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WHAT?
The buyer had sent us an email at 11 pm last night saying that his 'personal assistant' found out that I (Ms. Troutbend), acting on behalf of my LLC entity that is trying to sell the farm, sold water storage rights via a Special Warranty Deed. He didn't ask for details, he informed us that it took place.
This is a big deal because the water right is a large part of the sale price, and the buyer is already acting like we aren't telling him everything about the value of the water because he wants a lot of stuff like engineering reports that we don't have and can't get without suing someone.
Him asking about this alleged water right sale in this manner is a way of telling us 'We have our sources - you can't hide anything from us about the water - we'll always get at the truth.'
But I didn't sign any such document - there is no such document. I couldn't even figure out what they were talking about. I looked on the county Clerk and Recorder databases for two counties and couldn't find any Special Warranty Deed that had to do with my LLC.
I had my lawyer respond to him and ask for more information, so the buyer responds:
'I do not have a copy of the deed and am not at liberty to disclose how I was briefed on the subject matter. The special warranty deed was executed by Laura on behalf of B___ Farms, LLC in June 2005. It was for the sale of Welch Reserve Contract Water for 41.5 " of water and ties back to an original book and page ( 201 at 487) which describes what the water right is and how it came to be.
After further analysis I see it does not have anything to do with the subject property and am therefore no longer concerned.'
What a mealy-mouthed weaselly way to say 'never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about, and you are probably a liar, but never mind.'
Now that I knew what he was talking about, I dug out the document. It was between my dad's estate and another party, not my LLC on either side of the transaction, it had nothing to do with the farm we are selling or the water that goes with it, and it says in big letters across the top: "DEED, ASSIGNMENT AND CONVEYANCE OF WATER RIGHTS," not SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED.
So I emailed the guy and sent him a copy of the real document in question, pointed out the many elements that did not match his allegations, and asked him to stop going around telling everyone information that isn't true.
I think it would have made a big difference if he'd approached it in a less confrontational fashion. He could have asked us was there a transfer and what were the details. But instead of told us there was a specific type of deed and what it said, even though he'd never seen it and it didn't exist.
He called me and I accepted his apology, but I told him this kind of thing destroys trust in a business relationship and whomever this source is who is whispering in his ear is not doing him any favors; next time check the facts or at least see the document himself before spreading untruths. He said "I hate to admit it, but the person who told me is a lawyer."
As if I would be impressed that it was a lawyer. I told him: "Like I said, and even more so. Here's this lawyer who doesn't know what they are talking about but you rely on it just because they are a lawyer."
So, now we go forward with our lengthy negotiations. Both sides are heatedly arguing for their own contract language. As much as I trust my own lawyer, I'd still confirm anything like that before I jumped on it and sent someone an email at 11 pm.
Thanks for listening, I had to tell someone.