According to the foregoing provisions, The administrator has the right to terminate contracts that have not yet been fully performed by both parties. The primary obligation of the homebuyer is to pay the purchase price; the remaining obligations, such as cooperating with the delivery and obtaining the property certificate, are ancillary or secondary contractual obligations. Therefore, If the buyer fails to pay the purchase price as agreed, the administrator has the right to terminate the purchase contract directly. At this point, the homebuyer has no priority rights whatsoever. Conversely, for contracts in which the homebuyer has already paid the full purchase price in one lump sum or has fully paid the down payment and obtained a mortgage loan, since the homebuyer’s obligations have effectively been fulfilled, the property manager has no right to terminate the contract.

 

 

In case No. (2023) Yue Min Zhong 1290, after the developer entered bankruptcy proceedings, consumers of commercial housing asserted their priority right to recover the purchase price. However, the bankruptcy administrator classified the claim as a general creditor’s claim. The homebuyers then filed a lawsuit, and the court ultimately ruled that the purchase price constituted a priority claim entitled to preferential repayment.

Therefore, in cases where a homebuyer has paid the full purchase price at the time of a company’s bankruptcy but the property cannot be delivered, the buyer may file a claim with the administrator based on either breach of contract or grounds for termination of the contract, and the administrator shall process such claims. The principal amount of the housing purchase shall be given priority in repayment. The remaining portion, excluding the principal, will be settled in accordance with the standard procedure for ordinary creditor claims.

 

 

Article 8 of the “Notice of the Sichuan Provincial Higher People’s Court on Issuing the ‘Answers to Several Issues Concerning the Adjudication of Bankruptcy Cases’” stipulates that a consumer’s request for a real estate enterprise to fulfill its obligation to transfer ownership of a property does not constitute an act of individual satisfaction of claims. Referring to the aforementioned provision, purchasers who have paid the full purchase price also enjoy priority rights over the properties they have purchased in bankruptcy proceedings. The administrator may prioritize fulfilling the obligation to deliver the property and obtain the property certificate for the homebuyer. and does not constitute an individual repayment prohibited under the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law.

In the sale and purchase of commercial properties, if the buyer purchases the property on an installment payment basis and has not yet paid off the remaining balance, and the real estate developer has failed to transfer ownership of the property as stipulated in the contract, then the contract remains unfulfilled by both parties. In such a situation, the administrator may decide to terminate the contract, and the buyer, as a mere ordinary creditor, will participate in the bankruptcy distribution solely with respect to any claims for damages arising from the termination.