Silver Leaf Resorts Added stress during the aftermath of my father's death Silverleaf timeshare Dallas Texas

My father and mother purchased a Silverleaf timeshare. Since the original purchase they have put in over 12,000, and the annual maintenance fee is paid up through the next two years. My father recently passed away. My mother is unable to care for herself, and will be in an assisted living facility. She will be on a fixed income, and will be unable to use the timeshare. I called Silverleaf last week and let them know about the situation.

At first they tried to transfer the property over to me, saying there were a lot of great benefits, etc. I refused, saying I already had a timeshare membership with the military and didn't need another one. Then a supervisor came on the line. She told me they would send the paperwork required to return the property. What came instead was an "affidavit of heirship", asking all kinds of personal information, such as investments, bank accounts, real estate property, mine and my siblings names and birthdates, etc.

Nothing was mentioned about the return of the property. I called back today, March 7, 2007, thinking there was some mistake- somehow I was misunderstood. I was told the paperwork was required by the court in order to return the deed. In fact it even had to be signed by a third person, not my mother, me or any of my siblings. This doesn't make any sense to me. The representative couldn't explain it either, but said I had to speak to (name withheld), who was out sick.

I then checked the Silverleaf resort on the web and found numerous complaints about their practices (some of the sites are posted below).

(Name withheld) did call me back the next day. I told her I just didn't see why we needed to provide so much personal information. She started screaming at me to ?CALL AN ATTORNEY!?.

I was shocked. I expected some bureaucratic red tape, but never a professional screaming at me on the phone. I told her I was just trying to get my parents' stuff straightened out, with my father's death and everything, and she laughed. I asked her if she thought my father's death was funny, and I assured her I did not think it was funny. She said she didn't like it that I was accusing her of something illegal. (I never once mentioned illegal- just that I didn't want to give out so much personal information) I asked her where she got her info from, what court said this information was required, etc. She again screamed ?CALL AN ATTORNEY!?

I said ?So you're not going to tell me where you got your information form??

Guess what her answer was. ?CALL AN ATTORNEY!?

?I said ?Okay.? After a pause she hung up on me.

Here are some websites of some of the other people who have had problems with this organization.


http://www.dallasobserver.com/2001-01-25/news/unfair-share/full refers to a TX newspaper article about Silverleaf

http://bankrupt.com/CAR_Public/021219.mbx refers to Silverleaf law suits

http://www.pintmaster.com/20051129/awards-verification-center/ refers to others'experiences with Silverleaf

http://www.davesplanet.net/silverleaf/index.htm refers to others with bad Silverleaf experiences.

Sarah
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
U.S.A.