Browse Month

November 2021

Start the Week: Silverpoint Liquidation Update

Welcome to Monday morning and the start of another week with Inside Timeshare, today we have a look at the latest developments in the Liquidation of Silverpoint. Many people seem to believe that this is just a simple procedure, wind down the company, secure the assets for creditors and that is it, unfortunately, when it comes to timeshare and Silverpoint in particular this is not the case as you will see. By the nature of the company setup, this is one very complex case.

One of the main law firms which are deeply involved in the liquidation procedure is Canarian Legal Alliance, they have been at the forefront of the moves by the authorities to investigate the dealings of the myriad group of companies of which Silverpoint is part, The Limora Group.

Two of the CLA lawyers behind the investigations.

In their update to clients, CLA explains they have requested through the Mercantile Court, the “accumulation” of the procedures against Silverpoint, along with one called Oasis Investments SA, the former owners of The Paramount. This would mean that both liquidation procedures are joined, so far no reply to this request has been received from the court.

If this procedure is approved, CLA would then request that the actual Paramount building be reintegrated with Silverpoint which would raise the assets of the companies. The lawyers have also joined other actions requested by the Court Appointed Administrator where they have asked for Excel to return some of the assets. These were initially acquired in an operation which the lawyers at CLA classified as fraud.

Details of CLA’s March update on this can be found at the link below.

https://canarianlegalalliance.com/update-on-silverpoint-liquidation/

It was also reported that the Court Appointed Administrator and Excel asked for a suspension of hearings due to a possible agreement between the parties. This agreement establishes a reintegration of eleven thousand timeshare weeks, increasing the companies value. In exchange, there will be a recognition of debt in Excels favour of seven million euros.

The lawyers representing their clients have naturally opposed this agreement in part. They have accepted the reintegration of the weeks as it is in their clients best interests due to the increased value of the company. However, they do not agree with the recognition of any debts to excel as they do not believe them to be justified.

It will now be down to a Judge to study all the arguments presented and then base his decision on the facts.

The CLA Lawyers have also requested information on the criminal procedure as this appears to have gone a little cold recently. They have also made a request to the court to carry out the gathering of evidence, such as the interrogation of key staff, their legal advisors and also the Court Appointed Administrator, who should after all this time have a very good grasp on the Limora Group/Silverpoint set up.

As we stated in our opening, this is one of the most complicated liquidations which the courts have had to deal with. The whole Limora Group set-up was designed to divert money worldwide, using methods such as “inter-company loans”, one of the reasons behind the current liquidations. All this was expertly achieved by Kwang Boon Sim, the financial guru of the late Robert “Bob” Trotta, the full story can be read at the following link.

The late Robert “Bob” Trotta & Kwang Boon Sim the Financial Guru

https://insidetimeshare.com/?s=Exclusive+Breaking+News%3A+The+Truth+Behind+Silverpoint+Exposed

There is a lot more going on than we are able to publish here, as and when it becomes public knowledge it will appear on these pages. In the meantime we must issue a warning, as you can see from this article, the liquidation process is complex and is going to be long and drawn out, so beware of the “cold callers” who will claim they have a “fast track” procedure to help you. Timing is down to the courts and the completion of any investigations, no law firm, lawyer or any other person can have any influence on the process, not even god.

Would you like to know where you stand with your timeshare contract, is it illegal, how can I end the contract, do I have a valid and viable claim?

If you would like to know more and what options are open to you, please use our contact page and Inside Timeshare will get back to you. 

End the Week: Court Round-Up

Well, it’s Friday again and the end of another week with Inside Timeshare. We finish with a quick round-up of the latest court news, once again this news would not be complete without the appearance of our old friends at Anfi and in contrast, there is some news about Marriott. There is also some news regarding the various administrations of companies being conducted at the Mercantile Courts, more on this next week once clients have been informed.

The week began with yet another appeal at the High Court Number 5 of Las Palmas, where the judges confirmed both of the Norwegian client’s contracts with Anfi are null & void. This also confirmed the original ruling by the Court of First Instance that included the 69,105€ for the original purchase, along with a further 53,656€ in respect of illegally taken deposits.

The High Court also confirmed the payment of legal interest and legal fees.

This was followed the next day with another Norwegian client having their First Instance victory confirmed by the High Court.

The original judgement declared the contract null & void, the repayment of 44,371€ plus legal interest and legal costs. The total included the 17,316€ which is double the amount taken illegally as a deposit.

Anfi as usual was not satisfied with the judgement of the court and again launched another frivolous appeal. Every case we see coming out of the appeal court is a defeat against Anfi, so given the situation they are in, why are they wasting so much money with these appeals?

Moving now to a completely different attitude, on 4 October 2021, The Court of First Instance Number 3 of Marbella, issued their verdict in the case of a German client against MVCI Management and MVCI Holidays.

The court ordered the contract null & void plus the repayment to the client of 25,688€. Just three weeks later, Marriott has deposited the funds with the court and the client will soon receive this into their own account.

What a difference to Anfi!

Another sentence against Marriott has been issued by the Court of First Instance Number 7 of Marbella, in favour of another German client.

Along with the contract being declared null & void, the court awarded the client to be repaid by Marriott 24,571 plus legal Interest. No doubt we shall be reporting on this case in a few weeks if Marriott keeps up with their practice of paying without enforcement proceedings.

