Italian Born Chinese

[ This is part of a multi-post series about our little legal problem in Shanghai. To read previous installments go here
]

Dear Concerned and Loyal Friends and Readers,

I really do apologize that Part Eight marked the end of Season One to this series, and I’m taking a break. I never thought it was going to become a “series”, let alone having more than one season of it!

I feel that I am growing more frustrated and emotional about this, so it seems wise to take a break for me to cool down a little bit before I start writing again as I would like it to include more facts (things that actually happened) than my emotions.

It’s taken so much time for me to write everything down, but I’m really glad that I did it. I cannot express how much I feel indebted for your support, your prayers, your thoughts, and your comments left on Facebook/etc. Once I feel ready, I will return and complete the record of this journey.

In Him,
Becky and family

[ This is part of a multi-post series about our little legal problem in Shanghai. To read previous installments go here
]

Thursday morning, 2010/01/07, property agent Wang called me saying that he had received his copy of the documents which he immediately faxed over to Li. (I forgot to mention earlier that we abandoned the idea of contacting the agents as of 2010/01/02 because Lawyer Sui did not even want to trust anything that any property agents say. But we felt that we had to send them a copy of the agreement of settlement to finalize this case.)

Friday noon, 2010/01/08, agent Wang called me saying that Li et al demanded to meet with me as they could not agree to or accept the amount of money that was wired and felt that they should have been paid more. I politely declined and told him that if they had issues with the settlement, they were welcome to contact my lawyers as I respect them as professionals in their field and will follow their guidance. He then asked me how I got Lawyer Tang’s address and if it was appropriate and legal for me to send the documents to Lawyer Tang. From the way Wang said things, I got the feeling that now Li et al wanted to deny that Lawyer Tang represented them. I told Wang again that they could direct all questions at my lawyers and reminded him that we had Huang on tape saying that Lawyer Tang represented them (hinting that if they were lying with their “lawyer”, then this could perhaps turn from penal to fraud?)

I wondered about these people. After everything that’s happened, after what they have done to me and caused me, why would I go out to meet with them at this point? What was I to gain from meeting with them now? Why would I even consider meeting their demand? They are beyond comprehension!

I don’t know what happened among the agents, Li et al, and their lawyer; and I don’t care. I don’t even care now if Lawyer Tang happens to be fake and without a license. I only know that the money Dad sent through China Post to them cannot be collected by anyone but Li, and it cannot be rejected or returned to me as promised and stated by China Post.

I have very mixed feelings about this apartment that I own. I “think” I don’t regret buying it; I “think” I don’t regret having had to go through all the troubles because I really have learnt so many things and trained my courage to stand up to something that I felt was wrong. So many times, I felt so tempted to just let it go to save my time and my sanity, but what would that be teaching these people? In Shanghai, how many many and many times have I been told and shown that verbal/physical violence is the way, to just take regardless of right or ownership is the way?!

I’m glad that I did not once lose my temper over anything or raise my voice to anyone of them during the course of this case even though I still wonder if there was anything that I could have done to make the whole deal easier and better for everyone. I’m glad that I held onto God and truth. But, I do regret the time that I lost, the time I cannot buy to spend with my kids. I regret my son’s tears once when he so looked forward to seeing me but I was busy with the case.

I praise the Lord for granting me cautiousness and calmness throughout this time. I don’t understand, don’t know and don’t want to know how to play games or tricks. I can only protect myself with hard evidence and law, by respecting and obeying the law.

I’m thankful for friends that have worried about me and prayed for me. I’m thankful for my wise father who always does everything according to the books. I’m so thankful to my husband for taking care of the kids, for his giving me space, for his waiting patiently to learn about this case once I finished writing it down, for his understanding and support of me all this time. I’m most thankful to my Heavenly Father. He is guidance, He is protection, He is mercy, He is faithful, He is the truth, He is love.

My friend Beverly reminded me of this on 2010/01/02. I cannot thank her enough, for it humbled me and brought me peace, strength, and such faith.

Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord
with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding
In all your ways
acknowledge Him
and He
will make your paths straight.

Thank you so very much, friends, for your continued prayers and for echoing my feelings at times even if not all the time.

