Editor’s note: In April 2019 Resort Release filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Florida. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue operating while it works on a reorganization plan. It is not clear whether this business is still operating. We’ve provided the following information in case they are or in case the principals resume business under another name.
Resort Release is a timeshare exit company. They claim that they can get you out of your timeshare contract. If you have a timeshare you don’t want and you’re buried in escalating fees and special assessment, that promise may sound like a dream come true. You may even be willing to pay to get that ball and chain out of your life.
Before you pay anyone for timeshare exit services, stop and think. There are some companies that will make a legitimate effort to get you out of your timeshare. Others make big promises but are just another timeshare scam. They’ll charge you upfront and deliver nothing. They may leave you with badly damaged credit. Always check on a firm before you commit.
Did Resort Release live up to their promise? Let’s see.
Table of Contents
Who Is Resort Release and What Do They Do?
Resort Release is a timeshare exit company. Beyond that fact, things get a bit confusing. The Better Business Bureau lists the business address of Resort Release as 6785 Weaver Rd, STE 1B, Rockford, IL. No business under that name is registered with the Illinois Secretary of State.
Coverage of the Resort Release bankruptcy states that the parent company is American Resource Management Group, LLC, a Florida Company doing business as Resort Release. It is not clear why the Company represented itself as being based in Illinois when it was actually registered in Florida.
Documents filed with the Florida Division of Corporations indicate that American Resource Management LLC was founded and registered in 2013 by Eric and Shyla Cline. In 2018 the Company changed its name to ARMG Holdings. No reports have been filed since 2019, the Company status is “inactive”, and the last listed event is “Admin Dissolution for Annual Report”.
The Resort Release website is currently inactive and the URL directs to a hosting platform.
What They Do
Without an active website, it’s difficult to determine how Resort Release operates (if it still operates) and what they claim to do. We can glean some information from customer reviews and from previously published reviews.
One thing we see is that at one point Resort Release was a well-known timeshare exit company. In 2016 they were publicly endorsed by Fox News host and noted conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, who showered lavish praise on the company:
“Let my friends at Resort Release help. I’ve done the research — Resort Release holds a BBB A+ rating and they’ve helped over 18,000 families get out of their timeshares. The can help you legally walk away from your contract indefinitely.”
Laura Ingraham
In their prime, Resort Release promised to get customers out of their timeshare contract, complete with a two-part money-back guarantee. They guaranteed a legal and permanent termination of the timeshare contract, and they guaranteed that there would be no further fees.
Resort Release apparently claimed to be a “Platinum Member” of the Rockford, Ill., Chamber of Commerce, an unusual claim considering that they were actually doing business in Florida.
While the Resort Release website is no longer operational, they still maintain a YouTube channel with 14 videos and 171,372 views. They describe themselves in these terms.
Unfortunately, most of the videos are very short and contain no indication of how the company works. There are brief interviews with CEO Shyla Cline and with several customers, and a number of videos describing the woes of timeshare owners and promising relief.
Customer reviews also have little information on the company’s methods, though several of them claim that Resort Release retained an outside attorney to pursue their case.
Bottom line: we don’t know if this company is still working and we don’t have a clear idea of what they did when they were in business.
Resort Release Timeshare Exit Costs
There’s no record of Resort Release ever disclosing their fees. That is not unusual for timeshare exit companies. Fee proposals vary according to the case, and fees can vary widely.
Many customer reviews and complaints filed with the BBB describe the costs paid by the customer. Most reviews describe charges between $4,000 and $5,000, which is typical of timeshare exit companies. Some customers describe paying fees in the $12,000 to $14,000 range, which is very high.
If you’re paying over $1,000 a year in fees on a contract that ties you up for life, it might seem reasonable to pay $5,000 to get out. That deal only makes sense if you trust the company to deliver.
Can You Trust Resort Release?
Resort Release is not currently accredited by the Better Business Bureau and carries an “F” rating, indicating that the company does not respond to complaints on the BBB site. BBB ratings are based on responsiveness to complaints, not customer reviews.
The BBB has a total of four alerts posted on its Resort Release page.
That’s not a positive sign, but when we get to actual reviews the indications just keep getting worse.
