Chapter 55: Chapter 55 What operation is this?
This was also why, even though he knew Lin Zhen was a black intermediary, he still dared to sign the contract. With this contract in hand, it would serve as irrefutable evidence.
"Mr. Qin, if you have other matters to attend to, you may leave first. I will discuss the subsequent transfer and payment with Uncle Yang and his wife." After the contract signing concluded, Lin Zhen suddenly turned towards Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment. He was somewhat surprised. "How did you know I had other matters?" He was planning to take the contract and go to Wang Dachui to draft a lawsuit.
Lin Zhen’s mouth twitched. How the hell would I know? It was just a simple courtesy.
Fortunately, Qin Mu did not linger. He seemed to have urgent matters and hurriedly left the store.
Afterward, Lin Zhen turned back to face Uncle Yang and his wife. "As previously agreed, you will transfer 750,000 yuan to Mr. Qin’s account specified in the contract. The remaining shortfall... will be handled by our company’s finance officer, who will assist you in obtaining a bank loan."
Uncle Yang’s body trembled slightly, but he still nodded. They could come up with the 750,000 yuan from all their savings. But... the house was priced at 1 million yuan. Including deed tax, land tax, personal income tax, and other fees, the total came to 1.1 million yuan. Lin Zhen had explained to them that the reason the contract listed 750,000 yuan was that paying in two separate installments could legitimately avoid taxes. So the sales price written in the contract was 250,000 yuan less than the actual price. Regarding the loan, Lin Zhen had also promised to help them sort it out. Through their "internal channels," even though they were retired, they could still take out a loan of 300,000 yuan.
"Then, this house..." Uncle Yang, clutching the contract in his hand, asked anxiously.
Lin Zhen explained with great patience, "As long as you transfer the 750,000 yuan to the designated account and secure the bank loan, we can then discuss the transfer of ownership with Mr. Qin."
Generally speaking, a house purchase is completed by first making the payment and then transferring the ownership. Some buyers and sellers also arrange for fund supervision. In this process, the bank freezes the funds and handles their allocation. Once the seller receives payment, the ownership transfer is completed. However, the process he was operating this time was more complex, as he was pocketing the 250,000 yuan difference. Therefore, he skipped the fund supervision step. As long as the couple transferred the 750,000 yuan to Qin Mu, the transaction was considered complete for Qin Mu. And the 300,000 yuan from the bank loan... was actually his "commission" for this deal.
"Alright, then... let’s hurry and get the loan," Uncle Yang and his wife looked at each other and proactively urged. The contract was already signed. They had no way back now. They only hoped to complete the loan quickly and then proceed with the transfer of ownership, so their grandson could smoothly register for the new school term.
「Meanwhile, at the nursing home, in the legal advisor’s office.」
"What? You actually sold it?!" Wang Dachui’s eyes bulged, staring at the contract Qin Mu placed in front of him, his face filled with disbelief. Yesterday, Qin Mu had told him over the phone that he was going to close a deal with the black intermediary. He had thought it was just talk. But to his surprise, in the blink of an eye, Qin Mu had really sold the house.
"Of course I had to sell. Otherwise, how could I get him locked up?" Qin Mu said earnestly.
Wang Dachui was speechless for a moment.
Afterward, Qin Mu continued, "You’re more professional. Help me look it over. With this contract, what kind of charge can we press against Lin Zhen?"
Wang Dachui smiled wryly. He opened the contract and began reading it carefully. On the surface, it looked like a standard tripartite contract signed by the buyer, the seller, and the agent. But as he read on, he discovered something was off again. The content within was simply too treacherous. For the intermediary party, there were no responsibilities or obligations whatsoever. Even if they breached the contract, the intermediary would only need to compensate and refund the brokerage fee. On the contrary, many traps and responsibilities for breaches were hidden in the provisions concerning the buyer and seller.
Ten minutes later, Wang Dachui sighed lightly and shook his head. "The contract is tricky, but it doesn’t constitute a violation of the law, and it is within the scope of legal protection. Their legal team was evidently quite skilled, grasping legal loopholes with high precision." Every point was almost exploiting legal loopholes, skirting on the edge. In such a case, even if a lawsuit was filed, the other party would not be guilty of any crime. The best result would be for the court to declare the unfair contract void. The domestic laws in this respect were quite imperfect. That was also why these black intermediaries dared to be so rampant.
However, just as Wang Dachui was about to give up, Qin Mu spoke up, "I looked through the Contract Law yesterday and found a clause in the tripartite fault principle with a specific expanded interpretation for intermediary services."
Wang Dachui was taken aback. "What expanded interpretation?" He usually focused on civil litigation and was not very familiar with Contract Law. Moreover, the content of the expanded interpretation was incredibly complex, often many times longer than the statutory text itself.
And then, Qin Mu looked at him and recited the relevant expanded interpretation of the Contract Law verbatim.
"The tripartite fault principle refers to the allocation of compensation liability based on the determination of each party’s fault and responsibility. In any intermediary contract, if it can be determined that losses suffered by the buyer or seller—such as a price difference in the house—are due to the intermediary company’s mistakes, malicious provision of false housing information, inadequate inspection of housing information, or other behaviors causing market confusion, then the real estate intermediary company shall bear compensation responsibility according to the actual loss and degree of fault."
As Wang Dachui listened to Qin Mu recite the expanded interpretation, he was dumbfounded. He quickly took out his computer and looked up the interpretation. Finally, he found the tripartite fault principle in a judicial interpretation of a law published by a local authority a year ago.
"Is it... really there?"
This expanded interpretation was quite obscure and only applicable in some regional provinces; it was not widely known nationwide. Therefore, few people were aware of it. And as it happened, the contract law in Jin City was based on this legal provision.
Qin Mu took a deep breath. His lips slowly curled into a smile, and he retorted, "Does that mean, if I breach the contract unilaterally right now... I can demand substantial compensation from Lin Zhen and his intermediary company?"
This legal provision was, in fact, something he had found last night, searching through the night. With his photographic memory, he had memorized most of the laws related to criminal, civil, contract, and economic law that could potentially be involved in disputes over the course of one night. Ultimately, in the Contract Law, he found this little-known expanded interpretation.
Upon hearing this, Wang Dachui’s scalp tingled with shock at Qin Mu’s maneuver. One second he had just finished signing the house sale contract; the next, he was planning to unilaterally breach it and demand the other party pay him.
After careful consideration though, Wang Dachui still nodded and analyzed from a professional viewpoint, "If you really breach the contract unilaterally, you certainly can file a lawsuit with the court, requesting... the other party to provide compensation." According to the expanded interpretation of the law, if Qin Mu were to breach the contract, a comprehensive evaluation of all three parties would be required. Then, based on the behavior and fault of all three parties, responsibility would be assigned. For instance, Qin Mu’s responsibility for unilaterally breaching the contract might account for ten percent. But... the responsibility of the black intermediary would very likely account for ninety percent! Because these black intermediaries, in the process of making deals, stop at nothing. Aside from the already known fabrication of false housing information, there must be a multitude of other illegal activities. If the prosecutor’s office were to get involved and conduct a thorough investigation, ninety percent of the responsibility would fall on the intermediary! Furthermore, the intermediary would also have to compensate the three parties according to the extent of the damages they suffered!