For Elizabeth Domingo, it was as obvious as black and white.
While staying at a Hilton resort in Hawaii in January 2022, the 63-year-old resident of University Park, Maryland purchased a timeshare at Hilton Grand Vacations’ Tuscany Village Vacation Suites in Orlando, Florida.
The timeshare agreement she signed clearly specified that it “shall be governed under and interpreted and enforced in accordance with the law of the State of Florida.”
Furthermore, the agreement said, “For All Purchasers. The law of the state where the Project is located will govern [the] Agreement, Deed and the Note and Mortgage, if any, and all other aspects of the Project.”
Elizabeth’s timeshare was a Florida project, governed by Florida law
Like we said, obvious.
And that’s important.
Because Florida law provides for a 10-day rescission window during which either the buyer or the seller can cancel the timeshare purchase.
In fact, the sample cancellation notice form that Hilton provided Elizabeth says, in big capital letters:
“YOU OR THE DEVELOPER MAY CANCEL THIS TRANSACTION WITHIN TEN (10) CALENDAR DAYSAFTER EXECUTION OF THE CONTRACT OR AFTER YOUR RECEIPT OF THE TIMESHARE DISCLOSURE STATEMENT, WHICHEVER OCCURS LATER.”
As it turns out, that’s exactly the cancellation notice Elizabeth used when rescinding her purchase.
According to the lawsuit Elizabeth has filed against Hilton, the company sent the disclosure documents on January 6, 2022. Elizabeth invoked her right to cancel the contract by faxing the cancellation notice to Hilton on January 13, 2022, well within the 10-day window.
Just to be sure, she telegraphed a copy of the cancellation notice to Hilton on January 15, 2022 – also within the 10-day window.
She thought her cancellation was done and dusted.
So, you can imagine her surprise when her credit card company billed her not only for the $4,000 down paymentbut also started charging more than $400 per month for mortgage payments on the canceled timeshare!
When Elizabeth contacted Hilton to complain, the company pointed to a clause buried in the timeshare agreement saying Hawaii law applied, since that was where she agreed to purchase the Florida timeshare. And Hawaii only has a seven-day rescission window.
That’s right.
Hilton knowingly included two different cancellation windows in the timeshare agreement!
That hasn’t slowed them down one bit. Their efforts to collect money from Elizabeth have lowered her credit ratings, led to credit card cancellations and “incurred actual damages in excess of $30,000”.
It’s pretty obvious what’s going on here.
And it’s obvious who’s to blame.
First, there’s Mark Wang, the CEO of Hilton Grand Vacations. Let’s email him at mark.wang@hgv.com and tell him it’s time to end Hilton’s rescission runaround.
Also, Christopher Nassetta, President and CEO of Hilton Worldwide, needs to hear from us. You’d think he’d be concerned about what Mark Wang’s business practices are doing to Hilton’s global brand. Let’s email him at christopher.nassetta@hilton.com and find out.
We should hit up Jason Gamel, the President and CEO of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), too. ARDA is the trade association that represents the timeshare industry in Washington, DC. Let’s email Jason at jgamel@arda.org and see if it’s obvious to him that Hilton’s tactics are hurting the whole industry’s image.
Is it difficult to get your timeshare company to live up to its clear obligations? Use this list of ARDA VIPs to contact your company’s leaders.
Is it obvious how your timeshare company is taking advantage of you? Share your story with us at info@timesharefacts.com
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