Tanner & Haley Timeshare Resorts CEO Resigns

The chief executive of Tanner & Haley Timeshare Resorts resigned Tuesday, three weeks after the 62 corporate entities operating under that trade name sought bankruptcy protection, according to a published report.

Rob McGrath resigned from the Westport-based company, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site. McGrath, a former trader at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Nomura Holdings Inc., started the first destination club in 1998, offering different vacations to the wealthy.

The company's chief restructuring officer, Holly Etlin, said in a statement e-mailed to members Tuesday that McGrath "concluded that he could best enable the company he founded to successfully complete its financial reorganization by stepping down," The Journal reported.

Messages seeking comment weren't immediately returned Tuesday night by the company's media department in Kansas City, Mo., and reorganization media office in New York.

Tanner & Haley drew corporate executives, entrepreneurs, real-estate developers and other wealthy customers. Members of Tanner & Haley clubs vacationed in luxury homes around the world for deposits of between $85,000 and $1.3 million for more recent offerings.

The deposits were in addition to annual dues and property-use fees.

The company filed for bankruptcy protection on July 23 in federal court in Bridgeport. It disclosed an operating loss of $64 million in 2005.

As unsecured creditors, many of the 874 timeshare members fear they could lose most of their membership deposits. The deposits were refundable under certain conditions, but Tanner & Haley stopped returning deposits shortly before the bankruptcy filing, The Journal reported.

On Tuesday, the American Resort Development Association repeated its call for destination clubs to comply with timeshare regulations or support regulations that include a third-party guarantee of a membership refund promise and "comprehensive disclosures."

Citing the Tanner & Haley bankruptcy filing, the trade group said destination clubs that do not guarantee refund obligations or comply with state timeshare laws "pose serious dangers to consumers and to the integrity of all prepaid vacation products."