Public negligence led to property being fraudulently claimed, Zhiming lawyers repeatedly fought for rights and won a complete victory
[Lead Attorneys: Wang Tengfeng, Liu Jianhua; Paralegal: Wei Lin]
In 1991, Chen Da, who had moved to Hong Kong, obtained a construction land plot in a district of Shenzhen and built a building. Subsequently, Chen Da entrusted the property to his brother Chen Xiao, who lived permanently in mainland China, for management. By 2009, Chen Xiao secretly forged a property transfer agreement claiming that "Chen Da had gifted the house to him" and then petitioned the Historical Legacy Housing Task Force under the district management committee to assert ownership of the property and apply for title registration. Despite the crude nature of the forged agreement, the task force failed to detect it and erroneously registered the property under Chen Xiao's name. When the truth came to light in 2013, an outraged Chen Da entrusted Attorney Wang Tengfeng, director of Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, to sue Chen Xiao in court. Under Attorney Wang Tengfeng's cross-examination, Chen Xiao's defense in court was riddled with inconsistencies, and his psychological defenses completely collapsed. Ultimately, the court ruled on the spot that the transfer agreement was forged and declared it invalid.
However, for reasons unknown, the district management committee refused to correct its erroneous property rights registration even after learning of the above judgment. Therefore, the elder brother Chen Da continued to entrust lawyer Wang Tengfeng to file an administrative lawsuit, suing the district management committee's wrongful actions in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court. During the administrative trial, the defendant district management committee argued: "This property rights registration was specifically carried out by the 'Historical Legacy Private Housing Leading Group,' and the district management committee did not actually participate, so it should not be the defendant in this case." It also argued: "The administrative act being sued was procedurally legal. Even if infringement results occurred, they were caused by the plaintiff's younger brother Chen Xiao's personal actions, unrelated to the district management committee and the Historical Legacy Private Housing Leading Group. Therefore, the plaintiff should seek compensation for losses from his younger brother Chen Xiao."
In response, lawyer Wang Tengfeng, with the assistance of his assistant lawyer Liu Jianhua and assistant Wei Lin, put forward three points of agency opinion to refute the defendant district management committee's defense. First, according to the "Several Regulations of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone on Handling Historical Legacy Private Housing," the district management committee has been designated as the organ responsible for uniformly managing historical legacy private housing issues within its jurisdiction. Although the "Historical Legacy Private Housing Leading Group" was the actual operating unit, its enforcement power derived from the authorization of the district management committee. Moreover, this group was a temporary organization incapable of independently bearing legal responsibility. Therefore, naming the district management committee as the defendant in this case complies with the requirements of the "Administrative Procedure Law." Second, according to Article 19 of the "District Implementation Measures for Handling Historical Legacy Private Housing," when processing applications for transferred properties, the district management committee must review a "Letter of Commitment on Interest Relations" jointly issued by the parties, interested parties, and the neighborhood committee. However, the district management committee neglected this procedure, merely "glancing at" the forged "Property Transfer Agreement" by the younger brother Chen Xiao before processing the registration, constituting serious negligence that cannot be excused. Finally, after learning of the erroneous registration, the district management committee repeatedly denied and refused to correct it, an act of "persisting in the original error with a new error." In summary, the property rights registration made by the district management committee was an erroneous administrative act and should be revoked.
Ultimately, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court agreed with all of lawyer Wang Tengfeng's agency opinions, ruling to revoke the district management committee's property rights registration for the younger brother Chen Xiao, allowing the elder brother Chen Da to reapply and obtain his rightful property rights registration. This series of lawsuits took nearly a year and a half, going through both civil and administrative stages, and ultimately ended in a complete victory for the elder brother Chen Da. (The above surnames are randomly selected)
