Group calls for gov’t’s intervention in mainland property investment ‘scam’

A group of local residents is calling on the Macau SAR government for help after they encountered problems while purchasing properties in parts of mainland China, particularly in Zhuhai.
On Friday, the group, accompanied by lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho, presented a letter to the Macau Government Headquarters in the hopes of receiving assistance from the Chief Executive.
The petitioners had reportedly purchased properties from several different real estate projects in Zhuhai. Before they purchased the properties, the developer said that the project had been approved and could be used for commercial and residential purposes.
However, after they made the purchase, they realized that the properties could only be used as offices, but not as houses.
Approximately 100 Macau local residents bought properties from these projects.
The apartment buyers have, according to the lawmaker, each spent at least 4 million yuan on the residences.
Speaking to the press, the lawmaker said that the petition has gathered 30 signatures from people who were allegedly scammed, including local civil servants, but did not want to make an appearance.
“They do not want to involve their professional jobs in what I call a scam,” Coutinho said.
Previous statistics of the Macau Federation of Trade Unions’ office in Guangdong province said that majority of the complaints received from Macau residents related to investment failures in mainland China’s real estate market, together with complaints concerning property management and illegal guesthouses.
“Many of them went to [local real estate] agencies who suggested they buy houses in the mainland. [They have] signed many documents. All of [the agents] publicized that they were houses,” Coutinho told the press.
The lawmaker hopes that, in future, there can be a mechanism of cross-region arbitration to help local residents solve disputes related to property investment in mainland China.
Currently, those who purchased the houses are not able to even file a lawsuit at a mainland court because they have not received their contracts of purchase, which have not been signed. The contracts will only be signed when the entire payment is settled. MDT