These cases were prepared and the clients represented in court by the Lawyers of Canarian Legal Alliance.

That is all for this week, for the time being Inside Timeshare will only be publishing a few articles each week, if anything of importance comes up it will be published.

Have a great weekend and join us again next week.

Slaley Hall Lodges: UK Timeshare Owners Up in Arms

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of Inside Timeshare, today we bring you news from the UK and a shocking move by Seasons Holidays Plc. In this article which has been written in partnership with our friends from the TCA, we have a quick look at what is happening and how it is going to affect owners. This move by Seasons has been on the cards for quite some time, beginning with a scheme for owners to “relinquish” their membership, but all is not as it seems.

Around a year ago the TCA and Inside Timeshare became aware of a scheme hatched by Seasons for lodge owners to relinquish their ownership in exchange for a sum ranging from £7,000 to £10,000, on the surface, it looks like it could be a good offer, but, there is always a but, Seasons were not offering to pay this sum to the owners, quite the reverse, lodge owners had to pay this sum! In exchange, all future maintenance fees were waived and “free” holidays over a limited period.

Well, I’m not sure about you but why should the “owners” pay, just to relinquish, get all future maintenance waived and “FREE” holidays for a “LIMITED” period?

Sounds like a bit of a rip-off to me.

Slaley Hall Lodges

Apparently from the information that has been received since that “offer” was made, Seasons have reduced this sum to £1000, this shows how desperate they are to “get rid” of the timeshare owners. Why not just offer to “buy back” the weeks from the owners, after all, they are the ones who paid thousands in the first place and years of maintenance fees to keep the resort running.

So what is all this about I hear you ask?

Pure and simple, the directors of Seasons Holidays Plc, Barry and Shirley Hurley, are proposing to wind up the club, this means all those owners who paid thousands for the “right” to holiday at Slaley Hall lose everything. Their contracts for their timeshare are cancelled at the drop of a hat. Now that is strange, try handing back any timeshare and they don’t want it, you can’t get out!

As with most timeshares, the club has a committee and a constitution, this was created to “protect” lodge owners, Helen Knight who is on the committee as an independent member explains:

“There are seven voting members on the committee,” clarifies Helen 62, a retired teacher from Lancashire. “Deliberately an odd number to protect owners. The constitution allows Seasons to control three of the seven committee positions with four for independent owners. This balance is designed to safeguard owners’ interests from nefarious tactics by management companies or other entities.”

“However, Barry and Sharon Hurley, directors of Seasons Holidays PLC, appear to have got around this by their son, Jack Hurley, becoming a lodge owner. Seasons then used the timeshare weeks it owns to block vote Jack onto the committee as one of the 4 ‘independent’ owners.  After that, they installed him as chairman of the committee. And now Seasons has announced that it is motioning to dissolve the owners club and its constitution. It has also advised that if this is carried, then all lodge assets will be liquidated.”

Helen continues,

“basically, if Jack Hurley votes the way we assume he will (in his parents’ interest), then the club will be terminated and everyone who paid tens of thousands of pounds for a lifetime of holidays will be left with nothing.”

“Seasons has not organised the club AGM (Annual General Meeting) as is required in the constitution. Instead they have requisitioned an SGM (Special General Meeting) instead”.

“The last AGM in November 2020, which Seasons organised by itself, was by Zoom with all lodge owners muted, including the committee members, so nobody could speak out.”

“My father bought the lease of our lodge just before he died, for myself and my siblings, so that we could have somewhere to meet up once a year and remember both my parents and past happy times. Reminiscence is good for the soul,”

Aerial view of Slaley Hall Lodges, with the beautiful backdrop of Northumberland

It is a fact of “timeshare ownership” that although owners have rights of voting in the running of the club, it is unusual for owners to actually have any control, everything, as we have seen from the example above, it is all stacked in favour of the “management”. Inside Timeshare did run an article back in March 2016, which highlighted this very important problem.

Manipulation of votes by resorts and resort owners

This is not the first time this has happened and we doubt if it will be the last, timeshare in Europe is changing. It is no longer the “very lucrative” trade it once was. Sales have been declining for years, hence the closing of many sales decks over the past 3 to 4 years. The number of owners/members is declining, most are now elderly and there appears to be no “new blood” to take up the decline in income from these fees.

Yet we still see the timeshare companies and management treating those who have kept them in business for many years, being treated as if they are nothing more than a bank account to be milked! (Timeshare owners are known as “cash cows”).

This story is still developing, below is a PDF of the letter sent by The Trustees of the lodges, followed by a link to the TCA article published on My News Desk.

Would you like to know where you stand with your timeshare, did you purchase in Spain after January 1999, is your Spanish contract legal or illegal?

If you would like further information, please use our contact page and Inside Timeshare will get back to you.

Slaley Trutees Letter to OwnersDownload

https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/timeshare-consumer-association/pressreleases/seasons-holidays-are-cheating-us-out-of-the-timeshares-we-paid-for-say-desperate-slaley-hall-owners-3145167?fbclid=IwAR01Y5gH0sScITHjm1xq0fMwQgLx5FLtWjJRbjKhjt9H3i3xGYRweFbMa50