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Page 1 cAlone our voice is small. 4 Stand together and we will be heard. d Barbara Bowen, NAM cMany voices make a platform on which all of us can stand d - Murna Lindsey, NAM September 15, 2007 Bankruptcy and the Campground Member Bankruptcy Fraud? What is the biggest asset of a bankrupt campground or camping club?
Not the campground(s). Not the equipment. Not the unpaid cinitiation fees. d It is, emphatically, the list of dues paying members!
It is ironic that, in a bankruptcy, no camping club or campground identiQes the membership list as an asset in their bankruptcy Qlings. Why? This list is a qualiQed marketing tool that is valuable to other camping clubs and campgrounds.
Too often these 8members 9 are passed from campground to campground as though the 8members 9 were the private chattel of unscrupulous operators. The members are told that they must continue to pay their annual dues, often at higher rates, to campground after campground. The ctrue nature d of the campground membership list is either concealed from or misrepresented to the courts.
(See Paga 2 - Campground Members) Travel America vs Campers 4 Again! NAM still gets complaints about Travel America 9s and their continuing ... more.
less.
efforts to intimidate (Extort?) money from members of bankrupt campbrounds. (See Still More Complaints - page 4).<br><br> Do You Owe Annual Fees to Them? Here 9s the bottom line: If you use the campgrounds - you must pay the fees. They maintained some campgrounds for your use - it 9s only fair that they be compensated for that effort.<br><br> On the other hand , if you never signed a contract with Travel America; you do NOT use their facilities. You do NOT owe them money! They simply obtained a membership roster from a bankrupt campground and started demanding that you send them money.<br><br> They never promised to provide all of the services and facilities that you originally purchased. Travel America and their accomplices have been repeatedly notiQed by NAPIER, WOLF & NAPIER that they must stop such harassment. (See copy of the letter on page 3) What should you do if Travel America or their accomplices come after you?<br><br> Get Angry - Fight back! File formal written complaints with 1. The US Federal Trade Commission: US Federal Trade Commission Re: Unfair/Illegal Practices Across State Lines 600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.<br><br> Washington, D.C. 20580 ftc.gov/ftc/cmplanding.shtm 2. The Attorney General of your state 3.<br><br> The Attorney General of the states where they do business 4. The US Postal Service: US Postal Service Re: Using Mail to Fraudulently Extort/Harass CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS SERVICE CENTER ATTN: Mail Fraud 222 S. Riverside Plaza STE 1250 Chicago, IL 60606-6100 www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud Never threaten or bluff - just DO IT!<br><br> Your complaints about Travel America are NOT ccontract disputes d. You do not have a contract with Travel America! They simply obtained your information from a bankrupt camping club, started demanding money from you 4 and never promised you anything in return.<br><br> Now they cHide their money d in order to keep you from suing them and harass you demanding money they do not deserve. Our web site contains several items that can help you Qle your complaints. It is at: http://www.natlassoc.org/forms Next Issue of this newsletter: Protecting Your Good Name [ and credit rating ] More ...<br><br> Page 2 Are cUnpaid Initiation Fees d Assets in a bankruptcy? We submit that this is true ONLY if the campground survives the bankruptcy intact. All considerations that induced you to purchase the membership must remain to your beneQt if you are to be expected to pay the balance of your cInitiation Fees d.<br><br> A Campground is a Campground 4 NOT! Every campground is unique. They are not interchangeable, as some bankruptcy courts have been led to believe.<br><br> It is neither proper nor acceptable for memberships to be arbitrarily assigned from one bankrupt camping club/campground to another without the member 9s permission. The unique qualities and locations of speciQc campgrounds was a deciding factor in the member 9s decision to purchase a membership. (You purchased a membership in what you considered to be a cCadillac Campground d.<br><br> Who, even a court, has the right to decide that a cKia d or cHonda d campground should have equal value to you?) Membership Campgrounds Owe Future Services Members are CREDITORS in the bankruptcy. Members are entitled to future services promised at the time of purchase 3 or a refund of the fees paid for those services. Who Represents the cMembers d in a Bankruptcy?<br><br> Certainly not the bankrupt campground. Not the court. Not the other creditors.<br><br> (Yes, cother d creditors.) Campground members are creditors in the bankruptcy of a campground. The campground owes members future services that they probably cannot deliver. Members 9 interests in a bankruptcy are unique and separate from every one else involved in a bankruptcy.<br><br> What is the value of these undeliverable services that should be recovered by the members? Campground members should be cPriority d creditors in the bankruptcy. Members should quickly establish a cCommittee of members d to act on their behalf very early in the bankruptcy.<br><br> This Committee should seek to convince the court to establish a separate cCreditor 9s Committee for Members d of the Bankrupt Campground. It would be wise to ask a local attorney to help with this effort. If successful, the fees for this attorney will be paid from the assets of the bankruptcy.<br><br> Members often know things about the assets of the bankrupt campground that others will be reluctant to reveal to the court. (From Page 1) Campground Members We believe that campground members: Are entitled to the use of campground " facilities in accordance with the terms of their membership contract as long as their dues/maintenance fees are current. Should expect the campground owner " and the operator to live up to all the terms of the membership contract.