Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt announced Monday that his office has obtained a default judgment against Martin Management Group LLC and its owner and operator Steven Martin. Martin Management, previously operating out of Springfield, purported to provide timeshare-relief services to people across the country.
“Protecting Missouri’s consumers is one of my most important duties as Attorney General, and my Office’s Consumer Protection Section works around the clock to fulfill that duty,” said Attorney General Schmitt. “I’m pleased that my Office was able to obtain a default judgment against Steve Martin and Martin Management, and we will work diligently to ensure that Missourians who were scammed are refunded. It’s important for Missourians to remember, especially when dealing with timeshares, that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
In exchange for upfront payments, sometimes in excess of $10,000.00, Martin Management assured prospective clients that it would negotiate with resort developers for a transfer or termination of the client’s timeshare obligations. Martin Management offered a money-back guarantee for their services.
According to complaints received by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office from consumers across the country, after being paid, Martin Management failed to provide the promised timeshare-relief services or issue refunds. Instead, Martin Management continued to string along their clients by extracting even more money for “litigation,” “transfer,” or “liquidation” fees. All the while, consumers’ timeshare obligations remained outstanding, and many saw their credit scores crater as a result of the maintenance fee delinquencies incurred while waiting for Martin Management to provide the services it promised.
The judgment permanently enjoins Martin Management Group LLC and Steve Martin from offering and selling timeshare-relief services in the state of Missouri and awards $222,768.90 to the state, including $170,247.61 in restitution for Missourians and $52,521.29 in civil penalties and costs of prosecution and investigation.
Attorney General Schmitt encourages citizens who have been scammed by a timeshare-relief company to file a complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office by calling the Consumer Protection hotline at 800-392-8222 or submitting a complaint online at ago.mo.gov.
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