Timeshare owners sue Bluegreen over tactics

They say Boca firm jacked up costs, didn’t honor refund claims.

WEST PALM BEACH — Twenty couples and individuals are suing Boca Raton-based vacation company Bluegreen Corp., claiming they were duped into buying timeshare units on false pretenses.

In the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court, people from across the country said the timeshare units they bought cost more and offered far fewer benefits than they were promised. Hoping to persuade a federal judge to give the lawsuit class-action status, their attorneys said they are seeking more than $5 million in damages.

Company officials weren’t available for comment.

Contrary to claims made by Bluegreen sales people, annual maintenance fees on the units increased substantially each year, attorneys Jason Whittemore and Todd Friedman wrote in the lawsuit. Further, points that purchasers were told could be used indefinitely to rent other units expired at the end of each year. Also, although they were told the timeshare purchase came with money-back guarantees, they were unable to cancel their purchases or get refunds.

“These representations were false and (Bluegreen) would not permit plaintiffs to cancel or refund their timeshares, routinely doubled or tripled the represented maintenance fees, and did not roll over any ‘points’ between years,” the attorneys wrote.

They claim Bluegreen’s tactics violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.