Legal knowledge

18 Situations Where Obtaining a Property Certificate is Impossible or Prolonged

1. The developer has gone bankrupt or had its qualifications revoked, making it impossible to continue processing the property title registration for the building;

2. The developer has not obtained a land use certificate or has not paid all land transfer fees;

3. The developer has mortgaged the land or property to a bank or construction team, and the debt has not yet been repaid;

4. The developer has not completed the completion registration;

5. The developer has resold the property (without contract registration), making it impossible to obtain a property certificate;

6. The building has been seized by the court;

7. The developer has not obtained the measured data of the building area;

8. There is an area discrepancy in the property. For discrepancies within a certain range, additional fees need to be paid or purchase price differences refunded according to regulations. Failure to resolve the area discrepancy will prevent property registration;

9. The developer has not built the community supporting facilities according to the overall plan, or has not transferred the community supporting housing, making it impossible to pass the comprehensive acceptance inspection;

10. The developer does not promptly handle the "overall title registration";

11. The developer does not cooperate in providing relevant materials for processing the "small property certificate";

12. There is a dispute between the developer and the small property owners, and the property certificate that should have been issued to the small property owners is withheld;

13. Property tax has not yet been paid;

14. Public maintenance fund has not yet been paid;

15. The documents submitted for processing the property certificate are not qualified;

16. After purchasing and moving into the property, some homebuyers have carried out illegal construction, resulting in the planning department refusing to issue a building completion acceptance certificate;

17. The property certificate processing department delays or refuses to process the application without justifiable reason;

18. Irregular operation by the unit or personnel (lawyer, agency) handling the property rights.

There are four reasons for these situations:

The first is caused by the developer, which is the main reason and the most common problem in practice, such as items 1-12 listed above.

The second is caused by the homebuyer themselves, such as items 12-16 listed above.

The third is caused by the property certificate processing department, such as item 17 listed above.

The fourth is caused by the agency personnel, such as item 18 listed above.

II. Countermeasures

(A) Caused by the developer

Diligent Inquiry

Before signing the contract, homebuyers should check clearly whether there is any indication of land mortgage in the notes section of the original "State-owned Land Use Certificate" provided by the developer. You can also check online; in Beijing, you can check on the website of "Beijing Municipal Housing and Land Rights Registration Affairs*".

Careful Examination of Documents

Before signing, you can check the "State-owned Land Use Certificate". If it is a "temporary use certificate" or has a mortgage, refuse to sign, or insist that the developer sign a supplementary agreement stipulating that "the developer guarantees to obtain the "State-owned Land Use Certificate" before xxxx year x month x day."

Sign a Good "Purchase Contract"

The "Purchase Contract" should have specific clauses regarding the property rights and property certificate, not only specifying the specific processing deadline, but also the handling method if the deadline is not met.

1. Regarding Initial Registration

(1) Determination of Date

For pre-sale properties, the date of delivery of the property as stipulated in the contract can be used as the starting point to calculate 90 days. For existing properties, the date of signing the sales contract can be used as the starting point to calculate 90 days.

(2) Determination of Refund Penalty

No more than 100%.

2. Regarding Transfer Registration

(1) Determination of Date

For pre-sale properties, the date of delivery of the property as stipulated in the contract can be used as the starting point to calculate 120 days. For existing properties, the date of signing the sales contract can be used as the starting point to calculate 120 days.

(2) Determination of Refund Penalty

No more than 100%.

Do not sign unreasonable entrustment letters.

Many developers require homebuyers to sign a separate agreement outside the contract, entrusting them to handle the property certificate, collect property tax and public maintenance fund.

Homebuyers can refuse this unreasonable entrustment. Don't worry that if you don't entrust the real estate developer to handle it, you won't be able to obtain the property certificate yourself. According to Article 33 of the "Regulations on the Management of Urban Real Estate Development and Operation", "Real estate development enterprises shall assist purchasers of commercial housing in handling the registration procedures for land use rights and housing ownership, and provide necessary supporting documents." Therefore, regardless of whether the homebuyer entrusts the real estate developer to handle the property certificate, the real estate developer has the legal responsibility to assist the homebuyer in handling the property transfer procedures and obtaining the property certificate.

Termination and Compensation

According to the provisions of the *People's Court's "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Cases of Disputes over Commercial Housing Sales Contracts", if the developer has the following serious breaches of contract, you can terminate, revoke the contract or declare the contract invalid through negotiation or litigation, and claim compensation.

1. After the conclusion of the commercial housing sales contract, the seller failed to inform the buyer that the house had been mortgaged to a third party;

2. After the conclusion of the commercial housing sales contract, the seller sold the house to a third party;

3. Intentionally concealing the fact that the pre-sale permit for commercial housing has not been obtained, or providing a false pre-sale permit for commercial housing;

4. Intentionally concealing the fact that the sold house has been mortgaged;

5. Intentionally concealing the fact that the sold house has been sold to a third party or is a house for demolition and relocation compensation;

6. The seller and the third party colluded maliciously, concluded another commercial housing sales contract, and delivered the house for use, resulting in the homebuyer being unable to obtain the house.

(B) Caused by the homebuyer themselves

For disputes between developers and small property owners where the property certificate that should have been issued to the small property owner is withheld, timely communication and resolution of the conflict should be sought to avoid prolonged delays. It can also be argued that the developer's withholding of the property certificate constitutes a breach of contract, and the developer can be required to rectify the situation.

For outstanding property tax and public maintenance fund payments, these should be paid promptly, as payment of these taxes is a legally mandated procedure for obtaining a property certificate. To obtain the property certificate promptly, purchasers should pay promptly and submit the payment receipts or invoices to the developer or agency (personnel).

For incomplete or unqualified documents submitted for property certificate processing, these should be corrected promptly. Inquiries can be made to staff to avoid unnecessary delays.

For individual homebuyers who have engaged in unauthorized construction after moving in, resulting in the planning department refusing to issue a building completion acceptance certificate, the unauthorized construction should be promptly demolished to ensure the processing of the property certificate.

(3) Reasons caused by the property certificate processing department

An administrative reconsideration can be applied for with a higher-level administrative organ, or an administrative lawsuit can be filed with the court.

(4) Reasons caused by the agency personnel

The agency contract can be terminated, and compensation can be sought from the agency personnel or institution.