First Title Transfer, Inc. / Timeshare Market Pro review: Attempted Ripoff 6

Timeshare Market Pro, which closed when the Florida Attorney General investigated their scamming practices, has apparently returned to life as a 3-headed monster. On June 15, 2010, we received a call from Michael Brown, Timeshare Market Pro, [protected], saying our timeshare had been sold and the title company would be contacting us with a contract. All that was needed to finalize the closing, which was scheduled for July 14, was a cashier's check from us for $1, 987 to cover the closing costs. We had contracted with Timeshare Market Pro some time ago but had received a refund by disputing the charge through our credit card company after we learned of their fraudulent methods, so I was surprised to hear from them, particularly since I knew they had ceased operation. We received a call from Steve Wilson of First Title Transfer, followed by a closing contract which appeared to be authentic except it did not show a business license number for First Title Transfer, which is required by Florida law. It listed a buyer - Robert Billingsley - and his phone number and email address. I searched the phone number and found it to be a California cell phone. I called Mr. Billingsley, a very gracious English gentleman who verified his intention to purchase our Gatlinburg, TN Westgate timeshare. I searched First Title Transfer's address shown on the contract and found it to be a mailbox business. I called the mailbox company and verified that Box 108 did belong to First Title Transfer (red flag). I called First Title and asked Mr. Wilson for the company's business license number and a physical location - that I would not send a check to a drop box. He said he was in Las Vegas, First Title's headquarters was in San Mateo, CA, and the Florida address was their processing center. He did not know the information I asked for but would find out and let me know. We told Wilson we would amend the contract to say they could take the closing costs out of the proceeds of the sale, rather than sending a check, but he said that could not be done (no surprise). Almost immediately Mr. Billingsley called asking me if he would be able to use the week this year - another red flag since I had answered that question in a previous conversation. The Chambers of Commerce and Better Business Bureaus in Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas, and San Mateo had no listing for First Title, and an internet search turned up nothing. I called the Sheriff's office in Ft. Lauderdale and talked with a detective who found that First Title Transfer recently obtained a business license, the applicant - a Mr. Esposito - was a known scam artist, and the address on the application was non-existant. Apparently sensing reluctance on our part, Brown, Wilson, and Billingsley all called us today pushing us to close the deal. As another test, I told Wilson that we wanted to attend the closing and ask him to give us the time and place. He sputtered that it was in San Mateo, but that he didn't know where (and that is supposed to be the headquarters). My husband called Billingsley and told him the deal with Market Pro was a scam, but if he wanted to buy our Timeshare we would sell it to him directly. We have not heard anything from Billingsley, Wilson, or Brown since that call. Obviously they are in cahoots. This is a well-planned scheme, and i want to alert others who may be contacted by this terrible trio.