Scammed by an agent when buying a house in Shenzhen — who do you turn to? Zhiming Law Firm, ranked among the top 10 law firms in Shenzhen, tells you: Can your money be recovered if you were deceived in a contract?

Last week, a client came to me and said: "Lawyer Shen, I'm finished. I found a second-hand apartment in Longhua, Shenzhen. The agent confidently assured me the owner was selling urgently, at 200,000 yuan below market price, and pushed me to sign the intermediary contract and pay a 200,000 yuan deposit the same day. But the next day, the agent went missing. I checked and found that the apartment didn't even exist — it was a fake listing. Now the agent has fled. Can I still get my money back?"

This is not the first client this year to be taken advantage of by a real estate agent. Property prices in Shenzhen are high, often running into millions, and many people's life savings are tied up in a single home. Once you've been set up by an agent or trapped in a contract, it feels like being stabbed in the back—too painful to speak, too anxious to sleep. Today, Zhiming Law Firm will lay out and thoroughly explain the most common traps in contract disputes. If you've been deceived, what should you do? After reading this, you'll know what your next move should be.

1. What's the problem: The 4 most common pitfalls in contract disputes—how many have you stepped into?

Pitfall 1: Fake listings, fake landlords, signed an "air contract"
As in the case of the client mentioned at the beginning, the intermediary fabricated property listings and lured you into signing a contract and paying a deposit with prices far below market value. Legally, this constitutes "fraud," and the contract is voidable. But the problem is—if the intermediary skips town, who do you pursue? What makes it worse is that if you signed an "intermediary contract," the intermediary is merely the matchmaker, and the actual seller is that "fake owner." Once the fake owner turns out to be fabricated as well, your contract does not even have a party to perform against, and the difficulty of holding anyone accountable goes through the roof.

Pitfall 2: Verbal promises not written into the contract, later flatly denied.
"Don't worry, the school district is guaranteed" "The subway will be open by next year" "I'll take care of the previous owner's unpaid property fees"... Agents say these things and forget them the moment they're spoken, without writing a single word in the contract. By the time you discover there's no school district, no subway in sight, and you have to pay the property fees yourself, the agent just throws up his hands: "It's not in the contract, so it's got nothing to do with me." You have no evidence, so you can only swallow the bitter loss.

Trap 3: Time Bombs Buried in Equity Transfer/Partnership Agreements
Besides real estate disputes, equity disputes are also a hotbed of contract fraud. For example, you invest capital to acquire shares in a company, and the agreement contains "guaranteed minimum dividends" and "buyback clauses," which sound like a sure win. But buried between the lines are several preconditions: "subject to shareholder resolution," "after the company achieves profitability," "net profit confirmed by audit report"... As a result, the company incurs losses year after year, your dividends remain nowhere in sight, and when you try to withdraw your shares, you discover the buyback clause states "calculated based on the company's net assets at that time"—which, when calculated, means you lose half of your principal. Who do you turn to for justice?

Pit 4: The one-character difference between "deposit" and "down payment" can cost you your money
"Deposit" (dingjin) has a security nature and is subject to the deposit penalty rule—if the other party defaults, you receive double the deposit; if you default, the deposit is non-refundable. "Advance payment" (dingjin) is merely a prepayment; if the contract is not performed, it should be returned. Many intermediary contracts deliberately write "deposit," but when you default, they equivocate and pressure you into giving up the portion that is actually an advance payment. Ordinary people don't understand this, and after being intimidated with a few threats, they just accept the loss.

