Most people who have signed a timeshare contract will tell you that the experience is terrible. Ever-increasing annual maintenance fees, the inability to schedule a vacation, the cost of repairs, and changing corporate ownership make the experience feel like an inescapable money pit. It’s no surprise then that many timeshare owners turn to exit companies to escape their contracts.
When you’re looking for a timeshare exit company, though, you should be careful. Timeshare Exit Team, for example, allegedly advised its customers to stop paying fees and caused them to wind up in foreclosure. The similarly named Timeshare Termination Team shocked everyone when they suddenly closed their doors, leaving both customers and employees high and dry.
Another example of a timeshare exit company making life difficult for its customers is Timeshare Freedom Group (TFG) in Laguna Hills, California. Like many timeshare exit companies, TFG advertised timeshare exit services with a money-back guarantee.
As indicated by TFG’s complaints and poor response rate at the Better Business Bureau, the company has become known for taking upfront fees from customers and then ghosting them, not returning their phone calls, and leaving them in an even worse financial position.
Unfortunately, however, TFG’s legal troubles go far beyond their individual customer difficulties. There are lawsuits against them from timeshare developers about a variety of topics, in addition to serious criminal charges against one of the company’s executives. The company’s legal problems, which involve their legal partners, are serious enough that they can result in the kinds of problems that their customers complain of.
In this article, we’ll take a look at these problems and how they have affected the legal standing of the company and its executives. We’ll also examine a new company, Forza Consumer Group, that was started by the same attorney who represented a TFG executive in his attempted murder case.
Finally, we’ll show you the difference that you can experience with a timeshare exit company that doesn’t have all of these legal problems and drama: Centerstone Group.
As the customers and employees of Timeshare Termination Team learned the hard way, civil lawsuits from timeshare developers can quickly sink your business if you’re not doing everything right.
One of the lawsuits involving Timeshare Termination Team (Case No. 1:2020cv25318, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida) also involves Timeshare Freedom Group; one of its executives, Jordan Salkin; and Salkin’s criminal case attorney, Michael A. Molfetta.
That particular lawsuit, which at the time of this writing is ongoing according to its docket on Justia.com, involved the alleged false advertising and diversion of payments from Bluegreen Vacations. While Timeshare Termination Team has since shut down its business, Michael A. Molfetta and one of his businesses, a law firm known as Molfetta Law, LLC, are actively litigating the matter.
A similar case was also filed in the U.S. District Court in Florida (Case No. 6:2020cv01668) by Diamond Resorts Hawaii Collection Development, LLC. That case also involves TFG, Jordan Salkin, Michael A. Molfetta, and Molfetta Law, LLC. It appears that the claims in that case were partially settled in mid-2022 and, shortly after, Molfetta and his law group were dismissed from that case.
A review of the documents in these cases shows extensive, complex litigation taking place over years. While the fact that a complaint was brought against someone does not necessarily mean that the defendant is legally liable, the fact remains that complicated and costly legal issues tend to follow both TFG and its associated legal counsel throughout the country.
As with Timeshare Termination Team, these legal proceedings can slow down or even stop any timeshare exit plan you may have with that company. They can even potentially cause you to lose your money and have to start the whole process over again. And that’s even before you start considering the legal problems that can result when a member of your timeshare exit company is charged with attempted murder.
In 2017, a TFG executive named Jordan Salkin was allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident with his girlfriend that left her severely injured and hospitalized. He was later convicted of attempted murder in California state court. His attorney, the by-now-familiar Michael A. Molfetta, managed to get the conviction thrown out and obtain a new trial based on an evidentiary issue.
Public records on the case indicate that it is currently pending, and it appears the court was preparing for a new trial in 2022. As with the civil cases discussed above, attempted murder cases are famously long, difficult, and expensive. Should Salkin be convicted again, that will doubtless put a further legal and financial strain on him and his attorneys.
The attempted murder case against Salkin isn’t even the only one that appears to be pending at this time. Another matter, for forgery of public or corporate seals, is also pending in the same court.
Not only do these lawsuits create expense and difficulty for the company that is supposed to be solving your problems, but the second case also introduces the question of fraud by an executive of Timeshare Freedom Group. That alone should be enough to make a potential customer think twice.
As one peruses the court dockets in the cases above, one should not forget about the involvement of Michael A. Molfetta as a party in the civil cases and a highly visible attorney in the criminal cases.
You might think that, with his numerous legal proceedings, Molfetta would no longer be involved in the timeshare exit business. You would, however, be wrong.
Molfetta is involved with multiple timeshare cancellation companies, with the most recent being Forza Consumer Group. Though you won’t find him listed as an owner of the company, Molfetta is a big part of the company’s website and is featured in an animated video where he says that he has “joined” the group to help people with timeshare exits.
Though Forza is a relatively new company, consider that Molfetta’s presence here may be another instance of him joining or even creating a new company to escape some of his association with TFG or his other company, Molfetta Law, which was described by one review on the Better Business Bureau website as “a scam.”
It’s difficult to say why there are so many companies and legal issues surrounding these people. In cases like these, a company may have several different addresses so you never quite know who you’re dealing with. Though Forza has different owners and isn’t listed under TFG’s address (23046 Avenida de la Carlota ), the same people may be making many of the decisions at both companies.
It bears repeating that the existence of a criminal case doesn’t mean a person is guilty. (Legally speaking, all people are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.) Nor does the fact that a person or company has been sued mean they did anything wrong.
The one thing you can be sure of, though, is that these constant problems, civil and criminal cases, and new companies being formed will not help you get out of your timeshare any faster or more cheaply. If anything, they’ll likely have the opposite effect.
At Centerstone Group, we stay away from drama by maintaining the highest standards of ethics and customer service. As a family owned and operated business, we place a high value on trustworthiness and ethical behavior.
Whether we help you with timeshare cancellation services, assist you with getting help from one of our trusted legal partners, or are conducting one of our proprietary pressure campaigns, our only job is to help you get a legal, ethical exit from your timeshare at the best possible price.
We invite you to compare us with our competitors to see how we stand up. We are an A-rated, accredited company with the Better Business Bureau, and the dozens of positive BBB customer reviews and testimonials speak for themselves. Contact us today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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