Nike Air Max Skyline: Balcony of the villa is identified as illegal construction and will be forcibly demolished; foreign owner sues the city.

Southeast Asian Chinese overseas, Li Tianlong, his villa located in Haidian, was posted with a forced demolition order by the city management department, stating that his balcony and fence were illegal constructions.

"They (the city management) doing this is not very beautiful," Li Tianlong believed that the city management enforcement procedure was illegal, and sued the Haidian District City Management Team to court. Currently, the Haidian Court has accepted this case.

Yesterday, the Haidian City Management Department stated that the city management team strictly followed the procedures and requirements stipulated by law, investigated and dealt with the illegal construction here, and there was no violation or inappropriate action.

Facing forced demolition, he sent away his wife and daughter to fight the lawsuit

Li Tianlong, who lives in the A11 building of the Shangzhuang Cuilake Villa in Haidian District, due to work relationships often travels around various places. He said that on August 25, he suddenly found a "Forced Demolition Notice" posted on the pillar of the exterior wall of his own villa, stating that on September 1st, one week later, the fence in the villa yard and two balconies will be forcibly demolished.

This official notice, stamped and titled as the Haidian District Urban Governance Supervision Team, did not specify the notification target (that is, the relative person of the detailed administrative behavior in the sense of administrative litigation), only mentioning the specific number of the villa in the note of the notice.

Li Tianlong said that based on this, he assumed that this notice should be for him.

"How could they suddenly force demolition, and only give a week's time." Mr. Li said that after receiving the notice, he feared that his family would be frightened by the forced demolition, so he hurriedly sent his wife and over a year-old daughter away from Beijing during the weekend.

Subsequently, he prepared to seek justice through litigation with the city management.

Announcement without a 'heading' for demolition

When preparing the litigation materials, Li Tianlong and his lawyer discovered that in fact, the Haidian City Management Department had once posted an "Announcement" around his house on July 6, 2011.

The announcement stated that after investigation, two balconies (with a total area of 19.49 square meters) and the nearby fence (with a total length of 46.2 extended meters) of Li Tianlong's house had not been approved by the planning administrative department, and thus were considered illegal constructions. It required him to dismantle them within 15 days after the announcement, otherwise it would be forcibly dismantled after being approved by the Haidian District Government.

Li Tianlong said that this "Announcement" also lacked a heading. At the time, his family and assistants did not pay attention to it, which might have led the city management to assume that he did not assert his rights, and subsequently directly delivered a forced demolition order.

In response, the Haidian City Management Department stated that under the circumstances where the owner could not be found, the enforcement officers repeatedly delivered the "Interview Notice", requesting the self-proclaimed "housekeeper" of the villa to deliver it to the owner for investigation and questioning. However, the owner never appeared, and the city management department was unable to confirm the owner and manager of the illegal construction.

Foreigner sues the city management and the court accepts the case

Li Tianlong believed that both notices from the city management were not delivered in person, especially lacking a heading, failing to inform rights and obligations, and ways to assert rights. Therefore, the city management process was illegal, and he requested its revocation.

At around 10:00 am yesterday, Li Tianlong submitted an administrative complaint to the Haidian Court, requesting the revocation of the decision made by the Haidian District City Management Team.

Because he did not understand Chinese law, after the explanation from the staff at the filing office, Li Tianlong revised the complaint, i.e., suing the specific administrative act of the city management team posting the "Announcement" on July 6, rather than suing the forced demolition decision on August 25.

In the afternoon yesterday, Li Tianlong paid the litigation fee, and the court accepted the case.

Yesterday, the Haidian City Management Team stated that they strictly followed the procedures and requirements stipulated by law, investigated and dealt with the illegal construction here, and there was no violation or inappropriate action.

■ Follow-up Interview

Foreigner once reported neighbor Bai Long boss for illegal construction

In the Shangzhuang Cuilake Villa, Li Tianlong was somewhat well-known.

Sending letters to the city management to urge demolition

On July 18, 2009, Sun Yinguì, the neighbor and president of Bai Long, started "large-scale construction" in the courtyard of the A12 villa, building a two-story structure covering more than 160 square meters of illegal construction. At that time, the illegal construction almost touched Li Tianlong's courtyard wall. His wife was pregnant at that time, and on August 16 and September 11, 2009, Li Tianlong twice delivered a "Notice of Urging" to the city management team for complaints.

Yesterday, the Haidian City Management confirmed that on August 14, 2009, the city management team received a report from the owner of Building A11, reflecting that the owner of Building A12 had illegal construction. The Haidian City Management Team then initiated an investigation, and on December 11, 2009, legally carried out a forced demolition.

