MIAMI, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- The developer of the alleged Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach, North Carillon, LLC, has been sued by a number of contract purchasers for alleged deceptive and unfair trade practices in the promotion and sale of condominium units at the Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach project. According to the website promoting the project, www.canyonranchmiamibeach.com, Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach was designed by Canyon Ranch to meet the high quality standards of its destination resorts.

The lawsuit questions the very relationship of Canyon Ranch to the project. At the core of this complaint is the alleged deception enacted by the developer upon consumers that the condominium project is a Canyon Ranch resort, akin to the Canyon Ranch resort in Arizona. The lawsuit asserts that the Canyon Ranch brand name is temporary at best and that purchasers were induced into purchasing units at the project due to the alleged deception that it was part of the Canyon Ranch brand and family, when in fact, there was nothing more than a phantom management agreement through which Canyon Ranch partially operates the project for a limited term and unit owners are restricted from trading on the Canyon Ranch name.

According to attorney Aaron Resnick, the founder of www.recovermydeposit.com, who filed the lawsuits: "Unit owners are not permitted to use the Canyon Ranch name upon their purchase of their respective units." Resnick asserts in the complaint that although the units were sold as Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach, people were not in fact buying a Canyon Ranch unit, a fact confirmed according to the complaint in writing. Resnick explains, "Our clients paid incredible amounts of money to buy units at Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach after millions were spent marketing and promoting the project as Canyon Ranch, yet they have now been advised that once they buy they cannot use the Canyon Ranch name if they try to market or sell their units."

The complaint filed by Resnick notes that the developer spent millions of dollars advertising and promoting Canyon Ranch Living Miami Beach to consumers, yet the developer's attorneys have refused to turn over the management contract with Canyon Ranch and have stated in writing that the management agreement only regards "spa-related services," and is not a "management agreement" requiring disclosure under the pertinent sections of chapter 718, Florida Statutes. "Our clients were looking to purchase exclusive Canyon Ranch units, and now they want their money back," stated Resnick. "Our clients have been forced to take the matter to court in Florida."

SOURCE Aaron Resnick