the public housing i have rented for 20 years is suddenly no longer available for rent. can the procuratorate take charge of this matter?
2024-09-03
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this article is reproduced from [prosecution daily justice network];
passing through a series of winding narrow alleys, what came into view was a small house of only 20 square meters, divided into two by a self-built mezzanine - the first floor could only accommodate a dining table and a sofa, which became zhang hongxia's bed when laid flat; the second-floor attic was as cramped as a train berth, making it impossible to stand up. this was the bedroom for zhang hongxia's daughter, son-in-law and grandson.
although the house is small, it is a safe haven for zhang hongxia and her family in beijing. but in 2020, she suddenly learned that the "directly managed public housing" she had rented for 20 years had become "private property" and could no longer be renewed. in february 2023, zhang hongxia, who was already in her sixties, cried in front of li nan, a prosecutor at the beijing municipal procuratorate: "can the procuratorate take care of my affairs?"
i rented a house for 20 years and suddenly i can no longer live in it
back in 1999, zhang hongxia and her husband rented two public housing units, the north and east units, on a street in a certain district in beijing. in 2020, the two were divorced by judgment and confirmed that the two public housing units were transferred to zhang hongxia for rent and use. however, the housing authority of a certain district has been slow to process the change of zhang hongxia's public housing tenant.
therefore, zhang hongxia brought a district government to court for administrative inaction. however, the court believed that this was an issue of the execution of a divorce judgment, and rejected zhang hongxia's first instance, second instance, and retrial applications on the grounds that it did not fall within the scope of administrative litigation. on the issue of execution, the district government said that the public housing involved was someone else's private housing, and therefore could not handle the procedures for changing the public housing tenant.
during the spring festival of 2023, the laughter and joy outside the window made zhang hongxia's home particularly lonely. if she cannot obtain the procedures for changing the public housing tenant and renewing the rental agreement, this may be the last spring festival that the whole family spends here.
after the spring festival, after her petitions were rejected by the housing authority and her lawsuits were rejected by the court, zhang hongxia came to the beijing municipal procuratorate with her last hope and applied for supervision. in order to further understand the situation, li nan and his colleagues found the house involved in the case. this small house, which has the dual identities of "directly managed public housing" and "private property", has made several functional departments feel very difficult, but it is also the basic living guarantee for zhang hongxia's family. therefore, li nan is determined to find out the truth.
20 visits to collect evidence to clarify the mystery of property rights
the difficulty of the case lies in the fact that it is rooted in the historical legacy of long-term changes in national policies, and multiple administrative agencies are involved in the transfer of ownership of public housing and private property. "the real estate company said that according to regulations, the rental agreement for this house cannot be renewed, the private housing office said that the real estate certificate was issued in accordance with the implementation of the private housing policy, and the housing authority said it was a historical legacy... each unit said that they were not wrong, but the problem was indeed there." li nan told reporters.
therefore, li nan could only go to each administrative agency and check the information again and again. in this way, from the acceptance of the case to the completion of the case, li nan visited and collected evidence 20 times.
finally, after persistent questioning, archive documents surfaced one by one. li nan found out the "origin" of the house involved in the case from the yellowed paper materials: there were 25 houses in the courtyard where zhang hongxia lived, all of which were privately owned and all handed over to public management in the 1960s. in 1983, the housing management department made an opinion on the implementation of the private housing policy of "the state purchased 16 houses and returned 9 houses for self-management". the north and east houses involved in the case belonged to the 16 houses purchased by the state. however, due to negligence of the competent department, the east house, which was not within the scope of the private housing policy, was returned and registered under the name of an individual. after the sale, the current owner of the house is li moumou. however, the house is still managed by the public housing management department and is actually lived in by zhang hongxia.
after investigation and verification, the case handling team believes that the focus of the dispute in this case is on whether zhang hongxia's request for the administrative authority to change the house registration falls within the scope of administrative litigation, but in fact, the house has become a "private property" and can no longer be rented as a "directly managed public house", and zhang hongxia is facing the problem of losing the right to rent the public house. even if the procuratorate supports the supervision application and initiates the supervision procedure, the applicant will only fall into a new round of "procedural idleness" and it will be difficult to effectively solve the problem.
let the people have a place to live and live in peace
to completely solve the problem, the most feasible way is for the administrative agency to correct its own mistakes and separate the private and public rights of the houses involved. li nan believes that it is necessary to directly communicate with the administrative agency to break the vicious cycle of "idle procedures" and realize the lease right of "directly managed public housing" from scratch.
in january this year, the beijing municipal procuratorate issued a procuratorial suggestion to the housing management bureau of a district in beijing, pointing out that there were management loopholes between the administrative agency's implementation of the housing private housing policy and the management of public housing. since the property rights of the property have been transferred to a third party through sale, even if the appeal is made, it is difficult to resolve zhang hongxia's substantive demand to change the public housing tenant. therefore, it is recommended that the housing management bureau study and resolve the issue of changing the lease rights of the house involved in the case, effectively respond to the substantive demands of the parties involved, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved.
after receiving the procuratorial suggestion and discussing with relevant administrative agencies, a district housing authority decided to purchase the house involved as public property according to the standards and procedures for application-based rent withdrawal, and entrusted a real estate company to manage the lessee in accordance with the public housing leasing procedures. thus, the historical problem of the house involved being "both public and private" was resolved. in april this year, zhang hongxia withdrew the procuratorial supervision application to the beijing municipal procuratorate, and the housing dispute was completely resolved. in july, the case was selected as a typical case of administrative prosecution of "prosecution to protect people's livelihood" released by the supreme people's procuratorate.
the relevant person in charge of the administrative procuratorate of the supreme people's procuratorate said that the case was caused by the administrative agency's careless implementation of the policy of private ownership, and the prosecutor in charge urged the administrative agency to take remedial measures to effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties. this is a vivid epitome of the procuratorial organs playing the role of administrative supervision and protecting the people's "dream of a safe home" in accordance with the law.
"the seminar for the chief prosecutors emphasized that it is necessary to coordinate with the courts and administrative agencies to promote the substantive resolution of administrative disputes in accordance with the law in conjunction with the handling of administrative litigation supervision cases. in the performance of administrative litigation supervision duties, if administrative agencies are found to have exercised their powers illegally or have not exercised their powers, supervision of administrative violations should be carried out in an orderly manner." a relevant person in charge of the administrative procuratorate of the supreme people's procuratorate said that public housing leasing is an important way to solve the problem of housing for all. in the supervision of administrative litigation, if it is found that the public housing lessee is unable to change the procedures due to the reasons of the administrative agency, which affects the lessee's housing rights and interests, the procuratorate should urge the administrative agency to take remedial measures to effectively protect the public housing lessee's right to live. in october this year, the standing committee of the national people's congress will hear a special report on administrative procuratorial work. procuratorial organs at all levels should conscientiously implement the spirit of the seminar for the chief prosecutors and promote the further improvement of the quality and efficiency of administrative procuratorial work.
(the parties involved in the case are pseudonyms)
source: procuratorate daily·news edition
author: liu ya liu jiayin
