The Timeshare Company - Uri Fried's closing company

Does anyone have any experience with The Timeshare Company based in Wisconsin? They are the required closer for an auction I just won.

Thanks!

Ann

This is Uri Fried's Company

I found an old TUG thread that is very informative and I will be very careful with these folks.

FYI for those who are following this company and this reseller - he now owns a fitness center in Wisconsin in addition to the reselling business and the closing company. The person who answered my request for auction follow-up had a fitness-company email address.

They want the money first, no contract, then they will prepare a deed. (This is a first for me ) No way. :annoyed: I want to see the contract and estoppel. I checked as much as I could with the resort before the auction but there is no substitute for seeing it verified on paper. I also read in the old thread that they have a history of inaccurate auction listings so I am on high alert!

Wish me luck!

Ann

Aussiedog said:

They want the money first, no contract, then they will prepare a deed. (This is a first for me )

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I've probably bought 10-15 timeshare weeks this way (one from Uri Fried) and never had a problem. I've probably bought 500 items on Ebay the same way; i.e I send the money, they send the item. One hiccup to date. No big deal. Unless you are sending many thousands, don't sweat it.

GEORGE

bogey21 said:

I've probably bought 10-15 timeshare weeks this way (one from Uri Fried) and never had a problem. I've probably bought 500 items on Ebay the same way; i.e I send the money, they send the item. One hiccup to date. No big deal. Unless you are sending many thousands, don't sweat it.

GEORGE

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I'd strongly disagree. Buying a timeshare is not like buying an ipod on ebay. You are spending hundreds, maybe thousands for a deeded property. You are responsible for the property in perpetuity. Granted, you haven't signed a contract yet so your risk is reduced but I would be hesitant to proceed without a contract. Unless I heard of positive experiences from more tuggers, I would think about walking away from this one.

Not sure if you've seen this thread, but you'll want to read it.

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43535

I bought one from Uri & Co. While it ended up ok, I wouldn't do it again. It took 6 months+ to get their mistakes corrected. Make sure you know what you're buying. I'd ask for a copy of the deed (they can blot out the previous owners names), before sending $$$.

I was ripped off by Uri Fried several years ago, when he had a company called "Weselltimeshares.com" I was sold (supposedly) a 2-br. unit in Newport, RI, but received instead a 1-br., transferred by Uri Fried. When I advised of the error, I was told to deed the 1-br. back to him, and that he would then deed me the 2-br. In addition, I was required to pay the annual fees on the unit to transfer it back.

After I transferred it back, and about 4 months and 20 or so emails, I was advised that the timeshare salesman with whom I had been working "had left the company," and that I would not get anything transferred to me. So, Uri Fried got my money, the closing fees, payment of the annual fees on the unit he took back, and I got nothing.

Based on that, it's my opinion that he is untrustworthy and I would never do business with him. I'd also recommend against anyone else ever trusting him or any of his companies.

You, the buyer are in charge of this sale....

Before you send a single penny ask for a copy of the deed. If the broker hesitates tell him to redact the name and address of owner. You have every right to see that deed BEFORE you start closing.

eBay or any other auction site is trumped by real estate laws so the sale is not really a sale – just an informal agreement to start a sale.

If you pay the closing costs you are entitled to pick the closing company. Pick one that folks on TUG are happy with.

If Uri doesn’t like any of the above tell him to take a hike.

Check with the BBB. See if there are any complaints.

Still on High Alert

Good morning everyone -

Yes, Pit, I did see that thread and that is what got my attention. That thread is a classic example of the value of this board.

Bogey21 and Jim - I agree with both of you. This is a $5 property before closing costs so up front financial risk is very low, and if it was a company I had dealt with before I would not sweat it at all. But on the flipside, I don't have the time to go into battle if the deed does not match the auction or the fees are not current. In this case, while usage is annual it does not start until 2009 with the current owners having paid the 2008 MFs and banked the week - I would sure like to see proof of that!

Perry - DH and I use eBay a lot (in various categories) and I think that if the seller insists on using a particular closing company that 's part of the deal and I know that when I am bidding. That being said, if it turns out that there is a problem with the company that I identify before I sign anything - deal over.

In my short history with TSs, I have not completed eBay wins due to:

• MFs were way off and could not be verified until after the auction ended
• float season was wrong - found it on the deed after resort refused to tell me anything
• closing company was new and not able to handle a close in SC, wanted to sub it out, and I decided to pass on that whole process.

And I'm a newbie!!!!

I'll let you know how it goes when I contact them today....

Ann

Aussiedog said:

Good morning everyone -

Yes, Pit, I did see that thread and that is what got my attention. That thread is a classic example of the value of this board.

