As has become abundantly obvious, there are two or three mega-posting, knee jerking brokers and/or sycophants who barge into any post that even remotely shows displeasure with their checkered profession. I'm sure most of us are aware that almost every forum or website tends to develop a small
core of alpha monkeys – typically with a secondary group of sycophantic beta's who – when the coast seems clear – then chime in in “meee too” fashion. Nothing new, and this thread seems no exception.
Like most trolls of these kinds, they use much the same techniques. Their goal is to pile on and drive out the commentary of others by engaging in escalating insults, personal attacks, parsing out minor errors – all with the goal of trying to reject the whole. By doing so, posts tend to be shorter, and less vulnerable to such pissant parsing.
Usually that works. Readers will find the following of great value in dissecting these furry intruders. In no particular order:
Quote:
“Looked at 50 boats in the last year” Says it all.....
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Here's how this one works. Had I said I'd looked at 5 boats in the last year and a half, their attack would have been “
Humph... looks at just 5 boats in the last year and condemns brokers? Says it all”. The approach is “Damned if you do, damned if you don't”.
Quote:
...”there are so many wrong assumptions expelled here, I won't even begin to counter them.”
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There's a bunch of these, mostly posted by our resident broker mafia. The basis of this kind of ad hom is of the sort that infers "
Quote:
"I'm a broker, and this guy doesn't know anything, so this bozo isn't even worth my response"
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”. This poster won't even try to counter any of the many valid points made in the OP. Condescending and smugly non-specific. We are to defer and trust such alpha's.
Quote:
”Well, there are some aspects that are not negotiable. In Florida brokers are required by law to maintain a separate trust account that they must use for any and all escrow payments they receive. The OPs statement that they commingle your down payment with their own private accounts is simply and completely wrong.”
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This is an example of parsing misrepresentation, out of context (it later led to a theme, to follow). I never – ever – stated my OP was strictly about
Florida, when in fact I was clearly discussing boat brokerage in general. I never even named Florida; indeed I was actually
posting from
Ohio, where I was looking at boats (under
Ohio law). This trolling technique allows a knee jerking responder to then falsely claim (just like above) that my statement in re “
commingling” was “simply and completely wrong”.
Based on a self-serving,
single example.
In general, other than FL and CA, boat brokerage is not regulated – my point - and the commingling of funds can and does occur in the other 48 states. Indeed, pending funds are still commingled even in Florida in a separate account which, sadly, is still under the complete control of the broker.
Comments like these typify the use of made up strawmen, in this case by parsing misrepresentation – to give the poster a made up basis to post exaggerated and misleading rejections and implied ad homs.
Quote:
”You have already demonstrated quite clearly that you are COMPLETELY unfamiliar with the laws that regulate boat brokers and boat sales in your own state, yet you expect us to believe that you know about "the great majority of states."
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This is where the pile-on and ad homs began on the basis of their strawman “
he's wrong about Florida,” so he must be wrong in general. Wrong. It was and still is my intent to speak of boat brokerage in general in the states.
Sorry boyz.
Many very valid points were made, and have been frequently expressed by many buyers elsewhere in these
forums – forgive me for summarizing them. The repetition of a misrepresentation does not make it true. Hint: almost all states are completely unregulated and unlicensed, and the so-called Florida exception really isn't one, as Florida is minimally regulated, and little enforced.
The “separate account” was heavily lobbied, and provides minimal protection as the funds remain in the brokerage name, and under its complete control. There is nothing to prevent misuse or misallocation of funds until after the fact. If a Florida brokerage fails, you can be sure the “separate account” will be tied up for years with competing
legal claims and lawsuits. No one would ever put serious
money in the hands of a real estate brokerage, and for the same reason. The value of a neutral and independent escrow and title
insurance agent cannot be overstated.
Here's how this trolling technique works: parse out an isolated example (Florida), then claim that “
he is COMPLETELY wrong”, while at the same time this very same
single example is supposed to annoint the troll as completely right regarding the rest of the country! Really? Same forced strawman, completely opposite results for same misrepresentation. Typical.
Oh, and I might add that the fact is that funds from all pending sales are – just like the many unregulated states - are likewise commingled, but only in yet another, separate account that is STILL established, owned, managed and under the complete control of the brokerage. To confuse this with the specific, limited, trustworthy, independent and impartial services of an independent escrow and title agent – is just plain silly.
There is a significant and serious difference between the broker's separate account scheme, however
legal, and true and real independent escrow. I won't bore you here – the trolls will parse it anyway – but you should know that the issue of so-called broker “trust accounts” is the subject of widespread legal controversy, most based on the obvious conflict between opposing loyalties – for the broker – loyalty to his seller on one hand, and to the transaction on the other. In many cases a broker cannot represent both at the same time, ergo the conflict.
This is exactly why independent and impartial escrow/title
insurance agents are demanded in almost all ordinary real estate sales by buyers, sellers, and banks alike. Real escrow agents represent the transaction only and alone – not the buyer, seller or broker. This can never be said of the broker and his/her much more vulnerable “separate account”.
More here:
The facts about so-called boat “escrow”? - Cruisers & Sailing Forums
Carry on...