Timeshare cancellation Attorney Susan Budowski filed a lawsuit alleging four counts of violations under both consumer protection and deceptive business practice laws in Maryland and Florida.
The suit alleges Wyndham and their agent, licensed Maryland Real Estate Agent David Storey violated the following statutes:
COUNT I
Violation of Maryland Consumer Protection Act, §§ 13-301, et seq.
COUNT II
Violation of Maryland Real Estate Time-Sharing Act, § 11A-119, Advertising Restrictions
COUNT III
Violation of Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, Fla. Stat. §§ 501.201, et seq.
COUNT IV
Violation of Florida Vacation Plan and Timesharing Act, Fla. Stat. § 721.11(4)
“What is most disappointing about this case is that Wyndham was provided a detailed fact pattern of Mr. Storey’s alleged deceptive business practices and yet refused to accept responsibility for his actions, unfortunately, escalating the matter to require a lawsuit, instead of promptly resolving this case”, Budowski said. She also states that in her legal opinion, “Wyndham employs thousands of employees, and to take the position they do not have any employees that violate their sales guidelines to make a commission, is naive at best and arrogant at worst.”
Her clients attest in their notarized sworn affidavits that licensed Maryland Real Estate Agent David Storey made the following false promises and misrepresentations that they detrimentally relied on when they agreed to make the purchase:
- That with 200,000 points they would be able to use their ownership points to travel to international destinations such as the Maldives, Australia, New Zealand, England, London, Sydney and China as well as urban cities such as New York and Chicago;
- That 200,000 points would be sufficient to stay at any of these Wyndham locations for one week per year;
- They asked Mr. Storey about exit options offered by Wyndham to their owners and Mr. Storey allegedly stated that Wyndham has a “buyback option” for owners who no longer want their timeshare;
- Mr. Storey and his supervisor allegedly stated that her clients were “buying an asset” so whatever equity they had paid they would be able to sell back and recover;
- Mr. Storey emphasized his credentials of his Maryland Real Estate License and as he reviewed the documents with them, he stated that the payments that they made would be towards property tax, homeowners’ insurance and mortgage insurance as if they were purchasing actual real estate.
Eleven days after the purchase, her clients were granted access to Wyndham’s reservation system and went online to begin making reservations and discovered that what Mr. Storey allegedly told them was untrue about being able to stay a full week in New York City; 200,000 points is insufficient to stay at the Wyndham property in New York for one week in the smallest unit.
Approximately six weeks after the purchase, her clients received their RCI log in and unfortunately learned that they are not able to travel to the international destinations, specifically London and Amsterdam as shown on the day of the presentation; neither Wyndham nor RCI provide timeshare offerings that are equivalent to the verbal explanations or pictorial descriptions as shown to them on the day of the sale to which they detrimentally relied upon when agreeing to this purchase.
Attorney Budowski states that "the Maryland Consumer Protection Act is put in place to protect consumers from unfair or deceptive trade practices which are detailed in her clients’ notarized sworn affidavits. Based on these, I believe Wyndham Sales Agent David Storey and his supervisor directly violated the law to make a sale.”
Seven local, state and regulatory complaints have been filed on behalf of her clients. One of the complaints was to the Maryland Real Estate Commission, who is supposed to uphold a code of conduct of licensed real estate professionals. The complaint was filed on December 27, 2018 to the Real Estate Commission of Maryland’s Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. As of the date of this release no one from Secretary Tiffany P. Robinson’s office has resolved the complaint. My question to Secretary Robinson is who is supposed to be responsible in her department to protect consumers from licensed real estate agents selling timeshares as an actual real estate asset? Treating them as similar investments when they are not; bottom line you can buy a timeshare every day on EBay for a $1.00, this is clearly a fraudulent misrepresentation by the sales agent in my legal opinion.”
Lastly Budowski adds, that she is not timeshare adverse, her parents owned one for over 30 years that her family enjoyed, which her sister now owns and enjoys. Timeshares work for a lot of people, the problem is they do not, for a whole lot of consumers, especially in situations like this one. In her opinion Budowski states “What was initially a great concept, appears to have been taken over by some overzealous, greedy sales agents, who are ruining the experience for many timeshare owners”.
“We have agreed to arbitration to hopefully resolve this matter in an expeditious manner while staying the state court action pending arbitration,” Budowski said.
About Attorney Budowski
Susan Budowski is a timeshare attorney in Florida, considered the timeshare capital of the world, Attorney Budowski has helped thousands of timeshare owners since converting her law practice to exclusively handle timeshare matters in 2010. Ms. Budowski has been selected for AVVO’s Client’s Choice Award 7 Years in a Row. 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013, and she was honored with the Guardian ad Litem Award of Excellence 2016, volunteering for abused and neglected children by the Orange County Bar Association.
She was admitted to the Florida Bar May of 2004 and was added to the Roles of the Law Society of England and Wales in August 2012 as an English Solicitor, allowing her to practice law in nearly 40 countries.
Attorney Budowski is also the Chairman & CEO of Hope City United, Inc., a 501c3 nonprofit corporation to bring awareness and the eradication of human and sex trafficking.
Ms. Budowski previously worked at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Langley Virginia where she received multiple Exceptional Performance Awards from high-ranking members of the CIA, including former CIA Director Robert Gates, who also served as Secretary of Defense for both President Bush and President Obama.
For more information visit any of Attorney Budowski’s websites.
www.mytimeshareattorney.lawyer
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