Complain about a product or service

Time Share Scam Targeted The Elderly

April 7, 2005
If you're a retired person, a sales pitch for two weeks in a nice resort each year might sound appealing. Unfortunately, it can be a scam, cheating many people out of their life savings. In Massachusetts, a court has ordered a former time-share operator to pay $1.3 million in restitution and fees for defrauding consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

As a result of a lawsuit by Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, a state court entered a default judgment against Global Marketing, Resort Marketing, Dennis Drummond, Linda Drummond, and Lindsey Drummond. Reilly sued the Drummonds and their time-share companies in 2003 alleging that they used unfair and deceptive tactics, including fraud, to solicit money from mostly elderly consumers in exchange for timeshares that they did not own or have authority to sell.

According to Reilly's complaint, individual consumers lost between $299 and $21,000 - with losses totaling close to $400,000 - in money and property to the Drummonds.

The judge awarded the Commonwealth a total of $1.3 million - including $390,894 in restitution for 79 consumers who filed complaints with AG Reilly's Office. Judge Ball also issued a civil penalty of $790,000 and awarded $59,100 in attorneys' fees. The court order also prohibits the Drummonds, their companies and their family members from selling or brokering time-share properties in Massachusetts.

Reilly said he will now turn to collecting on the judgment from the Drummonds' assets, including their former Massachusetts residence in Plymouth. Reilly has alleged in the lawsuit that the Drummond family fraudulently conveyed their property to avoid creditors, including the Commonwealth. Reilly's action to invalidate a "cash-out" mortgage obtained by Ameriquest Mortgage Company remains pending in Suffolk Superior Court.

Reilly's December 2003 lawsuit was the second filed against Drummond. In 1990, a court found Dennis Drummond violated the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act in connection with the selling of time-share properties and ordered him to pay $207,905. Most of the victims from that case received either restitution or a deed for an alternative time-share property.

Reilly recommends that consumers planning to purchase time-share properties check to see whether the companies or individuals selling the time-shares have complaints on file with his Consumer Complaint Hotline.

Consumers should also ask for a sample copy of the disclosure and offering statement to review. In Massachusetts, consumers have three days to cancel a time-share contract.

Report Your Experience
If you've had a bad experience -- or a good one -- with a consumer product or service, we'd like to hear about it. All complaints are reviewed by class action attorneys and are considered for publication on our site. Knowledge is power! Help spread the word. File your consumer report now.

Back to the top |