• A report in the Portugal based magazine - The Resident - that compiles useful information about the law and consumer rights for timeshare consumers. Here's a preview. What the law states: According to Article 43 of the Regime Jurídico da Habitação Periódica, the judicial regime of timeshare, "the activity of promotion and commercialization of timeshare can only take place in the premises of the proprietor, the assignee of the exploration of the tourist resort or the mediator". Click here.
• The emerging power of blogs and bloggers. Lawyers representing Grand Seasons International sent a legal letter to an online blog forum of Singapore bloggers following a post titled "Grand Seasons International - Timeshare Scam Company" on the blogsite. Here's the complete report on the same.

By the way, the legal letter seems to have worked. The article was removed from here.

• The Atlanta Journal Constitution recommends that "You need to think beyond hotels and include time shares and vacation homes in the mix" while looking for 10 ways to save big on lodging in Orlando. Check it out here.
• The publishers of Timeshare Perspective Magazine have launched a new website http://www.timesharesurveys.com to help increase communication between the timeshare industry, timeshare owners, and future timeshare owners or renters. The tagline to the site reads: Find out what the public really think of the timeshare industry. Click here.
• Judge orders $1.6M payment in timeshare case. A Denver District Court judge has barred Louis Welt from the securities industry in Colorado and ordered him to pay $1.6 million in connection with a resort timeshare scheme. Welt told investors that RHI owned 11 resort properties, mostly in Cancun, Mexico. Under the company's so-called "Universal Lease Program," the investor also hired a third-party management company to rent and manage the condominium. Welt allegedly guaranteed investors a 9 percent annual return for 25 years. But none of the investors ever saw a 9 percent return, and most lost their entire investment.

Michael Kelly, the purported owner of RHI, was indicted by the U.S. Attorney's office in Chicago and arrested by the FBI.

The entire story here.

June 07, 2007
Bangalore