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3. According to the “Fair Trade Commission Disposal Directions (Guidelines) on Selling Presale House”, what should consumers be careful with when talking with builders or marketing agents about purchasing presale homes?
A3:
To improve transparency of home transaction information and regulate the presale home marketing practices of real estate developers and agents, the Fair Trade Commission has established the “Fair Trade Commission Disposal Directions (Guidelines) on Selling Presale House” to set criteria for related businesses. As specified in the said directions, in addition to fulfilling the obligation of disclosing the corresponding information before contract signature, real estate businesses may not impose any restriction on the right of homebuyers to read purchase contracts in advance and they may not engage in any deceptive or obviously unfair conduct after contract signature. Therefore, when consumers make contact with builders or marketing agents about presale home purchases, they ought to make sure whether such businesses fully disclose important trading information in writing as specified in Point 3 of the said directions. Such information includes:
- A photocopy of the building permit
- The location map, site plan (cadastral map), layout for each floor and parking space layout approved by the competent authority
- The most recently updated list of unit ownership percentages approved by the building authority during the marketing period (the list must indicate the unit ownership percentages of the main structures, affiliate structures and areas of joint ownership)
- A copy of the presale home purchase contract (including the items under joint ownership, their total areas and how the percentages are calculated)
- Names of financial institutions to provide loans for buyers of units of the project
- Information about restrictions on use of land if it is in a redevelopment zone and redevelopment expenses unit owners will be responsible for
Consumers must also make sure real estate businesses comply with the regulation set forth in Point 4 of the said directions and do not request homebuyers to pay a deposit or a certain fee to acquire a copy of the presale home purchase contract or do give homebuyers at least five days to examine the contract before signature. Real estate businesses violating any of the abovementioned will be considered engaging in obviously unfair conduct. If such conduct is able to affect trading order, it is in violation of Article 25 of the Fair Trade Act.
Relevant article(s) of law: Fair Trade Act, Article 25
Updated at：2016-02-22 16:17:08
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