Class-action lawsuit threatens Spinnaker Resorts on Hilton Head | Initiative Legal Group

An article by Dan Burley, originally posted on islandpacket.com. It reads...

Another Hilton Head Island timeshare company has come under fire.

Two North Carolina residents filed a federal class-action lawsuit Friday against Spinnaker Resorts.

The lawsuit alleges the company broke the law by not registering with the state to sell timeshares at Bluewater by Spinnaker -- its resort on Squire Pope Road -- until September 2014. Before that time, the company "knowingly sold unregistered timeshares to the general public," the suit says.

The company has not responded to the lawsuit. Attempts Tuesday to reach representatives from Spinnaker were unsuccessful.

Legal experts say the case could devastate the company since state law allows timeshare owners who bought from an unregistered company to cancel contracts, according to the lawsuit and the S.C. Timeshare Act.

"If owners can reverse most of the sales before that time, I'm sure this company would be seeking Chapter 11 relief," said Mike Finn, a Largo, Fla., attorney whose firm specializes in timeshare law.

It was not known Tuesday how many owners bought timeshares before Spinnaker registered Bluewater. The company started building the 86-unit complex on the banks of Skull Creek in 2005.

It registered Bluewater on Sept. 2, 2014, according to a copy of the registration included in the lawsuit. Spinnaker also runs Waterside, Southwind, Egret Point and Carolina Club on Hilton Head, as well as resorts in Florida and Missouri.

The lawsuit was filed by Mark and Paula Fullbright, who bought a $26,000 timeshare at Bluewater in June 2014, according to court records.

After buying, the Fullbrights found out the company was not registered to sell Bluewater timeshares.

"My clients filed a federal lawsuit ... To void the timeshare contract and obtain a full refund of all monies paid under the contract," Joseph DuBois, a Hilton Head attorney representing the couple, said in a statement. The lawsuit asks that other owners who bought before September 2014 have the option to receive the same refund.

DuBois and his law partner, Zach Naert, are known for their lawsuits against another island timeshare company, Coral Resorts.

The pair are locked in more than 60 state and federal lawsuits with the company on behalf of timeshare owners.

Last summer, a transcript of a hearing Coral Resorts had before the state Real Estate Commission was obtained by The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette.

The transcript shows Coral Resorts did not pay annual fees required by the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The lapsed payments led to questions about whether registrations of the company's four timeshares remained intact during the years fees weren't paid, according to records. The commission eventually allowed the company to pay the missed payments.

The state requires timeshare companies to register with the Real Estate Commission in part to protect consumers, said Labor, Licensing and Regulation spokeswoman Lesia Kudelkacq. Some consumer-protection tools include a five-day right of cancellation and the right to basic information about the company, including the name of the developer, she said in an email.

Finn, the Florida timeshare attorney, said such registrations are "the only protection a consumer has."

"It gives the public of picture of what they want to sell you," he said.

For a company to go unregistered for nine years, "I don't see how you could do that."

"It could decimate the resort."

source: here

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2015/04/07/3686952_class-action-lawsuit-threatens.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

New class action suit filed against Lumber Liquidators | Initiative Legal Group

REPOST FROM: vagazette.com. It reads.... 

JAMES CITY —

A national consumer rights law firm has filed the fifth class action lawsuit against Lumber Liquidators over the safety of its Chinese-made laminate flooring.

Hagens Berman, which has nine offices nationwide, filed suit in San Francisco , alleging, among other items, that the home testing kits Lumber Liquidators offered customers who were worried about excess formaldehyde fumes from their flooring, were "bogus."

Our main focus is to represent plaintiffs/victims in securities and investment fraud, product liability, tort, antitrust, consumer fraud, employment, whistle blower, intellectual property, environmental, and employee pension protection cases," according the firm's website.

In a statement announcing its first quarter financial results Thursday, Lumber Liquidators reported that 10,000 customers had requested the test kits.

Hagens Berman's release accused Lumber Liquidators of conducting a "campaign of misinformation" and said the kits are not compliant with California Air Resources Board (CARB) standards.

According to the  lawsuit, the free home-testing kits Lumber Liquidators has offered to customers are “inherently unreliable” and “designed to under-report” levels of formaldehyde in the composite flooring.

The suit also charges that the third party providing the home testing kits is not independent, but is being paid by Lumber Liquidators.

Lumber Liquidators responded Thursday afternoon.

"Lumber Liquidators is committed to providing our customers with safe, high-quality products. To reassure our customers, we have implemented an air quality testing program that includes testing by a third-party laboratory at no cost to the customer. We intend to defend ourselves vigorously against the claims asserted in this suit," the company said in a statement released in response to a request for comment on the new suit.

The suit, filed March 31, in the Northern District of California, represents consumers from California, Florida and Michigan.

In its financial announcement, Lumber Liquidators reported first quarter financial results which were decent, despite the ongoing controversy over the safety of its flooring, put in the spotlight by a story on CBS's "60 Minutes" 'last month.

Net sales in the first quarter of 2015 were  $260.0 million, the company reported, an increase of 5.6% from the first quarter of 2014.

However, the "60 Minutes" piece had an impact,  net sales in the month of March were $89.4 million, a decrease of 12.8% in comparison to March 2014.

"Consistent with company's expectations as discussed in its March 12, 2015 business update, net sales in March 2015 were significantly weaker than trends in January and February, as net sales were negatively impacted by unfavorable allegations surrounding the product quality of the company's laminates sourced from China," the statement said.

Source: here