News

The Injunction Proposals Review Panel granted the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) approval to commence legal action for a declaration / injunction against Concord Developments Pte Ltd (“Concord Developments”) on 28 November 2011 for breaching the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act (CPFTA), namely, by exerting undue pressure or influence on consumers, as well as making misleading and / or false claims to consumers. Our lawyers have filed a writ in court on 21 December 2011.

Concord Developments was incorporated in Singapore on 24 December 2010 as Citadel Developments Pte Ltd. It changed its name to Concord Developments Pte Ltd on 30 December 2010. According to the Corporate and Regulatory Authority’s (ACRA’s) business profile search, Concord Developments’ principal activities are stated as business and management consultancy services.

As at 10 October 2011, 44 consumers have filed complaints alleging breaches of the CPFTA against Concord Developments.

Some consumers reported that they were invited to attend at Concord Developments’ office for a meeting to dispose of their timeshare memberships. At Concord Developments’ premises, consumers were told that they could be sued for their liability on the timeshare membership or their liability on the membership could be passed on to their children or grandchildren. They signed agreements but subsequently realised that these agreements do not dispose of their timeshare memberships conclusively or relate to recovery of monies from their timeshare memberships. The meeting sometimes took up to six hours. Consumers also complained that they signed subscription agreements thinking they were agreements for property purchase, or realised payments were made to another company instead of to Concord Developments, or thought one or two free agreements were bundled with the subscription agreement when they actually came at a price. The contract values range from between $500 and $1000 for an opportunity with International Cruise & Excursion’s Inc’s service of Our Vacation Club, or between $1000 and $2000 for the right to receive Leisure Alliance direct trade offer(s), to between $4000 and $21,000 for subscription rights in a company called Realty Access Limited, which details are unknown to us.

CASE had attempted to stop Concord Developments’ unfair practices by inviting it to sign a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA). However, Concord Developments has, by its representative, declined to sign the VCA.

CASE would like to remind consumers that unfair practices are not unique to any one company or industry. Consumers should be on guard when they are contacted to attend presentations or meetings which consumers had not initiated. Consumers should remember that there are no free lunches and when something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.