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DreamTravel Update
Update: December 22, 2015

Dream Travels Update

As the year draws to a close, we want to update Members on the Tonya Williams – Dream Travels bankruptcy that resulted in the 2015 special assessment.

According to court records, there was an Order made on her request to re-open the bankruptcy application at a hearing held on June 30, 2015. The order denied the reopening of the bankruptcy. We are not aware of whether this order was appealed, but a Notice of Close of Bankruptcy Case was subsequently issued on July 20, 2015.

Since that time we have been looking for Tonya Williams, as apparently were numerous creditors from the bankruptcy, suggesting that she still operated but under a different company. Notably, these creditor allegations were denied in the bankruptcy filings. Searches for her and businesses or assets related thereto have not borne fruit to date, but we continue to canvass our sources and the web for any indication of her whereabouts or actions. Unfortunately, this possibility of her disappearance and lack of exigible assets was considered when the special assessment was set, and the Club is now able to continue irrespective of her being found. As the Club is made aware of further developments, such will be posted as Member updates from time to time.

Wishing you all the best for the seasons and a happy new year of travels.

Suite Life Vacations Club


Update: July 29, 2015

We understand that Tonya Williams’ repeated attempts to take Dream Travels into bankruptcy have once again been refused by the bankruptcy courts. While this means that actions can be taken to go after her company for debts owed to Suitelife, such does not mean that we will necessarily recover any monies. Enquiries to date are showing no available assets of such company, where actions taken for recovery would therefore yield no results for monies expended. We will continue to monitor her activities and advise any prospects for recovery as they become known.


Update: April 10, 2015

Dear Member,

I want to take this opportunity to clear up a number of misconceptions and rumours that have been circulated by a couple of individuals regarding the Dream Travel bankruptcy.

First, let me make clear that all those members directly affected by the supplier’s actions, with booked accommodations and issued confirmations, have been taken care of with alternate accommodation. No one has been or will be left stranded due to the diligent actions of the Reservations staff.

Next, the Club’s personnel dealt with Dream Travel for over 8 years, and notwithstanding the comments of certain members regarding her recent actions, such supplier performed and continued to perform through good and bad times, and many members that vacationed in the Caribbean directly benefited from this sourced inventory. This supplier, similar to other suppliers used by the Club, had direct relationships with specific resorts and resort owners and managed this resort inventory on a bulk basis, where the Club was able to secure favourable inventory from Dream Travel by making future arrangements to clear their inventory allotments a year or more into the future. This extended forward buying has now been curtailed as a result of the Dream Travel experience.

Unfortunately, the vacation industry has had its ups and downs over the past 5 years, with accommodation inventory going unused due to recessionary pressures and changes in member vacation habits. Reserve funds and beyond were utilized in such circumstances to cover the shortfall. Decisions respecting sourcing of accommodations inventory, and budgeting related thereto are made by the Club manager that has purchased vacations accommodations inventory in the manner that was subjected to the bankruptcy in accordance with industry practices. Accordingly, there is no lack of due diligence effected in this situation. However, the Dream Travel bankruptcy was beyond the capability of existing contingencies to handle. This is why the special assessment was issued.

Nothing has been asked of the membership that is not provided for in the terms of their Membership Agreement. All fees, increases and payment currency requirements are as set out in the Membership Agreement. The Club is run as a club, in accordance with the terms of a member’s membership agreement and the Rules and Regulations thereto, and is therefore neither a corporation, sole proprietorship or cooperative. The Club is run on a not for profit basis and members are not bailing out the ownership, but rather assuring their continued access to the services the Club provides.

To be absolutely clear, there is no intention for the Club to go bankrupt. We don’t know where such rumours started, but they are not true. Forum posts by an anthonya189 that stated verbatim, “Hey Marilyn no one takled to her. She should be tackled though as she filed for Chapter 7 AA” a month ago are not mine, and the attempts to ascribe such to me are at best self serving for those seeking to not pay the special assessment they contracted to. Similarly, the two posts by an anthonya190 are not mine, with both impersonations designed simply to inflame the situation.

There are a few members that are using this unfortunate occurrence to manifest untruths and rumours all to not meet the obligations they agreed to, to the detriment of the rest of the membership. We are taking all reasonable steps to meet requests, inclusive of providing for members review of related documentation to the special assessment. It is hoped that such efforts are sufficient and the Club will continue to run as before this unfortunate occurrence subject to additional controls that will limit forward inventory acquisitions and exposure.

Going forward, our next steps are as follows:

   1. Determine the bankruptcy status of Dream Travel’s motion to reinstate the bankruptcy case, now rescheduled for hearing on May 28, 2015.

   2. Depending on whether the bankruptcy case proceeds and a stay of proceedings is issued, determine the feasibility of a civil suit to recover funds and prospect of the availability of such funds at the end of the day.

At this point, we are not aware of any realizable assets of Dream Travel and therefore do not expect to recover anything, which is a key reason that the special assessment was issued when it was. However, if there is any net recovery from Dream Travel, current members of the Club will be provided a pro-rated credit of any sums recovered.

I hope the above answers your questions, and clarifies the how and why the special assessment was necessary in the circumstances.

Sincerely,

Anthony Addesi


Update: March 30, 2015

Dear Member,

As promised in our initial communication, this is a further update with respect to the Special Assessment Fee.

The following is an accounting breakdown on how the $399 assessment figure was arrived at (all figures are in $US). We will communicate with you with total transparency and will continue to send updates as soon as they are available.

