Lando Resorts Corporation (Berkley Group)

Below is an account from a Canadian reader whose parents were solicited by Lando Resorts Corporation:

Lando Resorts CorporationMy 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.

The great news is that the Lando Resorts Corporation cannot do anything to my parents as they are Canadian citizens only. They can threaten them as much as they want, but in the end if they do want to get something out of them, they will have to come to Canada and press charges here, which I highly doubt that they will do as they would loose in a court battle due to the numerous errors in their contract, and it would also cost them more to fight my parents than what the contract is actually is worth.

I truly find it really sad that such deceptive sales practices are used on people by the Lando Resorts Corporation, and that they take advantage and make fraudulent claims to seniors. If anyone is considering a class-action law suite against Lando Resorts Corporation (Berkely Group), please let me know.

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61 Comments

  1. My wife and I are very dissatisfied with the way they treated us also. Would greatly appreciate any one that has had success with getting out of this money trap sending information so I can also get out as well. Thanks and have a blessed day and a happy New Year.

  2. Got a grip…got out in time….cancelled at the last moment as it did not feel right. Another presentation lunch.
    Important to check into the the information before signing.
    With the information at hand…need to review what the implications of our previous commitment of owning in Vacation Village Parkway
    Then a resale to Weston….owing money is not a good investment.

  3. I made a big mistake!!!! I bought into this yesterday but by Florida law it says I have 10 days to cancel timeshare as well as Lando properties. Is this true? Can I cancel this whole thing after 1 day?

  4. I bought a discovery package from them and want to cancel. I send them letters in email as they told me to do and made 20 calls,,but they hanging up when I am calling.
    . Since then they just ignoring me totaly at OWNERS CARE (and i am still a member)?
    And after the discovery package they want you to buy the BIG one ??? after they treating me SOOOO
    bad ??? I liked Wyndham until they started to treat me so badly….

  5. Hi All, Florida law states
    That you have 10 days to write a cancellation letter to the company after you purchased the timeshare and they have to cancel the whole thing and refund your Money back. Read the documents they give you and in one of the papers, it will say you have ten days and it will give you an address on where to send the letter to.

    1. They never mentionned anything about cancellation but they advice us we cannot using it before a year. So guess. If a group law suit is done. Please contact me as I will be in.

    2. I bought a timeshare from them in early January 2019. By the time I’d returned to my hotel room I’d realized it was a really bad idea. I found out that night on a website about the ten days to cancel allowed by Florida Law. I wrote a cancellation letter the next day and sent it registered mail with return receipt. USPS tracking info says they got it two days later. Haven’t received the return receipt, but the tracking updates say it’s on it’s way. Apparently, I’m out of the woods.

      What a disaster that would have been. I’m amazed Florida lets them stay in business.

  6. We also were pressured into buying a timeshare in July of 2017. My husband doesn’t read English and the contract was in English. They said we would pay maintenance fees every 2 yrs but they are billing us yearly. I called th and they said the contract says every year! We also were told that we could use our weeks anytime during the year. Turns out this was a lie. Please contact me if anyone does a class action against them!

    1. I would like to talk about that with you, we bought the plan 4 years ago in Florida, my mom and I are form,colombia. We are trying to,cancell that but i dont know what can i do

      1. Hi, I am from Colombia too, we are at a similar situation, and we bought it 3 years ago, we do not know how to cancel that but we are trying to get info and options so we can make something contact us to talk about it.

  7. My best friend and I bought a time share back in 2015 due to their pressure, we were very immature in our early 20’s. Anyone knows how to sell this or get ride off it?

    My friend had a baby recently and we can not keep up with the payments anymore.

    Thanks in advance!

      1. Hi – I’m interested in hearing your solution. My elderly, not mentally well mother-in-law was scammed into one of these. I was going to hire an attorney to get her out of it but if there’s another solution, I’d love to hear it.
        Thanks!

    1. Hi…Did you get any solutions to your problem?
      Did Cynthia Doster help you in any way?
      Thank you..

    2. I also would like to know if you have gotten any assistance or found a solution to your problem. My uncle would lives on a fixed income was also lied to about the annual fees. He even tried to sell his timeshare through one of those timeshare resale companies and they have done nothing. Let me know what if anything you were able to do. You might want to contact the resort to tell them you will be preparing a “deed in lieu of”. You send them an original and tell them that their acceptance of this deed releases you of any further past or present obligations. Have an second original ready and if you do not hear from them in 20 days then you send your second copy to the county recorder and have it recorded.

