I thought it was a prosperous shop next to the bell tower, which would allow him to collect rent steadily. Unexpectedly, in the next 5 years, he traveled back and forth between Xi'an and Gansu countless times, but he still did not want to return his more than 50 yuan of housing payment.
The developer's promise of a 3-year leaseback has not been fulfilled
It is difficult to get a refund after applying for check-out
In 2019, when Mr. Cui from Gansu Province came to Xi'an for tourism, he saw a shop for sale near the bell tower.
"This real estate is called Bell Tower Hongxi Apartment, located on the west side of North Street, less than 200 meters away from the Bell Tower." Mr. Cui said that at that time, the salesperson took him from Exit B of the Zhonglou subway station to the second floor and saw an entrance to the mall blocked by a fence. "They said that this was originally a Minsheng department store, but now it is being renovated, and it will be turned into a commercial street after the construction is completed. After purchase, the shop can be leased back to the developer, and there can be an annual income of about 8%. ”
"I saw that the location was very good and there was a lot of traffic, so I decided to buy two for investment, and my brother also bought one." Mr. Cui said. On August 21, 2019, Mr. Cui purchased two shops with an area of 8.72 square meters on the basement floor of Hongxi Apartment, both of which were purchased for 266378 yuan.
After signing the purchase contract, under the guidance of the developer, Mr. Cui signed an entrusted operation contract with Xi'an Duanzheng Commercial Operation and Management Co., Ltd., which stipulated that the entrusted operation and management period of the shop was 3 years, ending on August 20, 2022. In the past three years, the rent was 18,646 yuan, 21,310 yuan, and 23,974 yuan respectively.
At the end of 2021, after contacting the developer for the second installment of the rent that was supposed to be paid in August of that year, Mr. Cui came to Xi'an from Gansu Province and found that the underground shops were not in operation and were still in a rough state. After many negotiations with the developer, Mr. Cui got the second installment of the rent, terminated the contract with the developer, and checked out for a refund.
"But after more than half a year, the house was refunded, but the refund was not received." Mr. Cui said that they had approached the developer many times, but they were all prevaricated and prevaricated by the other party. On September 15, 2022, Mr. Cui and a number of other property owners who requested a refund communicated and negotiated with the relevant person in charge of Xida Real Estate Company, the developer of the shop, in the conference room of the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau of Lianhu District, Xi'an, and signed a refund agreement.
According to the refund agreement, the total refund amount of 49 shops for 35 participants is 12286135 yuan, and Xida Real Estate Company will refund it in installments. Xida Real Estate Company promises to take out 1 million yuan every month to distribute it evenly to customers to refund the purchase principal, and the agreed refund time is 12 months (from October 30, 2022 to September 30, 2023), and customers who apply for a refund of the purchase price will not pay the leaseback.
In addition, Xida Real Estate Company also signed a separate refund plan with Mr. Cui, from October 2022 to September 2023, in 12 installments, with the first 11 refunds of 44,396 yuan and the last refund of 44,400 yuan.
"The refund plan they promised at the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau will not be accepted in the second month." Mr. Cui said that he only received the first installment of more than 40,000 yuan, and the developer refused to pay the refund on the grounds of insufficient funds from the second month. In desperation, Mr. Cui had no choice but to resort to legal means to resolve the issue.
In March 2023, after mediation by the People's Court of Lianhu District, Xi'an City, the two parties reached a mediation agreement: Xida Real Estate Company will return all the housing payment in installments from June to October of that year, and if it fails to perform within the agreed time limit, Mr. Cui can apply to the court for enforcement.
"But in July, I still didn't receive the first instalment of the refund, so I applied to the court for enforcement." Mr. Cui said. On the two enforcement rulings issued by the Lianhu District People's Court, the reporter saw that because the person subject to enforcement failed to perform the judgment obligation, the court filed the case for enforcement on July 25, 2023, but did not find that the person subject to enforcement had any property available for enforcement. The court has informed the applicant of the property investigation and enforcement measures, and ruled to terminate the enforcement procedure.
"After working so hard for so long, I still haven't received the payment." Mr. Cui said that there are more than 400 people in their owner group, and they have encountered the problem of difficulty in refunding, and it is roughly estimated that the amount involved is nearly 100 million yuan. "Some people choose not to move out and continue to let the developer back the lease, but the rent has been greatly reduced, and there have been arrears."
The rent of the shop has been in arrears for a long time after the leaseback, and the rent for 2022 will be completed in 2024
Ms. Li, another owner of Hongxi Apartment, told a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News that she also bought a shop on the second floor of Hongxi Apartment in 2019.
