Bruce Eichner and the Manhattan Club
Five timeshare owners in the Manhattan Club in the Park Central Hotel at 200 West 56th Street, a timeshare condominium resort, are suing developer Bruce Eichner and the club’s other owners for fraud and “breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing,” according to court documents, Crain’s reported.
The timeshare owners allege that Eichner is not granting them access to their timeshares, despite booking up to nine months in advance, and is instead renting them out to the general public.
“Through a coordinated and uniform marketing strategy, defendants fraudulently create and maintain the impression that access to and beneficial use of timeshare units in the Manhattan Club is completely or almost completely limited to timeshare ownership interests,” the court filing says, but the reality is allegedly otherwise.
“Timeshare owners paid valuable money and they are not being permitted to use the apartment,” said Steven Blau of the law firm of Blau Brown & Leonard, which represents the plaintiffs.
Instead, Eichner is allegedly renting out the units to the public through travel websites such as Expedia. “It’s in the best interest of the sponsor, who runs the management company, to rent it to strangers because when owners use of the apartment they make nothing,” Blau said.
Buyers spent from $10,000 to $53,000 for access to the units, depending on the type and size of unit, according to Crain’s. [Crain’s]