Consumer Warning
Recently in New Jersey, nine people were arrested for their alleged roles in a $2.4 million mail fraud conspiracy involving time share mortgages. You can review the entire Department of Justice press release to the right.
The mail fraud arrests actually total 16 people, as seven others outside of New Jersey were also charged in the conspiracy and will have initial court appearances in Florida, South Carolina, Virginia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands before coming to New Jersey to answer the charges in Complaints.
The complaint details an elaborate plan to defraud desperate victims who were seeking relief from existing timeshare mortgages in a down economy. Those charged in the complaint are alleged to have promised assistance by offering to pay off the existing mortgage amount at a reduced rate. Victims would pay a small fee for this assistance only to find the mortgage was not paid off and often times the transaction resulted in the victims actually purchasing an additional time share ownership week.
The Department of Justice investigation conducted 225 interviews with potential victims and the fraud total is thought to exceed 2.4 million dollars.
The Timeshare Closing Group has one simple piece of advice for anyone entering into contracts to purchase, sale, or rent of the timeshare unit:
Read and Understand what you are signing before you sign your name, and if the company you are doing business with pressures you or suggest that you do not seek independent advice – Walk away.