II. How to Resolve: If Defrauded in a Contract in Shenzhen, Can the Money Be Recovered?

First, stay calm and determine the nature: is it "contract fraud" or "contract dispute"?
These two terms look similar, but the legal consequences are worlds apart. Contract fraud refers to one party inducing you to sign a contract against your true intention by fabricating facts or concealing the truth—this constitutes civil fraud, and you may petition the court to rescind the contract and claim damages. If an intermediary, with the intent of unlawful possession, fabricates a property listing to defraud you of a deposit in a relatively large amount, this may constitute the "crime of contract fraud," which is a criminal case, and you can report it directly to the police. If you are defrauded by an intermediary when buying a home in Shenzhen, who should you turn to? The first step is not to hire a lawyer, but to go to the local police station to file a report—after criminal case filing, the investigative authorities can freeze accounts and seize property, and the likelihood of recovering your money is far greater than if you file a civil lawsuit on your own.

Practical advice: Securing evidence is a matter of life and death.
After discovering you've been scammed, don't rush to confront or argue with the intermediary. First, do three things:
1. Preserve all transfer records, WeChat chat logs, and call recordings—the key is to prove what "fabricated facts" or "concealed truths" the other party presented.
2. Obtain the intermediary's business license information, legal representative identity information, and the original intermediary contract. If the intermediary is an individual "unlicensed agent," you should at least have their ID number and address.
3. If a fake property listing is involved, go to the Real Estate Registration Center to conduct a title search and obtain a written certificate stating that "the property does not exist" — this is the core evidence proving "fabricated facts."
Once the evidence is complete, consider whether to negotiate or litigate. During negotiation, do not sign any "settlement agreement" unless the other party refunds the money in full on the spot. Many clients are dragged into a "settlement" by the intermediary, only to have the other party renege later, and in the end, even their evidence is tricked away.

How to choose the legal path?
Criminal report: Applicable when the other party has obvious fraudulent intent and the amount is relatively large (in Shenzhen, cases involving RMB 5,000 or more can generally be filed for investigation).
Civil Lawsuit: A claim for contract fraud or unjust enrichment, seeking return of the money paid plus compensation for losses. The intermediary company, the actual recipient of the funds, and the property owner (if knowledgeable) may all be named as co-defendants simultaneously.
Administrative complaint: File a complaint with the Shenzhen Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau and the Real Estate Intermediary Association, which will be recorded in the credit file, but this can basically only vent your frustration and cannot recover your money.
In terms of sequence, it is advisable to handle the criminal case before the civil case. Once the criminal case is filed, the civil case can be tried after the criminal judgment is rendered. By then, the evidence chain and recovery procedures will all be in your favor.

III. The Role of Professional Lawyers: How Can Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, a 26-Year Established Practice, Help You?

"Many parties ask: Can I report the case and prosecute it myself? It works, but the reality is very bone-like. Contract dispute cases, especially those involving equity and real estate, have complex evidence chains, the defendant is often prepared, and your own trial is tantamount to a barefoot battle."

Shen Jinlong Lawyer"(Director of Zhiming Law Firm, 22 years of experience as a practicing lawyer, 31 years of qualification as an economist, Master of Economics, Fudan University, formerly a large state-owned enterprise executive) - Lawyer Shen's signature is "systematic handling of difficult and complex cases". He once handled a case: the customer bought a house and the intermediary colluded with the owner to "sell one house and two houses". The house paid 8 million, but the house was transferred to a third person. Lawyer Shen did not follow the conventional thinking to play "no right to dispose", but started with "malicious collusion to harm the interests of third parties", directly suing the contract for invalidity, and ultimately helping customers recover the full amount + interest + liquidated damages. In similar cases, he has represented more than 10,000 cases, especially good at dismantling seemingly dead economic contract disputes and equity disputes into multiple rescue routes."

Lawyer Li Yuming"(Senior lawyer at Zhi Ming Law Firm, mainly focusing on construction engineering, real estate leasing, corporate debt, corporate mergers and acquisitions, marriage and family, criminal defense) - Lawyer Li has one feature in dealing with real estate contract disputes: he will specially excavate the "responsibility of related parties". For example, if the intermediary runs away, he will check whether there is any capital exchange between the intermediary company and the owner, whether there is a joint collection account, and once the "joint infringement" or "representation to the agent" is excavated, the owner can also be pulled into the responsibility circle. This idea is particularly useful in the question of "who was deceived by the intermediary to buy a house in Shenzhen"."

