Time Share Fraud and Unfair Credit Card Lending Practices - Class Action Litigation

BOCA RATON, Fla., - The Center for Legal Justice, LLC is a private lawyer referral service and consumer advocacy group. Starting in 2010, The Center for Legal Justice, LLC began referring members of the public to various consumer protection attorneys that specialize in aiding victims of Time Share Fraud and unfair credit card lending practices.

Time Share Fraud is a major problem in Florida and other states. The Florida Attorney General has engaged numerous business organizations and individuals in enforcement actions alleging deceptive trade practices and organized fraud.

The first scheme involves telemarketers falsely representing that they had procured a buyer for their property, when in reality, no buyer had been procured. The second scheme involved targeting those same victims under the guise that a fund had been set up by the Attorney General that was being used to compensate victims of the initial time share fraud, when in reality, the telemarketer was a former time share resale marketing employee.

In addition to helping victims of Time Share Fraud recover their monies, The Center for Legal Justice has also referred many clients to the Delta Law Firm to receive representation due to major Credit Card Issuing banks misrepresenting balances and placing erroneous charges for various reasons on consumers' monthly statements. The Delta Law Firm filed class action litigation against three major credit card-issuing banks alleging that the banks misrepresented the rights of cardholders with the intent to induce them to pay for charges that they were not responsible for.

The managing partner of the Delta Law Firm, Attorney Howard Feinmel, discovered, while assisting customers obtain credits from issuing banks, that cardholders do not realize that if they are not satisfied with a credit card purchase in excess of $50, they may not be obligated to pay for it. Mr. Feinmel commented that, "Many of these victims are elderly and have been customers of the bank for over 20 years and I find the fact that the bank refuses to cooperate with them unconscionable."

A spokesperson for The Center for Legal Justice wondered who was advocating for these elderly victims: "The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Depository Insurance Corporation and Office of Thrift Supervision was made aware of the practices of the banks and, in some instances, assisted in obtaining credits but in most circumstances refused to act."

Rather than attempt to collect against defunct organizations the Delta Law Firm directed their attention to the credit card banks that processed the transactions. By utilizing the section of the contract entitled "Your Rights if You Are Dissatisfied with Your Credit Card Purchases," the Delta Law Firm was able to obtain an excess of $300,000 in permanent credits. However, the credit card companies, realizing that they would not be able to collect from the merchant, began misrepresenting that the cardholder only had 60 days to initiate the dispute.

There is no such time restriction when the dispute is in the nature of a "claims and defenses" dispute.