Expert: Andreas Rossler - 10/12/2007

Question
QUESTION: Hi Andreas,

I recently tried donating my timeshare to a charitable organization.  I submitted a completed Warranty Deed and Quit Claim Deed to organization and then awaiting for them to record the deed with Florida County.  After a couple of phone calls, the person at the charity started to block my calls and ignore my emails after I had repeatly asked him to record the deed as I had received my tax donation form from him already.  To this day, I found out from the couny of Florida that the Warranty Deed was not recorded.  

Since he has the original warranty deed, do you think that I can draft up another deed and record it with the county myself?

Thanks for your help.

ANSWER: You had better find out what's going on.  I would write them a letter with some of the actions you plan to take - this needs to be resolved.  It can lead to legal problems.  Here is a list of possible places to complain - not everything is applicable to your case on the list - so choose accordingly.

1.   The Attorney General.  You should file a complaint with the Attorney General where the company is headquartered, the state where you purchased, and your home state.  Here is a good site where you can link to Attorney General complaint forms online:  http://www.fair-debt-collection.com/attorneys.html
2.   See if the company is listed with the Better Business Bureau; file a complaint with the BBB.  Here is their online complaint form:  http://www.bbb.org/complaint.asp
3.   A good site is the Rip-off Report.  Be careful when writing up a report on that site – state the truth and nothing but the truth.  This site is caught by search engines, so be sure to use the company name.  Here is their site:  http://ripoffreport.com/
4.   Complaints.com is similar to Rip-off Report.  Here is their website:  http://www.complaints.com/  (#3 and #4 have a simple purpose, to get the company’s name to show up on search engines.  This is the worst possible publicity and can cause the loss of an untold amount of business).
5.   The FTC (Federal Trade Commission).  They are very much interested in hearing about shady timeshare developers or rip-offs.  The reason being that most timeshares solicit individuals via the telephone.  Here is their online complaint form:  https://rn.ftc.gov/pls/dod/wsolcq$.startup?Z_ORG_CODE=PU01
6.   For reference purposes, you may want to check out the National Association for Members - http://www.natlassoc.org/ - lots of good stuff.
7.   If a lawyer or other professional (CPA) was involved in the transfer or escrow process, you may be able to file a complaint with the state bar or other professional organization they belong to – depending on the nature of your situation.
8.   Report the company to the state agency that regulates real estate.  It is best to do a Yahoo search like this:  “Florida Department of Real Estate”.  You could however start here and drill down to the right website:  http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/State_and_Territories.shtml
9.   If your situation involved a credit card purchase and you’re not getting your refund, definitely call the credit card company and find out their policy on filing a complaint.
10.   File complaints with State, County and City Consumer Protection Offices.  Here you’ll find a list of all of them: http://consumeraction.gov/state.shtml
11.   File a complaint with the National Consumer’s League Fraud Center.  Here’s the web site:  http://www.fraud.org/
12.   File a Complaint with the National Association of Consumer Advocates.  Here is their website:  http://www.naca.net/
13.   Small Claims Court.  What’s good about small claims is that it is easy and can cause huge head aches for the company.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Andrea - Thanks for your response.  It's absolutely pointless for me to write to this charity, I've tried for 1/2 year to get them to record the deed but no luck.  I should report them to one of the agencies listed above?  Should I hire an attorney to pursue this?

Thanks again.

Answer
Yes, you need to find out what is going on.  They are obviously trying to sell it and waiting for a buyer, so that they can record the deed in the buyer's name.  However, ownership is in the air right now and you are still on the hook for maintenance fees.  I think if you did write them a letter stating you'll take the above actions - you might be surprised - they will act or at least let you know what is going on.  I would do that first, before hiring an attorney.