Tampa, Florida -- The number one consumer complaint in Florida is timeshare resellers. That's right it's such a big problem it beats out insurance fraud and foreclosure fraud complaints.
While the state sends out warnings, insiders say it isn't doing enough to help those losing millions. Victims from across the state tells us "it's a real nasty industry," says Bill Casselton, from Tampa, who has gotten 47 calls from resellers.
"You know I could kick myself," says Tamara Ambrose, from Jacksonville, who got sucked in by resellers twice.
It's a problem costing consumers millions.
"Florida is a wonderful state and a lot of people want to live here for the weather and unfortunately some of them are crooks," says Liz Compton, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Agriculture.
Compton maintains and the Attorney General's Office agrees that many of those crooks end up in the timeshare resale industry
"These companies take the money to market and to advertise the timeshare and all they do is put it up on a website that no one visits," says "Phil" our industry insider who asked us not to use his real name.
"Phil" knows these resellers prey on people who are anxious to get rid of their property. In the first case, Ambrose was told the company had a buyer for her timeshare and all they needed was an upfront fee and they could sell it. It never sold. Ambrose was still desperate to sell and when she got another call from a reseller telling her she would only pay after the deal closed. She signed the contract.
"The next thing I know my credit card got charged. I said you told me you're not going to put this through until after the sale and he said we had to do that in order for us to do this and he said we already have buyers for you so don't worry about it," says Ambrose.
To "Phil" that's business as usual for these guys.
"It's against the law for a real estate agent to collect an upfront fee to sell a timeshare. These companies when you get down to the nitty gritty and you look at the fine print in their contracts, all they're doing is adverting and marketing," he says.
Most people who are desperate to sell their timeshare don't realize these companies are scamming them. But that's not where the scam ends.
Many folks are getting ripped off a second time by a new industry called 'timeshare recovery experts'. They take an upfront fee and promise to get your money back from the timeshare reseller. They rarely do because in most cases the "recovery expert" has either bought your name from a reseller or is part of the original scam.
Some folks found out the hard way.
"They know how to put stuff to make you think you're getting something really good until you start dealing with them you find out they're extremely tricky and they know how to word things that throw you off and can trick you into buying their service and they don't give you the service they promised," says Bill Casselton.
The Florida Attorney General's Office under former AG Bill McCollum and current Attorney General Pam Bondi believe some in the timeshare resale industry are blatantly scamming Floridians. When they get a complaint they send out an FTC alert on resale and consumer scams and then by law it's sent over to the Department of Agriculture.
For "Phil" that doesn't go far enough.
"What I find troubling is the Florida Department of Agriculture has seen fit to license many of these companies even after it has been brought to their attention that these activities are going on and they've done nothing to prevent them," he says.
The Department of Agriculture says it is trying to crack down on the industry but maintains there are too many operators and not enough investigators.
"Some of these are outright scams and they are gone before we show up and then they sometimes reopen under a different name a different location," says Compton.
The question is how do they get licensed?
"Those ones that are moving, they don't," says Compton.
The 10 News Investigators asked about Jordon Prim. He was licensed until three months ago despite the fact the Department of Agriculture had information in its files he was convicted felon and was alerted about it at least three times before Prim's license expired. It seems like this is one person the department doesn't want calling people.
"There are a lot of people that I wouldn't want calling people," says Compton.
That brings us to Michael Earle. We found him at Resort Properties Depot in St. Petersburg. He is someone the department doesn't want to be making calls because he is not licensed and has been in trouble before. We have no evidence he makes calls there but we saw him there several days in a row. We couldn't ask him any questions because he hid in the woman's bathroom until we left.
"He hangs out he does not work, he doesn't work," says Denise Gilliam, the manager.
She maintains her company doesn't mislead consumers and when we checked with the Department of Agriculture we found out the company is in compliance with state law. Although it has a D minus rating from the Better Business Bureau and 59 complaints with the Department of Agriculture it is not one of the companies the state is going after.
"When our representatives talk to them they inform them they are for advertising and marketing. We are not in the business of misleading people," says Gilliam.
"Phil" gets frustrated when companies that the state knows are misleading Floridians doesn't go in and close them down until it is too late.
"In my eye and the way I see it, we basically handed them the plans to rob the bank and they're not going to do anything until after the bank is robbed and the thief is long gone. It doesn't seem right to me," he says.
So what's the best way to sell your timeshare? Try and sell it back to the company you bought it from. Keep in mind you are probably going to lose money but at least you won't have those fees every month. If a company calls you and offers to sell your timeshare for an upfront fee hang up. A legitimate reseller knows it's against the law and will wait to get their money at the end of the sale.
If you feel like you have been scammed you can call the Department of Agriculture at 1-800-HELPFLA or email www.800helpfla.com.