Bogey21 and Jim - I agree with both of you. This is a $5 property before closing costs so up front financial risk is very low, and if it was a company I had dealt with before I would not sweat it at all. But on the flipside, I don't have the time to go into battle if the deed does not match the auction or the fees are not current. In this case, while usage is annual it does not start until 2009 with the current owners having paid the 2008 MFs and banked the week - I would sure like to see proof of that!

Perry - DH and I use eBay a lot (in various categories) and I think that if the seller insists on using a particular closing company that 's part of the deal and I know that when I am bidding. That being said, if it turns out that there is a problem with the company that I identify before I sign anything - deal over.

In my short history with TSs, I have not completed eBay wins due to:

• MFs were way off and could not be verified until after the auction ended
• float season was wrong - found it on the deed after resort refused to tell me anything
• closing company was new and not able to handle a close in SC, wanted to sub it out, and I decided to pass on that whole process.

And I'm a newbie!!!!

I'll let you know how it goes when I contact them today....

Ann

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Just remember that eBay has NO authority to enforce this sale - if you have doubts about the seller I would certainly insist on my own closing company since I'm paying for it.

That deed is critical. Many times its missing and takes 30 days for the seller to get one from the state. That deed may spell out exactly what is for sale and it might not.

I would be very aggressive towards this seller if it were me. If there wasn't anything above board I'd bail.

Be careful of leaving negative feedback since this kind of guy simply will retaliate and get a new user name.

Thanks Perry

Good advice -

I have never had to leave negative feedback and plan on leaving none here. You are right - I have seen "feedback _____ing matches" and they are not pretty.

IF this needs to be unwound (and I am genetically programmed as an optomist so I am sure this will work out) there is usually a way to negotiate so that all parties back away "no harm no foul".

Oops - Seller just emailed that he has never had to use anything but the auction description to do the deal, that I am backed by the protection of eBay (not) AND that the closing company is buyer's agent. Here we go.....

Ann

Are you running yet????

Aussiedog said:

Seller just emailed that he has never had to use anything but the auction description to do the deal, that I am backed by the protection of eBay (not) AND that the closing company is buyer's agent. Here we go.....

Ann

Click to expand...

That's quite an assortment of unconvincing and/or and inaccurate statements made in just a very few lines by this seller! Maybe you should just respond that if the closing company is buyer's agent (despite being under contract to the seller), then you would like to utilize a closing entity of your own choice and selection.

Hope it works out for you, but there seems to be a bit of an aroma here....

The closing fees are where most of these $1 auction weeks make the money for the sellers. They pick up the weeks from resorts or various other sources and sell them cheap on e-bay, then make their profit on much inflated closing costs.

I bought a week from Uri a number of years ago, but it was at a resort I already owned at so I was able to get info about the week from the resort manager since he knew me. Sale went through fine and week has woked well for me.

Must be closed for the holidays

Well I called The Timeshare Company several times but to no avail. Must be out for the next couple of days.

In the meantime, I called the resort and again confirmed that the current owners are up to date with their MFs (through 2008), no special assessments are on the horizon, no mortgage, unit is being refurbished right now (they do a few every year and the funds come out of the reserves), etc, and so I think I'll sit tight and wait for the closing company to show me the deed.

I checked their sister site - the one that you use if you want to have them sell your property - and they require a copy of the deed in order to sell. So ever the optomist, I assume that by this time Wednesday I will have a scanned deed in front of me.....

Soooo disappointed in the Seller (who works for this sister company and says that he has sold many TSs on eBay) for trying to tell me that I am covered by eBay's protection plan. Every TS auction clearly states the opposite just below the seller's info!!! Hello?????

Ann

I bought a timeshare from them about 7 months ago and all went fairly smoothly.

I had misgivings about doing business with Uri based upon his negative reputation with TUGgers such as HOC a few years back. But since the current Ebay week was such a great deal and involved less than $600. including all closing fees, and since Uri's Ebay feedback was excellent at the time of this auction, I decided to take a chance.

The woman handling the paperwork was very pleasant. She answered my Emails and returned calls quickly. It did take about 3 months for the deal to be completed but much of this was expected because the court where the deed was filed (Broward County, Fl.) is notorious for processing deeds slowly.

The one problem I had was that for three weeks after the deed had been recorded, the closing office told me that everything had been sent and the deed had not been returned by the court. I checked the court records online and found that the deed had been recorded almost a month prior. When I called and told this to the closing company, they suddenly "found it." This was not a problem for me because the check in date was 9 months away. But it could be a problem for others.

Thank you!

excellent "heads up" on the deed issue.

Ann

update....

http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1791342#post1791342