Critics question realtor Wayne Stroman's timeshare resale business

In December 2003 and January 2004, Shepherd filed complaints with the Houston BBB and the Texas Attorney General's office. And soon, like most customers who had filed complaints before him and the ones who have filed after him, Shepherd found himself on the receiving end of a series of letters sent to him from Stroman's attorney.

The first letter Shepherd received, which is much like the letter many others received who also complained to the BBB, requested three items: a copy of a driver's license, a copy of the original timeshare purchase documents and proof of the original purchase price. Then, several weeks later, Shepherd received another letter saying that he originally listed the property at too expensive a price. The letter included statistics supposedly set forth by ARDA saying that the average resale price is roughly half of the cost of a new unit, and that it takes on average 22 months to sell a timeshare once it has been priced properly. However, ARDA spokeswoman Lou Ann Burney says that ARDA does not track or publish resale data.

Shepherd and Parsons think the letters are part of Stroman's plan.

"The fact that you have a lawyer answering complaints, I mean, these are not lawyerly complaints; it's customer service," says Parsons. "I think the lawyer is designed as an intimidation factor...I think he's part of the business plan."

Says Shepherd, "My 'A-ha' moment was a combination of the way they handled customer service, the ridiculously low offers from what they originally said I could get and the way they handled the BBB complaint. It gave me the impression that this was not an isolated incident and that managing complaints is an ongoing part of their business, trying to get some poor person to throw up their hands and say, 'Screw this,' and walk away."

Parsons says that Shepherd's story is much the same as everyone else's who's complained to him about Stroman.

"They're offering a panacea, a solution, a glimmer of hope, if you will," says Parsons. "They'll say they'll get you out of your problem timeshare at your desired price and everything will be great and you will no longer be the victim of timeshares. It paints a very rosy picture."

Consumer complaints typically fall into three categories: greed, desperation and vanity.

"I think this company has touched a little of all three," says Parsons, "which is kind of unique. Stroman's a promoter who's very organized and has been doing this a long time."

Shepherd was finally able, in the fall of 2003, to sell his timeshare for the handsome sum of $22,000. He sold it privately to his father-in-law.

"We had dozens of offers on (Shepherd's) property over the years," Stevenson says, "so I don't know what he's upset about. I mean, since Shepherd registered his property with us in 2002, we have sold right at $2 million worth of property at his very resort."

Shepherd says that if he had to do it all over again, he would've researched the BBB and found a company with a better record.

"If they had been straight with me right from the start and said the property has depreciated and is only worth so-and-so," he says, "number one, they wouldn't have gotten my money, which is against their motivation, and number two, if they told people up-front what the real deal is, they'd be out of business. I mean, who would give them $499 to get them to dump your property for half of what you paid? Dealing with Stroman was like a sore on my ass that wouldn't heal."

Wayne Stroman graduated from the University of Houston in 1979 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing. That same year, he received his Texas real estate salesman's license, and then in 1980 received his broker's license.

After graduating from college, according to newspaper accounts, Stroman began his career representing customers looking to buy fixer-uppers in west and southwest Houston. And since Stroman had worked construction during high school and college, it seemed only natural that he also offer his refurbishing services on the properties he'd sold.

Stroman moved his business to Montgomery County in 1983 and began selling plots of land to builders. At the same time, he began building his listing inventory by sending direct mail to the owners of golf course and waterfront properties. Soon, Stroman told the Houston Chronicle, "builders were coming to me to buy lots."