Attorney General files lawsuit against campground club

The State Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a Des Moines-based camping club. A-G spokesman Bob Brammer says the suit alleges Cutty’s Camping Club uses unfair practices in managing its 82-acre campground in Grimes. The dispute surrounds the memberships sold that allowed people to use the campground. He says some people have wanted to get out of their Cutty’s membership, but haven’t been able to sell. He says they allege the company has used sporadic billing and is ambiguous in what people get for their membership dues. Brammer says some people have been billed as much as four-thousand dollars for memberships dating back 15 years. He says as many as 300 people may’ve gotten collection notices, or been taken to small claims court. Brammer says the organization has about 18-hundred memberships, and about 12-hundred of them are unsold. He says this means a relatively small group of consumers are being obligated to pay all the operating costs of the organization. Brammer says they’re seeking several things from Cutty’s owners.He says they’re asking the court to bar Cutty’s from “illegal” collection practices, reimbursement for customers, and a civil penalty. Brammer says they’re asking for a civil penalty of 40-thousand dollars.