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Ginn sued over Florida resort sales

Steve Lynn
Vail, CO Colorado

MINTURN ” Close to 100 people are suing Ginn Resorts for allegedly misleading property buyers from Michigan, according to a lawsuit.

Ginn Resorts wants to build a private ski resort with 1,700 homes south of Minturn.

The company sold several properties at its Florida resorts multiple times to generate more profits for investors and broke federal laws, says the lawsuit, which was filed in a Michigan federal court five weeks ago.



“We believe that the claims are meritless and we will defend them to the full extent of the law,” said Bobby Masters, executive vice president of Ginn Resorts.

The allegations made in the lawsuit are “not based on fact,” Masters said.

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Real estate brokers who sold the properties were not working for Ginn, Masters said.

The lawsuit contends that Ginn real estate agents told the plaintiffs that “as soon as the property was purchased, the agents could immediately sell the properties at a substantial profit.”

If Ginn loses the lawsuit, the company will have to repurchase the properties, said John Hindo, an attorney for the plaintiffs, who live Michigan.

“We think that Ginn was flipping these properties numerous times when there was no value,” Hindo said.

Ginn also failed to provide the plaintiffs with property reports required by federal law that contain information such as financial conditions and maps, Hindo said.

But Masters said the plaintiffs bought their properties from the Michigan brokers and none of the plaintiffs were first-time buyers who bought from Ginn.

The plaintiffs wanted to buy the properties and sell them quickly for a good profit, but the real estate market slowed down, Masters said.

“Now they are trying to blame somebody besides themselves,” Masters said.

Ginn was not involved in the property sales so it did not generate substantial profits from them, Masters said.

Ginn probably made real estate commissions on the sales, but those are not a “major profit center,” Masters said.

Ginn always complies with laws requiring property reports and is double checking its records to make sure, Masters said.

“I can’t imagine that that didn’t happen in this case,” Masters said.

Staff Writer Steve Lynn can be reached at 748-2931 or slynn@vaildaily.com.


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