Lady Luck Loves Lawyers

by Donald W. Desaulniers

  Searching the day book was an integral part of closing a real estate deal.

  The lunch hour came and went and still there was no sign of the parties to the factory deal.

  Steve and I sat near the counter where title searchers requested whichever abstract book they required.

  Finally just before two o’clock an attorney with slicked-back jet black hair entered the office.

  He carried an oversized briefcase and went from table to table asking anyone seated if they were there to close the Schenteck factory deal.

  I shook my head when he approached the table where Steve and I were seated.

  This was a positive sign. It appeared that the transaction was still scheduled to close today.

  Fifteen minutes later two oriental gentlemen entered the registry office.

  The lawyer with the black hair immediately walked over to them. I followed him so that I could overhear what was being said.

  “Are you here on behalf of Advancitech?” he asked.

  “Yes we are, sir. I’m Andrew Ng, the in-house corporate counsel for Advancitech and this is Jeffery Chan, the Nevada attorney who is handling this purchase transaction.”

  “Thank you for arriving on time. I’m Tony Bonito, the lawyer for the seller.”

  All three of them went to an empty table and began opening their briefcases. Steve and I moved to the adjoining table to monitor what was about to happen.

  I was damn nervous. The two attorneys for Advancitech were grey-haired and looked extremely distinguished and self-confident. Bonito looked like just the sort of scumbag who would represent a crook like Guenther Schenteck.

  I was completely out of my league.

  CHAPTER 30 (What’s This?)

  I watched as Mr. Chan approached the counter and asked for the book for Plan 217.

  The clerk retrieved it for him and collected the $10 fee in cash.

  Chan carried the large abstract book back to the table and located the pages for the specific lots in Plan 217 on which the factory was situated.

  He examined the relevant pages and confirmed to the others that nothing had been registered since the title search had been completed.

  At that point the two sides began exchanging various documents.

  I began to panic.

  Chan walked up to the registration counter and put the deeds up for registration. There were only a couple of documents ahead of him but Chan didn’t appear to realize that registrations from the past couple of days hadn’t yet been entered in the individual abstract books.

  He began to head back to the table in order to wait for his deed to be registered.

  I bounced up and intercepted him.

  “You seem new here, sir. Have you checked the day book yet?”

  “No I haven’t. What is the day book?”

  “This registry office is a couple of days behind in their postings. Any document registered subsequently only shows up in the day book. It may take you a few minutes so I’d advise you to remove your document from the registration pile until you’ve satisfied yourself that nothing extremely recent has been registered against your title.”

  “Thank you so much, sir. Will you assist me? Normally our clerk handles the closings but she’s on vacation and this is a very large transaction.”

  Chan retrieved his deeds and I showed him where the day book was kept on the nearby counter.

  I watched as his finger ran down the page. He passed right over our lien and missed it. I couldn’t believe his incompetence.

  “There doesn’t seem to be anything affecting my land,” he whispered to me.

  “It’s usually prudent to double-check. The clerk only puts the very basic information in the day book because of time constraints. What concession number or registered plan number is your property in?”

  “I checked for the vendor’s name. Is that not sufficient?”

  “I’ve always found that in addition to that, you should also scan down the page looking for anything affecting the registered plan that your land is in. The clerk tends to scrawl the names but is more careful with writing the numbers.”

  This time Chan found the instrument I had registered on the title yesterday.

  “Here’s something that might possibly affect the property,” he muttered. “How do I determine whether it’s relevant?”

  “You have to ask the clerk to show you the actual instrument.”

  I went back to sit with Steve while Chan spoke with the clerk.

  I watched with amusement as Chan read the document. He spoke with the clerk again and she left her post and made a photocopy of the document which she handed to Chan.

  He rushed back to his own table. I heard him loud and clear as he informed the others.

  “We’ve got a major problem. Someone has filed a lis pendens against this property.”

  Bonito and Ng took turns reading the document at which point the grease-ball excused himself and went off to the far corner of the room where he yanked out his smart phone.

  CHAPTER 31 (Brinkmanship)

  I was unsure how to proceed now. One option was to wait patiently until Guenther called me on Steve’s smart phone.

  The other choice was to announce my presence to the lawyers immediately.

  I asked Steve if he had a preference.

  “I’ll leave it up to you, Scott.”

  My approach in practice had always been to be forthright with opposing counsel.

  I walked over to Jeffery Chan and Andrew Ng.

  “Thank you so much for pointing out the day book to me, sir and then making sure that I examined it carefully. I would have missed the entry without your assistance. There was a registration yesterday which does affect the property my client is purchasing.”

  “I’m the one who registered it on behalf of Steven Carling who is sitting at the next table. My name is Scott Baxter. Mr. Ng, did you not read Steve’s email sent to you yesterday about this matter?”

  “I don’t recall seeing any email from anyone with that name. Which email address did you use?”

  “I used the one I obtained from the receptionist at Advancitech. I can send you a copy of it right now.”

  Mr. Ng provided me with his smart phone email address and I sent him a copy of my previous message.

