Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has sued a Bellevue-based company, Reed Hein & Associates LLC (operates under Timeshare Exit Team), for alleged fraudulent practices in timeshares they had advertised a 100 percent money-back guarantee to over thirty thousand consumers in helping them to “exit” the homes. The lawsuit was filed in King County Superior Court, with multiple violations under the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the Debt Adjusting Act included.
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“In 2012, defendants Brandon Reed and Trevor Hein—at the time employed selling rain gutter systems—formed Reed Hein and Associates, LLC (Reed Hein) and immediately began selling ‘expert’ services to release consumers from their timeshare contracts,” reads the court filing. “Contrary to their marketing claims, Reed Hein had no expertise in releasing consumers from timeshare contracts (a service dubbed “exiting” timeshares). Since 2012 Defendants have unfairly and deceptively contracted with more than 32,000 consumers looking to be rid of their unwanted timeshares and have collected millions of dollars in upfront fees from consumers in the process.”
“Thousands of consumers have waited years for a positive outcome from Reed Hein — but it hasn’t happened,” Ferguson said in a statement.
Reed Hein allegedly targeted customers across the U.S. to offer their services, misleading them through “deceptive advertising” that “at times portrayed Reed Hein as performing ‘risk-free’ exit services with 100% success rate,” per the filing. “In reality, customers can wait months or years for an exit that may never come, all while continuing to owe money for their timeshare.”
The lawsuit details how Reed Hein charges a large fee from customers, usually upfront, and outsources an overwhelming majority of the work to outside vendors at a low price, pocketing the difference. The vendors are then tasked with doing the “exiting” as they see fit, but at a low rate of success. Ferguson’s office’s statement says, “Reed Hein has contracted to provide 38,000 timeshare exits. Of those, 17,000 are still pending — more than 8,000 for two years or longer, and more than 4,600 for three years or longer.”
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Reference: Court filing
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