I hoped that Part Eight was the last one and case closed, but…

[ This is part of a multi-post series about our little legal problem in Shanghai. To read previous installments go here
]

Wednesday morning, 2010/01/06, Dad called Lawyer Tang on his mobile phone number telling him that some documents were to be sent to him at his office’s address as publicized on their website. Lawyer Tang finally gave his full name, said that his office was undergoing renovation, and told Dad to send the documents to his home address which he provided. This sounded fishy, but as we had Huang on tape that this lawyer represented Li et al from a few days ago, we decided to go ahead.

Dad first went out to the ICBC bank. After queuing for a long time, he tried to deposit the money into Li’s account only to find out that Li had closed her account on 2010/01/03. Dad called me. Needless to say, I was shocked because when we paid her the down payment on 2009/11/28, we found out that she had had this account for years. I then remembered that she had another account, as part of the down payment was made by my mom through PuFa Bank. I text messaged Dad her account number, and he went to PuFa only to find that Li’s account in PuFa Bank was also closed on 2010/01/03.

I had no idea what games Li et al were playing. They wanted the RMB20.000 and threatened in the letter that they would sue us if they didn’t receive the money, but they closed both of the accounts that we knew about. And they didn’t put their address on the letter/envelope that they sent us.

Dad called Lawyer Sun, as Lawyer Sui was in court working on a case outside of Shanghai that day. Lawyer Sun told us to wire the money through China Post. Dad went to the postal office; wired the money to “Li”; photocopied all the documents and slips; sent a copy to Lawyer Tang, a copy to property agent Wang, and kept the originals; scanned all the documents, had me e-mail them to Lawyer Sui which were forwarded to Lawyer Tang by e-mail.

It was a long day for Dad running all over Shanghai, and a very cold winter day for everyone in Shanghai. I was so worried about my old father who is so afraid of cold weathers.

All this time, my mom had been on a cruise in South Africa since 2009/12/26. She finally returned to my aunt’s house in Durban that Wednesday afternoon, Shanghai time. I called her on Skype and told her everything. She was so worried about Dad’s health conditions from all this running around, the stress, and the freezing weather.

I felt awful and wanted to sell this apartment as it had brought me no joy at all. I felt angered by how we’ve been treated as a customer and the buyer. I felt disgusted by the ugliness and dishonesty that we had seen up to this day.

Dad was exhausted; I was relieved when he finally came home that evening.

I wondered what other tricks Li et al were going to play after they received our documents. I so wanted to rest and return my body, my soul, and my mind to my kids and my husband. I missed them terribly. This had been so time and energy consuming to say the least. I felt spent.

At least, once the money was out, I felt lighter. I thanked our Lawyers Sui and Sun in a text message that night, for their guidance and patience on such a small case unworthy of their time.

Our lawyers could not believe that we really did wire the money out to Li, as they felt that we had every right to keep the money by the document that we signed on new year’s day which stated that all moneys were paid and cleared as well as by the fact that Li closed her accounts. They told Dad that if everyone did things as how we do things, they would make no money as lawyers because no one would sue anyone. Lawyer Sun text messaged me “In the fidgeting world that we are in, I am glad to have met people with a conscience/morals such as you. To this, I bow and salute you.”

I kept wondering if we deserved such compliments and the meaning behind them with regards to this society. I felt that we did try to do things according to rules; but isn’t it our duty to do things this way anyway? In the course of this case, did I do anything wrong? Were there times or situations when I should have done something or said some things? How could I have prevented this from growing into what it had become today?

The agent, Wang, called the next day…

[ This is part of a multi-post series about our little legal problem in Shanghai. To read previous installments go here
]

Monday morning, 2010/01/04, after talking to Lawyer Tang, Lawyer Sui called me saying that Li et al agreed to paying a “compensation” in the amount of RMB3.000. I was delighted, even though they said that that would include the utility bills. At this point, I just wanted to be free of troubles and have the matter settled. I needed and wanted to focus on my work and my family. I felt bad for my kids and students, as I couldn’t concentrate on them or anything at all.

I told Lawyer Sui that I would settle and sign it as long as they detailed in the agreement what the total amount of RMB3.000 was for. I wanted them to list the admin fee and the utility bills that Li owed as well as the RMB100 for dismantling the lock which I had an invoice for. As they insisted that they definitely would deny everything about the keys, I agreed not to charge them (but still detail) an extra RMB100 for dismantling the lock so that the settlement could move forward.

