Here's my story:

I agreed to sell a 1971 280SL for 10% commission. The car was appraised for 69K and the guy was asking 45K for it. A nice car and next to the last one ever made.
The deal was made over a year ago and a guy contacted me to see the car last spring/winter. I put him in touch with the owner because the car was in winter storage and I live 3 hours away from where it was at the time. Client went to look at it but didn't like the colour or the price so no sale.

No one else other than this one guy ever looked at it last year. The owner died last fall and his wife is taking care of the estate. I had no problem trusting him but I don't know her. This was a word of mouth deal - I had zero reason to think this guy would never pay me. Went to his memorial service and I ended up talking to her about the car. There were several witnesses there who heard her talking to me about the car. She said she wanted 45K for it.

After the service I was talking to a friend of mine and he said she was very likely to blow all of his cars out cheap. He had several cars but this one was the most valuable. My buddy then went on to tell me that the dead guy paid 5K for it! He was an accountant and one of his customers was going belly up so he bought the car from him and put it in his wife's name - likey to provide an arms lenght deal. She uses her maiden name so there's less connection. I'm pretty sure someone walked away with a big bag of cash on that deal.

So, I figure I'll never sell the car and leave it at that. Next thing I know the same guy that looked at it last year emails me telling me he just bought the car. I get back to him and tell him he should have contacted me before he did that. Apparently my friend told him about the car so he went to look at it. ( My buddy didn't realise that this guy already looked at this same car. I thanked him for his help ... ) When the buyer saw it was the same car he told the widow that he had seen this car last spring and that I was to collect a commision for selling it, so she knew the deal was still in place.
She made him agree not to disclose the selling price before she sold it to him. I called the guy and asked him how much he paid for it and he refused to tell me. I told him he had more obligation to me that to her but he still wouldn't tell me. I had no deal with him to collect a buyers fee.

I waited a week or so and then I called her. She said it was her husband's sale. I said no, and that it was my sale because it was the same guy that looked at it several months earlier. She seemed to understand this and asked me what I wanted. I told her I get 10% of the sale price but that I didn't know how much the car sold for because no one would tell me. She then told me that she sold it for $6,800.00!
I said I would have paid that for it, anyone would. She said that I never made her an offer ( like it was my fault ) to which I answered that she said she wanted 45K for it and everyone standing there heard her say it.
Knowing that she very likely had a bill of sale for 6.8K and knowing that she also would have one for 5K when they bought the car I said that I'd take 500 bucks. I sent her my address by email so she could mail the money to me.

Well, that's been 6 weeks ago and I haven't seen a thing. She has made no attempt to contact me and the guy who bought the car is hiding from me now. He knows that the estate is upside down and that she likely asked him to keep the purchase price quiet because it invovles fraud. I'm pretty sure Revenue Canada would be VERY interested in this little deal she put together. Were I to approach them I may see justice but may see nothing from the sale since the car was both purchased and sold in a faudulent manner.

So here's my question:
Do I forget about it?
Do I take her to small claims court?
Do I contact the police?
Do I hire a lawyer?
Should I contact her again spelling out what I want, hoping she will loose her nerve and pay me? I don't want to get involved in blackmail.

I figure I'd sue for $3,500.00 plus costs if I go that route. The buyer clearly didn't pay $6,800.00 nor did he pay the asking price of $45,000.00 If I take the appraisal value of $69,000.00 and split it in half, I have very close to what the car should have sold for and a commision of $3,500.00. At any rate the 500 bucks is off the table.

I've been hesitating because the former owner was a friend of mine. Most of the people involved are either friends or fellow club members and it could cause a lot of trouble if I pursue this. My hope is that she settles quietly out of court.

Any ideas would be helpful.

Without a contract granting exclusivity and without any verfication of a registering a "bona fide" potential buyer . . . you're likely SOL.

She'll have a bill of sale for $6,800 and likely was paid a discounted balance under the table. Does she have to pay a percentage-based sales tax to your province? If so, they might be interested as to how such a car was sold so cheaply.

This probably is going to cost you most of what you want to file suit/mediate a settlement. My .02 cents would be this. If its not documented it didn't happen.

