Real Estate Lawmaker seeks easy access to property laws in mainland

Lawmaker Zheng Anting has argued that residential projects in mainland China should upload legal information on their websites, ensuring that overseas investors can avoid property fraud.
This comes after 77 local residents complained to the Consumer Council over real estate scams involving pre-sale property acquisitions in the mainland during the first half of the year. Speaking to TDM, Zheng Anting said some investors only managed to reclaim their money after more than 10 years, and encouraged developers to be “clear and transparent.”
“Information such as the types of property sites that can be sold and how far [along] the construction [is] must be made available before they are allowed to be sold to outsiders or other buyers in the region,” he said.
As cited in TDM, an investor surnamed Lou – along with dozens of investors – claimed to have purchased some 50 residential units in Zhuhai back in 2008, but the project was never completed. According to him, there was no follow-up from the relevant mainland departments.
“They said the contract we initially signed with the developer did not meet the legal requirements. That means our contract was not protected,” he explained to the media outlet.
“Our point is that we really paid for the property. It should be recognized even though the developer received the funds without obtaining the pre-sale permit.”
In previous reports, the Zhongshan Administration Bureau for Industry and Commerce had admitted that these incidents are a result of the absence of related laws, and that such things are common in the mainland.