Lawyer Sui later told me that they would not detail the admin fee, utility bills, and definitely not the expense for the lock. I asked him to forward Lawyer Tang’s proposal to me so that I could talk it over with my dad over night before we decided on anything. I also asked him to draft our version of the settlement and have it e-mailed to me.

Monday evening, I received a letter dated 2010/01/03 from Li which contradicted Lawyer Tang’s proposal. Dad and I decided that he would go out and meet with Lawyer Sui the next day, as well as to sign a contract with Lawyer Sui and pay for his legal services. In the meantime, I had been researching online about PuHui Law Firm that Lawyer Tang said he represented.

Tuesday afternoon, 2010/01/05, Dad went to JunDu Law Firm where Lawyer Sui worked at. He also met with Lawyer Sun, Sui’s colleague, who took a deep interest into our case. It turned out that she graduated from the same university that Dad is studying at right now. Dad spent so many hours there. While he was there, I called him to tell him that I had been calling PuHui Law Firm’s numbers for 2 days now and no calls were ever picked up and that according to the telecom company, PuHui Law Firm was not registered, their phone numbers were not registered, and their address was also not registered.

Can you imagine how I felt about everything so far? What country and what world was I in?!!!!!

That night, I waited and waited for my dad to return. He came home late with our version of the settlement/agreement. I read over the documents that included briefly what happened on 2010/01/01 as well as a detailed break-down of the total amount of money to be deducted from the remaining RMB20.000. Damages/penalty fees according to the contract calculated out to be RMB760 per day. The lawyers and my dad decided to count 4 days. RMB760 x 4 =3.040

It was:
(a) RMB366 admin fee
(b) RMB270 utilities
(c) RMB100 lock (which I agreed to discount)
(d) RMB2.304 damages/penalty fees (we insisted on using this term according to what it is in the apartment purchase contract)
(e) RMB1.500 legal expenses (Lawyers Sun advised Dad to deduct a lot more than RMB1500 for this category; I wasn’t sure about this but trusting Dad and the lawyers, I left it as it was on the document Dad brought home late in the night)
(a)+(b)+(d)+(e)= RMB4.440 (RMB100 for dismantling the lock was not counted)
RMB20.000 – 4.440= RMB15.560
*Included on the document – Li may exchange receipts/invoices of items (a) and (b) for money from me.

I signed the document and Dad planned to wire the RMB15.560 to Li the next day. That night, we both realized that they never gave us any of their contacts. All the contact numbers on the apartment purchase contract were HaoK Property Agency’s numbers. There was no return address on the envelope that Li used to send us her letter dated 2010/01/03. We decided that we would wire the money into Li’s bank account anyway and mail all the documents to her lawyer, Lawyer Tang.

I was so relieved by the prospect and possibility of being able to finalize the case. Little did we know that things were still not going to be simple or easily understood.

[ This is part of a multi-post series about our little legal problem in Shanghai. To read previous installments go here
]

On Saturday 2010/01/02, agent Xu called me saying that Li had agreed to pay for the damages/penalty and that we should all meet again.  I was of course suspicious.  A sudden change of heart?  That just didn’t sound consistent with their previous behaviors or attitudes.  I told Xu to fax over a copy of the agreement on the payment for the damages/penalty fees; he refused.  I suggested that he just send me a text message of the agreement content; he also refused.  He threatened me to go out and meet or if he were ever put on the stand as a witness, he would say that Li wanted to hand over the apartment to me but I was uncooperative and refused to meet.  At this time, the confinement ah-yi that worked for me during Mia’s first month of life was visiting, and so I told him that I had a guest at home and couldn’t talk anymore at this point.  I was a bit bewildered by his audacity to threaten me.

I text messaged Huang, Li’s husband, saying that Xu told me that they agreed to pay for damages/penalty fees and that once I received confirmation by fax or text message from the agent, I would set out to meet with them to re-do the apartment hand-over.

Many hours passed and there was no response.  I called Lawyer Sui; he advised me to be proactive and not to shy away from communication.  I got my tape recorder ready, dialed Huang’s number (as I had no other numbers of Li et al), and put the phone call on speaker so that my father and brother could hear and talk, too.

