What to do if a house is sold twice? Advance notice registration can prevent it
[2] Compiled from: Changjiang Daily, Xinhua Net
[3] The issue of selling one house to two buyers frequently occurs in real life. In the recently passed Civil Code and the joint opinion issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the State Administration of Taxation, and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on "Promoting the 'Internet + Real Estate Registration' to Facilitate Enterprises and the Public," the former clarifies the advance notice registration system, while the latter proposes that China will accelerate the full implementation of this system. This system not only holds unique legal significance, effectively mitigating the phenomenon of one house being sold twice, but also better ensures the realization of creditor's rights and maintains order in real estate transactions.
Case review
[4] As early as 2001, Li purchased three houses in a residential complex in one go. Due to personal reasons, although the developer delivered these three houses to Li, the real estate property certificates were never processed. Over the years, Li has been living in and renting out these three houses.
[5] In 2019, Li's son set his sights on a school-district house and discussed selling one of the previous houses with Li. However, when Li went through the house transfer procedures with the new buyer, it was discovered that the property was not under Li's name but under someone else's. Li was very puzzled—how could a house he had bought nearly 20 years ago not be his?
[1] Relevant laws and regulations
Civil Code of the People's Republic of China
[6] Article 221[1] When parties sign an agreement for the sale of a house or other agreements on real estate property rights, in order to secure the realization of property rights in the future, they may apply to the registration authority for advance notice registration as agreed. After advance notice registration, any disposal of the real estate without the consent of the holder of the advance notice registration right shall not have the effect of property rights.
[2] After advance notice registration, if the claim is extinguished or no application for registration is made within ninety days from the date when the real estate registration can be carried out, the advance notice registration shall become invalid.
[3] Opinions on Coordinating the Promotion of "Internet + Real Estate Registration" to Facilitate Enterprises and the Public
[4] 8. Fully implement advance notice registration.[5] Implement the advance notice registration system, take the lead in achieving online processing, actively extend registration portals to real estate development enterprises and housing brokerage agencies, further simplify the processing procedures, shorten processing times, benefit the people and enterprises, prevent "dual sales of one house," protect the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers, jointly prevent financial risks, and support the strengthening of tax collection and real estate market regulation. Carry out advance notice registration comprehensively for pre-sold commercial housing, actively promote advance notice registration for existing housing, and when handling transfer or mortgage registration for properties with advance notice registration, no duplicate materials shall be collected, and the processing time shall be shortened. Real estate registration authorities shall proactively push the results of advance notice registration to banking financial institutions and tax authorities. Banking financial institutions shall approve loans based on the results of advance notice registration. For pre-sold commercial housing without advance notice registration and mortgage advance notice registration, banking financial institutions shall not approve or issue loans. Tax authorities may use the results of advance notice registration to carry out tax collection-related work. In areas where conditions permit, the advance notice registration for pre-purchased commercial housing and the mortgage advance notice registration for pre-purchased commercial housing, the transfer advance notice registration and the mortgage advance notice registration, and the conversion of advance notice registration to formal registration may be handled jointly.
[1] The author's perspective
[6] Advance notice registration is a type of registration aimed at preserving future real estate property rights. After advance notice registration is made, it does not lead to the establishment or change of real estate property rights, but only grants the registration applicant a right to request future changes in property rights. The claim included in the advance notice registration has an exclusive effect against any subsequent disposal of real estate property rights that is identical in content to the claim, ensuring that only the legal result expected by the claim occurs in the future.
In this case, Li was unable to complete the property registration in time due to personal reasons, and then his house was sold twice by the developer. Under such circumstances, Li should have taken his ID card and the original registered pre-sale commercial housing contract to the real estate registration authority to apply for advance notice registration. After completing the advance notice registration, without the consent of Li, the holder of the advance notice registration right, the real estate would not be subject to any change in property rights. This way, Li's house would not have been sold twice by the developer.
The author reminds that if the right holder does not apply for real estate registration within ninety days from the date of advance notice registration, the advance notice registration will become invalid. Therefore, protecting one's own interests must also be timely and proactive.
The advance notice registration system is a concrete manifestation of the principles of non-abuse of rights and good faith in civil law, and can effectively prevent the problem of double sales of a house. Implementing the advance notice registration system, granting the right of claim the opposing force of property rights, is conducive to protecting the economically weaker parties, which also aligns with the current legal trend of focusing on protecting the weak.
