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Better Business Bureau advises consumers to use caution if representatives of Acquisition Realty Group approach them about selling their timeshare holdings in Mexico. Some consumers have reported to BBB they gave the company money to cover fees and taxes as part of a timeshare transfer, but the deals have not been consummated after they paid thousands of dollars.
Acquisition Realty Group, which claims to be located in St. Louis, has an “F” rating, the lowest on BBB’s scale, due to recent unanswered complaints. The business operates under the name of a real estate company established in the early 2000s. The business website lists the names of licensed agents in Missouri, but two agents told BBB they do not work for the company and have no knowledge of it.
“If you have a timeshare holding in a foreign country, you must use caution if you receive an unsolicited offer to buy it,” said Michelle L. Corey, BBB St. Louis president and CEO. “You’ll often be quoted a sale price that is well above what the timeshare is worth. If you agree to the sale, you’ll need to investigate the company trying to broker the deal to make sure it is legitimate.”
A Lockwood, Missouri, man told BBB he paid more than $25,000 to Acquisition Realty Group in October 2023. The man said he was offered over $127,000 for his timeshare holding in Mexico. He told BBB that he made two wire transfers – one for $6,370 and another for $19,910 – to Acquisition Realty Group. The man was told the smaller transfer was to register a tax identification number in Mexico, and the larger transfer was for a security bond.
“I get a lot of calls about (the timeshare),” the man told BBB. “This one sounded legitimate and safe. Their agent was very convincing.”
The man said he nearly sent a third money transfer but contacted the timeshare resort before sending it. He said the resort told him he was being defrauded.
A woman from Gilbert, Arizona, told BBB an Acquisition Realty Group representative contacted her in November 2023. She said the company had a buyer for her timeshare holding in Mexico.
The woman said she and her husband told the resort they wanted to sell shortly before Acquisition Realty Group contacted them. She believed her resort had referred the business to them. The woman said she looked up the agent's real estate license through the Missouri Real Estate Commission and saw that he had an active license.
The woman said she wired Acquisition Realty Group $6,200 for what she believed to be a registration fee. She said her bank flagged a second transfer to the company as fraudulent. She said the company continued to contact her to get more money. She said she asked for a refund of the money she sent, but the company has not issued a refund.
“They made everything seem so professional,” the woman told BBB. “I thought they were on the up-and-up.”
While the business did not respond to a BBB letter regarding how it plans to address its pattern of customer complaints, it did respond to an email sent to it by a BBB investigator.
The business wrote that “there is a process in receiving the clients' (sic) refunds which I am not at liberty to discuss.” The business identifies two St. Louis addresses on its website. One of the addresses is in downtown St. Louis. A leasing agent confirmed that the business was not in that building.
The business said it would answer unanswered complaints filed with BBB but has yet to address them.
Tips on how to exit a timeshare holding:
- Research any business and its owners carefully before paying any money. Check the company’s BBB Business Profile at BBB.org or by calling 888-996-3887.
- Contact the resort that originally sold you the timeshare to see if it has a deed-back program.
- Before paying, make sure you have a signed contract outlining what is to be done, a timetable, and an explanation of what happens if the business doesn’t remove you from your timeshare within the specified period.
- Be wary of anyone claiming to have a buyer for your timeshare or who promises to rent it, especially if they ask for an upfront fee.
- Check with BBB’s Scam Tracker to report or learn about scams.
- Pay by credit card whenever possible to challenge the payment.
- If you feel you have been misled, file complaints with the BBB and the state attorney general’s office.
For more on travel scams, read BBB's 2023 study.
BBB St. Louis contributed this warning.
