Reference no: EM13467543
Upon leaving Troll's office, Driven does not bother to go to his office. He knows that to get his job done within 10 months, it would be necessary to get the site picked and the land purchased within the next two days. He leaves the office almost immediately. Dirk also knows that to keep the price down on the land purchase, it is necessary to keep the deals "casual" and away from legal. That meant the rural areas where people let cash speak.
Dirk knew exactly where he wanted to go, Front Royal, Virginia; a perfect spot. Front Royal has a lot of empty land a two to three hour ride from many major cities in the Washington, D.C. corridor. It also has the Manassas Battlefield and Luray Caverns very close by to bring in the tourist trade. With the help of a local realtor, Dirk locates two major farms in the vicinity that would be good sites. One farm belongs to the Jacobs and the other to the Dilly's. One couple, Jordan and Janet Jacob, was anxious to sell off the 640 acres that the family left them so that they could move into the city where they were employed. An offer already exists from a local developer, Danny Dee, for a thousand dollars an acre. This offer is seen to be low but is receiving their consideration as the economy is so bad. Dee told them that they had to let him know by the end of the week because he could lose his loan with the bank soon without any land to develop.
Driven comes to them, the same day as his meeting with Troll, and two days before their answer is due to Dee. Dirk, explained to the Jacobs that he was a Vice President of CCI and gave them a business card. CCI, he explained, is going to start a new company, FAMUSA, and wishes to buy the land for that business. Dirk goes on to say that FAMUSA would pay them $3,000 dollars an acre and closing would be in sixty days. He gives them a check for $25,000 dollars as earnest money, drawn on a CCI account, because as far as he knows the FAMUSA account is not yet opened by Quick. The Jacobs think this is great. They agree to the deal and in Dirk's presence call Dee to turn down his offer.
A week later, Driven, after much consideration, decides that he is not interested in buying the Jacobs land after all. He thinks that it will cost too much money to develop. That day he makes a proposal to the Dilly's and buys 640 acres from them for $2,500 per acre. The Dilly's said that they wanted to reserve the mineral rights to the property and asked him to write on the check in the memo slot "sale of land does not include mineral rights." As he knows the sale isn't in writing, Driven agrees to this. Remembering the phone call and the Jacobs' delight he thinks he will just forget the Jacobs' offer and let the earnest check go as payment for their time. After all, nothing is in writing. Besides he thinks, it is the easiest $25,000 dollars they will ever make.
Immediately after closing on the Dilly's land, Dirk began construction on Fun-A-Mania-USA amusement park. Within months it became apparent to Driven that things were not going to get done within the ten month deadline. He has trouble with the county inspectors; the suppliers are not getting paid; and Quick is requiring several bids on everything to save money. Furthermore, The Jacobs' write the Board of Directors demanding to be paid for the contract they lost. The Board of CCI, now aware of the project, tells Dirk that they could continue with the project but he could not exceed the 3.7 million dollar budget.
Dirk is just about at that point and stressed out beyond belief. He writes a check for $750,000 on the FAMUSA account and sneaks away to his secret cabin in New Mexico. The check is labeled as severance pay. Upon learning of Dirk's departure, the Board halts the project. The suppliers and contractors are furious at being treated so badly and decide to picket the project. The picketing draws the attention of the media. One contractor, Jim Jacob, Jordon's brother, decides to blog a long diatribe against CCI. Among many other things, he calls the Company a fraud. This blog was picked up by the media.
The Board of Directors is now very much aware of the whole fiasco and comes to you for advice. They want your legal opinion on the following questions.