Castle Law Group - TN

[retire06]

Invited to meeting "to provide TS owners with latest developments" - have to call to find out where. Anyone have experience with this group?

 

[dioxide45]

No experience, but this is a common question just with a different company name. If they contacted you, it is always some way for them to try to make you part with your money.

Here is a thread from 2011 mentioning this outfit.

 

[Passepartout]

How much do they want upfront, and for what services?

 

[ronparise]

Unnecessary, gratuitous denigrating comment removed.

 

[colatown]

Too bad this Castle wasn't cancelled today.

 

[retire06]

Letter does not mention money...just "informational meeting designed to provide ts owners with latest developments in ts-related issues...most ts owners are unaware of many State and Federal laws that protect ts owners...that provide important right to each owner...no risk or obligation to attend...availability extremely limited...call 888-983-5396 before May 20 using priority booking code..." Address is 205 Powell Place, #401, Brentwood, TN (suburb of Nashville).

 

[vacationhopeful]

If they mentioned a COST or FEE in the letter, their attendance would most likely be very low.

Sales operations ... which might be the TRUE purpose of this meeting ... will "seed" the audience with at least 2 or 3 people (couples even) who are employed to act as 'shills' to encourage guests ('their marks') to part with money.

Attend if you want .. just to collect the information but provide a phone number from a NEW, disposal cell (like a Walmark $10 Tracfone cell phone with 30 day usage card; don't setup voice mail .. use text only) ... as they will mostly 'sell'/'trade' your contact info. Any form they ask you to fill out ... code it, so you can "see" where it is shared ... like if your name is Mary ... change it to Ma'ree or Harry becomes Harold.

They will want a credit card, also .. to verify who you are ... take none with you ... telling them, you have closed all credit cards but one ..which you always leave at home. After all, this is an informational ONLY seminar, right?

I usually use my Passport as proof of identity; never my driver's license as that has my address on it.

 

[theo]

Letter does not mention money...just "informational meeting designed to provide ts owners with latest developments in ts-related issues...most ts owners are unaware of many State and Federal laws that protect ts owners...that provide important right to each owner...no risk or obligation to attend...availability extremely limited...call 888-983-5396 before May 20 using priority booking code..." Address is 205 Powell Place, #401, Brentwood, TN (suburb of Nashville).

It's just another "exit" operation of one flavor or another, plainly and simply stated. You pre-register --- and get promptly tagged as a prospective "mark". You then attend the "meeting" and listen to them rattle on about the evils, perils and pitfalls of timeshare ownership. You then pay them (non-refundable) serious money and they may or may not ever actually help you to (lawfully) relinquish and (lawfully) transfer your timeshare ownership. Sound good so far?

It could be that they are legitimate attorneys, perhaps willing to go to bat against a developer (for a hefty fee, of course), alleging fraud in the purchase inducement (only potentially or remotely applicable for a developer-direct purchase btw, not for a resale market purchase --- with no guaranty of success in any case). It could possibly be a Postcard Company (...if so, they will seek cash from you plus Power of Attorney to (...maybe) try to peddle your timeshare for a buck on eBay), or it could perhaps be a Viking Ship operation (...if so, they will seek cash from you to (fraudulently? ) deed the ownership into some bogus LLC). The one common element in each of these possible scenarios is you paying them some serious and non-refundable money to perform whatever "magic act" they will claim to be able to perform for you.

Please understand clearly that these folks are neither conducting "educational seminars" nor operating out of the goodness of their hearts. They're looking for your money.

 

[Ty1on]

Letter does not mention money...just "informational meeting designed to provide ts owners with latest developments in ts-related issues...most ts owners are unaware of many State and Federal laws that protect ts owners...that provide important right to each owner...no risk or obligation to attend...availability extremely limited...call 888-983-5396 before May 20 using priority booking code..." Address is 205 Powell Place, #401, Brentwood, TN (suburb of Nashville).

Do you think they want to do you a favor?