      1. Sorry but that won’t work. You can send them a deed in lieu but they have to accept it. If you try to record it with the county without the resorts expressed permission, it will not go thru. Simply stop paying them, let them harass and whine and wait for them to offer a deed in lieu. If they don’t offer a deed in lieu, they can continue with no payment and one day will foreclose.

  8. I ALSO bought into Lando in 2011. At the time I didn’t even have a job but they said that didn’t matter as long as I planned on getting one so they could just fill out the paperwork as if I already had it. This was just one example of their extremely high pressure sales. I was 23 at the time and they pressured me further that it would help build my credit, and they said,” it’s a real deed to 2 specific units that once were paid off could be passed down from generation to generation. So it’s a great investment.” They gave me a tour of the units they said would be “mine” and told me,”this is where you’ll be staying in your home away from home.” Yet when I checked in (the only 2 times I went there), they put me in a hotel style, extremely dated, smelly room that wouldn’t even pass for a $20/night stay in a motel 6. I of course complained and called them out on putting me in anything but the equivalent to the rooms I “bought.”

    They didn’t tell me that the “required” rci membership was not a one time sign up fee, but a recurring annual fee. They also failed to mention that my down payment was going to be a recurring fee (property taxes) that would increase significantly over the years (Starting at $300 then and now being charged almost $1800 dollars in property tax and fees for 2018!!!)

    Since initially buying into this bs program in 2011, in 2015 I was pressured into another meeting in which they used their high pressure sales tactics to promote that they could exchange rci points for Disneyworld resorts (which was the only reason why I bought into that particular timeshare to begin with in 2011). After complaining that my initial experience was unsatisfactory, they did a lot of convincing reassurances about how they had improved and that the sales woman would give me her PERSONAL phone number for questions and concerns and the new contracts would reflect the new changes (such as the Disney exchange) so I was foolish enough to “upgrade” my contract. Upon signing the final pages there was an addendum stating that I could NOT exchange with Disney because my resort was within the 20 miles radius of the park, I asked them about that, saying that’s the main reason I was upgrading my contract ($6,000 more) so they (3 of them) all acted irritated with me and guilted me into signing the final pages anyway.

    They also sold me on additional “perks” such as,”you can exchange out to anywhere or use points for cruises or flights if you choose to stay here.” Yet, when I called rci about these great perks they had no idea what I was talking about. They only offered exchanges that absorbed all my points and STILL required more money.

    As if all that wasn’t enough, they also promoted other perks such as exchanges for only $49/night or $79/3-night stays at high end locations, which I found out upon calling them to redeem these “deals” was only more lies and disappointment (yet again) as I was connected over and over with different reps all claiming they have no idea of what I was talking about.

    Immediately, I had buyers remorse but when I brought that up they were upset and much more difficult to communicate with claiming it would require an appointment because they were busy with sales and a bunch of bs basically making it impossible for me to get out of the contract within the buyers remorse deadline.

    I’ve refused to make any more payments since all of these “perks” have come to be proven as nothing more than scams with threats that they will send me to collections (which they did once in 2014 while I was unemployed & I so gullibly paid). I’ve signed and had notarized a form they sent me to relinquish my ownership but they are STILL emailing me that I need to pay the property taxes and fees and when I told them to check with the person I sent the relinquish forms to, they said they had “no record” of them. Since I’ve been nothing but scammed by them, I’ve learned my lesson and I saved those notarized forms to take them to court should they continue coming after me for money (which they are).

    I hope this class action lawsuit comes to fruition because now that they’ve continued to try to scam and intimidate me further for MORE money despite relinquishing my property & previously paid money, I’m no longer okay with allowing them to keep it. They’re crooks and they need to be brought to Justice & no longer run with our hard earned money.

  9. We bought in 2005, and have had nothing but problems…can’t get the reservation, can’t sell, maintenance fee has gone up over $600 since we purchased. I contacted the Wesley Financial Group to help us get out of this thing. We were told that Vacation Village at Parkway and the Lando Resort Corporation were under investigation by the Florida Attorney General’s Office. Anyone who has dealings with these crooks needs to go to the attorney general’s website and file a complaint so they get more against them. Then, go to your state’s attorney general’s site and file a complaint again.

