TODAY! … Today I had to implement my own lesson on negotiating legal contracts; see video above and links to the original posts below for details and useful insights.
They sent me an exit contract to sign so that we could “finalize the termination of the original contract.”
But they wrote it from the position that they were in the power position, when actually all the power remains in my court, because 1) I have the position of ownership, 2) I’ve clearly completed all of my obligations, and 3) they have clearly failed in theirs.
As such, the idea that *they* would send *me* a contract as if they are in the position of power is absurd to the point of laughability.
New rule: Bullshitters are gonna bullshit for as long as you let them spew bullshit—you have to be the one to shut them up. Manipulators and incompetent people with full-blown Dunning-Kruger Syndrome will try to bluff and steamroll their way to get what they want even when they are clearly clueless and objectively incompetent; these people only succeed by overpowering-by-overbluffing and they will overpower you if you let them get away with their stupid charade of pseudopower and pseudocompetence.
The only way to protect your sanity and protect your property is to sequentially:
1) feel the discomfort before you have the words for the situation,
2) trust the discomfort and then put it into words,
3) refine those words into a concise logical and legally defensible position and then communicate your rights and perspectives in writing, especially by countersigning the offered contract, thereby converting their position into your counteroffered position.
4) have your attorney either a) review the situation or b) fully represent you. If the situation is beyond any legal ambiguity, then call the police and press charges.
If I had signed the contract as they sent it, I would have been relinquishing my rights to my own property.
By modifying the contract with the simple addition of **one sentence**… 1) I protected my property and 2) I retained my right to sue them and press criminal charges if necessary.
Here is the key insight from the original post recorded spontaneously from in front of my apartment on Miami Beach (21 Jun 2022):
Rule no14: Remember that the contract is a financially/legally binding agreement, and therefore it must be agreeable to you. If you don’t like it, then don’t sign it until and unless it is modified to your liking. If you have more power in the relationship, then you can push for more perfection. If you have less power in the relationship, then you’re on the slippery slope of concession to compromise to sacrifice to you-just-put-yourself-in-the-losing-position (aka, screwed). Don’t sign any contract that screws/attaches you to the losing position because if you do then you’ve just dis-empowered yourself in a way that is going to cost you time, money, and/or mental-emotional stress and anguish. When in doubt, wait. When in more doubt, walk away; if you can’t walk away, then pay an attorney to 1) advise you in secret, and then if necessary 2) represent you in a formal manner.
I learned my own lesson (VIDEO) on how to countersign legal contracts