After the illegal construction was removed, there was a "counter-report"

It was learned that in this dispute between Li Tianlong and Sun Yinguì, Sun Yinguì was once administratively detained by the public security authorities for driving and damaging Li Tianlong's vehicle. Afterwards, when Sun Yinguì was interviewed by television reporters, he once claimed that there were other cases of illegal construction in the community, and the city management should remove them all.

The Haidian City Management stated that after the forced demolition of the illegal construction attached to Building A12, the Haidian City Management Team received a report, allegedly from the owner of Building A12, reflecting that Building A11 also had illegal construction, requesting an investigation.

Currently, more than 10 cases of illegal construction behavior have been investigated and handled in the Cuilake Villa Community, and some illegal constructions have been demolished.

■ Dialogue

"I now understand why people dress up as city management on Halloween"

Beijing News: Having lived abroad for many years, you should have a deeper understanding of property rights. How do you view the construction of fences and balconies in villas?

Li Tianlong: There are also fences built abroad, but it depends on what the purpose is and whether it affects others. The green space enclosed by my fence is clearly within my right to use, not encroaching on public green space, and the purpose of enclosing it is to prevent other people's dogs from coming in and scaring the children.

Beijing News: How do you see the city management's determination that it is illegal construction?

Li Tianlong: I didn't know about their announcement on July 6th, and later when they posted that they would forcibly demolish it, I felt very disappointed after reading it. It didn't clearly state it was for me, nor did it clearly state my rights, and it didn't give me the chance to appeal in court. There are always people at home, so why didn't they deliver it?

Beijing News: What rights do you refer to that were not clearly stated?

Li Tianlong: When they demolished my Chinese neighbors' properties, they clearly wrote who it was for, and if dissatisfied, one could apply for administrative reconsideration or sue, but why wasn't mine written? I have already sought help from the embassy, asking the Chinese government to protect the rights of legitimate property in China.

Beijing News: How do you view the city management's two delivery methods?

Li Tianlong: I've had many dealings with them; they know who I am, they have my phone number, they know I'm foreign, and they say that besides posting it on the door on July 6th, they also announced it in a newspaper in Beijing that day. But the key is that I find it difficult to read Chinese characters, so I wouldn't have read that newspaper.

Beijing News: Why did you choose to sue?

Li Tianlong: Watching them tear down my house, what can I do? What they're doing isn't very handsome. In the past, I often heard about forced demolitions, and abroad, some people even dressed up as city management officials to scare people on Halloween, but now I've personally experienced it, and I understand.

Beijing News: How do you handle the result of the lawsuit?

Li Tianlong: No matter how the court rules, I will accept it, I respect the law, even if the court says I have illegal construction, but you have to give me the opportunity to go to court.

■ Controversy

Whether the delivery method is standardized

As stipulated by the Administrative Punishment Law, the administrative punishment decision shall be delivered to the parties on the spot after the announcement. If the party is not present, the administrative organ shall deliver it within 7 days according to the relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, namely through public announcements, etc.

In response, the Haidian City Management responded that after the case was filed for investigation, after confirmation of illegal construction by the planning department, the enforcement officers repeatedly delivered, mailed, and posted "Interview Notices" and other related notifications, but the owner never appeared. Only someone claiming to be the "housekeeper" of the villa came to the detachment for questioning, and could not provide identity documents or authorization letters of the owner.

Under the circumstances where the owner and manager of the illegal construction could not be determined, the Haidian City Management, according to regulations, published an "Announcement" in public media and on the website of the Beijing Municipal Urban Management Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, and posted it at the scene of the illegal construction according to legal provisions, requiring the owner and manager of the illegal construction to hold identification documents and come to the city management department within 15 days from the date of the announcement to assert rights, accept investigation, and make statements and defenses; or dismantle the illegal construction themselves. Within the statutory period, no one came to the Haidian City Management Team to assert rights, and the illegal construction was not dismantled. Under these circumstances, the Haidian City Management Team legally reported to the Haidian District Government for approval to forcibly dismantle the above-mentioned illegal construction.

In addition, on August 15, 2011, the Haidian City Management Team received a letter dated July 15, 2011, from the Indonesian Embassy in China. From the content of the letter, the owner of Building A11, Li Tianlong, was aware of the content of the announcement within the announcement period (July 6 - July 21) set by the Haidian City Management Team, but before July 21, he did not come to the Haidian City Management Team to assert rights, accept investigation, and make statements and defenses.