Jack’s Quest for Quietude: A Haunting Real Estate Venture

Jack had struck gold in the stock market and was ready to bid farewell to his glorified shoebox in the city’s cacophony. The urban symphony of honks and sirens was no lullaby for our silence-loving protagonist. Jack dreamed of nothing but the sweet sound of serenity to rock him into slumberland.

So off he trotted to the pastoral embrace of SongJiang District, Shanghai’s green-skirted countryside, just a half-hour chariot ride from the city’s hustle. There, the mansions sprouted like mushrooms after a rainstorm—grand, new, and admittedly, just a smidge over Jack’s freshly lined pockets.

Enter the real estate agent, a fellow with a nose for deals and an eye for the frugal. He presented Jack with a house that had seen better days but came with a price tag that wouldn’t make his wallet weep. “It’s a fixer-upper,” the agent chirped, “and with a bit of spit and polish, it could be your palace!” The total cost, house plus makeover, was a bargain bin song compared to the mansion’s high notes. Jack, thinking himself the next home makeover show host, took the bait.

With the ink drying on the agreement and the deposit dutifully handed over, Jack summoned Master Zhu, the Feng Shui maestro, for his mystical once-over. Jack, ever the stickler for superstition, wouldn’t hammer a nail without cosmic clearance.

The moment Master Zhu waltzed into the old abode, his eyes bulged, and his skin turned to a ghostly pale—not the usual reaction to outdated decor. “I see splatters of spectral paint and a silent quartet of spirits,” Master Zhu gasped, dabbing his brow. “This place has a phantasmal infestation—vengeful, crimson-clad apparitions with a taste for drama. Jack, old boy, you’ve got to skedaddle and scuttle this deal!”

Peering outside, Jack spied four gravestones standing guard like grim gnomes in the garden. The Master’s tale wasn’t just smoke and mirrors. With a newfound urgency, Jack scurried back to the agent, intent on unraveling the spooky sale.

But when the talk turned to refunds and contract killings (of the legal variety, of course), the agent clammed up tighter than a haunted house at Halloween.

So, can Jack ghost this ghoulish agreement and retrieve his cash without a paranormal punch-up? The plot thickens as Jack faces the specter of contract law—will he find his peace and quiet, or is he stuck with a house that goes bump in the night?

 

Law In A Minute

Ensuring that a house is in sound condition and disclosing all pertinent details to the buyer is a fundamental duty of a real estate agent. If the agent intentionally deceived Jack by withholding information about the house’s purported haunting, this constitutes a violation of the China Contract Law. In such a case, the agent would be obligated to refund the entire fee.

To circumvent any potential ambiguities, it is advisable that the agency fee be withheld until the transaction has been conclusively finalized.

 

Legal Basis

Civil Code

Article 962

The broker shall provide true information concerning matters relevant to the conclusion of the proposed contract.
Where the broker intentionally conceals any material fact or provided false information in connection with the conclusion of the proposed contract, thereby harming the client’s interests,it may not require payment of any remuneration and shall be liable for damages.