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Scams can happen anywhere in the world, scams within the timeshare industry included. Here at Timeshare Advice we are detailing a timeshare lawyer scam that occurred in Nashville, USA, to make all timeshare owners aware of lengths these scam artists will go to.

Castle Law Group PC, a company based in Nashville, were offering legal services through false and misleading advertising,when money was paid over by the client, no services were delivered.

Timeshare owners have said that they were canvassed by Castle Law Group PC and they were told that they were victims of ‘timeshare fraud’. These timeshare owners all had their timeshare products with Orange Lake Country Club in Kissimmee, Florida. It was actually Orange Lake Country Club who initiated the lawsuit, not the timeshare owners themselves.

The complaint submitted by Orange Lakes alleges the timeshare lawyer scheme involved two men working under the name of a capital investment firm called Castle Venture Group LLC. The complaint went on to allege that money was passed to Castle Marketing Group LLC to then be able to gain business via fraudulent methods on behalf of Judson Phillips, an attorney who worked for Castle Law Group, owned by Keever. Judson Phillips had previously been a Tennessee assistant district attorney who was deeply involved in the Conservative US political movement within the Republican Party, known as the Tea Party.

Another company cited in the lawsuit was a separate company named Resort Relief LLC and this company are allegedly responsible for keeping the victims using the services of Castle Law by using direct phone calls and deceptive and fraudulent advertising.

The victims of this scam have said the people they dealt with at Castle Law Group were not actually lawyers, despite the company’s claim that they employ “lawyers and legal support staff”.

Castle Law Group gave the victims a one-year or an 18-month guaranteed timescale for getting their individual cases resolved, claiming that they would help the timeshare owners cancel their timeshare agreements and debt that may have occurred assisting in the negotiation of a full settlement to be paid by Orange Lake. The timeshare owners were advised to default on their payments to Orange Lake so that Castle Law Group could then go ahead and purchase their timeshare interests.

Once the guaranteed timescale was up, each victim was then told that their timeshare contract had definitely been canceled and they were just waiting on the paperwork to be returned for the case to then be finalised. With this being a scam, you would be right in assuming that none of above came into fruition. In fact, despite Castle Law taking an initial fee of $7,500 (a retainer) from each of the victims, they were highly unsuccessful in achieving contract cancellations.

This scam was a violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and the prosecution are demanding an injunction against the defendants on all charges and for the defendants to pay all costs and legal fees.

Here at Timeshare Advice, we hope that all of the above highlights the need for thorough research to be done before you decide on a company to handle any matters regarding your timeshare. Whether you are looking to relinquish your timeshare for any reason and then want to look at claiming timeshare compensation, it is always important to be vigilant.
There are more and more ‘legal’ firms appearing, offering their services in timeshare matters. It is only when people have paid across their hard earned money it is found to be a scam. These companies are set up on the sole purposes of scamming people out of as much money as possible. PLEASE be careful.

Timeshare Consumer Association would say to always use a company that you feel you can trust and have your best interests at heart, consider recommendations from people you know and if you want any further information or some independent advice call us on 0800 072 4683.

See our recent post regarding thinking before you buy.

For more information regarding this article or assistance in any other timeshare related issues please contact the TCA on 01908 881058 or email: info@TimeshareConsumerAssociation.org.uk