Happy Day Vacations
May 4, 2012
Recently, Bob L was contacted by a representative of this company. Here is what he posted on the Owners Forum:A company called Happy Day Vacations is making cold calls to Mayan owners claiming that they have a buyer who went to the Mayan property with a friend and liked it so well that they wished to purchase some weeks, but did not like the presentation so were looking to buy from a private party.Thanks Bob. We all need to stay alert to these empty promises to buy or sell our contracts.
No upfront money is required.
If you show interest, they will send you a "simple" contract which allows them to represent you for 30 days so that the sale can be made.
Upon reading the contract, there are two different clauses buried within many other ones:
- One says that all liens, maintenance fees, and TRANSFER FEES must be paid by the owner by the time of the closing.
- Another much further down in the contract states that if the above clause is not met within 5 days of the receipt of the contract, that the contract will be terminated, but the 8% commission would still be owed to the company.
Since the 5 maintenance fees owed as a transfer fee would not be paid in the 5 days, the seller would be legally bound to pay the 8% commission to the company.
A new scam is born every day.
It is interesting to see the implied sense of urgency of this offer. This company says up front that the commission is due and payable withing 5 days or the contract is in default. Of course, the company would never bring legal action against the owner because of the costs and lack of legal substance.
However, it is also important to note that a sense of urgency puts pressure on parties who need to sell, which allows them to justify paying fees in the hope that something good will come the transaction. Unfortunately, the only thing these companies are after is cash, and parties who need to sell are in the right frame of mind to become victims.
We took the liberty to look at the Happy Day Vacations website. Guess what? You are absolutely correct! The address appears to be phony. There is no such address.
What this means is be very careful about what you agree to. It also shows these people are interested in only one thing....Fees. Once paid, they fade underground.