Legends Resort & Country Club - Complaints From Timeshare Owners

Complaints From Timeshare Owners

We were promised this was going to be the jewel of the Northeast, and it's the pits.

The Legends Resort & Country Club has been subject to several complaints and lawsuits in the 2000s (decade) by timeshare owners who argued that promised amenities were no longer available and that Legends officials were being dishonest and unreceptive to their concerns. Dozens of the owners, who formed an organization called Legends Owners United, said little upkeep had been done on the property, parts of the facade were falling off, the parking lot was cracking, tennis courts were deteriorating, interior ceilings were stained, hallway lighting was spotty, plywood covered some windows and many services were regularly closed, including an indoor pool, gym, restaurant, club and store. They also claimed Legends officials failed to provide them with statements documenting where money for repairs had been spent. About 1,600 people own Legends timeshares, which sold for between $8,000 and $11,000 each. Timeshare buyers generated $15 million in revenue for the Metairie company, as well as thousands more each year in maintenance fees.

Three lawsuits against Legends have been consolidated and are currently pending in New Jersey Superior Court; two were filed by timeshare owners alleging mismanagement or impropriety in selling timeshares while the building was in violation of state fire codes, and one seeks class-action status for all timeshare owners. In a separate matter, Mountain Spa Inc., a McAfee-based spa company that rented space at Legends, sued the resort for $1 million in May 2006, alleging that the hotel frequently failed to provide heat and electricity when the spa rented space there starting in 2003. As a result, spa officials said they were frequently unable to operate its health club and had to close in August 2005. Hillel Meyers, Metairie Corp. president, acknowledged to state officials in a May 2005 letter that "the property may be properly characterized as 'distressed.'" Legends was previously part of RCI, one of the largest timeshare brokers in the world, but in December 2006, RCI removed it from the program, which many timeshare owners said significantly reduced their ability to trade vacation weeks with other resort locations. Legends Owners United has filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission, the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and the state Real Estate Commission. State real estate regulators launched an investigation into the Legends Resort & Country Club in early 2007 in response to the complaints. Legends and Metairie officials have indicated they plan to sell some of the company's assets and make improvements, but have not provided specific plans or a timetable for any such changes.