text/zhao bin

the work of ensuring the delivery of houses is an important task to safeguard people's livelihood and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers. the ministry of housing and urban-rural development said that it has locked in 3.96 million houses that should be delivered before the end of this year according to the contract as the target task of the battle to ensure the delivery of houses.

the deepening of the "guaranteed delivery of buildings" policy will help alleviate homebuyers' concerns about unfinished pre-sale buildings, thereby boosting expectations. nowadays, many places are also "testing the waters" for the sale of existing homes. but in this process, if you encounter unfinished buildings, what should you do?

recently, the story of the owner of an unfinished building for 8 years who learned law on his own to get back the house payment has attracted widespread attention. some netizens said that this approach is not something that most people can learn, and they often feel powerless and at a loss when encountering an unfinished building.

through interviews with many legal experts and industry insiders, china news service's national affairs express found that after encountering an "unfinished building", grasping three main lines can provide the key to recovering losses.

four channels for administrative relief

in my country, all links in the real estate chain, from project filing, planning, land approval to construction and sales, must be carried out and completed under the supervision of the competent government departments.

jiang cheng, who has been engaged in real estate development business for many yearsin an interview with china news service, he said that some unfinished real estate projects often violate regulations to varying degrees. if they are operated strictly in accordance with national regulations and norms, the number of unfinished projects will be greatly reduced.

therefore, when the owner finds that the housing project they purchased has signs of delayed delivery, if they can promptly remind the relevant departments to correct the developer's illegal behavior and strengthen supervision of fund use, it can play a key role in preventing the project from being unfinished in the early stage. so when encountering unfinished buildings, which departments can you seek help from in order to recover your losses?

zhang ming, partner and lawyer at beijing jingshi law firmit is stated that before filing a lawsuit, you can consider seeking relief in the following four ways:

1. contact the local housing and urban-rural development bureau.this department is responsible for supervising the qualifications of real estate development companies, reviewing project planning and construction progress, handling complaints and disputes during real estate development, etc., including cross-departmental coordination among multiple units to jointly resolve real estate-related issues including unfinished projects, all of which fall within the responsibilities of this department;

2. seek help directly from the local government.the government has strong comprehensive coordination capabilities. in practice, many local governments have set up temporary agencies such as the "unfinished project promotion office" to promote the resumption of projects through policy support and financial assistance. many unfinished projects have been completed and delivered under the coordination of the government.

3. get help from the consumer rights protection association (consumer association)consumers can seek legal advice or make complaints to them. for example, homebuyers can report the developer’s breach of contract, delayed delivery and other related issues to the consumer association, so as to obtain relevant mediation and rights protection guidance;

4. take the initiative to contact the developer’s lending bank or other financial institutions.real estate projects usually require financing from banks or other financial institutions. when a house is left unfinished, banks or other financial institutions also face bad debt risks. therefore, banks or other financial institutions usually try their best to find solutions, such as restructuring loans, introducing new investors, etc. homebuyers can learn about the financial status of the project and possible solutions through banks or other financial institutions, and make early preparations for specific situations.

zhang ming said that while protecting one's own legitimate rights and interests through the above methods, one can also initiate litigation at an appropriate time according to the specific circumstances. some of the recognitions and documents obtained through the above methods can often be used as effective evidence required for litigation.

three things to note in civil litigation

civil litigation is a powerful means to safeguard legitimate rights and interests. when encountering an unfinished building, how can you gain the upper hand in the litigation?

kong min, senior partner and real estate lawyer at beijing yixian law firmin an interview with china news service, he said that professional real estate lawyers will provide professional solutions for the parties according to the specific circumstances. for home buyers, it is very important to pay attention to the following three points to ensure the interests of home buyers who encounter unfinished buildings in civil lawsuits.

