News

Court sees more property cases

By Zhang Yan (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-19 08:06

The number of "property rights identification" lawsuits has increased by 22 percent in Shijingshan district, according to the district court.

"Property rights identification" lawsuits are those in which several affected parties - usually owners, tenants or their relatives - dispute who should get compensation for a property that is demolished.

Zhang Peng, president of the district's No 2 civil tribunal, said the court has handled 109 property rights identification cases so far this year, compared with 89 in the same period in 2009.

The beginning of large-scale demolition and reconstruction in the Pushi Road, Pingguoyuan and Laogucheng areas in Shijingshan district is likely the reason for the increase, said Zhang.

Disputes between tenants and owners of commercial buildings are increasingly prominent, added Zhang.

"Some commercial buildings are sublet several times over, so the registered tenant and the actual tenant is not the same person," said Zhang. "But, they are both affected by the demolition and they both ask for compensation," Zhang said.

The relatives of deceased home owners often fight for demolition compensation if property rights were not clearly transferred while the owner was alive, added Zhang.

Some village residents say divorce or property-sharing agreements have deprived them of their legal property rights to demolished houses and go to court seeking a share of the compensation, according to Zhang.

In January, two sons and three daughters of an elderly couple, surnamed Li, recently went to court in Shijingshan for property rights.

Li Quanfu, the male owner of a 100-sq-m house in Laogucheng, which has been part of a demolition and renovation project since early this year, died in 2008 due to heart disease. His wife also died in 2009.

Li would have received 2 million yuan in compensation if he was still alive. There was no clear transfer of property rights to any of his sons or daughters.

"For inheritance cases, we give more consideration to the child who lived longest with, and cared the most for, the parents," Zhang said.

Zhang said it's often difficult to accurately determine house ownership.

"The rural and village areas on the outskirts of Beijing sometimes have collective land ownership systems, which fall outside the scope of the city's property rights registration," said Zhang.

"The examination and approval departments for housing in these outskirt areas have frequently changed, which only adds to the difficulty of determining ownership."

Some residents in the rural areas on Beijing's outskirts privately build houses with the authorities' approval and there is no uniform standard or policy for demolition compensation for these unlicensed houses, Zhang said.

Judges involved in determining property ownership should talk with neighbors from the area in question and also with local organizations to gain a better understanding of each case, according to Zhang.

Zhang added that local government administrative departments should dismantle unlicensed buildings first, then carry out the normal demolition work, said Zhang.