To Whom This May Concern:
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Stephen Pliakas and I am an attorney in Waterbury, Connecticut.
My client is Christine L. (Personal Information Removed).
My firm (Tinley, Nastri, Renehan & Dost, LLP) represents Ms. Nelson. Ms. Nelson's mother, Gloria J. Larsen, is elderly and now resides in convalescent home (Brookdale Place) in Hartford. Mrs. Larsen owns a time share unit at the Wellington Yacht & Racquet Club in Newport Rhode Island (“the Wellington”) that was purchased back in the mid-1980’s. The family has little or no use for the time share now, and my client, who is Power of Attorney for her mother, has grown concerned about the rising cost of the time share and was interested in getting rid of it.
In or around February of this year my client was contacted by a company known as Vale Professionals, LLC (”Vale”) who called her and told her that Vale would assume all of the costs for the time share at the Wellington and work to sell the unit, for the price of $5,000. After meeting with a representative from Vale in Hartford in mid-February, my client signed a contract and paid the $5,000 fee via credit card. Soon after that, my client learned from the Wellington that: (1) The Wellington is and has been willing to take back unit from all of its time share owners at no cost to the unit owners, thereby relieving them of all financial obligations associated with the unit going forward; and (2) there have been numerous scams by companies who have managed to convince people in my client’s position to pay them substantial fees to take over their units. The Wellington explained that there is no need to pay a time share re-sale broker or anyone to assume the financial obligations associated with their time shares because the Wellington will take back the time share units at no cost to the owner.
Accordingly, my client feels that she was duped by Vale Professionals into paying the $5000 and wants to gets her money back. She has contacted Vale in an attempt to do so, however, the representative she spoke to at Vale has sought to pressure her to complete the transaction by obtaining and granting Vale a Limited Power of Attorney, signed by her mother, for Vale to take over the deed to the time share.
I have spoken with a legal representative for the Wellington (Kathy Anderson at 401-849-1770) and she confirmed the foregoing, including that the Wellington’s policy since mid is that it will take back deeds from its unit owners at no cost to the owners, thereby relieving them of all financial obligations. Kathy Anderson also told me that there are allot of scams involving so-called “time share resale” brokers who dupe people into paying them substantial fees to assume the obligations associated with the time share and also promise to sell the time shares. Kathy Anderson also told me that what often happens is that the re-sale company ends up selling the time share to a dummy corporation or non-existent person, and then two other things happen: (1) the Wellington does not get paid for the expenses associated with the time share unit and must foreclose (because the “new owner” does not exist); and (2) the original owner remains liable for those costs and expenses. Ms. Anderson did say that she had NOT heard of Vale and does not know if they are running this kind of scam, but she did tell me that the “service” Vale managed to sell to my client is basically worthless, given that the Wellington will take back the unit at no cost, and given, as well, the very low re-sale value (far, far below $5000) of the time share units.
Also, I have included below, a letter from the Wellington outlining the foregoing and the Wellington’s position in taking back units from its owners:
Dear Wellington Owners,
Mid-winter greetings from the Wellington Resort.
Here in Newport even as we are bracing against the record setting New England cold weather, we are still keeping busy with maintenance and repairs designed to enhance and protect your investments in the Wellington Resort.
We want to pass along to you a warning about a recent scam that several of our owners have brought to our attention. This Internet and/or mail scam involves illegal operators posing as legitimate companies that offer to purchase owners' timeshare obligations. These illegal operators prey on owners who may find themselves financially strapped and may even purport to be associated with the Wellington. The operators often ask for money to 'sell' your timeshare. They may offer to take ownership of your week and then deed it to a dummy name. Not only does this not relieve owners of their financial obligations, it often results in foreclosure by the Association since the transfer to a dummy name violates Wellington Association bylaws, and amounts to fraud. Should you be contacted by one of these scam operations, please let us know as we are working with the appropriate authorities to protect our members.
On a related note, if you find your investment in the Wellington is not for you any longer - we are prepared to help guide your through a transfer of the deed to a bona fide buyer. As you know, the Association Board amended the bylaws in July to set up a process for transfer of the deed and guidelines to ensure the new owners can continue to meet the financial obligations of ownership. Should owners not be able to find a buyer themselves, the Association this year has agreed to allow owners to deed-back their timeshare to the Wellington. Please contact us to find out the details and conditions of such a transfer.
Finally, we want to let you know that we are continuing to monitor and manage the remediation of National Grid's site work at the Wellington.in 2013 we anticipate several further developments regarding the environmental issues, the lawsuit and related efforts. As you know this is a complicated and detailed process and we want to make sure all of the Wellington owners are fully informed. We will be sending out a full update on these issues soon.
Sincerely,
The Wellington Resort Board of Directors
I have looked into Vale a bit and I have found nothing thus far that indicates that Vale is licensed to do business in Connecticut yet Vale had domeone copme to Hartford, Connecticut to take my client's signature and $5000 from her credit card.
Vale’s paperwork indicates that they have an address at: 1 Florida Park Drive, North 204, Palm Coast, Florida 32137; a phone number at 877-250-7891. I believe that my client is entitled to get her money back from Vale. She has already begun the process of transferring the unit back to the Wellington.
I would appreciate it of you could call me upon your receipt of this email to confirm your receipt of same and to discuss this matter. My phone number is (Personal Information Removed) and my other contact information is listed below.
I look forward to hearing back from you soon. I will gladly provide you with any additional information you request.
Very truly yours,
Stephen E. Pliakas
Sep
Stephen E. (Personal Information Removed)
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