Message to my fellow casualties

The emotional impact of victimization.

This post/video was inspired by the many people who have reached out and continue to reach out to me.    Are you feeling at a loss about the feelings you are feeling?  This is my message to you.  You are not alone.

Credit for much of the facts/wording attributed to:  How Fraud Affects A Victim  and Financial Fraud Crime Victims

  The information contained in this blog/video is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of posting. I reserve the right to make changes as new information becomes available.

Any and all  information I share is for informational purposes only, not legal advice, as I am not a lawyer, just a lay person sharing information.

Casualty (6)

Casualty (6)

We purchased our annual timeshare in the late 90's. At the time I recall specifically asking the salesperson “what happens if we don't want it for the entire 40 years of the contract?” We were told it would be easy to sell, transfer to a family member, or that the resort would purchase it back for a percentage of the purchase price (a clause stating that percentage was even written into our contract back then, but the more recent contracts do not include that clause).

Fifteen (15) years into our contract, our situation changed and we weren't using it as much as we had previously, so we had some friends offer to buy it from us. In December of 2012 we contacted Sunchaser to arrange the transfer of ownership and they sent the forms required to do so. One of those forms was an “acknowledgement of liability” form that we, the “current owners” were required to sign. It stated “____ hereby acknowledge that if the transferee does not meet the payment obligations that are set out in the Vacation Interval Agreement that I/We remain liable with respect to future payment obligations not made by the transferee”. In other words we were still on the hook if the new owners defaulted on any payments. We noticed that this new document was written in November of 2012 (one month prior to our contacting them). Needless to say, we weren't comfortable with this arrangement, so we requested that Sunchaser offer to purchase our timeshare back from us. We received no response from them, but a couple of weeks later we received a letter from them announcing the renovation and what we would be required to pay for such capital improvements.

Looking Back

In order to understand where one is, it is a good idea to begin at the beginning and work forward.

This is the first in a series of videos doing just that - looking back to uncover and expose the Sunchaser/Northmont/Northwynd Timeshare Scandal (formerly known as Fairmont Vacation Villas).

Edited to add:  In the description of the Hillside area there is an error in the number of buildings - there are actually 8 buildings (1000 - 8000) however the total number of units for the Hillside area is correct.  As for the Riverview Building it is actually classified as building #8100, but again the total number of units for the building is correct.  Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

The information contained in this blog is accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of posting. I reserve the right to make changes as new information becomes available.

Any and all  information I share is for informational purposes only, not legal advice, as I am not a lawyer, just a lay person sharing information. 

Casualty (5)

Casualty (5)

We bought our timeshare at Fairmont Vacation Villas for just over $20,000.00 in the late 90's. The company salesman promised us “worry free” yearly vacations for just the price of a low annual maintenance fee; “way cheaper than hotels” and the timeshare would be “something to be proud of for years to come”.

He referred to “Clause 13” in our sales contract which stated that we could return our lease back to Fairmont at anytime and they would pay us for any years left on our contract; this clause also stated that if we were in default on our maintenance fees for 16 months the unit would revert back to the resort owner. We had to accept their “one time sales offer” before we left the sales office so we signed on the dotted line, not knowing if we did the right thing.

We enjoyed our holidays at the timeshare, often bringing relatives with us to enjoy our week long vacation at Fairmont; that is until Northmont took over.

Northmont bought the Fairmont's timeshare assets in 2010 and the name of the resort changed to Sunchaser Vacation Villas, and Northwynd Resort Properties (run by Northmont) assumed responsibility to run the Sunchaser Villas.