Critics question realtor Wayne Stroman's timeshare resale business

"My two sons were of an age when we were taking a lot of vacations together," says Shepherd, "and around then I was rolling in money because the stock market was doing so well."

Before he knew it, Shepherd was plunking down $21,990 for a three-bedroom suite at the very popular Hilton Grand Vacations Club at SeaWorld in Orlando.

"It was a lot of fun and we used the snot out of it for the first two or three years," Shepherd says.

After the initial honeymoon was over, Shepherd's oldest son left home to attend Texas Christian University, and family spring-break trips were no longer an option. So the property at SeaWorld sat unused, while Shepherd continued to pay the $850 a year for maintenance fees.

It was then that Shepherd remembered Stroman Realty. Hell, it was hard to forget. Almost every other month for the past several years, ever since Shepherd bought the timeshare, he had received a Stroman advertisement flyer in the mail. For the longest time he had just tossed them in the garbage, but this time, when one arrived at his home in December 2002, he decided to give them a call.

A salesperson answered the 1-800 number and, after listening to Shepherd describe his timeshare, told Shepherd that Stroman required what was then a $499 up-front fee to list the property on its Web site and advertise, but that Stroman recommended setting the selling price at $27,900 — almost $6,000 more than Shepherd originally paid. For Shepherd, this was the answer to his problem. Sell the damn thing and turn a tidy profit. It sounded too good to be true.

"They came up with the $27,900 figure," says Shepherd. "They said it was a suitable listing price and that they had sold comparable units for around that. There was absolutely no mention of depreciation or that the market rates were apparently much lower. Plus, they made it sound like they'd be able to sell it in a matter of just a few months."

Upon request, Shepherd gave the salesperson his Visa card number and waited for the paperwork.

What Shepherd didn't know was that while he was waiting for the documentation outlining the purpose of the fee, as mandated by ARDA, the Stroman salesperson had already charged Shepherd's credit card before he had the chance to look over and sign the contract. Financial papers show that Stroman charged Shepherd's card the very day he called them, December 11, as opposed to waiting until Shepherd signed the contract, 19 days later.

When asked about this technicality, ARDA President Howard Nusbaum says, "I certainly wouldn't want my credit card charged before I'd seen the paperwork and disclosures and signed them."

Meanwhile, a month passed by and Shepherd had not heard from Stroman. In the big picture, this is a small amount of time; there are many people who filed complaints with the BBB who did not hear back from Stroman for years after signing up. But Shepherd, a salesman himself, was not going away quietly.

He left four unreturned phone calls in January 2003. A salesperson finally called him back on January 27 and told him that his property was listed too high and he should lower the price to $24,000. Later that same day, says Shepherd, a Stroman manager called him and said that $24,000 was indeed a good price to list at, but that properties similar to Shepherd's were selling for around $15,400. Over the next ten months, Stroman recommended, and Shepherd obliged, that the timeshare price be reduced further, eventually down to $20,000. During that time, Shepherd received several offers on his property for $10,500 and $13,000.

"They would call me up all excited and say they've got great news, someone was willing to pay something like $10,000 for it," says Shepherd. "And I'd say, 'What the shit? Are you smoking dope? At first, you guys told me I could get $27,900.'"

Finally, almost a year to the day from when Shepherd first called Stroman, he spoke with customer service manager Paul Deaton. Shepherd wanted a refund.

"When I asked for my money back," says Shepherd, "they just told me to shove it. And when I told them I was going to call the AG, Paul Deaton was kind of an asshole. He told me, 'Hey, you ain't getting your money back, so get over it. If you want to call the AG, if you want to call the BBB, if you want to call the fucking pope, go knock yourself out.' So I said okay."