  10. We also bought in December 2009. Our experience has not been bad. We just do not have the time to vacation. We have built up points we have not used. Just looking to sell and do not pay to get out of it.

  11. I also bought in 2011, together with my wife, a time share in Vacation Village (Lando Resorts); still paying it; the worst deal we have ever made; impossible to use it; suffering from same things you are mentioning. We’re not from US and live in our country.

    We would like to know how possible is considering a class-action lawsuit against Lando Resorts Corporation (Berkely Group); if somebody knows and interested, please let us know.

    1. if you are going to do a class action lawsuit suit please elect me know i would love to get out of my timeshare we got scammed in to buying it as well.

    2. Same situation. Forced Auto Pay, Unflexible Mortgage Due Dates (I asked for the 15th, but miraculously it is the 10th), and I do not want my timeshare in Orlando I verbalized I wanted the Misner in Miami. I felt like I was pushed and shoved into Orlando.

      1. My wife and I were pressured into purchasing at Vacation Village Parkway in 2012. Since then our financial situation has changed drastically. These pewill not work with us. They are scum. This high pressure technique must end.class action should be taken. I’m in if it does.

    3. In reading some comments here it seems like our story, pressured into buying even though we told them we were seniors on a small pension, etc. etc. We were advised by a lawyer to just stop paying the “mortgage” and now we are being threatened with emails and letters indicating legal action. Not sure how they think they will blood from a stone. If anyone starts a class action lawsuit please let us know.

    4. Hey,

      We are from colombia and now we are in the same position that you, did you do something against them last year? Let me know, wr are a bit desesperate with the loan

  12. Can anyone tell me how they are doing with this scam iam canadian and wondering also what they could do to me please contact me on this site

  13. Unfortunately , we had the same situation since 2014 , Lando resorts has taken over $ 25000 from us so far plus the maintenance fees, promised bonus weeks from RCI which we never have it, no reply when you try to contact for booking, they grab you to RCI subscription paying more money to be able to reserve your unit. The funny thing that we are a RCI member in the week system and they asked us to pay subscription fees for points system again as if it is not the same entity!!! I would like to know how to get rid of this nightmare

  14. Hi everyone I am in the same boat as everyone here maybe one exception but I am positive he will learn about as we all did it’s a scam from the start and only gets worse what I’m looking for here is help most things I’ve tried are more scams like the other person said are they any honest people out there please respond

  15. My parents where in vacation and were offered a timeshare in Vacation Village at Parkway. after that presuree style of selling the agreed but without knowing the bad experience they have with the administration. Because they are old people they cannot use them. In fact never used. Lando Resorts is threatening with collections firms to collect the maintenance, but we are located overseas. We ask for cancelling the contract even loosing what they paid but they said they will not take back the property.

    1. That’s the one I bought into as well at 23 years old; I haven’t been able to redeem anything either and refuse to pay anymore as well

  16. This company is a scam. I went to Florida for a three-day vacation and I was told I would have free breakfast and just visit their vacation home. After speaking with someone for two hours I declined their services. As I was leaving, I was approach by another person asking if I can pay a small amount for a different property. After three hours later, I told him I had to think about buying a timeshare with their company. He called and left me several messages. I went back the next day to see if I can get more information about the company and I was told that if I need any additional information I have to sign up and I have 30 days to cancel.
    Well after I signed up and flew home, I carefully read their manural. I called to canceled my account within 20 days. I was told that it was only 10 days that the state of Florida gives to cancel. Now I am stuck with this account and all their ridiculous fees.
    This company is pure bull****

  17. BEWARE!
    I was fooled by sellers of Vacation Village / RCI.
    I was at the resort in September 2015 and they sold me an enterprise called Timeshare.I paid at the moment $3.000.
    But the seller did not inform me about taxes they are charging me now worth $ 817.00.
    I demand the cancellation of the contract and my money back.

    I am brazilian and dont know what to do!
    How can i solve this problem?

    1. They cannot do anything to you.. if you do not have a social security # from the U.S they cannot do anything to you.. trust me I work for them

      1. I have a similar problem, but the person who bought the timeshare lives in Mexico, if she returns to USA they could do something to her?

    2. Olá Gabriel…tbém sou brasileiro e adquiri um Timeshare no Vacation Village em Kissimmee…agora quero me desfazer mas não tem comércio…prefiro perder o que já paguei e parar com o prejuízo… Vc conseguiu alguma solução para o seu?