"At that time, we saw that the building had been built here, but it needed to be renovated, and we thought that it would not be unfinished, so we paid more than 230,000 yuan to buy a shop of about 7 square meters." Ms. Li said that in May 2019, she paid the full amount, and according to the relevant agreement, if she did not obtain the property right certificate and relevant property registration procedures for the sub-household real estate within three years, she should refund all the money paid by the buyer within 30 working days, and compensate the buyer for the loss of 5/1000 of the price paid, and pay the buyer a late fee of 5/10,000 per day after the deadline.
In 2022, the three-year period agreed in the contract has expired, but the shop has not yet been completed, the real estate certificate cannot be processed, and the rent has not been paid to her according to the time agreed in the leaseback contract. Ms. Li and the owners came to the shop and found that the door of the sales office was locked, and a notice from the Lianhu District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau was posted at the door, which stated that because the project had not obtained the "Commercial Housing Pre-sale License", it was not allowed to be pre-sold to the outside world, and it was not allowed to pre-sell in disguised form by subscribing (including subscription, registration, number selection, etc.), charging pre-payment fees, etc.
"We went to the developer, and after many negotiations and communication, they finally proposed two options, one is to check out and refund, and the rent that has not been given before does not need to be given, or do not check out, and continue to sign a leaseback contract." "I was worried that they wouldn't be able to get the money back, so I chose the latter. ”
But unexpectedly, in the renewed leaseback contract, the rent is getting less and less year by year, and the previous rent is often in arrears. It will not be until April 2024 that the rent for 2022 will be settled.
On April 13, the developer, Xida Real Estate, sent a message to the owners, mentioning that the company had a shortfall because the hotels on the 6th to 9th floors of Hongxi Apartments had not paid their rents on time. At the same time, the company has rented out all the 5 floors below Hongxi Apartment, and the lessee has begun to demolish the original old decoration, and invest in the installation of elevators and other facilities and equipment, and at the same time began to prepare for decoration, which is expected to open in October, after which the company's financial situation will gradually improve.
Hongxi Apartment has been "transformed" into Youth Paradise Street and has begun to re-lease
In April this year, Mr. Cui and his family went to the Lianhu District Court Enforcement Bureau again to restart the enforcement process and allow the developer to pay off their housing payments as soon as possible. The judge in charge of the case said that the developer would be called in to negotiate with the owner and give a plan within a week. However, Mr. Choi has not received a reply from the judge, who has contacted the Executive Board several times and has been informed that the judge is on a business trip or in a meeting.
On May 15, a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News accompanied Mr. Cui to Hongxi Apartment, the entrance of the shop located at Exit B of the Zhonglou subway station was still closed, and the interior of the first and second floors of the apartment, the reporter saw that there were workers under construction.
On the first floor of the apartment, there is a "Youth Tianjie Investment Center". According to the on-site staff, Qingnian Tianjie is the original Hongxi apartment project, which was developed by Xida Real Estate Company, and is only rented but not sold. More than half of the shops have been leased and are expected to open in July this year. The staff said that there is indeed a dispute between the developer and the shop owner over the refund, but the investment center belongs to a third-party operating company, and the lease is signed with them, and the tenant and the developer have no direct connection.
In the afternoon of the same day, the reporter called a person in charge of Xida Real Estate Company surnamed Gai to inquire about the progress of the refund of the shop, and the other party said "I don't know, I don't know", and then hung up the phone, and the reporter couldn't get through when he dialed again. The reporter also called the phone number of another person in charge who had mediated with Mr. Cui, and it showed that the phone had been turned off.
The reporter learned through the enterprise inquiry website that the person in charge of the surname is the director and financial director of Xi'an Xida Real Estate Development Co., Ltd., holding 34% of the shares. Xida Real Estate Company has been listed by the court as a restricted high-consumption enterprise, and has been forced by the court 30 times for failing to fulfill its legal obligations on time, with a total amount of 6.8539 million yuan.
Subsequently, a reporter from Huashang Daily Gale News called the Lianhu District People's Court Executive Bureau, and the judge in charge of the case said that the developer had told them about re-leasing, and the rent would be returned to the landlord one after another. The reporter asked whether this was a verbal promise, and the judge said that the developer had been asked to come up with a plan, but the other party had not yet provided it. As for whether there is a relevant enforcement plan, the judge said that it is inconvenient to disclose the specific circumstances of the case.
Huashang Daily Gale News reporter Bai Zhongxia text/picture
Source: Huashang Net-Huashang Daily