Chapter 53: Chapter 53: There’s nothing formal about this contract!
...
Jin City.
Nursing home, legal advisor’s office.
"Clause Seven, remuneration for the mandate."
"Firstly, if Party B successfully sells Party A’s property within the mandated period, Party A agrees to pay Party B a commission based on the actual transaction price of the property."
"Secondly, if Party B fails to provide an opportunity to enter into a contract within the mandated period, Party B shall not charge any remuneration."
"Thirdly..."
Qin Mu recited the "Property Sale Commission Agreement" he and Lin Zhen had signed in front of Wang Dachui.
It took a full fifteen minutes. Only then had he finished reading all the terms of the agreement.
And throughout it all, Wang Dachui listened with a bewildered expression. As a legal professional, he had seen people recite laws and cases. But reciting a contract... that was a first for him, and it was utterly maddening.
"Look, this contract I signed the other day, is it standard? Are there any issues with it?" Qin Mu asked after he finished reciting.
He had only glanced briefly at the agreement. But with his "Eidetic Memory" skill, he remembered every single word on the contract with crystal clarity. After realizing there was a problem with Lin Zhen, he immediately came to find Wang Dachui.
"Any issues?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Dachui’s mouth twitched. He shook his head, saying, "You should be asking a different question. In this contract... are there any compliant clauses at all?"
As a lawyer, identifying issues in contracts was also an essential skill. But the "Property Sale Agreement" that Qin Mu had just recited was almost entirely problematic.
"In this agreement, the division of rights and responsibilities between the parties is clearly inequitable." He took a deep breath, then continued analyzing, "Take, for example, the liability for breach of contract. It seems like both parties are required to pay a penalty if they breach the agreement, but... the other party’s loss can almost be ignored."
"These breach liabilities, for them, are virtually non-existent."
"Furthermore, there are..."
From a professional standpoint, Wang Dachui quickly pointed out more than a dozen dubious areas in the contract.
"In summary, this agreement... crazily toes the line between legal and illegal, and it’s extremely disadvantageous for the selling party."
"However, such contracts are made quite covertly, and those not versed in law usually fail to recognize the issues."
At this point, Wang Dachui wore a peculiar expression and couldn’t help but ask, "You... didn’t sign this contract, did you?"
Qin Mu let out a wry smile. He recounted his encounter with the real estate agent when trying to sell his property.
"You might have... come across a shady agent," Wang Dachui sighed lightly, saying empathetically, "It’s common to run into shady agents when dealing with property sales or purchases. I had a friend who bought a house last year, and a shady agent scammed him out of more than 20,000 yuan."
In modern society, the demand for housing is ever-increasing. Without a home, even getting married is an issue. This has led to a proliferation of various agencies. With the industry flooded, it’s inevitable to find a mix of good and bad, and many have suffered at their hands. Some scam for rent, some for deposits, and some brokers make a profit off the spread, earning from both ends. These shady agents aren’t satisfied with simply earning commission and always look for ways to fleece both buyers and sellers.
Typically, the contracts used by these agencies fall into a gray area between legal and illegal. They play close to the edge. Many people get cheated and are still unable to do anything about them.
"Shady agents?"
Qin Mu furrowed his eyebrows. He had just had a few peaceful days, how did he run into such people again?
DING! "A new event has been detected for the host, initiating the new task."
"The host may choose one of the following three task lines, complete the relevant task, and receive a random reward based on the level of completion."
"One, refuse the demand to sell the property to avoid losses.
Two, expose the true nature of the shady agents, making it public to prevent more people from being deceived.
Three, stand up for justice and ensure the shady agents receive their due punishment."
Suddenly, a voice from the system echoed in his mind. Immediately after, three different tasks appeared before him.
It really is a shady agent. Seeing the system task triggered, Qin Mu had almost confirmed Lin Zhen’s identity. The system’s judgment wouldn’t be wrong.
Subsequently, he looked at the three tasks given by the system.
The first task was the simplest and easiest to complete. But... he had already signed a commission agreement to sell the house. If he backed out now, he would have to pay the other party a penalty for breach of contract. According to this "black contract," he’d have to pay at least 2% of 800,000 yuan. That’s 16,000 yuan. The money wasn’t the main issue; it was the principle. He couldn’t just swallow this. As the victim, why should he meekly accept this injustice?
He immediately dismissed this option.
As for the second option... even if Lin Zhen and the shady agency behind him were exposed, they could just start a new shell company and continue their operations. Many more people would still be duped. It wouldn’t be of any real use.
The best way... was to send Lin Zhen and the real estate agency behind him to prison! These shady agents deal with so many people buying and selling houses every day. He certainly wasn’t the only one who had been conned.
I choose three!
This time, Qin Mu still chose the third path.
But how to send them to prison... That was a big problem. Their contract was in that gray area between legal and illegal. Although problematic, it was still technically protected by law. Besides, he hadn’t yet found any evidence that Lin Zhen and his associates were trying to scam him.
At that moment, his phone rang.
Qin Mu looked at the caller ID and saw that it was Lin Zhen, the agent he had commissioned.
"Mr. Qin, hello, good news, your house has been sold!"
"An elderly couple took a liking to your house, but they didn’t have enough funds. Seeing their sincerity, I quoted the bottom line price of 750,000 yuan."
"They agreed."
"When do you have time? Let’s arrange a meeting between both parties and discuss the payment and transfer of ownership?"
Over the phone, Lin Zhen was extremely respectful and polite.
"Sold so quickly? Wasn’t there no interest before?" Qin Mu scoffed quietly and asked without betraying any emotion.
Over the phone, Lin Zhen hurriedly explained, "The previous clients may have been too picky, but this elderly couple is easy to talk to and don’t ask for much, only wishing for a quick transfer of ownership."
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered momentarily. Pretending to consider the offer, he nodded in response, "I’m free all day tomorrow."
"Great, then I’ll set up a time with the elderly couple and we’ll sign the contract tomorrow at our office."
On the other end of the line, Lin Zhen hastily replied upon hearing this. The excitement and thrill in his voice were completely undisguised.
"You... really want to sell the house through this agency?"
After Qin Mu hung up, Dachui swallowed hard and couldn’t help but ask. Qin Mu had put the call on speaker, so Dachui had also heard their conversation. What puzzled him was that the contract wasn’t even legitimate and was full of traps. Yet Qin Mu insisted on going his own way, apparently still planning to sell the house through this very agency!