Outdoor Adventures Lawsuit: AG Action, Complaints, Lohman Case

The Outdoor Adventures lawsuit picture has two parts a prospective or current member needs to keep straight: a 2019 Michigan Attorney General enforcement action against Outdoor Adventures Inc. of Bay City over its sales and cancellation practices, and a breach-of-contract case, Lohman v. Outdoor Adventures, that is still open in the Michigan courts as of 2026. Alongside the formal legal action, the company has drawn dozens of consumer complaints about high-pressure sales, hidden fees, and campgrounds disappearing from members’ contracts.

The Michigan Attorney General’s 2019 Action

On August 9, 2019, Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a Notice of Intended Action against Outdoor Adventures for alleged violations of the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.¹ The notice is not itself a lawsuit. It is a formal warning that litigation will follow if the company does not change its practices, and it gave the company the option of voluntary compliance to avoid formal court action.²

The AG’s Corporate Oversight Division opened the investigation after receiving nearly 30 consumer complaints since 2016, including 10 in the first seven months of 2019, plus additional complaints forwarded by the Better Business Bureau. Assistant Attorney General Darrin Fowler signed the notice, which identified five categories of unfair trade practices:

Creating confusion about a buyer’s legal rights, obligations, and remedies.
Misrepresenting credit terms, with some consumers reportedly signing credit card contracts without realizing it.
Failing to promptly return deposits, down payments, or other funds.
Making oral sales promises that did not match the written contract.
Subjecting consumers to lengthy, high-pressure sales presentations the AG’s office described as involving “coercion and duress.”³

The AG’s office called the company’s cancellation process “brazenly unconscionable” and accused Outdoor Adventures of taking money “under false pretenses.”¹ The notice demanded that the company stop the cited practices, cooperate with the investigation, and refund affected customers. Outdoor Adventures said publicly that it was “aware” of the notice and would “work through any confusion,” while defending its business practices.²

Why Cancellation Is at the Center of the Dispute

Outdoor Adventures sells timeshare-style camping memberships priced between $7,995 and $16,995. Buyers get a three-business-day window to cancel after purchase. After that window closes, members are locked into long-term contracts with annual maintenance fees of roughly $695.⁴

Consumers who tried to cancel after the three-day period reported being told they would need to pay somewhere between $2,000 and $10,000 to exit. The AG’s office found that members who attempted to cancel often had their accounts sent to collection agencies rather than receiving refunds.²

The typical entry point is a promotional free RV stay in exchange for attending a mandatory 90-minute facility tour. Eligibility requires being at least 27, employed or retired, having a combined household income of at least $50,000, and owning an RV; couples must both attend. The company’s own terms state the promotion’s purpose is “to induce guest to undertake a monetary obligation.”⁵

Recurring Consumer Complaints

Outdoor Adventures has accumulated 45 complaints on its BBB profile over three years, with 13 closed in the most recent 12 months. The company is not BBB-accredited.⁴ Several patterns run through them:

Shrinking resort access. Members allege the company has sold off or closed campgrounds that were part of their original membership, reducing available parks well below what they were promised. Members describe this as a bait-and-switch.
Difficulty canceling. Consumers report being unable to exit without paying thousands in termination fees, and some say the company refused to let them cancel while any balance remained on their membership loan.
Unexpected charges. Members cite annual maintenance fees of about $695, a $5 surcharge per reservation under a newer online booking system, and fees for vehicle passes and linen services that they say were not disclosed at sale.
Booking problems. Members report difficulty securing reservations at popular times, in part because the company opened previously member-exclusive campgrounds to the public and introduced seasonal sites that reduce general availability.⁴

A cluster of complaints in late 2024 and early 2025 stems from the company’s decision to list several Michigan resort locations for sale. Members allege this amounts to a breach of contract, particularly as the company has acquired or promoted out-of-state locations they say do not match what they originally signed up for.⁶ Outdoor Adventures has denied the breach-of-contract claims, calling the property sales strategic operational decisions, and has consistently refused refunds of initial buy-in costs. In some cases the company has offered mutual releases or membership terminations to resolve individual disputes.⁴

The Venture Out Resorts Overlap

Complaints often mention a related brand, Venture Out Resorts. Outdoor Adventures states that the two are “separate entities” and has denied that member maintenance fees were used to fund Venture Out acquisitions.⁴⁷⁸

Members have alleged that campgrounds originally included in their Outdoor Adventures memberships were transferred to Venture Out, reducing the value of their contracts. At least one BBB complaint was redirected by Outdoor Adventures to Venture Out on the grounds that the concerns related to that company’s operations.⁴

Lohman v. Outdoor Adventures: The Active Breach-of-Contract Case

James Lohman filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Outdoor Adventures Inc. in Wayne County Circuit Court on July 8, 2025. Judge Catherine L. Heise is assigned to the case, and Lohman is represented by attorney E. Powell Miller.⁹ An appeal was filed at the Michigan Court of Appeals on December 11, 2025, where it is docketed as case number 378661 and remains open.¹⁰ Available court records classify the matter as a commercial dispute but do not detail the specific claims beyond the breach-of-contract label.

A Separate Case Involving a Different Entity

Searches for Outdoor Adventures lawsuits often surface a wrongful-death case that involved a different corporate entity, Outdoor Adventures of Davison LLC, not Outdoor Adventures Inc. On June 12, 2016, Allyn Taylor, a 20-year-old employee, drowned in Lake Linda at the Davison campground after his shift ended when he swam out to retrieve a paddleboat that had drifted from the dock. He became entangled in thick lake weeds.¹¹

His father filed a negligence suit in Genesee County Circuit Court, alleging the company failed to address the weed conditions or warn swimmers. On January 13, 2022, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the trial court in an unpublished opinion, holding that Taylor was performing a work-related task within a reasonable time after his shift, so the Worker’s Disability Compensation Act provided the exclusive remedy and barred the negligence claim. The case was sent back for dismissal in the company’s favor.¹²

The Regulatory Backdrop

Michigan does not have a statute specifically governing timeshare-style campground memberships. Disputes over these contracts are generally resolved under the state’s Consumer Protection Act or through ordinary contract law, which is why the AG’s 2019 notice and the current Lohman case both come at the company through those general frameworks rather than an industry-specific rule.

1
Michigan Department of Attorney General. AG Nessel Puts Bay City-Based Outdoor Adventures on Notice for Consumer Protection Act Violations
2
Detroit Free Press. Outdoor Adventures Michigan Camping Review
3
MLive. Attorney General Accuses Bay City-Based Outdoor Adventures of Unlawful Business Practices
4
Better Business Bureau. Outdoor Adventures Inc Complaints
5
Outdoor Adventures Inc. Terms and Conditions
6
Better Business Bureau. Outdoor Adventures Inc Complaints – Page 2
7
Outdoor Adventures Inc. Free RV Camping Vacation
8
Venture Out Resorts. Terms and Conditions
9
Trellis Law. Lohman, James v. Outdoor Adventures, Inc.
10
Michigan Courts. Case Search Results – COA #378661
11
Legal News Line. Man Ruled to Have Been on the Job When He Drowned, Dooming Family’s Lawsuit
12
Michigan Courts. Estate of Taylor v. Outdoor Adventures of Davison, Nos. 355035, 355036