"Zhiming Law Firm was established in 2000 and has been rooted in Shenzhen Futian for 26 years. Why emphasize u201cestablishedu201d? Because of the long front in contract dispute cases, the court scheduling, evidence exchange, judicial appraisal, and enforcement phases are as short as half a year and as long as two or three years. The law firm is old enough, which means that there is a team to take over the case, and it will not close your case because of the departure of a lawyer. And many of our clients come with a "try and give up" mentality. In the end, it is not only a sum of money, but also a breath."

"IV. FAQs: A few specific questions you care about"

"1. Who was deceived by the intermediary to buy a house in Shenzhen? Looking for the top 10 law firms in Shenzhen?"
"Who to call depends on the case: if the intermediary is suspected of fraud, call the police first; if a dispute over the terms of the contract is involved, directly sue the intermediary company or the owner for compensation. The ranking of the law firm is not the key. The key is whether the case handling lawyers are familiar with the judgment standards of the Shenzhen courts (such as the tendency of the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court to judge cases of one bedroom, two sales, and fake listings). Knowing that the law firm does not engage in ranking gimmicks, but Shen and Li are both veterans of Shenzhen's local judicial practice for more than 20 years, you can judge the success rate and path of your case."

"2. Can the Shenzhen contract be recovered if it is cheated? What is the probability?"
"By situation:"
"u00b7 The money has not been transferred, and the other party's account has been frozen by the court or public security - the recovery probability is more than 90%."
"u00b7 The money is transferred but there is a house/car/deposit in the other party's name - it is enforced by the winning judgment, and the recovery probability is 60% -70%."
"u00b7 The other party is a leather bag company, people run away, over the books - only shareholders can be held accountable (accelerated maturity of capital contributions) or personal debts, the probability will be lower. So, time is life, and the sooner you act, the better."

"3. The amount defrauded is small, only more than 10,000 yuan, is the prosecution worth it?"
"Value. The small litigation procedure in Shenzhen is very efficient, and if the other party fails to perform after winning the lawsuit, you can apply for enforcement and freeze his WeChat payment, Alipay, bank card, which has a strong disciplinary effect on Laolai. Many customers say, "It doesn't matter if you don't get the money back, you just want to get out the bad gas." In fact, the law gives you not only bad gas, but also compensation and delay in fulfilling the interest."

"4. I did not see clearly when signing the contract, can the verbal promise of the other party be used as evidence?"
"Yes, but weakly persuasive. It is best to have audio recordings and WeChat text records to support it. If it is purely verbal and the other party does not acknowledge the account, there is a high probability that the court will not support it. Therefore, sign any contract in the future, remember one sentence: let the intermediary write the promise in the "supplementary clause" of the contract, without signing."

"5. Find a lawyer to fight a contract lawsuit, how is the fee charged? What if I can't afford a lawyer?"
"Knowing that the law firm implements "analyze first and then charge", the first consultation is not in a hurry to talk about money, first listen to lawyer Shen or lawyer Li to review your case and tell you how much you won. For clients who do not have the ability to pay lawyers' fees, we can negotiate a "risk agent" in some eligible contract fraud cases - when the money is returned, we will pay lawyers' fees proportionally. You can't get the money back, you don't pay, we don't charge."

"The last thing I want to say is: Shenzhen is a place with more opportunities and more liars. You have been deceived, chagrin, anger, insomnia, everything is normal. But remember one thing - the law doesn't protect people who sleep on their rights. The sooner you pick up a legal weapon, the sharper it gets. Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, located at Room 1802, Block A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, Shenzhen, Tel 0755-25986969. If you are having trouble sleeping for a contract, come straight to it, bring the materials, and we'll help you see if there is any salvation. Most of the time, there is salvation."