BruceK
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Where`s that popcorn emoji. How about an anchor discussion?
28 posts and we do not have the benefit of knowing the type of boat, the year, a link to the listing etc.
What $20K means to a $100K boat, is 20%
what $20K means to a $200K boat is 10%
The boat is titled, you are the main owner, OK, is there a % involved there? Like 60/40 split on sale.
**** or get off the pot comes to mind. If your signature was needed on the sale documents then that is your out, show the buyer your sig and say I do not approve of the sale.
My ex and I both agree they know at this point we kind of have them over a barrel at this point. The sale at this point is illegal.
Every time I post there is a hint as to what the boat is.
There are only 2 of these available for sale at the moment, and only one is in the US. it wouldn’t take anything for the buyer to come across this thread if I put out that kind of info. I’m sneaky, not stupid!
The boat is documented, not titled, thank god, as a title would make it easier for me to get screwed over on the deal. In my state all that is needed to sell and title a boat is a bill of sale that doesn’t even have to be notary stamped. Being documented makes it much more difficult and a lot scarier too, as the coast guard is pretty famous for FAFO.
I think y'all are a bit cranky today. The OPs story made sense to me. The broker and perhaps her ex got ahead of their headlights a bit and she needed to catch up. She sounded appropriately suspicious of the circumstances, but willing to see where it went as she got more information.
At least that was my impression.
Peter
But nothing gets us old guys excited more than helping a damsel in supposed distress.
They came for advice to get out of the deal, ex agreed to cover battery replacement, now think they have the buyers "over the barrel" and want to bully the selling broker into a zero percent commission.
Charlie, I don't believe the OP ever stated that he/she wanted to lower the commission to 0%. He/She stated that the broker had agreed to 5%, and now wants 7%.
If the OP never signed the P&S, than he/she has very little liability, however if the "ex" did indeed forge the OP's signature, the "ex" has significant exposure. If the broker was aware of that forged signature, the broker has significant legal exposure as well.
What I'm kind of surprised at is that the "broker" and the "owners" apparently never completed a listing agreement prior to listing the boat for sale. Much of the ambiguity could have been eliminated had a listing agreement been competently executed. The broker is apparently incompetent or at the very least, extremely lax in the performance of his/her business.
Oh, and I totally understand and support the OP's decision not to post specifics of the boat and broker in this case. They really aren't germane to the question(s) the OP originally submitted.
Best of luck to the OP in getting a reasonable resolution out of this mess
I also think zero or '0%' was inferred if not written. edited, maybe.Pretty sure that I had read that in the thread. Maybe some editing happened after I posted. I may have been mistaken though.
Anyway, something feels off on the whole deal and there were enough problems presented where they could have gotten out of the deal if they really wanted to as they posted in the thread title.
I bailed on offering advice after reading the above. But it`s good others were not dissuaded.... I’m sneaky, not stupid!....
First, from your description, it's unclear whether you want to tank the deal or to negotiate better terms. Whether you and your ex both want to exit or just you want to exit. You need to be very clear.
I'll speak from perspective of protecting your interests, not your ex, not the brokers. My suggestion would be to send a registered letter to all parties including brokers, brokerages,.your ex and the buyer (if known) to inform you are a legal owner and have not agreed to the terms of the P&S agreement. In real estate, it's possible to file such a letter with the county that records the deed which will effectively prevent a future sale when the title company discovers the letter. Perhaps this is possible with USCG documentation - at the very least, you could prevent transfer of title. However, this will likely place your ex in a bind - if my understanding of your story is accurate, he's part of the selling brokerage so your interests are not necessarily aligned (I know, fairly obvious given he's your ex). Forging your signature is a serious crime (especially if it happens on USCG documentation) and may affect his career depending what state he's in (Florida and California have state licensure for boat brokers, though not sure if simple salespersons are covered too)
Perhaps the easiest thing for you to do is to say to your ex and the brokers "I don't care what you guys do to close the deal as long as I get $xxxx when the dust settles." You don't care if selling price is $20k lower or $20 higher, or if they need to install 20 new batteries. You don't care whether the brokers get a commission or not as long as you get $xxxx. There is nothing that says you get 50% of the proceeds - I have seen very large deals ger hammered out in the favor of an obstinate partner.
Rather than meddle in the negotiations, state your outcome and let them figure it out.
Good luck.
Peter
Are we being trolled? If so, not the first time.
So my ex and I have had our trawler for sale for a couple months and have now had an offer. I was traveling full time and not privy to all the back door deals/info until I came back to the area.
My ex had been keeping me “informed” via text, but there was a TON he left out and i was not included in ANY of the emails/text/faxes from the brokers. Even now that I am back at the marina(RV) and the broker has been told, in writing, on 2 occasions by both of us I must be included on all correspondence I am still being left out of the loop.
Come to find out there is a reason for that, it is a VERY bad deal, $20000 less than asking bad! So it now falls on me to get us out of the deal.
Here is the list of possible “outs” I have found so far.
The boats name is listed incorrectly on the P&S agreement.(not a big deal except for legal purposes, they were provided a copy of the documentation early on)
****THE BIG ONE **** My name is not listed on P&S agreement.(it’s a documented boat, I am listed as “controlling owner”).
**** THE OTHER BIG ONE **** My ex signed my name to P&S agreement and told me after the fact. The is no power of attorney in place.
I finally got the listing broker to hand over a copy of the P&S agreement yesterday by making a scene, my request for a copy had been ignored previous to that. The deal was initiated by the buyer on 12/01/23.
Agreed on commission was 5% as my ex works for the broker, said broker has now reneged on that and states he doesn’t remember that conversation though when reminded of the exact date and place he has said he will take 7.5% instead of 10%. There was no signed brokers agreement it was just a verbal agreement.
After survey it was determined batteries were needed, 5 of them. A hand written fax from the sellers broker suggested sharing the cost of batteries. We are now being told we have to pay for them.
Emails stating there would be no further concessions beyond a set bottom dollar amount sent twice, and to move on to the next person interested in the boat, one has been completely ignored, the second was sent last night but we expect the same results.
There have been several other issues but these are the big ones.
So do you think I can get out of the deal without recourse on me?
Greetings,
Interviewed C. Stokes when we were listing our trawler for sale in Ft. Lauderdale last year. Best I can say is we were MOST unimpressed! MOST UNIMPRESSED!!!!!!
****THE BIG ONE **** My name is not listed on P&S agreement.(it’s a documented boat, I am listed as “controlling owner”).
**** THE OTHER BIG ONE **** My ex signed my name to P&S agreement and told me after the fact. The is no power of attorney in place.