Atlantic City, N.J. – A New Jersey Appellate Court has upheld a 2022 jury verdict awarding more than $1 million to 19 plaintiffs who sued an Atlantic City resort, FantaSea, over intentionally deceptive timeshare sales practices and violations of consumer protection laws. The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Joe Solseng of Schroeter Goldmark & Bender (SGB) and Andrew Milz of Flitter Milz, P.C.

The Court of Appeals sided with the trial court on all seven arguments brought by the defendants in their unsuccessful attempt to overturn the verdict.

The decision serves as a promising sign for pending lawsuits filed subsequent to the 2022 verdict, which seek to represent an additional 10,000-plus consumers affected by deceptive timeshare practices, according to plaintiffs’ legal counsel.

“It’s long past time for resorts like FantaSea to be held fully accountable for their unlawful timeshare practices,” said Joe Solseng, attorney with Schroeter Goldmark & Bender, who represents the former timeshare owners. “These consumers and thousands of others have fallen victim to the aggressive tactics of timeshare groups. By upholding the verdict, the Court of Appeals has sent a direct message: misleading timeshare sales tactics are illegal.”

During the 2022 trial, FantaSea admitted to making knowingly false statements to lure potential buyers into binding timeshare sales agreements through a sales process that violated the New Jersey Real Estate Timeshare Act (RETA) and Consumer Fraud Act (CFA). According to court documents, FantaSea intentionally withheld important sales documents from the buyers until after they had completed the transaction, contrary to what they are legally required to do. The jury agreed that FantaSea’s tactics left consumers with timeshare purchases they couldn’t use as described, with payments and rising maintenance fees they couldn’t escape.

“This level of intentional deception wasn’t limited to just a handful of consumers – these illegal practices were systemic and widespread. FantaSea’s own deceitful practices are now the source of its downfall, as it’s finally being forced to reckon with the consumers it misled,” said attorney Andrew Milz with New Jersey-based law firm Flitter Milz, PC.

FantaSea, a participant in the Resort Owner’s Coalition (ROC) of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA) whose properties include its Flagship, Atlantic Palace and La Sammana resorts, also misled consumer plaintiffs into believing that their purchase was a real estate investment that would increase in value over time. Instead, plaintiffs in the suit found that they were not only unable to sell their timeshare purchase but that it had effectively no resale value.

“FantaSea’s appeal came with little sound reasoning and ultimately deepened the plaintiffs’ mistrust of the timeshare resort,” Solseng said. “We’re grateful for the appellate court’s careful consideration of the issues and hope this additional legal victory helps the thousands of other timeshare owners who are facing similar circumstances.”