  He read it quickly and then showed it to Mr. Chan.

  “Guenther Schenteck, the primary owner of the numbered company who owns the factory land is a disgusting crook. Poor Steve Carling is going to lose his house and his business because Mr. Schenteck decided to shaft him. We decided to foul up the factory sale in the hope of forcing Schenteck to pay Steve the money he owes him. There was no dispute about the quality of the complicated part that Steve invented. It’s working beautifully in one of the large machines in the factory you’re purchasing. Steven Carling is a talented inventor and engineer, not a businessman. Schenteck realized that and decided to cheat him.”

  “The amount in dispute is only $98,000?” Andrew Ng inquired.

  “That’s a pittance for Guenther Schenteck but it’s a fortune for Steve.”

  “Are you Mr. Carling’s attorney?” Jeffery Chan asked.

  “No I’m not. I’m a retired real estate lawyer from Canada. I’m assisting Steve merely as a friend of a friend and at no cost whatsoever. This notice of pending litigation that we stuck on the property title is Steve’s last chance of getting paid and saving his family from foreclosure.”

  “We would be unwilling to postpone the factory purchase until such time as the matter could be litigated?” Andrew Ng declared.

  “Steve has no money with which to fund any lawsuit. I have in my possession a proper discharge of the lien. If Guenther Schenteck is willing to pay Steve today, then the discharge can be registered and the title will be unencumbered. The reason I sent the email to you yesterday was to provide you with an opportunity to negotiate with Schenteck before you arrived here to close the deal. I assumed that you had decided to ignore the email.”

  “Th
at’s unfortunate. Please give Jeffery and me an opportunity to discuss this issue privately. If Mr. Schenteck refuses to pay any money to Mr. Carling, will you still discharge this lien today so that we can purchase the factory?”

  “I don’t know at this moment. It’s very possible that we would discharge it so that your plans don’t get ruined. Advancitech is an innocent party. The trouble is that crawling off with our tails between our legs would encourage Guenther Schenteck to continue being a predator whenever he found himself in a vastly superior bargaining position in the future.”

  I went back to sit with Steve.

  “What’s going to happen now?” Steve whispered.

  “It’s a high stakes poker game. Unfortunately we’ve been dealt a shit hand. If Schenteck calls our bluff, then I’d recommend letting them remove the property lien. I’ve never been good at brinkmanship.”

  CHAPTER 32 (Growling Guenther)

  My smart phone rang a few minutes later.

  It was an enraged Guenther Schenteck.

  “Is this Carling or Baxter?” he growled.

  “It’s Scott Baxter but I’m using Steve’s smart phone and he’s with me. What do you want, Schenteck?”

  “You know damn well what I want. I’m going to sue Carling’s ass off for trying to screw up my sale.”

  “Unfortunately for you, Schenteck, you’ve already stolen all of Steve’s assets. He’s judgement-proof. I guess losing your factory sale is what you could call an unintended consequence of your unbridled greed.”

  “Don’t think for a minute that your neck isn’t on the line as well, Baxter. I’ll take every cent you have.”

  “Don’t threaten me, Schenteck. You’re an impotent crook and you’ve got no finesse. It’s always overkill with you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You weren’t satisfied with just shafting poor Steve. Instead you had to drive him out of business and cause him to lose his home. The same holds true with that girl you sent to seduce me. You couldn’t just send an attractive middle-aged woman to set me up. Not Guenther Schenteck. You had to send a stunning young girl who looked like a movie star. That’s why your crooked schemes never succeed. You insist on using a sledge hammer instead of a tiny and precise tapper.”

  Schenteck didn’t even bother to deny throwing Ellen into my path.

  “I’ll have my lawyer launch the biggest lawsuit in the history of Nevada against you personally, Baxter.”

  I disconnected him and turned to Steve.

  “Guenther is having a hissy fit so I hung up on him. I expect that he’ll call back. If we don’t hear from him in the next fifteen minutes, then we may as well go home. I’ve changed my mind. He deserves to lose his factory sale.”

  I walked over to speak with Tony Bonito.

  “My name is Scott Baxter and I’m here with Steve Carling. Your client and I just had a fiery conversation. I’m the guy who registered the lien on your client’s title. If Guenther doesn’t pay Steve the $98,000 he owes him, then we won’t discharge the lien. I’ve got the signed discharge with me so it’s Guenther’s call. He can pay Steve and thereby complete his factory sale today or he can fight it out in court with Steve and sell his plant to someone else. I’ve made your purchasers aware of the situation.”

  I had to give Bonito credit. He didn’t lose his temper. He politely excused himself and walked over to speak with Andrew Ng and Jeffery Chan.

  While Bonito was still engrossed in conversation with the other two attorneys, Steve’s smart phone buzzed again.

  It was Schenteck.

  “Have you calmed down yet, Guenther? I’m not prepared to listen to any more threats.”

  “Listen Scott, I really need to close that sale today. There must be some way that we can resolve this misunderstanding.”

