Vacation Property Services located in St. Petersburg Florida has been shut down by the FTC. This was just another timeshare resale boiler room preying on timeshare owners who did not know any better. The FTC stated that thousands of unsolicited phone calls where made by Vacation Property Services dating back to 2006. Back in 2007 and 2008 the same company had settle with the Florida Attorney General to stop these practices that the FTC had cited. The unsolicited phone calls made between 2009-2010 were made to people on the national Do-Not-Call list, which when broken is a federal offense. The typical timeshare sales pitch used by Vacation Property Services went something like this:
We have a buyer lined up to buy your timeshare property, it will only cost you $xxxx!
Another story we found on a complaints board went as followed
I have a buyer.” He claimed that Vacation Property Services had sent “the buyers” on a week’s vacation to my property and had given them a “virtual tour of RCI” (resort association). The “buyers, ” he said, had offered $15, 000. “You could counter-offer, but I wouldn’t. That might scare them off.” He told me I’d incur no costs except for deed and title, for $702.
The investigation into Vacation Property Services is not being done by just the FTC, it also include the United State Post Office, Florida Attorney General, Florida Department of Agriculture as well as the St. Petersburg police department. So you can expect to hear a lot more about how this company operated, how many victims they had lied to regarding their timeshare resale services and what fines they will have to pay along with even possible jail time.
As you can see Vacation Property Services was running a boiler room to get the sale by any means needed. Timeshare resale scams and fraud are on the rise due to the bad economy and people are desperate to sell or rent their timeshare property. Some of these companies are literally fly by night timeshare services. They will setup a business for just a few months to only close the doors, relocate and do it all over again. If you are a timeshare owner, you need to be aware of how some timeshare resale companies will try to scam you out of your money by any means they can. Do your homework first, look the timeshare resale company up online to see if a lot of other consumer are complaining about the service and possible scam or fraud. Ask for legal documentation to be sent you to by certified mail, check with the BBB to see how they are rated.
If you have been scammed by Vacation Property Services or another timeshare resale company that you feel was a scam or fraud, please leave your story below for everyone else to read and warn them to stay away. Fighting timeshare resale fraud and scams starts by educating timeshare owners first, before they start being solicited by a possible fraudulent resale company that is only out for the money. Not all timeshare resale companies are a scam, their are companies and individuals out there who truly can help you sell or rent your timeshare. However, Vacation Property Services is/was not one of them.
Selling My Timeshare is about educating the public about how timeshare resales work and what timeshare resale scams to avoid. If you have been scammed by a timeshare resale company, please let us know or search for them and leave your story.
