Timeshare ‘exit’ company sues Westgate vacation property operator By Reuters
© Reuters. The closed Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino sign lights up among other closed hotels and buildings as the spread of COVID-19 continues in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, April 10, 2020. there is. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
Mike Scarcella
(Reuters) – A company that helps timeshare owners cancel their contracts has sued Florida-based Westgate Resorts, the largest private vacation ownership company in the U.S., accusing it of plotting to eliminate competition for its cancellation services.
Wesley Financial Group LLC filed suit in federal court in Orlando against Westgate, a subsidiary of Central Florida Investments Inc, alleging that the company violated federal advertising and antitrust laws.
The lawsuit escalates a long-running conflict between the two companies in an industry valued at $10.5 billion by the American Resort Development Association, an industry trade group.
Timeshare properties allow one or more people to share ownership or use of a property (often a vacation home such as a beach or ski condo).
Tennessee-based Wesley Financial is the nation’s largest timeshare exit company, pioneering the market by providing services to navigate the “labyrinth of bureaucratic red tape” required to exit timeshare ownership.
A Westgate representative said the company “plans to vigorously defend against Wesley’s lawsuit.” Westgate called the complaint a “last-ditch effort” in response to a lawsuit Westgate filed against Wesley Financial in Tennessee federal court in 2020.
According to the lawsuit, Westgate developed its own exit service in competition with Wesley Financial and others. Wesley Financial said Westgate’s program made false or misleading claims and that the company had taken steps to stifle competition.
The complaint said Westgate designed “formal and informal” policies to prevent owners from relying on third parties to terminate their timeshares. The owners were “directed toward more expensive and less efficient exit products” in a plan to block competitors, the suit said.
It also said Westgate and other developers conspired with the American Resort Development Association to “coordinated advertising” against Wesley Financial.
A representative for the Washington, D.C.-based trade association, which is not a defendant, had no immediate comment.
Wesley Financial said in a statement that the company “has fought and won against these timeshare companies before, and we expect to win again.”
Westgate separately sued Wesley Financial in federal court in Nashville for violating state consumer protection laws, alleging it orchestrated a “timeshare cancellation scheme without a lawful basis.”
In that case, Westgate is seeking damages and an injunction against Wesley Financial for allegedly causing thousands of Westgate owners to stop making mortgage payments. A trial is scheduled for February.
The case is Wesley Financial Group LLC v. Westgate Resorts Ltd et al, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, No. 6:23-cv-02347.
For Wesley Financial: John Bennett of Nardella & Nardella; Patrick Bradford of Bradford Edwards
For Westgate: Not yet featured
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