 

[TUGBrian]

as if anyone needed any reinforcement that this was a sham

https://www.law360.com/articles/932931/law-firm-defrauded-timeshare-owners-to-win-business-suit

 

[Iggyearl]

If you have a bunch of time, this thread has been going on for some time, and continues with dozens of angered clients. Maybe you could print it out and take a copy to show them.....

https://www.redweek.com/forums/messages?thread_id=20896

 

[TUGBrian]

truly a shame that so many folks fall for these scams even today...

 

[theo]

as if anyone needed any reinforcement that this was a sham

https://www.law360.com/articles/932931/law-firm-defrauded-timeshare-owners-to-win-business-suit

I hope that this lawsuit helps to provide some belated (...ahem) "broader exposure" for this alleged "Castle Law Group".

I rarely read RedWeek discussion forums, finding the knowledge and literacy level there to be depressingly low, but post #11 above provides a link to a RedWeek thread which makes it very clear that, for at least the past two years now, a fair number of people apparently keep shipping their hard earned money off to this outfit, with all of them (predictably) achieving the exact same end result --- i.e., nada, crickets, zilch, nothing, zippo.

I have no idea if "Castle Law Group" is even actually a real law firm with licensed attorneys in the first place, but I have little doubt that the lawsuit recently filed against them in Federal court in Florida will ultimately shine some very bright sunlight onto this operation, whatever it may be.

 

[TUGBrian]

Im convinced folks already make up their minds about some decisions even before they post asking for advice.

It happens quite regularly via email as well, even after being told point blank that doing business with "random xyz company" is a terrible idea...some just seem to want to hear that answer and still hold on to the .00000000001% chance its totally not a scam.

 

[TUGBrian]

annnd...you know they have to be shady when WESTGATE sues them!

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa...VuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNEDWcgMwKGSf7Wg5gAn0ZI__UHg4A

 

[TUGBrian]

appears DRI has jumped on the bandwagon....

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...mond-Resorts-Files-Suit-Castle-Law-Principals

 

[WackyLucy]

Invited to meeting "to provide TS owners with latest developments" - have to call to find out where.

One "latest development" they will surely not mention is the fact that Castle Law Group is currently being sued in Federal court in Florida by two separate entities alleging fraud by Castle --- and that Castle is now the respondent in another law suit filed in Federal court in TN (see link which TUGBrian has kindly provided above). Do you really want to waste your time attending a "meeting" with these upfront fee parasites?

As an irrelevant but somewhat interesting aside, the principal in Castle Law Group operation is a TN attorney named Judson Phillips, who is also a founder of some "Tea Party" political group. Are you getting a warm and fuzzy feeling yet about this particular operation?

 

[WackyLucy]

appears DRI has jumped on the bandwagon....

http://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...mond-Resorts-Files-Suit-Castle-Law-Principals

What is truly strange here is that people can and do routinely get out of DRI ownership by dealing directly with DRI and paying DRI a mere $250, but some people willingly choose instead to pay Castle Law Group multiple times that figure to do little or nothing more than just take their money.
It seems that some people are intent upon proving the accuracy of the old adage that "A fool and his money are soon parted".

 

[TUGBrian]

annnd...you know they have to be shady when WESTGATE sues them!

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa...VuOlVT&usg=AFQjCNEDWcgMwKGSf7Wg5gAn0ZI__UHg4A

while i cant read the full article since im not a law360 member, the snippet appears to imply that this company cant contact WG owners anymore?

https://www.law360.com/hospitality/...gate-resort-castle-law-resolve-timeshare-suit

"U.S. District Judge Gregory A. Presnell handed down a permanent final injunction as to Tennessee-based law firm Castle Law Group and its principal, attorney Judson Phillips, saying they agreed to the order that enjoins them from engaging in any way with Westgate owners "

 

[RX8]

More good news. According to the state of Tennessee public records Castle Law Group’s owner Judson Phillips, also an attorney, was disbarred on August 24, 2018.

http://www.tba.org/sites/default/files/disbar_phillips.pdf

 

[TUGBrian]

not sure how you get disbarred twice...but apparently you can!

https://www.wsmv.com/news/davidson-...cle_3b404184-87ce-11e9-ab04-8335cb4fb011.html