One visitor to our site shares his experience with Silverleaf timeshare, and the research he did following the timeshare purchase. Here’s his story:
I bought two units from Silverleaf in 2010. In both sales presentations the salespeople told me the units were an investment I could realize income from, and would be a great business and investment opportunity, and by renting the units out (anytime at any resort they told me) it would be good advertising for Silverleaf and good income for me.
In the first presentation the salesman even told me that they “aren’t timeshares, they’re vacation rentals just like owning a family vacation home”. He also told me I could write the loan interest and rental income off on my taxes(!). These were complete lies, and the high-pressure sales tactics were unbearable and intrusive.
The FTC lists timeshares as securities because of their nature, and I am sure the salespeople are not licensed to sell securities, so sniff-sniff I smell securities fraud. If the timeshare industry’s products (timeshare units) are so great, why do they have to overwhelm and lie to people to sell their product, and why are there literally thousands of furious timeshare owners telling the same stories about being lied to and posting angry videos all over the internet?
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When we bought they talked us into buying in March, which was red and cheaper then the month we wanted (which was August – also red). We paid close to 20,000 dollars. The salesman promised us that every year we will be able to exchange for August the month we actually wanted.
It was ok for a couple of years. Now they downgraded the weeks timeshare and no longer can give us a week in August, which the salesman knew was the only month we could go.
Now they are threatening to ruin our credit rating if we try to walk away and not pay the maintenance anymore. They are also willing to rent us a week in the month that we are asking to exchange for, and they want us to pay for the week and the maintenance.
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A reader poses an interesting question he wanted to share with our readers:
Why is the government doing nothing about timeshare scams?
Time shares are not real estate or investments, they are nothing but empty space.
In addition to my first question, how many time share owners does it take to keep up the maintenance of a two bedroom apartment?
This is outrageous.
If I ever go back to Florida and are approached by a time share salesman I will sit next to the salesman and take my sweet time reading all the pages of the contract. …and if they have a problem with that, I will tell them…”just want to know what I am getting into before I sign the dotted line”.
Below is an account from a Canadian reader whose parents were solicited by Lando Resorts Corporation:
My parents, who live in Canada, were scammed by Lando Resorts Corporation, who is under the Berkley Group umbrella. In February 2011, they were sold a vacation package over the phone which did not mention that they were required to sit through 8 hrs of deceptive sales methods, which were really high pressure and other forms of fraud. My parents kept refusing to purchase, but were then told that they can buy the unit cheaper “right now” because of “built-in equity”, something which they apparently tell lots of people and is false. They were also told that they would have to attend another sales presentation if they did not purchase, otherwise, they would not get their vouchers for the rest of their vacation spots.
To make a long story short, there are several inconsistencies in the contractual agreement for the timeshare, which make it non binding, according to the lawyer that they hired. Currently we are in the process of getting them to reply to a letter that the lawyer has sent them, but as you can guess, there have been not attempts made on their part to contact either the lawyer or my parents regarding the letter. However, harassing phone calls have been made to my parents that they owe money and that they will be forwarded to a collections agency, which according to other testimonials I found on the web, are also under the Berkley Group.
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I own in Belize and when I went there this year to use my points to stay they gave me a bill for several thousand dollars as though I were renting. Now that I refuse to pay the bill they will not let me book this years reservation.
The first day I arrived there was no power. The place is now rundown and it’s not even done being built yet…but the rust has already cause many things to fall apart no maintenance has been done.
I got a deal with double points and a free golf cart, and they do not want to honor the deal even though I have all the paperwork. The Manager would not speak to me before I went. I was there 10 days he was rude to me and would not meet me, and after our stay will not talk to me via phone or e-mail.
This is just ridiculous – Is there any help out there for someone in this situation??
I bought two units from Silverleaf in 2010. In both sales presentations the salespeople told me the units were an investment I could realize income from, and would be a great business and investment opportunity, and by renting the units out (anytime at any resort they told me) it would be good advertising for Silverleaf and good income for me. 
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