This article appeared in our local paper today:
Owners Ready to Sue Legends Resort
By Colin McEvoy
Herald Staff Writer
When Ray Foley spent $12,200 on a timeshare at Legends Resort five years ago, he was told the place would be "a palace in a few years".
Today, he said, the ceilings of the McAfee Hotel and Country club are covered with mold, the doors sprayed with graffiti. Other timeshare owners voiced similar complaints about sinks falling off the walls, cars seemingly abandoned in the parking lot, and nails protruding from walls and floorboards.
Foley and about 1,700 timeshare owners are especially upset about their ability to trade their week for another resort has been suspended.
"We have been lied to", Foley said. "I don't think they had any interest in the first place. I think it's been a big scam from the beginning".
Foley and about 35 fellow timeshare owners are pursuing a class action suit against the former Playboy Club, which they said has fallen further and further into disrepair over the years. They have mailed letters to about 1,700 fellow owners, inviting them to join the cause.
"We're getting organized right now," said Phil Pierro, an Oradell resident who paid $16,000 for his timeshare in 1999. "We're letting everybody know we're grouping together".
Ben Harris, an attorney representing Metairie Corporation, the developer that owns Legends, said they were working to restore and maintain the hotel, and had been for the last six years.
"The bottom line is that the developer remains committed to the timeshare owners, the resort and the community," Harris said.
Further in the article is states:
Most Legends timeshare owners made their purchases six or seven years ago and were told that once certain repairs were made, the hotel had the potential of a Gold Crown Resort, which would give them the highest possible trading power rating.
But in August 2005, those repairs had still not been made, leading the Resort Condominiums International Exchange company to temporarily suspend the resort from its exchange program.
Last December the resort was permanently suspended from the program, leaving the timeshare owners unable to trade their weeks.
RCI officials did not disclose the reason for the suspension, but according to a letter they released to timeshare owners on Aug 12, 2005, it was in response to "ongoing concerns regarded by members".
Harris said that the developer recently prevailed in "litigation that had forestalled the development of Legends for years," and was seeking a redevelopment district with Vernon Township that would allow for further restorations.
But Robbin Barron of Vernon, who spent $11,000 for her timeshare in 1999, said these were only more examples of the "lies and excuses" that she and other timeshare owners have heard since their purchase.
"We have been lied to for years," she said. "They have given us excuse after excuse for letting this place go so badly and not giving us what they promised."
Barron said a conference call hearing, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, will determine whether Ryan Mulvaney, the groups's attorney, can seek a class action suit certification.
In addition to writing to fellow timeshare owners, Barron said they have also filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, the NJ Real Estate Commission and the state Attorney General's office.
Harris did not address any of the specific examples of disrepair voiced by the timeshare owners, but said Metairie Corporation has invested $44 million in restoration over the last six years.
"As a result, the timeshare owners at Legends can vacation in beautifully remodeled apartments with access to a large pool and a comprehensive workout facility," Harris said. "There are restaurants nearby, ski slopes in the winder and an adjacent golf course in the warmer months."
Harris said the developer is exploring the possibility of allowing Legends owners to trade their shares with another resort, which he did not identify specifically.
The timeshare owners still have year-long access to the resort's facilities and are allowed to stay in their Legends rooms for one week, but most said they bought them for the trade power and live close enough in NJ that a vacation at Legends is impractical.
Marty Mandell, a Princeton resident who paid $11,500 for his timeshare, said the rooms are so uninviting that he would not want to stay in them anyway.
"Would you want to spend a week here?" Mandell asked. "There are no more restaurants, no heat, no gym and it's decidely unattractive".
The timeshare owners have continued to be billed for maintenance to their rooms - between $470 and $615 a year - but they claim to have seen little to no improvement.
"We have to pay our maintenance fees. To maintenance what?" said Mandell, who pays $600 a year in maintenance. "We have no idea where that money is going, but everybody's still getting their bills. That's why it's coming to a boiling point.
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It's really a darn shame what has happened to the place and how the owners have been scammed. It's stuff like this that give all timesharing a bad name.
