TALES OF THE "AHENTE"

Once upon a time, an owner of agricultural land wished to sell his property. So, he put a for-sale sign on it.

Not long after, he received calls from random people claiming they knew someone who would be interested in the property. These people would name-drop local politicians and successful businessmen in the area, claiming they knew those people or were related to them. After a few weeks, he estimated that there were probably around 30 "ahentes" working to sell the property.

One time, he was asked by an ahente to meet with a prospective buyer at the property. The ahente said his client was a sure buyer who was ready to reserve the property. So, the owner took a day off from work and drove 3.5 hours to the property. The buyer turned out to be another ahente (who also claims he has a sure buyer).

Another time, he met with a real buyer through another ahente. He provided a copy of the land title after the buyer requested for it. However, negotiations for the final price failed despite suggestions to undervalue the sale to increase the seller's net proceeds.

Eventually, an ahente found a buyer who was ready to pay close to the owner's asking price. On closing day, he was surprised to see more than ten ahentes join the signing.

"Don't worry sir, ako na po bahala sa kanila. Hahatian ko sila sa comm namin" said the main ahente. So, the deal closed, and the owner happily got the proceeds from the sale.

After a week, the buyer and the lead ahente reached out to the owner and said that they'd encountered problems in securing clearance from the tax regulator. When they finally resolved that problem, the same ahente reached out again to say that there was a new annotation on the title: an affidavit executed by the (same) owner claiming that the title was lost.

The owner feels that whoever forged his signature and annotated the affidavit of loss also caused the BIR problem: one disgruntled ahente. It's likely that ahente didn't get the cut he wanted, and these problems were his way of getting back.

Comments/Lessons tomorrow.