<br><br> May terminate the membership " agreement and dues obligation at will by notifying the owner or operator of their intentions to do so. This assumes that you do not intend to use the campground facilities. Note: The contract may specify the " method to be used to cancel the membership.<br><br> NO ONE has the right to force you to " pay annual dues cfor the rest of your life d for a campground membership! Such a notion is absurd! The only reasonable penalty for non- " payment of dues is denial of use of the camping facilities.<br><br> Are NOT required to sell the membership " to someone else in order to escape annual dues payments. Bill of Rights for Campground Members Lifetime Membership Does NOT Equal Lifetime Dues Some campers are promised, at the time of sale, that they will never have to pay another 8Initiation Fee 9 if they will advance an additional few thousand dollars. This is sometimes referred to as a 8Lifetime Membership 9.<br><br> None are told that they will be expected to pay annual fees UNTIL THEY DIE or convince someone else to do the same. Some courts have ruled that such an alleged commitment would be against public policy and not permitted. Any victim of this scheme should Qght back.<br><br> We have posted some tips on our web site: www.natlassoc.org. Are we having fun yet? Page 3 This is a copy of the letter sent to Travel America by Napier, Wolf, and Napier.<br><br> You may want to include a copy of it in any correspondence you send to Travel America. You will also want to send a copy of any correspondence you get from Travel America, along with your response, to Napier, Wolf and Napier. Page 4 Name: ____________________________________ Street Address: _____________________________ City: ______________________________________ State: _____ Zip: ____________ email address: ______________________________ Phone: ( ______ ) ______ - ___________________ I am interested in supporting the NAM.<br><br> I want to: ___ Receive the NAM newsletter. ___ Reproduce/distribute my copy of the newsletter. ___ Make a donation to support NAM activities.<br><br> I am enclosing a check for $ __________ ___ Report on issues related to RV campers or timeshares Please send your comments and suggestions to: NAM Treasurer 4740 Silver Oak Street Dayton, OH 45424-4650 Include 5 or 6 Self-addressed, Stamped, size #10 (Business Size) Envelopes if you want this free newsletter. or G et in touch with us : INTERNET SITE: http://www.natlassoc.org eMail: chmn@natlassoc.org Voice: (937) 236-2882 Cell: (937) 902-4486 (After 9:00 PM) Join the national association for MeMbers (naM) [Free] What is NAM ? NAM was organized to advocate for ALL people who use campground resorts, condominiums, and timeshares.<br><br> We want to stabilize and improve the rights of members. Many of us, speaking with one voice can make things change for the better. NAM is that voice.<br><br> We will work with government agencies, campground resort owners/developers, and others to stabilize, improve, and enforce your rights. There is no fee for our newsletters nor any service we provide. We do, however, depend on donations from people who believe in what we are doing.<br><br> We are registered with the government as a nonproQt organization and your donations are tax deductible. You can help. Join the NAM 4 Make a Difference.<br><br> Send us the following information, it will not be provided to any non-government organization and will not be used for commercial purposes by anyone. Note: NAM may "not" obligate you in any way to pay money for any purpose without your explicit consent. Still More Complaints About Travel America Please Help Me...<br><br> I am 71 yrs old on Soc Sec and my husband is in frail health, we are being extorted for money we do not owe, this company is intimidating, harassing and infringing on my health. We are part of a Class Action Settlement that was closed in OUR FAVOR, ON 4-12-07, we received a check for $780.00 we paid out $5,590.00. The resort went bankrupt in 1994, we never visited any of their resorts.<br><br> The name of the company when we signed the contract was Thousand Adventures, when they went bankrupt in 1994 at that time we were not aware of the bankruptcy taking place until we were contacted by the attorney in charge of the suit. The Class Action Suit was settled on March 2007 at the Des Moines, Iowa Court house. Thousand Adv.<br><br> Inc. moved to California, kept changing the mailing address and name of the company BUT ALWAYS THE SAME FORM FOR BILLING, they are AKA Thorenhaven, R & R Ranch Resort, Hayden Creek Resort, Cathedral Palms Resort and now First Nationwide Resort Mgmt. We never signed any contract with these resorts.<br><br> We owe nothing, they keep billing for maintenance fees when there are no parks. I mailed a certiQed letter on 3-4-05 stating I wanted the contract cancelled and that NO FURTHER DUES would be paid, the attorney advised me to do this, he also stated they had no legal right to bill me or call me. The attorney general is aware of this case, I have documents & a Qle 2 inches thick.<br><br> I want the billing to stop, I get very sick and can 9t sleep and I get really stressed out because I RELIVE THIS TERRIBLE NIGHTMARE, THE HIGH PRESSURE SELLING WAS UNREAL THEY EVEN CAME TO MY HOUSE, we have been Qghting this for many years since 1989. We paid with our retirement money and never received anything from them only dismay. Please stop these people from mailing me bills, the amounts keep running up, if you need anything please let me know.<br><br> I AM SO WORRIED THAT MY CHILDREN WILL BECOME VICTIMS AFTER I PASS (they are not into law). I Qled a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service.<br><br> Please help me (Linda) as to what to do my attorney in the case has now moved and hard to communicate with (since he doesn 9t have his paper work). Please, Please I need your help. NAM is helping to prepare complaints to government organizations listed on page 1.<br><br>