  “There is a simple solution. Steve and I are in the land registry office and I have the signed discharge of the lien with me. If you pay Steve the $98,000 then the lien can be removed immediately and your factory sale can be completed today.”

  “It’s a deal. I’ll draw up the check and Steve can pick it up after the deal is closed.”

  “Under the circumstances we can’t take the chance that you’ll change your mind, Guenther. I will accept your lawyer’s personal undertaking to wire the funds directly into Steve’s account by tomorrow at noon.”

  “I can live with that arrangement. Let me speak with Tony.”

  CHAPTER 33 (Everybody’s Happy)

  I walked over to where the three lawyers were still mulling over the situation.

  I put the smart phone on speaker.

  “Guenther Schenteck is on the line. He has agreed to pay Steve the full $98,000 and Steve will accept your personal written undertaking to wire the funds directly into his bank account by tomorrow at noon.”

  Bonito confirmed the instructions with his client and handed the phone back to me.

  I thanked Guenther for altering his original position and ended the call.

  I summoned Steve over and he provided Tony Bonito with his bank account details. Poor Steve’s hands were shaking and he seemed to be on the verge of tears.

  It took about thirty minutes for Bonito to prepare on his laptop computer various final release documents. Guenther Schenteck signed his emailed copy and then Steve and I did the same.

  At that point I handed the signed discharge to Tony and all the closing documents to be registered were placed in line. The discharge would be stamped first and then the actual sale deed and accompanying documents.

  Andrew Ng and Jeffery Chan both appeared to be immensely relieved. Andrew took me aside and congratulated me for resolving the problem today.

  We all breathed a sigh of relief when the documents were officially registered.

  Andrew also went over to speak with Steve. Later as Steve drove me back to my hotel, he mentioned that Mr. Ng wanted Steve to meet with Advancitech’s chief engineer to discuss other possible modifications to some of the equipment. Steve believed that he might have gained a valuable new customer.

  That evening I went to Magnolia’s in the Four Queens to celebrate my escape from a potential nightmare. Getting sued by Schenteck for doing a free favor for a friend of a friend would have destroyed me.

  I had the full prime rib dinner special and washed it all down with three large mugs of cold dark beer.

  Steve called me on Thursday morning. He had just checked his bank balance by phone and the money had been duly wired into his account. He and Maria had already paid their mortgage arrears and were in the process of paying their other bills which had piled up because of Schenteck’s refusal to pay.

  They wanted to pay me for my time and were so insistent that in the end I accepted reimbursement for the various registration and search fees that I had expended as well as the taxi fares.

  I also agreed to have a celebratory supper at their home that evening.

  It turned out to be a lovely evening. We phoned Jimmy Corbett at his home and Steve gushed as he described the events that had concluded with such positive results.

  I had a chat with Jimmy as well and promised to visit him and Ginny for a few days after I got back to Canada.

  It seemed that everybody was happy.

  CHAPTER 34 (Retribution)

  Guenther Schenteck attended at his attorney’s office on Thursday afternoon.

  When Guenther had taken a seat across from Tony Bonito’s desk, Tony began summarizing how the factory sale proceeds had been distributed.

  The mortgage on the property had been paid off. There was no realty commission since Advancitech had approached Guenther directly six months earlier to determine whether he might be interested in selling his business.

  “I paid my own legal account in full, Guenther. I only tacked on two hours of extra billable time resulting from the registration of that notice of pending litigation, and of course as you instructed, I disbursed $98,000 to Steven Carling. This is my certified trust check payable to your numbered com
pany in the amount of $1,918,850 being the full balance of the sale proceeds after everything was paid. Do you have any questions about how the money was spent?”

  “It galled me to be forced to give in to the demands from that pest Scott Baxter who was representing Carling.”

  “You made a wise decision. The purchasers informed me that they weren’t willing to extend the closing date beyond tomorrow. It would have been impossible to obtain an order from a judge removing the lien that quickly. Paying Mr. Carling was the only realistic option. We would have lost the deal otherwise and Advancitech was paying you top dollar.”

  “Is there any way that I can sue Carling and Baxter to recover my $98,000?”

  “No. As part of the last-minute agreement, you fully released both gentlemen from any legal claims that you or your companies might have against them. Mr. Carling and Mr. Baxter each signed a similar final release. I explained that to you yesterday.”

  Guenther went directly to his bank and deposited the sale funds into the numbered company’s account.

  When he got back to his office, Guenther began playing over and over in his mind his three conversations with Scott Baxter.

  The first one was his only face to face encounter with the belligerent shyster and Baxter had insulted Guenther during their brief meeting.

  Yesterday’s two phone calls were also demeaning. Baxter had threatened Guenther, called him an impotent crook and then rudely hung up on him.

  That had forced Guenther to eat shit as he had to swallow his pride and practically beg Baxter to let Guenther close the sale.

  Baxter was clearly no fool. He had bested Guenther in a high-stakes game of chicken. The fact that Baxter also suspected Guenther of trying to set him up with the escort demonstrated that Baxter was a force to be reckoned with after all.

  Suing Baxter was no longer a possibility. Tony Bonito had seen to that.