Critics question realtor Wayne Stroman's timeshare resale business

As for the Texas Real Estate Commission, the body charged with enforcing real estate regulations, Della Lindquist of the Commission's enforcement division says her office has received complaints about Stroman and in response, issued in August 2006 a letter to the company providing three suggestions on how to "further avoid these customer misunderstandings." TREC has not taken any disciplinary action against Stroman in the past ten years, according to the commission's Web site.

Unlike Shepherd's complaint, TREC has fielded concerns from consumers who say they were misled by Stroman salespeople because they did not offer their expertise on how to appropriately price their timeshare. One customer, for example, says a salesman essentially let him pick a price — $1,000 more than what he originally paid — and did not mention the well-known industry reality of depreciation. Ultimately, the owner had to reduce the timeshare price to make it salable and eventually received a refund.

The letter says that "If TREC receives a complaint alleging that a Stroman agent misrepresented the value of a timeshare, the agent and Stroman will be expected to explain the basis for the advice the seller received."

Sharon Crall of Loveland, Ohio, listed her timeshare in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with Stroman four months after TREC wrote its letter to Stroman, according to BBB records.

"They made it sound like I could get a lot of money for my timeshare," says Crall. "They told me I could get more than I paid for it and made no mention of any depreciation."

Stroman charged the up-front fee on Crall's credit card immediately, instead of waiting until she signed the contract, as stipulated by ARDA for its members. However, one day after agreeing over the phone to list with Stroman, Crall read the BBB report on the company and decided she did not want to hire them. She says it took her two months to get a refund.

The lack of disciplinary action is "sort of expected with TREC," says Tomlinson. "I mean, it's asking for a lot to ask anybody to regulate their own profession very well."

It appears that Stroman Realty has found a safe haven in Texas to operate. It is protected by a ruling from a sympathetic federal judge as well as a compassionate real estate commission that makes helpful suggestions instead of sanctioning a company with a documented history of consumer complaints.

Again, Parsons says this may be a case of Stroman's company breaching ethical rules rather than breaking the law.

"It's gray, kind of like the fog as the Titanic rolled along," Parsons says. "The iceberg is sitting in front of you, and there's no rule that you can't travel through the fog, but I think the lifeguard should be asking questions here because the poor passengers are sitting waiting to be sunk, and they've been sunk several times before."

Howard Nusbaum, president of ARDA, is also concerned. "We do have an ethics code and we've censured members and removed members," he says. "If they're doing something, we'd want to know it."

But perhaps Nusbaum is just like most everyone else, from ill-informed consumers to prominent leaders in Conroe, all of whom simply don't know much about Wayne Stroman and his business. Nothing, that is, except he seems like a great guy.

Illustrations by Doug Boehm Illustrations by Doug Boehm Illustrations by Doug Boehm