Huang picked up.  I identified myself, and the rest of the conversation went like this:
Me:  I sent a text message to you a few hours ago and am wondering what your response is.
Huang:  We have no response.
Me:  Agent Xu said that you agreed to pay for damages/penalty fees.
Huang:  We have agreed to no such things.  What we are ready for is perhaps to pay you some kind of compensation.
Me:  Could you please tell me the amount of this compensation?
Huang:  I’m not talking to you anymore.  You talk to my lawyer. (hands phone over to his lawyer, with chattering in the background.)
Me:  Hi!  To whom am I speaking?
Tang:  This is Lawyer Tang.
Me:  Hi!  Lawyer Tang.
Tang:  We’re talking about “compensation”, but the apartment is yours, as according to the piece of paper that you signed yesterday.  (Dad rushes over to the phone.)
Dad:  The apartment is ours?
Tang:  Yes, it is yours.  You signed the paper yesterday, so the apartment has already been handed over to you.
Dad:  We are so glad to hear it!  Thank you so much!
Tang:  You’re welcome and don’t mention it.  It’s yours; you may enter.
Dad:  But how about the keys; we haven’t gotten the keys.
Tang:  You haven’t gotten the keys?  (muffling in the background for a few seconds.)
Tang:  But you got the keys, according to the piece of paper that you signed.  The blank boxes were checked.
Dad:  But in reality, we never got the keys.  But if you are sure that the apartment is ours, we will enter our apartment.
Tang:  Of course!  Do what you want; the apartment is yours.
Dad:  Thank you, thank you…  (interrupted by me)
Me:  Lawyer Tang, Hi!  Could you please identify yourself?  What is your full name?
Tang:  My last name is Tang, as in Tang Dynasty.
Me:  Could you please tell me which law firm you represent?
Tang:  PuHui.  Pu as in PuDong.  Hui as in HuiKuan.
Me:  Thank you.  Could you please give me your phone number so that I could reach you in the future.
Tang:  My mobile number is………
Me:  Thank you.  About the compensation.  Once you work it out, could you please call me later to give me an exact amount?
Tang:  Of course!  Of course!
Me:  Thank you.  Bye bye.
Tang:  Bye bye.

Of course, he never called me.  I called our lawyer, Lawyer Sui, to meet the next day.  He wanted to wait until Monday, but I begged to meet on Sunday morning.

Sunday morning, 2010/01/03, my brother, Dad, and I met with Lawyer Sui who reviewed all of our contract and related documents.  I told him everything that had happened up until that day.  He explained that the piece of paper that Li and I signed on 2010/01/01 basically meant that the RMB20.000 had been paid off by me with their bills being paid off by them (as in the “all moneys relating to this apartment have been paid and cleared” stated on the paper), and the keys were given to me.  If Li et al declare that this piece of paper stands and that they gave us the keys, then they would also be saying that I have paid them the RMB20.000.)

We paid for a long consultation and I decided to officially hire him.  He promised to talk to Lawyer Tang on Monday, hopefully work out an acceptable settlement, and advised me not to take this to court because the amount of the money involved was so small that it was not worthy of the time or the legal expenses.

Lawyer Sui confirmed with us that the apartment is ours, as the Property Certificate Booklet of this apartment is under my name, and that we may enter.

That afternoon, we first went to the admin center, but it was closed for the New Year Holiday.  We went to the Neighborhood Office which was also closed.  We then finally went to our building.  The same guard was there.  We told him that we needed to enter our apartment, but as we had no keys, we had to get a locksmith.  He said he wanted to call Li because the night of the new year’s day right before they left the apartment, they told the guard to call them if we ever asked to be let in the building.  Both my dad and I were so glad that we have a responsible guard and told him to please go ahead and call Li before the locksmith began dismantling the lock.  I was very curious to hear what the response would be from Li.  After the call, the guard said that we should go ahead and get in our apartment.

The locksmith worked on dismantling the lock for a very long time.  We had a new lock replaced and I bought 3 gate cards to enter our building.  Finally we went in and checked that the apartment was in good condition.  We were glad that our contractors could finally begin working on the apartment.  I went home, feeling exhausted and a little relieved, while Dad went to meet and give a set of keys to the contractors.

I couldn’t wait for myself to pay Li what was left of the RMB20.000 and for this case to be settled and closed.  I couldn’t sleep well, focus on anything else, or spend time with my husband and kids.

Tricks, tricks, and more unbelievable tricks had just begun on their side without our realization…….