Press Release
Better Business Bureau Serving Central Oklahoma
For Interviews, Contact Bob Manista, CEO, at 405.236.5292
Timeshare Owners Bushwhacked by First American Services
The Better Business Bureau Serving Central Oklahoma is advising consumers to be cautious when dealing with a company that may be bushwhacking unsuspecting timeshare owners.
The BBB began receiving inquiries about First American Services, Inc. in September, 2011. The company's mailings state that it is a reseller of Mexican resort properties and also claims to be an international event planner. (As an event planner, the company claims to have a unique perspective on the resort market and what properties are more attractive to potential buyers.) Mailings sent by the firm propose a sale of timeshare properties. An agreement included with the mailing for signature by the property owner states that no up front fees are charged, but a 5% commission is owed to First American Services within seven days after the owner has received funds, and a transfer fee of 10% will be forwarded to the property owner upon closing. The "legally binding" agreement contains a number of grammatical errors; this can sometimes indicate a lack of professionalism and familiarity with English, which is a cause for concern. (The firm's website contains similar errors of grammar and syntax.)
The BBB routinely advises timeshare owners that they should be cautious signing agreements or paying up-front fees to anyone who claims they can sell a property. “In the past, unscrupulous timeshare resellers would accept no money up front, then charge unreasonable fees to list properties in trade magazines – the magazines themselves might be purely an invention of the reseller; the fees charged for a listing might be triple the cost of placing an ad on your own in a legitimate travel publication,” says Bob Manista, President of the Better Business Bureau Serving Central Oklahoma. Despite the lofty promises and ad fees, some timeshare brokers sold few or no properties and instead made a living off the various fees and charges paid by the property owner. “If the company lived up to the initial mailing and already had buyers on the hook, there would be no reason to pay for advertising,” Manista adds.
Besides the advance fees mentioned in complaints against First American Services received by the BBB, Manista is concerned about the payment timelines suggested by First American Services’ agreement. “A typical scam these days in many venues is to forward a worthless check to a consumer, making arrangements for an immediate repayment in return. By the time the consumer realizes that the check was no good, their money has gone to the con man. The same shell game could come up dealing with a timeshare reseller. If the con man writes a bogus check and mails it to the owner demanding a payment of the commission as agreed, the property owner might be so happy that they would wire the commission without waiting for the check to clear. When they realize the check is no good, the consumer will be out not only the promised amount of the original check, but whatever funds were forwarded to the sender.”
Then again, the con man may be too impatient to bother writing a bad check. In October 2011, the Better Business Bureau received its first complaint from a client of First American Services. The complaint states that the owner of the timeshare property was approached with the opportunity to sell a Mexican resort plot for $22,500. Soon after responding to the mailer, the owner was asked to pay a "transfer fee" of about $1,150; after wiring that to a Mexican bank account, the owner then paid "closing and administration fees" of $3,450. Within a few days of transferring that payment, the owner was then told to wire another $3,400 for "closing costs." The owner refused to pay more money, complained to First American Service's management, and demanded a refund of the fees already paid. According to the complaint, First American Service's management promised a refund, but the timeshare owner has not yet seen a return of his cash.
Maybe the company will respond to the complaint? “Not likely,” Manista predicts. A BBB staff member visited the company’s stated address, which happens to be in a prominent OKC office building. “There’s no company in the directory beginning with the letter F, and the building staff didn’t recognize the company name as being associated with any tenant. We’re expecting the complaints and our inquiries to the company to be returned the next time we see our mail delivered.”
The BBB recommends extreme caution in dealing with the firm until more is known about the business and its practices. Under no circumstances should timeshare owners pay any fees until they are certain payment for the property has cleared their accounts.