Legal Question in Consumer Law in North Carolina
I entered into a "Contract" with Fifth Avenue Timeshares to sell my property. The contract states that if it was not sold in 1 year that I was entitled to a full refund of the $299.00 that I paid for them to list it. The year has passed, and I am trying to get my refund. I have called the number on the contract and it goes to an answering system. I have left messages, but have not received a return call. I tried to fax a request to the fax number on the the contract, but it is disconnected. I have contacted the two individuals that contacted me originally about listing the property and they keep telling me to call the number on the contract. Fifth Avenue Timeshares address listed on the contract is not valid. It is a NY address and no company is registered to it. The disconnected fax number has a Florida prefix which is also the prefix for the individuals that contacted me. Are there any legal actions I can take against the persons that contacted me and took my creit card number to pay for the listing fee?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You have wasted/thrown away your money. There is no market for timeshares to be sold this way. You are not going to get the money back either in my opinion.
You are better off doing the following things: (1) if the timeshare is paid off, list it for sale by yourself on eBay or at some other timeshare site like www.tug2.net; or (2) consider donating the timeshare to a charity like www.donateforacause.com.
If the timeshare is not paid for, it depends on your circumstances. I have gotten timeshare companies to accept a deed back for the property as an alternative to foreclosure. However, it may depend on where the timeshare is located. Timeshares in SC are limited to foreclosure of the timeshare interest and cannot come after you for a deficiency. Other states may not be so generous.
In answer to your question, you do not indicate when the contract was made. If you are still within 60 days of when the credit card charges appeared on your contract, you can dispute those, but it appears that you are well outside of that.
For $299, it is not going to be worth the time and expense of suing in small claims court as you can only sue where the company is located (assuming they can be found). You can try to obtain addresses other ways, but how much are you willing to spend to get back your $299? It is my opinion (having dealt with clients over the years who are in the same situation as you) that you should accept your loss (for making the mistake of dealing with a scammer like this) and move on and try one of the alternatives I suggested. If you would still like to try, you can complain to the state attorney general (start with NC - then move on to Florida or New York as the people involved were located in those areas) and see if they can help you.
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