ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of several timeshare owners against The Berkley Group Inc. alleging that the timeshare resort developer and its subsidiaries engaged in unfair consumer collections practices that violated state and federal law and invaded the privacy of the timeshare owners.
The suit, Yeremenko, et al. v. The Berkley Group Inc., et al., case no. CACE-13-028175, was filed Dec. 31 in the 17th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida, in Broward County.
The suit alleges that The Berkley Group and its subsidiaries began contacting the timeshare owners at the Grandview at Las Vegas located in Las Vegas, Nevada and Vacation Village at Parkway located in Kissimmee, Florida, using an automated dialing system. The harassing calls led the plaintiffs to believe they had to choose between paying an alleged debt or they would continue to receive the misdirected communications. The timeshare owners hired The Finn Law Group and the law firm notified the defendants of its representation. Despite the notice, The Berkley Group and its subsidiaries continued its debt collection attempts. The complaint alleges violations of Florida's Unfair Debt Collections Practices Act, the federal Telephone Communications Protection Act and invasion of privacy.
Michael D. Finn of Finn Law Group, a firm that has filed numerous regulatory complaints and litigation on behalf of consumers against the timeshare resort industry, says, “These overzealous kinds of creditor-based violations happen with excessive frequency, in part because few lawyers are interested in taking a case with a statutory damage limitation of $1,000 plus actual provable damages. We plan to file more of these in 2014 on behalf of our timeshare clients because we feel this resort is taking unfair advantage of the relatively minimal statutory limitations.”
The timeshare owners seek an injunction that would put an end to this resort’s debt collection phone calls and letters as well as an award of damages, costs, attorneys' fees and other relief the court deems proper.
The Finn Law Group, which has offices in Florida and Michigan, represents consumers in timeshare and related real estate matters. For more information, contact Michael D. Finn by calling 855-346-6529 or michaeldfinn@finnlawgroup.com.