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December is now upon us and the courts will be having a last flurry of cases before the Christmas break. It is also the time of year when maintenance bills are being received and with this, there will be an increase in calls offering termination of your contracts. It is also the time when those who paid for these services will find that their timeshare has not been terminated and they are still liable for the maintenance fees. Inside Timeshare has been receiving many more enquiries regarding this and one of the main complaints is about ABC Legal.

As we published last week the story of two of our readers who are now being chased by a debt collection agency hired by ABC Legal and Mark Rowe, CCI Credit Management Ltd. We have since heard from another reader who is also being chased by them for payment of the fees to terminate their timeshare.

The timeshares have not been terminated by the timeshare company despite the protestations of ABC Legal that they have been. Our reader has demanded written official proof from ABC Legal to show that they did engage with the timeshare company and terminate the contract legally and formerly. Nothing has been forthcoming.

In each case, the letters demanding the clients pay ABC Legal Ltd, Abc Lawyers Ltd (both of these are in liquidation) or Advanced Business Consultants SL for the termination services has the following paragraph:

b) receipt by you of a letter from us stating that we consider that, in all of the circumstances, including the legal context and any legal notices served, that the Resort Owner is likely to treat the Timeshare Contract in effect as if it had been terminated (though in fact it has not been formally terminated) and that in our opinion the Resort Owner is unlikely to take any legal action against you. 

This paragraph is very contradictory, on the one hand they say the client will receive a letter from ABC that they consider the contract terminated, then they actually state in brackets that “though in fact it has not been formally terminated”. So the question is if it is not formally terminated how can it be terminated?

Surely the timeshare company would write to the member on official company letters that the timeshare is terminated and that the member should return all membership certificates?

The next telling part to show that ABC (Mark Rowe) does not, in fact, terminate contracts but rather tells the client to just stop paying the maintenance, that the timeshare company is “Unlikely in their opinion (ABC) to take legal action for any arrears”.

Well, we do know for the most part that this is untrue, many timeshare companies will chase for arrears in maintenance, most will not deal with companies such as these for termination. They will, however, deal direct with the member.

To us, at Inside Timeshare, this is blatant bullying by a company and owner who is well known for fleecing unsuspecting timeshare owners of their hard-earned cash. If you have dealt with any company such as this then please contact Inside Timeshare and we will point you in the right direction.

News also came in late on Friday that a German client of Canarian Legal Alliance has now received a payout from Anfi into their account. They have now received 27,753.96€ plus legal fees and legal interest, their contract was also declared null and void, so another happy ex-Anfi owner.

Did you purchase your timeshare after 5 January 1999, did you pay any deposit within the 14 days cooling-off period, is the contract for a duration in excess of 50 years, does it contain floating weeks or points or is a fractional or company participation scheme?

If you can say yes to one or more of these, then you may have an illegal contract and have the right to make a claim, then please use our contact page for more information on this or any other timeshare matter.

What a Cheek: ABC Legal Sends in Debt Collectors to Clients

Well, we thought we had seen everything until now, it appears that the “scammers” are now sending in the debt collectors to clients who wanted to cancel and refuse to pay or have not paid because they do not believe their timeshare contracts have been terminated. ABC Legal is the company involved and yes, it is the “crook” Mark Rowe who is once again behind it. Also, remember that Mark Rowe and several of his other companies are under criminal investigation in the UK and Spain.

Over the past few weeks Inside Timeshare has been receiving many emails on this subject. The first few were all clients who decided they wanted to cancel the services to terminate their timeshare because they felt pressured into signing and subsequently found some very disturbing news on the internet. Yet now they are being bullied into paying with threats of legal action and County Court Judgements.

Mark Rowe

The latest involves two clients who had taken on the services of ABC Legal or one of the other Mark Rowe companies, Advanced Business Consultants Legal SL and ABC Lawyers Ltd.

Both were sent letters on ABC Legalheaded paper telling them that their timeshare contracts had been terminated, both asked for proof as they had not heard anything from their respective resorts. Plus they are receiving demands for past maintenance fees and for next year.

ABC Legal refused to send any written evidence that the contracts had been formerly terminated. All they have done is refer the clients to this clause in their contract:

To clarify, by “Exit” we mean one of two things:

a) an agreement with the Resort Owner under which your Timeshare Contract is terminated on terms you approve in advance; OR 

b) receipt by you of a letter from us stating that we consider that, in all of the circumstances, including the legal context and any legal notices served, that the Resort Owner is likely to treat the Timeshare Contract in effect as if it had been terminated (though in fact it has not been formally terminated) and that in our opinion the Resort Owner is unlikely to take any legal action against you. 

Both (Name of Resort) and (Name of Resort) have failed to engage or respond to the legal notices served.

Now there is a very telling point in the second clause:

(though in fact, it has not been formally terminated) and that in our opinion the Resort Owner is unlikely to take any legal action against you.

They actually admit that the contract has not been “formerlly terminated”, that the resorts failed to engage or respond to legal notices served.

