I realize there are tons of posters here and some duplication/where does it belong confusion obviously cannot be avoided.
However, the above subject transends many categories here and it would be most helpful if all of these kind of posts were put in a new catergory where one could just search through threads there to see if "his" scammer has been IDed.
Mexico might be an exception or could be posted in both places!
I think relative to Dr Rich, we need to be specific. I do not believe he is trying to scam owners who want to transfer timeshares to him for his fee. I think he fully intends to do what he says he will do on his website. I don't think anyone disagrees with this assertion.
The problem is that there is some reason to believe that he MAY have fraudulent intent with respect to knowing ahead of time that he does not intend to ever pay maintenance fees on the timeshares he acquires. I say MAY since there is some dispute over whether or not there is strong legal footing for his business model. At the end of the day, we will only know for sure if he gets indicted by some entity in California where his company is incorporated and he loses a criminal case against his company.
Assuming he loses such a criminal case, then there will be a probe to see if he had any accomplices. That means that others conspired with Dr. Rich to create a fraudulent organization. As a lonely timeshare owner, my non-expert opinion is that it would be extremely hard to be construed as an accomplish since you are not an expert and was simply looking for an option to liquidate your timeshare. It is more likely that a PCC or PCC aligned closing company could be implicated if a pattern of behavior could be established.
If there is no criminal activity, then the HOAs must sue Dr. Rich's company in a civil suit. That is not likely to happen since the only assets in the company are worthless timeshares. So, if Dr. Rich can withstand a criminal charge, I think a lot of companies will be formed exactly as his is set up. Remember, real estate laws are state laws. So, just because he loses a suit in California, does not mean it is illegal in other states. It needs to be tested in every state.
In any event, I believe it is safe to transfer timeshares through liquidation companies and long as they don't appear to be creating outright fraudulent organizations. It is not illegal to fail as a company. It is illegal to plan to fail before you ever start if it is an attempt to defraud a debtor.
The other thing I don't like about Dr Rich's model is the tax deduction he is suggesting an owner can claim. I am against that idea because in an IRS audit, it will be the responsibility of the owner to prove how he came up with fair market value for his timeshare. Let's face it, your timeshare is worthless or you wouldn't be using Dr. Rich's service. I would avoid that tax deduction. Remember, the Feds couldn't convicted Al Capone for murder, but they did put him in jail for tax evasion. Don't ever mess with the IRS.
