Circular of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Further Regulating the Operation of Real Estate Developers to Safeguard the Real Estate Market Order

　　Jian Fang [2016] No. 223

　　October 10, 2016

　　The housing and urban-rural development departments of all provinces and autonomous regions, and housing and urban-rural development commissions and housing security and real estate administration bureaus of municipalities directly under the Central Government,

　　In order to purify the real estate market environment, maintain the order of the real estate market, protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market, we hereby issue the following circular on further regulating the operation of real estate developers:

　　I. Actively guiding the real estate developers to conduct standardized operation
　　The competent real estate departments at all levels shall fully understand the great significance of regulating the operation of real estate developers and maintaining the real estate market order to the stability of the real estate market. By carrying out the reform of streamlining administration, delegating power, strengthening regulation and improving services, they shall strengthen regulatory innovation, and accelerate the building of in-event and post-event regulation system to protect the legitimate interests of real estate developers engaging in legitimate business, and seriously investigate and handle violations and other illegal business activities of real estate developers to create a fair competition environment for the real estate market.
　　Real estate developers shall observe the law, preserve honesty and integrity, make commitments to consumers on goods and service quality; publish real housing information and advertisements, strictly enforce the relevant provisions for the sales of commercial houses, and implement the expressly marked price system to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers; receive governmental and public supervision, actively assume their corporate social responsibility, and win market shares by providing consumers with quality goods and services.

　　II. Investigating and dealing with illegal acts of real estate developers
　　In order to seek illegitimate benefits, some real estate developers perpetrate violations and carry out other illegal business activities, including:
　　1. publishing false house information and advertisements;
　　2. conducting malicious speculation and pushing up prices by fabricating or transmitting information on rise in price;
　　3. selling commercial housing without obtaining a pre-sale permit;
　　4. collecting or collecting in disguised form deposits, booking fees and other fees from consumers by means of subscription, booking, issuing a row number and card, etc. to push up prices without meeting the requirements for selling commercial houses;
　　5. keeping a hoard of houses or keeping a hoard of houses in disguised form;
　　6. selling commercial houses without marked price, or pushing up the price plus sales price of houses or imposing unmarked charges;
　　7. forcing consumers to accept the price of houses or services by means of tie-in sales or imposing additional requirements;
　　8. reselling any commercial house that is the subject matter of a sales contract to others; and
　　9. other illegal business activities.
　　For real estate developers committing the aforesaid acts, the real estate competent departments at all levels shall strengthen law enforcement inspection, and severely punish them according to the law. Where they are subject to the handling by other departments, such illegal business activities shall be referred to other departments for handling according to the law. If they are suspected of committing a crime, such cases shall be referred to the judicial organs for taking legal actions according to the law.
　　On the basis of the above handling, the competent real estate departments at all levels shall, depending on severity, impose the following measures against real estate developers:
　　1. issuing a written warning;
　　2. interrogating the main persons in charge of the enterprise;
　　3. publicly announcing the illegal business activities of enterprise;
　　4. including the enterprise into the list of real estate developers in serious violation of law; and
　　5. being specially examined by the qualification accreditation organs in the qualification accreditation.

　　All local governments shall execute this Circular in compliance with the requirements hereof and institute relevant measures in the light of the actual situation.