  18. My wife and I was pressured into buying into this scam in 2008 and have been trying to pay ever since and never used it at all,we was told that it was a great investment and very easy to sell when ever we wanted,since it is in Orlando,the most visited place in the world.Turned down all offers for 6 hours straight and finally caved in,after they made such a sweet deal.I would do anything to get out of this horrible mistake.Constantly threatened with a bad credit report.

      1. I also would like more information about how to cancel my timeshare. How can I get in touch with you, Raechel Reynolds? Thank you!

      2. I would also like some information on who to contact and where to start. We purchased a timeshare under the same circumstances in 2009 and have always thought it was fishy. After several years of paying our fees we have still yet to use our timeshare, for a variety of reasons that the company cannot really express to us. When we try to book we can never contact someone and when fees are due the phone is ringing off the hook until they are paid then silence on their end after.

      3. This is timeshare exit team. Costs about 4 k. Check out their reviews on yelp first. 99 percent are concerning.

        The best way is stop paying period. Yes, you get threats. Letters and calls.then they stop and your foreclosed on. This take 2 to 3 years.

        Timeshare exit team asks you to stop paying and sends you a 4 k bill for the advice and support. Save the 4 k

        Google welk timeshare exit team lawsuit. The details in the lawsuit tell you what they do.

  19. I was also pressured into buying.. I would like to know how I can get out of this.. I’m stock paying this monthly.

  20. Good day,

    My family and I are currently in the process of fighting it and I would like to know how you guys went about getting rid of it. I look forward to hearing what you did and any advice you can offer. Thank you and have a blessed day.

  21. Co-purchased a unit with another couple. When the other couple stopped making their arranged monthly payments to Lando Resorts, the company came after me claiming that I was responsible for paying it despite the fact that I have been making my monthly payments as stated in my contract with Lando Resorts. This company has taken to harassment, intimidation, and false claims as their strategy for sticking me with their inability/unwillingness to collect their contractual amount from the co-owners.
    I would be interested in joining a class action lawsuit against this predatory, unscrupulous, company.

  22. Worst experience ever. We purchased the property with $500 maintenance fees.
    We are trying to sell it for free. Worst case, I will deed it back for $250 payment.

    Think about “Build-In Equity” of -4000$
    Lesson learnt.

  23. I was sold a new build timeshare at Vacation Village in Kissimmee in 2009. My husband had just died and I was highly pressurized with my twelve year old son in tow. Since my husband’s death I have developed agressive Multiple Sclerosis because of the stresses I was under. I lost my job in 2010 and now have to choose between keeping a timsehare I can’t ever use or paying the rent and helping my son in some way w university. Lando Resorts have take over $21,000 from me so far, plus maintenance every year and I have been scammed twice by unsrupulous resale agents. Doesn’t anyone out there have any morals!

  24. My husband and I are both in our late 60’s retired and can’t afford all the extra cost associated with the timeshare we were literally tricked into purchasing. We have never used it any part of it and as a last resort just stopped paying anything on it this year. Now we are getting collection calls where we are screamed and fussed at us because we have no money. We would love to be a part of some class action suit if this would stop.

  25. Our experience was very pleasant. Our rep waws Brenda N. She was cordial, professiomal and funny. We had a good time together. I resisted at first, trying to sweeten the deal. The closer Frank, was just as much fun. He did make addition consessions. The final deal was so atractrive that we said “Yes”. The property is beautiful.

  26. We went thru the same thing. Bought a vacation pkg and were NEVER told till we got to Florida that we had to sit thru a presentation. Wound up buying under so much pressure. 🙁 We are trying to get out from under it now. Have never used it and bought it 2 years ago. 🙁

  27. just read your article and feel sorry for your plight,did attend one a couple week ago but it was not long,it took 5 hrs which we did bought into. wish us luck,let see if they will stick to their end of the bargain,also attend it with one of my canadian friends

    1. After seeing a beautiful property we were interested but felt the price was too high so we said no. They sweetened the deal with a bonus week every year. When we asked how the bonus weeks work we were told they are subject to availability and you cna get any size unit, in available. This now added an every week each year and availability is a normal restriction.

      Turns out those bonus weeks are not worth anything as RCI gives those away for an exchange fee anyway. We overpaid and tried to get this cancelled because of misleading information and they hae ignored it to date. Not finished with them and not letting this go.

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