The question is what “Legal Notices”?

As we have pointed out on many occasions, most timeshare companies will not engage with or recognise these third party terminations, they will deal directly with the member only. It is also a fact that timeshare companies will pursue owners/members for arrears in maintenance fees. Many of these companies will use the services of Daniels Silverman based in Liverpool, this is the prefered choice of Diamond.

The debt collection agency employed by ABC Legal is CCI Credit Management Ltd, The CCICM Centre Snowdonia Business Park Portmadog.

It is also a fact that ABC Legal and ABC lawyers are in liquidation, with ABC Legal filling on 8 February 2019 and ABC Lawyers also on 8 February 2019.

ABC Legal liquidation application-pdfDownload
ABC Lawyers liquidation application-pdfDownload

So another question has to be asked, how can companies in liquidation employ a debt collection agency to recover unpaid invoices for them?

If anyone out there knows a good answer I would love to hear it.

So there we have it, the “Scammers” are still at it but trying to use legal means. One thing we can say to Mark Rowe, you certainly know how to rip people off.

We all hope that you end up getting your just deserts and are thrown into prison for a substantial time just for all the misery that you have heaped on the unsuspecting.

If you have been contacted by CCI Credit Management Ltd or have had dealings with any of these companies and are still receiving your maintenance bills, then please use our contact page and get in touch.

The Tale of Mrs B and MacDonald Resorts Continues

For those readers who have been following Inside Timeshare over the past few years, you will remember the story of Mrs B and her battle with MacDonald Hotels and Resorts. Mrs B made contact in 2016 after receiving threatening letters from MacDonald Resorts regarding her timeshare membership at the Dona Lola Club on the Costa del Sol and the maintenance arrears. Despite all efforts to resolve the situation MacDonald Resorts refuses to budge and the story is now getting worse.

The story begins many years ago when Mrs B and her sister both in their 60’s and 70’s ended up on a presentation at the Dona Lola Club. After a rather long presentation, they decided to purchase, even though they already owned at Oasis Lanz in Lanzarote.

For several years they used the timeshare and were very happy with the resort, but circumstances changed. Due to severe medical issues, they were unable to travel and no longer used the timeshare. They continued to pay the annual maintenance fees as soon as the bills arrived even though they were not using it.

Then in May 2014, they were contacted by a company who told them they could relinquish their contract. Everything was explained to them and Mrs B paid £5695 to this company to do the work for them. This included relinquishing both Dona Lola and Oasis Lanz.

In May of 2015, they received notification that both timeshares had now been transferred to the name of another person. (Inside Timeshare has his name, address and passport number, he even shows on the electoral register).

The notification included copies of the document duly signed by a registered notary in Spain that the timeshares had been transferred.

It was not until the maintenance bills kept arriving with demands for payment of arrears that they found out that unlike Oasis Lanz, MacDonald Resorts did not recognise the transfer. According to MacDonald’s Mrs B and her sister were still liable for the maintenance fee each and every year.

Oasis Lanz

Eventually, they began receiving demands from a debt collecting agency called Network Credit Services threatening court action if the arrears were not paid. Inside Timeshare contacted this company on behalf of Mrs B and they refused to acknowledge that the debt was in dispute and they had no legal basis to continue the recovery.

Now the story moves on to this year, Mrs B has now received even worse threatening letters from another debt collecting agency, Shepherd and Wedderburn.

In this letter, they once again threatened legal action to recover the debt and have also included copies of County Court Judgements made in favour of MacDonald Hotels and Resorts. To say the least, this is intimidation at its worse.

Now what you must remember is that both are now very elderly with Mrs B aged 93. Both are virtually housebound and have alarm systems in place in case of an emergency. They both live off their pensions and cannot afford to pay the arrears which no amount to over £5,000 which includes interest court fees and legal fees.

MacDonald Resorts want them to pay the arrears before they will even contemplate allowing them to surrender their membership and then they will want 4 years worth of maintenance fees upfront. This will amount to over £10,000.

MacDonald Resorts are no strangers to the press, Tony Hetherington amongst others has published numerous articles on how they behave. One article highlights one story titled “The timeshare contract that even death will not save you from.”

Inside Timeshare is working with Mrs B and one of her neighbours to once again try to resolve this dispute. We will keep you informed.

Follow the links below for more on this subject.

Have you had a similar experience either with MacDonald Hotels and Resorts or any other timeshare then we would love to hear from you?

Do you want to know how to relinquish your timeshare or even if you have a legal claim?

Then please use our contact page and we will get back to you.

https://insidetimeshare.com/never-ending-ownership-another-nightmare-timeshare-street/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/investing/article-5073153/TONY-HETHERINGTON-s-time-leave-Cameron-House-Hotel.html

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/experts/article-2698355/TONY-HETHERGINGTON-Even-death-not-rid-timeshare.html

http://insidetimeshare.com/illness-not-reason-surrender-timeshare/

http://insidetimeshare.com/bbc-scotland-investigates-problems-timeshare-contracts/