When Karen Eaton realized she needed to get out of her Tennessee time-share, she never thought she would be advised to stop paying the property mortgage and homeowners association fees.
“I was willing to trust them in the hopes they would get us out of our time-share,” Eaton said. “I guess I got burned really bad.”
Eaton and her husband signed a 12-month money-back guaranteed contract with Aconsumercredit, of Ormond Beach, led by CEO Dana Micallef.
The company claimed to have a high success rate, in many cases using the so-called “default strategy.”
Eaton said she signed the deal in February, complete with a $2,900 fee.
“They told us to stop payment on our mortgage time-share and stop paying HOA fees for the time-share, that they would take care of it,” Eaton said.
According to Eaton, the company never contacted the time-share office, and now her account is in the hands of a collection agency.
Richard and Sherry Zimmerman, of Spingdale, Arkansas, told News 6 they owned time-share units with D'Monaco and Wyndham resorts.
They signed an exit contract with Aconsumercredit and reluctantly followed their advice.
“They told us to have no contact with the resorts," Sherry Zimmerman told News 6. “Now our credit is ruined.”
Attorney Michael Sarocco, former legal agent for Aconsumer, said Micallef always had "good intentions” but that things fell apart this year because the time-share resorts were no longer allowing clients to break contracts.
Sarocco said Micallef wanted to tell his side of the story and would sit down with News 6 next week.
In a 2017 interview with a Canadian Entrepreneur program, Micallef admitted, “You really can’t unload these things, you have to do it in a structured way.”
Dozens of Micallef’s customers have posted complaints charging him with operating a scam and walking away with their money.
The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Sept. 9, leaving any potential financial restitution in the hands of the court.
As far as damaged credit, it is not clear what, if anything, will be done to repair the credit files.
If you paid for a time-share exit with Aconsumercredit, contact reporter Mike Holfeld at Mholfeld@wkmg.com.