It is being reported that the Tennessee Supreme Court has let stand a $600,000 verdict against one of the nations largest timeshare companies in the case of a couple who were allegedly sold false promises in a Gatlinburg sales pitch.
The high Court, it seems, has turned aside an appeal bid by the Orlando based Westgate Resorts of the damages awarded by Sevier County Chancellor Telford Forgety Jr. to Nathan B. Overton and his wife, Patricia A. Overton, of Dickson, Tenn.
Forgety deemed Westgate guilty of “willfully” violating the Tennessee Timeshare Act and the Tennessee Consumer Protections Act in its Gatlinburg resort’s dealings with the Overtons.
Jamie Satterfield of Knoxville News reported;
“Forgety hit the firm with damages totalling more than $700,000, including punitive damages and attorneys’ fees. The Tennessee Court of Appeals later shaved $100,000 off the total because of a cap imposed by the Legislature. It is one news reporters opinion that the firm was lucky not to face criminal charges. Even with the cut, the total damages still top $600,000.
The Overtons were vacationing in Gatlinburg in July 2011 when a Westgate booth operator convinced them to take a tour of the resort. Westgate, based in Orlando, Fla., has more than a dozen resorts across the U.S. The Court of Appeals opinion put the assets of Westgate at more than $1.3 billion, with income in a single year at $500 million.
Billionaire David Siegel, 79, and his wife — the former Mrs. Florida, Jacqueline Siegel, 48 — were featured in a documentary film in 2012 entitled “The Queen of Versailles,” a reference to the French palace, about the couple’s construction of a 90,000-square-foot house in Orlando. It is billed as the largest home ever constructed in the U.S.
The Overtons described their time at Westgate’s Gatlinburg resort as an all-day, high-pressure sales pitch in which they were promised a particular unit on a particular week each year, bonus “guest nights,” a foosball table and a cut of sales staffers’ Robert Brian Justice and Raymond Veverka’s commissions.
None of it was true, according to the opinion. They were not guaranteed the same unit or a particular week. They were not authorized for cheap “guest nights” nor did they get a foosball table or a cut from the commissions.
Mark Barton, executive director of contract processing at Westgate’s corporate headquarters, conceded in testimony that was common practice, the Court of Appeals opinion stated”.
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