Resort development organisation investigates

RESORT DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (RDO) INVESTIGATES

Today (30 January 2015) Praetorian sent correspondence to the timeshare resort Fairways who many of our blog readers and timeshare owners will be familiar. We had an interesting email in response to our correspondence, interesting because having sent many letters to Fairways over the past 18 months and having received no response whatsoever. So today’s response was somewhat of a surprise, firstly that we even got a response and secondly by the content of their reply.

The surprise reply came with few words and simply said ‘As we are aware that Praetorian Legal is being investigated by the RDO we will not be responding to any of your correspondence’. This is news to us and the bigger question is, what are the RDO actually investigating? We are so intrigued that we are in the process of writing direct to the RDO to find out what it is they are investigating and why.

As all of our clients are aware we have been operating one of the most ethical and fair consumer dispute services available. However, since taking on timeshare ownership disputes approximately 18 months ago our good name and reputation appears to have been brought into disrepute by many timeshare resorts, timeshare management companies and self-proclaimed timeshare investigate companies like Timeshare Taskforce/ Kwik Chex the RDO appointed timeshare industry problem solvers. It is however laughable that the RDO should choose such a company (Kwik Chex) whose Director Mr Christopher Emmins is a serial company director with more than 20 failed, bankrupt or liquidated companies to his name. Mr Emmins Companies House public profile can be seen here>>>

This gives us some idea about how serious the RDO are about helping the timeshare industry and timeshare owners. We would suggest that the RDO’s appointment is more recollection of the ‘old boys network’. It does not matter how unethical one behaves the RDO are willing to turn a blind eye if it suits.

So let’s examine the facts NOT the timeshare resort hype and deceit surrounding the timeshare industry and peddled by the like of the RDO, TATOC, Kwik Chex/ Timeshare Taskforce. See our previous article The Axis of Evil here>>>

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• Praetorian Legal take instruction from clients who are timeshare owners and want to terminate their timeshare agreements.
• Praetorian Legal provide all their clients with a standard plain English agreement to represent them as their appointed agents in disputing their timeshare agreement
• Praetorian Legal then enter into written communication direct with the timeshare resort, also providing them with an authority signed by the timeshare owner, our client.
• Praetorian Legal’s staff are legally qualified and/or legally trained with many years’ experience in the work they undertake, consumer law/ disputes.
• Praetorian Legal are not regulated by the law society and do not conduct litigation per se. This how we keep costs down and offer our services at an affordable price
• Praetorian Legal have a panel of expert contract/ consumer solicitors and barristers/advocates who undertake all of our litigation work and provide advice and opinions on an ongoing basis
• Praetorian Legal carry a £ 2,000,000.00 Professional Indemnity insurance policy with a leading professional indemnity insurer. [/fancy_list]

The business model operated by Praetorian Legal is lawful cost effective and there are no rules or legislation that prevents us acting or trading in this manner.

So what exactly are RDO investigating? What are Praetorian Legal doing that needs investigating by the RDO?

The RDO who are funded by timeshare resort membership fees received from the same organisations who are being challenged by Praetorian Legal. Does it not appear a little suspicious or all too coincidental that the timeshare resorts who refuse to correspond with us and are predominantly members of the RDO and now Praetorian Legal are purportedly under some pseudo investigation by the RDO?

We would make some observations of our own here to evoke some further thought. It should be mentioned that a timeshare owner can appoint anyone they wish to act as their agent or representative in a dispute and indeed there is now an organisation in the UK by the name of The Society of Professional McKenzie Friends. This organisation and work it carries out is now recognised by the Courts and it is not regulated by any professional body but it provides litigants with a much cheaper alternative to advocacy than the traditional use of solicitors and barristers.

The point we are making is the legal landscape in the UK is changing and for organisations like the RDO and the timeshare resorts to cast suspicion upon these new and emerging legal service entities is merely vindictive and provides for confusion. This confusion, in turn, produces a smokescreen to allow timeshare resorts to keep owners paying there exorbitant maintenance fees thereby avoiding challenges to their unfair, unenforceable timeshare agreements.

We have researched all of the UK case law databases for reported and unreported cases to do with timeshare litigation and cases that may have reached trial or a full hearing. Unbelievably we did not find one fully contested timeshare case, for an industry the size and maturity of the timeshare industry this is an extraordinary finding. This does however support our theory that the last thing the RDO and the timeshare resorts want is a full contest case and the court find that a timeshare agreement is unfair and unenforceable, hence the reluctance to take a case to trial or in our own cases, even to issue proceedings.

We can now report that we hold over 400 timeshare matters all of which we have stopped our clients paying maintenance fees, all of which we have written to outlining our case and our intention to challenge their agreement on the grounds of fairness and enforceability and all of which we have invited to issue legal proceedings. To date only one timeshare resort have issued proceedings but just did not have the nerve to take it to trial even a Small Claims track trial, they begged us to agree to their Notice of Discontinuance. The resort we are referring to was Lakeview Country Club and the redacted proceedings can be viewed here>>>>

So the timeshare resort’s preferred response to our correspondence is to ignore it and continue to harass the timeshare owner. The RDO clearly ignore this unlawful unacceptable activity by their members and find it prudent to turn their attentions to investigation the like of ourselves. It should be known that under the Administration of Justice Act 1970, Section 40 it is a Criminal Offence to harass debtors.

So what is considered harassment? Below are some of the scenarios listed by the Office of Fair Trading  (Harassment of Debtors) which can be seen by clicking here>>

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• Ignoring a Debtor’s appointed representative and continuing to contact debtor is HARASSMENT. Timeshare resorts constantly ignore our correspondence and continue to contact timeshare owners directly. HARASSMENT, CRIMINAL OFFENCE.
• Ignoring a Debtor’s dispute is HARASSMENT. Praetorian Legal send recorded and electronic correspondence advising the timeshare resort of our client’s dispute. The timeshare resort do not respond but continue render maintenance fee invoices. HARASSMENT CRIMINAL OFFENCE
• Ignoring a Debtor’s disputes and instructing collection agencies – HARASSMENT. Timeshare resorts ignore our correspondence and employ debt collectors. We then write to the debt collectors and they blame the resort for not informing them HARASSMENT, CRIMINAL OFFENCE[/fancy_list]

The above are just 3 of many other situations that the Office of Fair Trading consider to be Harassment and consequently a Criminal Offence. Every Praetorian Legal client has been subject to at 2 of the above and the RDO are purportedly investigating Praetorian Legal.

A message to the RDO – we welcome your investigation and we look forward to hearing from you – because if you do not contact us, our lawyers will be contacting you very soon.