Online Reputation
Online reviews are not always 100% trustworthy. Review sites try to assure authenticity, but some companies do post positive reviews. Some negative reviews may simply be difficult customers or customers that don’t understand the service or have unreasonable expectations.
Detailed reviews are generally more credible, and it’s important to look for patterns of reviews.
Resort Release has an average of 2.45 out of 5 stars from 50 BBB reviews. The pattern of reviews is significant. There’s a cluster of short five-star reviews from 2019. Since that time the reviews are an unrelenting barrage of one-star reviews from customers who claim that they paid fees, received nothing in return, and have been unable to contact the company.
Let’s look at some positive reviews:
Compare those with more recent reviews:
There are two possible conclusions that we can reach. One is that the company may have simply collapsed and ceased providing services in 2019. Another is that the early positive reviews may have been fakes placed there to entice new customers.
Google reviews follow a similar pattern, except that they are dominated by the older five-star reviews, generating a higher average score. Almost all reviews are either five-star or one-star, an unusual distribution. It is interesting that one five-star review was posted only six months ago, indicating that Resort Release may have been doing (or soliciting) business after its bankruptcy.
Overall, reviews indicate that if the reviews are authentic, this company may have provided a valid service up to 2019, but since that time reviews have been uniformly bad and many customers believe that they were simply scammed.
Resort Release Bankruptcy
American Resource Management Group, LLC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 24, 2019. The American Resort Development-Resort Owners Coalition (ARDA/ROC) immediately issued a triumphant press release that contains most of the publicly available information about the bankruptcy. The release states:
The Court specifically questioned why ARMG represented to owners that it is a Midwestern-based firm, when, in fact, the Debtors are operating in Florida. In addition, the court noted that the Debtors, despite being paid substantial upfront fees from timeshare owners, have minimal cash in their bank accounts and have insufficient reserves to cover potential 100% “guarantee” claims they made to thousands of timeshare owners.
Source: ARDA/ROC
ARDA/ROC also pointed out that the bankruptcy followed a lawsuit filed by Wyndham Resorts against Resort Release/American Resource Management.
ARDA/ROC is not a disinterested party. As a coalition of timeshare resorts, they would love to see all timeshare exit companies disappear from the earth. They certainly have a strong bias against companies like Resort Release. In this case, though, their information is probably correct.
Reviews and complaints on the Better Business Bureau indicate that some parties that paid Resort Release for timeshare exit services have been invited to file Proof of Claim forms with the bankruptcy court.
A proof of claim must be submitted by a creditor to indicate the amount of the debt the debtor owed the client on the date of the bankruptcy filing. It is not clear whether any have managed to recover funds.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue operating under the supervision of the bankruptcy court while it works toward a resolution of claims against it. One response to a BBB review indicated that the company intended to do this.
As we mentioned above, the presence of a positive Google review dated six months ago indicates some activity. On the other hand, the disappearance of the website and the inactive status of the company suggest that Resort Release may no longer be in business.
The Bottom Line
Resort Release may no longer be in business. They may stay out of business, though many timeshare exit companies that leave the scene eventually re-emerge, sometimes under the same names.
The Resort Release story still teaches some important lessons about choosing a timeshare exit firm.
- Don’t be swayed by great reviews. In 2019 Resort Release had a string of five-star reviews. We don’t know if they were real, but they were there.
- Claims of a guarantee may be exaggerated. Resort Release advertised a 100% money back guarantee, but their customers were still left holding an empty bag.
- Don’t fall for celebrity endorsements. Resort Release was endorsed by a widely known TV personality, but they still went under.
Timeshare exit is a complicated process. Not every contract can be canceled, and credible companies will tell you that from the start. Sometimes you can get out of a contract simply by asking the resort, and credible companies will tell you that.
If you’re desperate to get out of a timeshare contract it’s easy to fall for a slick sales presentation. Remember that falling for a slick sales presentation is probably what got you into the timeshare mess in the first place. Let the Resort Release story teach its lesson, and be very careful!
If Resort Release resumes business, or if you encounter any other timeshare exit company run by Eric and Shyla Cline, be sure to research the company thoroughly before you hand over any money, or check out these recommendations instead.