Breakdown of Costs:

  • Dream Travel Bankruptcy - $582,030
  • Cost to fix weeks gone bad to date - $200,000
  • Cost to fix future weeks* - $225,000
  • Reserve fund replenishment - $150,000
  • Legal fees, expected to date$ - 30,000
Total - $1,187,030
* estimate based upon past experience to secure comparable inventory

This amount was divided by our 3,000 members and therefore a $399.00 fee was the amount levied.
For any members that would like to see actual invoices and payments for the above expenses, you are welcome to come to the office and we will be happy to show you. PLEASE MAKE AN APPOINTMENT .... as you can appreciate the reservation department is extremely busy with all that’s going on.

If you have any questions please email them to info@suitelifevacations.com and please be patient……we will reply as quickly as we can. Remember, that during all this we must still service our members.


Update: March 6, 2015

On February 23, 2015, Judge Jason D. Woodard, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court dismissed the bankruptcy application by Dream Travel, for failure to timely file documents or pay required fees, on a without prejudice basis. A copy of the Order can be seen by clicking here ( Dismissal Order ).

According to Nolo.com, if the court dismisses the bankruptcy without prejudice, it means that Dream Travel can refile their case right away. But they will typically have to fix their mistakes and also file a motion to extend or impose the automatic stay in the new bankruptcy.

During the time when the case is dismissed, Dream Travel loses the protection of the automatic bankrutpcy stay and their creditors are free to come after them to collect their debts.


Dear Members:

Over the last 8 years SuiteLife Vacations has been doing business with Dream Travel, the owner being Tonya Williams.

She has provided SuiteLife with some great inventory, at great pricing, that we have passed on to you.

Unexpectedly, Dream Travel has filed for bankruptcy. Particulars of the bankruptcy are as follows:

- Bankruptcy Filing: United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Mississippi, case number 15-10414, filed 2/10/2015, Proof of Claim

- Bankruptcy Trustee: Steven P. Livingston Sr., P.O. Box 729, New Albany, MS 38652, tel: (601) 965-5241

Background

SuiteLife has prepaid Dream Travel for inventory through 2017. This inventory had to be paid in advance in order to secure preferred pricing that was then made available to the SuiteLife membership, inclusive of Wyndham properties and resorts located in Aruba that were favoured and frequented by SuiteLife members. It was not until January of 2015, that there were any indications that this accommodations supplier would not fulfil contracted for accommodations, but upon investigation it was determined that property believed to have been future secured was not so committed, with notice of the supplier’s bankruptcy coming soon thereafter.

The Club has endeavoured to substitute and replace the accommodations to have been provided by such bankrupt supplier, and thanks to all those that were affected in working diligently with Club staff to make appropriate transitions to substituted properties. To their credit, no members were stranded due to the actions of the bankrupt supplier. Many of you received calls, some as short as 24 hours before your vacations started, letting you know that you were moved to another resort, if your confirmed resort was not available. However, depending upon the proximity of intended member usage of accommodations inventory, replacement accommodations had to be secured at much higher cost than originally committed to through the bankrupt supplier. Unallocated inventory from the bankrupt supplier has been removed from SuiteLife inventory, so as to eliminate future booking exposure to the members. The cost to date, both in terms of finding substitutional inventory and staff time to do so, forms that basis of a special assessment.

What does this mean to Members

The Club runs much like a condo corporation and as such when there are repairs and any unexpected expenses the owners are responsible to contribute. In order to maintain the solvency of the Club, we estimate that with what we have paid Dream Travel already, along with what it cost to replace the reservations that have gone bad, a special assessment of $399 (US) will be charged to all members – that will be due on March 30th 2015 - unless you are travelling before this March 30th in which case the special assessment must be paid before you travel. In our history something like this has never happened to us. It is unclear at this point whether or not it was just bad business by Dream Travel or an outright fraud. The Club is still investigating whether to hire a U.S. attorney to represent its interests including possible civil proceedings against the bankrupt and/or its personal representative Tonya Williams. At this juncture, a formal complaint has already been lodged with the Office of Consumer Protection, c/o Jim Hood, Attorney General, State of Mississippi, against both the bankrupt and Tonya Williams. Accordingly, the Club is taking all measures available to it to limit member exposure and potentially recoup monies paid.

Club services inclusive of property sourcing and the Reservations Department are based on budgeted annual service and maintenance fees, which have now been severely affected by the actions of Dream Travel resulting in a shortfall, for which a special assessment must be levied. Provision for a special assessment in such an instance is contemplated by Article 15 of the Club’s Rules and Regulations, and it is pursuant to this contractual provision that the current special assessment of $399 US is issued.

We want to thank affected Members that cooperated in working with the Club to relocate upon such short notice, and also wish to thank prospectively all Members in resolving this unfortunate occurrence by taking the steps necessary to maintain access to Club services and accommodation inventory.

Payment of the special assessment may be made online by clicking on the following link or pasting the url into your browser – http://www.suitelifevacations.com/AFEE/

Further Information

Copies of the bankruptcy filing and Attorney General Complaint Form are posted on the Suitelife Vacations website, at http://www.suitelifevacations.com/dreamtravel, as well as links to the RedWeek.com forum discussion by creditors of the bankrupt. It is our intention to keep Club members informed of the latest developments in this matter on an ongoing basis, by way of posting on the above web page.

Sincerely,

Suite Life Vacations Club Management

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