Racism Through Stereotypes in Book Four: Ichi-no-Tani 2017
- Nov. 13, 2017, 7:06 p.m.
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- Public
Clearly, I’ve mentioned how cheap my bosses are. And… my family that once lived in Hong Kong were quick to say “The Chinese are very cheap.” And yes… according to “Professional Market Value Assessment” I am making less than 50% of what I am worth. And yes there are lots of ways that this firm supports the Chinese are cheap mentality. But that is just one firm. That is just 3 people. That can’t be allowed to represent a culture.
Then we had an interesting case cross our door. Let’s create a hypothetical for this so as to protect individuals.
Jerome, Tyrell, and Derick decide to start a Gumbo & Chili restaurant in Iowa. It goes very well for them but they miss spending time with their families, so they consider selling. Jerome owns 65% of the company, Tyrell owns 25% of the company, and Derick owns 10 % of the company. Derick contracts a Realtor with an Exclusive Listing License to sell the business. Despite being minority shareholder, he is still considered an owner. The Realtor agrees; provided the business sign the Exclusivity portion of the contract prohibiting the business from using competing Realtors. Jerome finds out that Derick hired a Realtor and starts asking the Realtor how the hunt for buyers is going. After a few months with unsatisfactory results; Jerome tells the Realtor that they no longer wish to sell the business. A few weeks later, Jerome sells the business. Realtor claims that Jerome’s cancellation was (1) against contract because (2) it was fraudulent. The cancellation, Realtor explains, was an attempt to sell the business without paying the commission of the Realtor who was attempting to get interested buyers. Frankly, Realtor argues, there is no way Jerome can prove the buyer wasn’t influenced by the Realtor’s campaign.
Now… it isn’t exactly cut and dried, easy peasy. There are nuances and tricks and difficulties. The issue here is (1) The Business signed a contract; (2) The majority owner allowed the contract to continue, thus adopting the contract by inaction; (3) The Business attempted to break contract without going through the proper route to do so; (4) As soon as they thought they were free of Contract, they sold the business.
Judge agreed that the actions were too obvious to not be an attempt to defraud the Realtor.
The Chinese staff here was outraged. Apparently, the Realtor working his butt off for 3 months wasn’t good enough because “he wasn’t the one that sold the business.” And, as he wasn’t the one that sold the business, “he was owed zero money.”
Thus we realize the Cultural Confusion of “Service Contract” versus “Exchange of Goods.” You aren’t paying the Realtor a commission based on him being the person that directly brought you the buyer. You are paying the Realtor a commission based on him being the person that is selling your business/house. Or maybe I’m completely wrong? Seriously… people who have used Realtors to sell homes and businesses and the like. Was there ever a point where you knew you had a buyer and could screw the Realtor out of their commission? Because… the Chinese I work with think “that isn’t wrong; just good business.”
I have found people that are more Ferengi than I.
EvequeFou ⋅ November 13, 2017
I've seen related disputes where the person providing the service had nothing to do with finding the buyer. Typically the defense against that is that the realtor will spread their advertisements wide enough it's difficult to prove that a buyer was totally independent.
Deleted user ⋅ November 13, 2017
I kind of agree if the realtor did not sell the property in three months and the account was closed , then I don’t think the owner was wrong not wanting to pay .
Amaryllis ⋅ November 14, 2017
I listed a $980,000 house. It was a luxury (10,000+ square feet) log cabin in the middle of nowhere (but not 'Up North', where people look for cabins.) Not easy to sell in Michigan. I worked it for two years, including an auction where the buyer fell through and 3 offers that fell out of escrow for various reasons. I co-listed the listing with a realtor who lived in their area because I just couldn't keep driving 4 hours roundtrip to show the house. Unbeknownst to me, that realtor was going through a series of crisis' - she was in the middle of divorce, her husband had a heart attack, she cared for him in his recovery - and did not do a good job taking care of my sellers or keeping me in the loop. The sellers decided to re-up with someone else. It sold TWO weeks later to someone I had shown the house to twice already. The commission was $25,000 and I received...you guessed it...nothing. That's real estate.