Was law changed to quash lawsuit?

Marriott Vacation Club, the Orlando-based timeshare company, is being accused of using its influence to get state law changed to help it jump off the hook of a pending lawsuit.

Two Central Florida legislators introduced changes to the state’s timeshare law last year, after MVC was sued because of its timeshare policies. The company has not commented on whether it sought the change. It stated in a court notice that the change in the law“is of crucial importance to this case” — just weeks after Gov. Rick Scott signed the bills into lawMay 23.

New York attorney Jeff Norton sued MVC last year, alleging in court documents that the company’s entire sales structure is basically an illegal racketeering scheme because it uses a pointsbased system that was built ontop of a systemthat previously sold deeds to real estate, among other things.

Norton took note of the timing of the change in the state law in a formal objection to the company’s notice regarding the change.

“It seems obvious that because defendants [MVC] could not justify the legality of their conduct under existing law, they endeavored to change the rules,” Norton wrote to the court.

Because of the new law and definition, the company and its attorneys at GreenbergTraurig saymuchof the pending lawsuit is without merit, telling the judge in the case that the recent change in law “effectively eliminates several of plaintiffs’ claims in whole or in part.” MVC officials declined to comment for this story; regarding the lawsuit, the company previously said it follows every aspect of the state regulatory compliance for vacation ownership sales.

The company’s efforts to change the law while litigation is pending “may be legal,” Norton said in an interview that echoed his court filing, and he added, “I do think there’s something inherently wrong with using political influence to rewrite