1. when signing a purchase contract, the delivery time and the penalty for overdue delivery should be specified in detail., liquidated damages can be calculated on a daily basis and the agreed ratio should be as high as possible; the conditions for moving out should be clear and explicit to ensure the clarity and legality of the contract terms. if the purchase contract is not clear enough in these aspects, you can ask for a supplementary agreement. if the developer refuses, you should be vigilant and choose carefully. if necessary, you can seek the advice of professionals and lawyers;

2. if you encounter an unfinished building, you can file a joint lawsuit with multiple home buyers.this can not only significantly reduce the cost of rights protection, but also share evidence with each other and increase the success rate. however, it requires the homebuyers to work together and elect appropriate representatives to communicate and coordinate related matters;

3. litigation and preservation should be carried out early.as long as conditions permit, you can consider filing a lawsuit and filing a lawsuit preservation as soon as possible. in this way, you can first understand the developer's financial and construction debt situation, and then consider whether to request a refund or require the other party to continue to perform the contract and deliver the house while compensating for our losses.

when a project is left unfinished, in addition to administrative and civil litigation, the role of criminal measures should not be underestimated.

criminal measures should not be underestimated

xiao yi, professor of criminal law at capital normal university, graduate tutor, and part-time lawyer at beijing guanheng law firmin an interview with china news service's national affairs express, he said that based on previous cases, the operators of some unfinished building projects may have committed criminal offenses related to funds.

for example, some unfinished projects may involve the misappropriation of project funds such as sales proceeds through false litigation, fictitious engineering projects, falsification of engineering quantities, or even fraud such as fictitious projects, contract fraud, and fundraising fraud.

some home buyers are worried: can the money recovered through criminal means be returned to the home buyers like through civil litigation?

xiao yi said that for crimes suspected of defrauding home buyers of their housing funds, the illegal proceeds will be recovered and directly returned to the home buyers; for crimes of misappropriating project funds, the illegal proceeds will be recovered and returned to the project owner. home buyers who encounter unfinished projects can legally obtain the refund through administrative, civil and other means, thereby enjoying the recovered funds.

some consumers are also worried that through civil litigation they can claim interest on funds misappropriated by developers, as well as losses incurred as a result; while through criminal means only the principal can be recovered.

xiao yi said that after recovering the illegal gains through criminal means and returning them to the victims, the victims can still file a civil lawsuit to claim legal compensation for losses, and much of the relevant information in the criminal case can be used as valid evidence for civil claims.

there are 6 things to look for to avoid unfinished buildings

protecting rights has costs, and unfinished buildings are frustrating. the key is to effectively avoid buying unfinished buildings.

kong min said that the "six things to look for" when buying a house can effectively reduce the risk of buying an unfinished building:

1. the probability of a house being left unfinished will be greatly reduced if it has all the five certificates: "state-owned land use certificate", "construction land planning permit", "construction project planning permit", "construction project construction permit" and "commercial housing sales (pre-sale) permit".

second, check whether the developer has a bad history;

3. check the progress of the project.after 2/3 of the main construction of the house has been completed, the probability of unfinished construction will decrease;

4. look at the property sales cycle and progress.properties with long sales cycles and slow sales progress should be carefully inspected. when a property's sales cycle is prolonged, high inventory will first affect the developer's capital chain;

5. when buying a last-minute house, you should consider the property rights status of the house。when buying a last-minute house, you should first make sure that the house sales procedures and property rights are clear and whether it has been mortgaged by the bank. if it is an auction house, you should find out whether the property transfer procedures have been completed.

6. don’t be greedy for cheap things.the developers are small in size and offer so-called "internal houses" at preferential prices. although these locations have not yet been developed, they are said to be "promising". these "pie in the sky" projects have a very high risk of being unfinished.

it is reported that the national level is currently effectively promoting the sales of existing homes, while improving and optimizing the pre-sale system, which will play a key role in effectively avoiding the occurrence of unfinished buildings.

source: national express

editor: gao yantang

editor: wei xi