Critics question realtor Wayne Stroman's timeshare resale business

Shepherd and Parsons think the letters are part of Stroman's plan.

"The fact that you have a lawyer answering complaints, I mean, these are not lawyerly complaints; it's customer service," says Parsons. "I think the lawyer is designed as an intimidation factor...I think he's part of the business plan."

Says Shepherd, "My 'A-ha' moment was a combination of the way they handled customer service, the ridiculously low offers from what they originally said I could get and the way they handled the BBB complaint. It gave me the impression that this was not an isolated incident and that managing complaints is an ongoing part of their business, trying to get some poor person to throw up their hands and say, 'Screw this,' and walk away."

Parsons says that Shepherd's story is much the same as everyone else's who's complained to him about Stroman.

"They're offering a panacea, a solution, a glimmer of hope, if you will," says Parsons. "They'll say they'll get you out of your problem timeshare at your desired price and everything will be great and you will no longer be the victim of timeshares. It paints a very rosy picture."

Consumer complaints typically fall into three categories: greed, desperation and vanity.

"I think this company has touched a little of all three," says Parsons, "which is kind of unique. Stroman's a promoter who's very organized and has been doing this a long time."

Shepherd was finally able, in the fall of 2003, to sell his timeshare for the handsome sum of $22,000. He sold it privately to his father-in-law.

"We had dozens of offers on (Shepherd's) property over the years," Stevenson says, "so I don't know what he's upset about. I mean, since Shepherd registered his property with us in 2002, we have sold right at $2 million worth of property at his very resort."

Shepherd says that if he had to do it all over again, he would've researched the BBB and found a company with a better record.

"If they had been straight with me right from the start and said the property has depreciated and is only worth so-and-so," he says, "number one, they wouldn't have gotten my money, which is against their motivation, and number two, if they told people up-front what the real deal is, they'd be out of business. I mean, who would give them $499 to get them to dump your property for half of what you paid? Dealing with Stroman was like a sore on my ass that wouldn't heal."

Wayne Stroman graduated from the University of Houston in 1979 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing. That same year, he received his Texas real estate salesman's license, and then in 1980 received his broker's license.

After graduating from college, according to newspaper accounts, Stroman began his career representing customers looking to buy fixer-uppers in west and southwest Houston. And since Stroman had worked construction during high school and college, it seemed only natural that he also offer his refurbishing services on the properties he'd sold.

Stroman moved his business to Montgomery County in 1983 and began selling plots of land to builders. At the same time, he began building his listing inventory by sending direct mail to the owners of golf course and waterfront properties. Soon, Stroman told the Houston Chronicle, "builders were coming to me to buy lots."

In and around Conroe, Stroman was a night owl and somewhat of a party boy. Up until a few years ago, according to long-time friend Bob Vieau, Stroman owned a 38-foot Cigarette Top Gun powerboat, much like the one glamorized by the hit 1980s TV show Miami Vice. Stroman is a corporate member of the Texas Offshore Performance Powerboat Squadron, of which Vieau is also a member. Together, they and other TOPPS members would hang out at Pappas on the Lake at Lake Conroe, have a few beers and a good laugh. Stroman was arrested in May 2003 on the misdemeanor charge of boating while intoxicated, according to Montgomery County court records. The charge was later dismissed.

"He's been the perennial bachelor around here for many years," Vieau says. "It wouldn't be atypical to hear Wayne's boat run across the lake at 2 or 3 in the morning from Pappas to home. Wayne used to party pretty hard..."

Stroman married several years ago, and since then Vieau says he has not seen as much of Stroman.

"They split up," says Vieau, "but I still haven't seen him around much. He sold his performance boat, and now he's got a cruiser that he keeps on Lake Travis that he spends the night on sometimes."

While Stroman was building his local real estate company, he began to fix his eye on timeshares. Today, his Web site boasts that he is the "World's Largest Timeshare Resales Broker with the World's Largest Selection of Timeshares for Sale." The site also says that Stroman has resold properties in 47 states and 29 countries.

Manager Billy Stevenson says 120 realtors and support personnel work at Stroman Realty. The Texas Real Estate Commission lists Stroman as having 79 licensed salespeople. In addition, court records show Stroman owns his own direct-mail and advertising company, Ad-Net Inc., located across the parking lot from Stroman headquarters in Conroe.