Li Hao
NINE households in Nanshan District have finally acquired legal ownership status of the apartments they bought 10 years ago.
The nine households bought apartments in a residential estate in Nanshan from Shenzhen Changxing Electrical Appliances Manufacturing Co. in 2000 but did not complete the property transfer procedures required by law, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.
The company later resold the nine apartments to other people who completed the statutory housing property transfer procedures and acquired housing ownership certificates.
The new owners went to the nine apartments in June last year to claim ownership, showing their certificates.
Three of the first buyers were forced out of the apartments.
The new owners also changed locks and cut water and electricity supplies to force the original buyers to leave.
The incident drew the attention of the district government, which launched an investigation.
A Nanshan District People s Court decision handed down earlier this month granted ownership to the nine original buyers, who had to pay a transfer fee to the second buyers.
People should realize the importance of completing property transfer procedures after signing a purchase contract. Before buying an apartment, people should find out all about it, said Shen Yufeng, a lawyer with Guangdong Sun Law Firm.
Shen also advised intending buyers to find out whether the property they intended to buy had been the subject of an ownership dispute.