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
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00 E420
98 E300 DT
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97 E300D
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(o\|/o)

Compound the problem that the essential terms of the oral contract with the husband were never binding on the widow; there's no record of the commission rate; the statement by the widow that she wanted $45K was not an offer to sell nor did it create a contract . . . man, this one was easy.

Well, I kind of thought so but the buyer does admit openly on another site that he bought the car through me and that it's the same car I had for sale on that site. She also admits that I had a deal with her husband; maybe not with her but she made it clear to everyone prersent that it was still for sale and that I was trying to sell it for her.

Regardless of these other things, there was clearly fraud present.

I won't trust anyone from now on. I've sold a lot of cars just on a hand shake. The slimy ones never pay.....

As mentioned in another thread, "kill all the lawyers" is a Shakeperean phrase . . . but a short single page document would have gotten you a commission without having to step anywhere near a courthouse.

Turn it over to the taxing authorities...let them feast. Don't tell anyone that you did so. Let the TAs send you the "finders' fee" (if they have one) once they collect after the investigation.

__________________

M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
.
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

Sam Goldwyn once said, "An oral contract is not worth the paper it is written on."

I used to do multi million dollar oil deals over the phone, but that was 30 years ago and I only did it with people I knew had the money to back it up. Another thing we had between us was that we had a continuing relationship that we both expected to go on for many years. One lady I traded oil with likened it to cheating on her Husband. She never cheated with anyone unless they had as much to lose as she did, and she used the same yardstick to determine who she traded with.

For one shot deals where the other part of the deal could waltz out of it there was always a contract. Sometimes I came out ahead and sometimes not, but I always made sure the other party was happy since I might want to do business with them again someday.

I think on this she thinks she will never see you again and figures you will just go away.

We used to tell people to think of these sort of things as a 'Character Building Experience' since at least that way they felt like they got something out of the deal. Going to court would take years, but sometimes we had no choice.

I'm sorry to say this and I'm not making light of it but to quote a line from "The Road Warrior":

"If you had a contract, it was with him and it died with him..."

__________________
-Evan


Benz Fleet:
1968 UNIMOG 404.114
1998 E300
2008 E63


Non-Benz Fleet:
1992 Aerostar
1993 MR2
2000 F250

I don't understand what was fraudulent about the sale.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

First, you have to buy the premise that the commission deal survived the death of the husband. Verbal agreement - have fun proving that the deal existed at all. I believe in miracles, so let's set that point aside and say that the wife concedes that it did.

Next, you have to be able to prove that the sales price for the transaction in question was other than $6,800. Let's say that the actual selling price was $40k. You can have appraisals out the wazoo establishing higher valuations, but unless you can uncover some financial trail that shows that the buyer suddenly wound up being $40,000 poorer and/or the seller $40,000 richer on the sales date - have fun proving that point.

This transaction should have been structured as a consignment deal, with the vehicle being in Benz Dr's possession until the sale could be effected.

Here in NJ USA, the MVC ( mot.veh. comm.) monitors title transfers looking for under-stated sales by comparing reported makes and years with KBB prices or some other industry standard. Buyer/owner gets a letter from State telling them they think the value is too low, asking for documentation from the seller that they only sold the car for $X,XXX, thus asking the seller to be a party to fraud. Usually, a seller won't sign. so the buyer will be stuck to pay up. Had this happen to an old gf a few years back who bought a late model VW bug convertible, from the widow of a deceased F-86 Sabre jock. I think she paid 16, recorded the cost at 10, and had to come up with the money the state had "suggested" in their letter....at 7%, an extra couple of hundred dollars. That's one possible interest the govt. may have. There is also ..maybe... some death tax cheating going on by wife to peg the value lower for death taxes. So, they may both be thinking they get a break on taxes. All depends on your govt. laws....sales, personal property and or death/inheritance taxes.

You might be eligible for some whistleblower award from the tax people.
Other than that, as MTI suggests, it's a no brainer. Walk away a wiser man for the experience. At least you are not out any money. Just some wasted time.
An old boss told me decades ago, "If I didn't sign it, I didn't say it!"

Sheesh...guy dies, and you're concerned with milking his widow for a commission.

Classy.

Call up and threaten Revenue canada. Then take what you can get.
This is an expensive lesson: always write it on paper.

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6