Can I get a refund of the earnest money paid for buying off plan property?

This one is not refundable, just like a gift-giving errand.

Earnest money is a marketing method of the developer, it does not have the nature of a deposit, and the earnest money paid by buyers in the process of commercial housing subscription is usually refundable. There is no specific legal provision on how long the earnest money can be refunded, and the refund time will be about 1-2 weeks after the opening, and the specific time to return the earnest money depends on how stipulated in the agreement.

The earnest money is not a deposit, it has not been legally recognized, and it does not have the nature of contractual benefits and legal protection. Developers usually delineate customers by subscribing to and collecting earnest money before obtaining the pre-sale certificate, but there is no guarantee that every customer will be able to buy a house. Moreover, according to the provisions of China's commercial housing sales management measures, if the conditions for the sale of commercial housing are not met, then the developer cannot charge any fees such as reservation money.

When you pay the earnest money when buying off-plan housing, you should pay attention to the fact that the subscription agreement or receipt does not stipulate under what circumstances the earnest money can be refunded, the time of refund, etc. Some developers will write the earnest money as a deposit, and if the owner does not want to buy the house, it will be more difficult to return it. If the developer does not return the buyer's earnest money, we can complain to the consumer association, the industrial and commercial department, or we can seek help from the first class, sue the court and other ways to get the earnest money back.

What does it mean to buy a house earnest money

Sincerity money is the intention of money, which is reflected in the contract signed by the intermediary and the buyer and seller, in fact, there is no sincerity gold in the law, the reason why the intermediary and the buyer and seller signed what the sincerity gold clause is, mainly because the honesty and credit system of our trading market is not perfect, and the transaction subjects often violate the principle of good faith for their own interests, thereby harming the interests of one party.

People in the legal profession have pointed out that there is no relevant provision in the existing laws and regulations on the earnest money collected by intermediaries. What's more, most intermediaries have written "reserve the right of final interpretation of the earnest money" in the relevant agreements, so that the buyer and seller of the house are in a passive and subordinate state. Since the intermediary uses the "purchase earnest money" as a cover, it can often create a false impression that the supply exceeds demand, and in this regard, the "purchase earnest money" can be said to be an attractive trap for the buyer or seller.

That is to say, no matter how gorgeous the coat of "sincerity money for buying a house" is, it cannot hide its essence of disrupting the market order in disguise, and it needs to be vigilant.

Legal analysis: There is no such thing as earnest money in law, and earnest money is not liquidated damages in the legal sense. Therefore, earnest money does not have the nature of contractual effect and legal protection.

Sincerity money is only a marketing method of the developer, and it is only a promise of the developer to the buyer, and it is not guaranteed by law. Buyers need to think carefully when paying the earnest money, because even if they pay the earnest money, there is no legal guarantee that they will be able to buy the house of their choice. If the buyer abandons the purchase, the developer may delay or refuse to return the earnest money.

Legal basis: Civil Code of the People's Republic of China

Article 587:Where the debtor performs its debts, the deposit shall be offset against the price or recovered. If the party paying the deposit fails to perform its debts or the performance of its debts does not conform to the agreement, resulting in the inability to achieve the purpose of the contract, it shall not have the right to request the return of the deposit; If the party receiving the deposit fails to perform its debts or the performance of its debts does not conform to the agreement, resulting in the inability to achieve the purpose of the contract, the deposit shall be returned twice.

Article 588:Where the parties agree on both liquidated damages and deposits, the other party may choose to apply the liquidated damages or deposit clause when one party breaches the contract.

If the deposit is insufficient to compensate for the losses caused by one party's breach of contract, the other party may claim compensation for losses in excess of the amount of the deposit.

There is no concept of earnest money at the legal level, and there is no provision on whether the earnest money can be refunded by law. If you pay a deposit when you buy a house, the law stipulates that. If the party receiving the deposit breaches the contract, it may require it to return double the deposit.

According to Article 4 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Contracts for the Sale and Purchase of Commodity Housing, if the seller accepts a fixed surplus from the buyer as a guarantee for the conclusion of the contract for the sale and purchase of a commodity house by means of subscription, order, reservation, etc., if the contract for the sale and purchase of the commodity house is not concluded due to the reasons of one of the parties, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the law on the deposit; If the contract for the sale and purchase of commercial housing cannot be concluded due to reasons not attributable to both parties, the seller shall return the deposit to the buyer.

Article 4 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Contracts for the Sale and Purchase of Commodity Housing Article 4 Where the seller accepts a deposit from the buyer as a guarantee for the conclusion of the contract for the sale and purchase of a commodity house by means of subscription, order, reservation, etc., if the seller fails to conclude the contract for the sale and purchase of the commodity house due to reasons attributable to the parties concerned, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the law on deposits; If the contract for the sale and purchase of commercial housing cannot be concluded due to reasons not attributable to both parties, the seller shall return the deposit to the buyer.

The earnest money is refundable.

Sincerity money to prevent risks:

1. Before making the payment, read the terms of the contract clearly, and pay special attention to reading clearly: once the house sale contract cannot be signed or performed, it can be.

whether to require the seller to refund the money for amendment;

2. Try to ask the seller to write it as a "deposit", of course, once it is written as a "deposit", if you don't buy it, you have no right to ask the seller to return it.

1. Whether the earnest money has the nature of a deposit in legal law depends on the agreement of the contract.

2. Generally speaking, the sincerity money is not a deposit, and if you have not signed the "Housing Sales Contract", but only signed the "Subscription Letter", if you don't buy it, the developer should return it.

3. The precedents of local courts are very different and have different understandings. 4. It is recommended that you consult with an experienced real estate lawyer and spend some time for consultation.

fee, it is worth it to get a professional opinion draft imitation lenient.

Agreement on the conversion of the intent deposit into a deposit. In practice, when the buyer and the intermediary agree on the intent money in the entrustment purchase agreement, they will generally make an appointment.

The conditions for converting the intent into a deposit are generally nothing more than being intermediated by an intermediary, and the seller agrees to close the transaction according to the entrusted housing payment, that is, it is converted into a fixed amount.

Gold. In order to better protect their rights, the buyer had better indicate in the intention money contract that the intermediary must obtain the written consent of the buyer again before transferring the intention money to the seller, otherwise the intermediary will not transfer.

The losses caused by the intermediary company shall be borne by the intermediary company.