Senate Committee Backs Bondi Crackdown on Timeshare Fraud

A bill backed by Attorney General Pam Bondi, that seeks to eliminate a loophole she says has allowed scam artists to thrive on people seeking to quickly sell timeshares, got the backing of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee onThursday.

The committee unanimously supported SB 1408, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, which targets people and companies who contact timeshare owners, claim to have a buyer available if the timeshare owner wants to sell, but the timeshare owner must pay a set amount of money upfront.

I am grateful to Senate Majority Leader Gardiner for his leadership and to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee for their support of this bill that will help eliminate misleading marketing targeted at timeshare owners, Bondi stated in a release.

Bondi has previously noted that in the first nine month of 2011, her office received 6,863 complaints regarding timeshare resale companies. In 2010, the office fielded 12,000 complaints on the same topic, four times the next four highest complaint categories combined.

The bill's next stop is the Senate Budget Committee.

In the first of three scheduled stops, the House counterpart, HB 1001, sponsored by Rep. Eric Eisnaugle, R-Orlando, was approved Monday without objection by the Business and Consumer Affairs Subcommittee.

Under the proposed legislation:

A timeshare resale advertiser may not misrepresent a pre-existing interest in the owners timeshare.

A timeshare resale advertiser may not mislead a customer as to the success rate of the advertisers sales.

A timeshare resale advertiser may not provide brokerage or direct sale services.

A timeshare resale advertiser must honor a cancellation request made within seven days following a signed agreement.

A timeshare resale advertiser must provide a full refund by a timeshare owner within 20 days of a valid cancellation request.

A timeshare resale advertiser must not collect any payment or engage in any resale advertising activities until the timeshare owner delivers a signed, written agreement for the services.

A timeshare resale advertiser must also provide a full disclosure statement printed in bold type, with no smaller than a 12-point font, and printed immediately preceding the space provided for the timeshare owners signature.

A timeshare advertising agreement must be put in writing.

A company that violates these provisions has committed a violation of the Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act with a penalty not to exceed $15,000 per violation.