SinaFinance Yesterday (May 17), a banner was displayed on the exterior wall of Swan Lake Garden, a famous luxury house in Shenzhen. The slogan “False Propaganda, Narrow the Alley, and Public Stalls Become Commercial” was unusually prominent on the banner.

The person hanging up the banner was the owner of Swan Lake Garden Phase III. Swan Lake Garden is a well-known series of luxury homes in Shenzhen, composed ofShenzhen OCTestatesDevelopment by a limited company (hereinafter referred to as “OCT”). The average sales price for the third phase is about 130,000/square meter, and the total price of a single unit exceeds 10 million.

At the beginning of May, Sina Finance reported the cause of the rights protection incident: the owners discovered “incorrect goods” after taking over the building, and the developer OCT may be suspected of marketing fraud. According to owners' feedback, the owners of more than 1,000 households in the 4 houses in the property only have a “public lobby” with a door less than 10 meters wide, which is inconsistent with the statement that “every house has a lobby” when sold in OCT.

(Swan Lake Garden Phase III lobby entrance. More than 1,000 households need to enter the property from now on)

However, without going through the “public lobby,” the owners of 3 of the houses in the property can only go home through the entrance doors on the first floor of each building. These entrance doors and the passageway they are connected to are about 1 meter wide, and only 2 people can pass side by side.

(Entrance door on the 1st floor of Building A, Swan Lake Garden Phase III, about 1 meter wide)

In response, the person in charge of customer service related to OCT Real Estate explained to Sina Finance that the lobby has already been completed and registered, and the fire inspection has passed. The reason the 4 houses share the same lobby is to facilitate traffic management and prevent outsiders active in the commercial area from entering, while the “narrow door” on the first floor is a backup channel for the owners.

The owners had an interview with OCT on May 6. The OCT side once again emphasized that the design drawings and construction procedures are complete and compliant, and that the lobby-related content mentioned in the attachment to the housing purchase contract is to indicate construction materials. The developer also mentioned that the sales staff are all trained, and there is no such thing as “every building has a lobby” at the time of sales.

(Screenshot of the contract provided by the owners of Swan Lake Garden Phase III)

Today, Sina Finance once again telephoned the OCT Real Estate media manager. The person said it would take until tomorrow to give feedback on the progress and solutions after the interviews between the two parties.

According to attorney Gao Lilin of Beijing Yingke (Shanghai) Law Firm, OCT's practices have already constituted a breach of contract. “Currently, the main focus of the dispute is the problem that the buyer and developer agree on the delivery standards and actual delivery standards are inconsistent. In the case of inconsistency between actual delivery and agreement, the developer must bear corresponding liability for breach of contract with the owner,” said Gorye-rim.

Meanwhile, attorney Li Song, a partner at Beijing Dongyuan Law Firm, believes that OCT not only breaches the contract, but also constitutes fraud. Li Song explained that the developer should inform the owner that there is a shared lobby at the time of sale, so the owner can make a choice according to the actual situation. However, the developer conceals or does not clearly express this clause, thus constituting fraud and affecting the owner's booking decision.

Li Song said that there is currently a disagreement between the owners of Swan Lake Garden Phase III and OCT on the understanding of the terms of the purchase contract. According to Article 41 of the Contract Law, if the parties signing the contract have different understandings of certain details of the contract terms, the law stipulates that the interpretation shall be made in favor of the buyer.

In recent years, the supply of residential land in Shenzhen has been scarce, which has catalyzed the continued “high fever” of local housing prices. In particular, in November of last year, Shenzhen's “luxury property tax” certification standards were raised, making the local property market even more popular. However, behind the boom in housing purchases in Shenzhen, many property market rights protection stories are also being played out frequently.

According to public media reports, since last year, it has included Yicheng Center developed by Hong Rongyuan, Excellent Star Source, managed by Excellent Group, andVankeVarious properties, including the Lanjiangshan Community, which participated in the development, were protested by the owners due to issues such as loss of degrees, illegal remodeling, and quality of decoration.

In addition, recent market news also stated thatTaiheThe owners of the Shenzhen yard defended their rights by “kneeling to pay back the money,” while the owners of Zhongzhou Binhai Washington Phase I complained that the developer Zhongzhou Land delayed the delivery of the house without permission, ignoring the owners' demands and having a bad attitude.

(The owners of Tahoe's Shenzhen yard defended their rights by “kneeling to pay back the money”, online picture)

Owners have always been in a vulnerable position in the process of buying a home. On the one hand, there is unequal information between owners and developers, and developers can easily avoid and even mislead fraudulent acts in marketing; furthermore, when contracts are signed, there is limited room for owners to negotiate, making it difficult to make more detailed and equal agreements with developers on related matters.

And if they have to embark on the path of defending their rights, the owners will also face the problem of proof. In response, attorney Wang Longguo, partner of Shanghai Shen Yihe Law Firm, suggested that in order to protect their rights and interests, it is necessary for owners to keep relevant written materials from the beginning of the purchase of the house; if possible, keep necessary audio and video materials on key negotiation matters, so that the disputed facts can also be restored after disputes have arisen.

Attorney Li Song also pointed out that when signing the contract, the owner should carefully clarify whether the target of the contract is a developer or an intermediary company, clarify whether the processing time of the real estate certificate, the floor area, and floor height are consistent with the time of promotion. At the same time, pay attention to whether some oral presentations and promises made by the sales staff are clearly agreed upon in the contract. (Xu Yuanlei, Sina Finance)

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Responsible editor: Huo Qi