusion of zimmeran's december 12 court date, act accordingly at that time.

" I think if you suggest someone doesn't sell, you need to suggest another way out, not one that will ruin our credit."............choosing OPTION ONE (offered by TMC) that will not ruin your credit, could be a viable choice for you, but you will have lost your initial purchase price investment in doing so. it's pathetic that TMC has destroyed the pleasant expectations all owners were looking forward to, and that we are such helpless victims of TMC's criminal fraud.

alternative food for thought (only a personal opinion): join zimmerman's litigation proceedings; join the COALITION; DO BOTH. but be aware, these options are not guaranteed nor do they offer satisfactory closure in the near future.

cliff20 wrote:

Chris V. do you or any other current owners prefer to buy my Penthouse Suite for the $100. that Manhattan Club is offering me in lieu of forgiving me the back payments that I owe? I see where you suggest I don't sell to them, but you are not really giving me a way out like they are either. I own a "shooting star" week with 2 weekends and paid over $40K, but it is nearly worthless with the scams the M/C have been pulling. I think if you suggest someone doesn't sell, you need to suggest another way out, not one that will ruin our credit.

bruced

here's the message posted earlier on redweek.com. good explanation! let me know if it's helpful.

"There’s really no problem with exiting the timeshare if one really wants to do so. Merely deed your interest back to TMC, as a gift. If they don’t reject the gift promptly, they own it. If they DO reject it, bring an action for a declaratory judgment that the timeshare is void as in violation of the NY Rule Against Perpetuities (a statute that exists in almost every state that in layman’s terms says that the transferability of real estate cannot be suspended or prevented indefinitely—-which is what happens if they refuse to take back your timeshare). (Yes, I AM an attorney-Owner, 50 years practice)." this was submitted by:

Steven W.

5 days ago Nov 07, 2018

by the way, OPTION ONE of TM-FRAUD-C's ever-so-generous offer, in my opinion, seems to make giving back your share a similar scenario to the PERPETUITIES that steven w cited only without the guesswork. TMC says they will, in fact, take your share back and WOW.............GIVE YOU $100 to boot. what a friggin great offer.......................NOT.

chris

bruced162 wrote:

I missed it where is the explanation of the New York rule against perpetuities? thanks

Update from Zimmerman Law Group:

TMC’s Board owes a fiduciary duty to TMC members to act in their best interest. TMC Board’s coercive offer to members who are delinquent in paying their maintenance fees to either sell their units for $100 or face foreclosure is a breach of this duty. This offer confirms our previous assertion that TMC and BlueGreen seek to replenish, at minimal cost, their inventory of units from existing members, so that these units can be resold for tens of thousands of dollars to new victims.

As many of you have correctly commented, TMC Board’s offer is unfair, given that most of you paid tens of thousands of dollars to purchase your units – and thousands more before you ceased paying your maintenance fees. Moreover, this offer has not been presented in a transparent manner. For example, no analysis is provided by the Board regarding what the units are worth, and how the offer is fair in view of that valuation.

Since BlueGreen occupies four of the seven TMC Board seats, BlueGreen is a related party to the Board. NY Not For Profit Corporation Law § 715(a) requires that “[n]o corporation shall enter into any related party transaction unless the transaction is determined by the board to be fair, reasonable and in the corporation's best interest at the time of such determination.” Therefore, TMC’s Board had an obligation to demonstrate that the $100 offer being made with Bluegreen – both as regards to the dollars at issue and as regards to how title to such units is transferred to BlueGreen - was fair and in the best interests of TMC. Further, any transfer or benefit from TMC to BlueGreen must be at least at fair market value.

No evidence has been provided by TMC that the Board considered these questions. Although members paid and owe different amounts for their units and maintenance fees, respectively, no explanation has been provided as to how each such member might be entitled to receive the same payment. Nor is there any indication that TMC retained an expert or solicited competing offers from a third party to establish a fair market price. Accordingly, the $100 offer is unfair and unreasonable.

This lack of transparency prevents members from knowing the actual value that TMC and BlueGreen attribute to each timeshare unit they seek to acquire, and thus the windfall that BlueGreen stands to make if members accept the $100 offer and BlueGreen “pays” the maintenance fee arrearages to TMC. We also note that BlueGreen must have contemplated this offer during the Board meeting, and yet approved a budget that excluded its impact. If the past-due maintenance fees are paid, the amount of maintenance fees due should be drastically reduced; yet TMC and BlueGreen have maintained the high assessments in order to induce additional defaults and acceptance of the $100 offer.

To date, TMC has refused to provide any meaningful information regarding its dealings with BlueGreen. The absence of any information demonstrating the fairness of the offer being made by TMC’s Board prevents us from being able to advise our clients whether to accept the offer, since it appears to evidence a breach of the Board’s fiduciary duty to TMC members. Accordingly, we are contemplating seeking a temporary restraining offer against TMC and BlueGreen until members are fully apprised of the analysis conducted by the Board in endorsing this offer.

Jean-Marc Zimmerman, Zimmerman Law Group, 233 Watchung Fork, Westfield, NJ 07090, T: (908) 768-6408, F: (908) 935-0751, E: jmz@tmcsuit.com

On behalf of those of us who have yet to retain your services and also refuse to give in to being bullied --- THANK YOU!

The $6.5M that Eichner was supposed to pay back should have gone to the homeowners association to eliminate the deficit WHICH HAS BEEN UNDERSTATED YEAR AFTER YEAR ! THE OVERAGE BETWEEN THE ACTUAL DEFICIT AND THE $6.5M COULD HAVE BEEN PAID OUT TO THOSE MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING. Once the deficit was cleared the maintenance fees should have been reduced significantly allowing owners to continue to enjoy using TMC or to sell their unit which was one of the selling points offered by the INFAMOUS 2ND FLOOR SSLES TEAM!

Well, I have some serious doubts about what has just been outlined. You can't force someone to accept a gift. There was a contract involved when you purchased the time share. I don't recall there being any provision in that contract saying if you ever got tired of paying maintenance fees or no longer wished to own it, you could just deed it back legally. Has the lawyer poster deeded his back with an acceptance by the M. Club??

Can you advise whether BlueGreen is actively involved in the management. When I recently called the penthouse manager, I was told that no changes had been made and that BlueGreen was not involved.