Recently, a Guangdong woman named Wang Jiandi who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and relies on a wheelchair for daily life complained to our newspaper that she learned in March 2010 that her eight-story residence located at No. 6, Shatai Road Residential Area, Humen Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, had been sealed by the Guixi City People's Court of Jiangxi Province. The reason turned out to be that her ex-husband Lin owed debts and was sued by Xiao, and the court also evaluated and auctioned off this eight-story building.
"Having been divorced for seven years, why should I repay my ex-husband's debt?" Wang Jiandi expressed doubts when making the complaint.
From August 24th to 26th, reporters from Legal Weekly went to Humen Town and Guixi City to investigate this matter.
Legal Weekly reporter Xiao Sha
The house mentioned by Wang Jiandi is located near the government of Humen Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. Opposite the residence is a trade city and an automobile passenger station, with a large number of people flowing around daily. Wang Jiandi currently rents out the entire residence to merchants for use.
When the reporter met Wang Jiandi, it was found that her hands had already shriveled, and she was paralyzed in the lower limbs and unable to walk, requiring a nanny to take care of all her daily needs. She told the reporter that she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis in 1985 and has relied on a wheelchair since 1993. In 2003, Wang Jiandi divorced Lin, and they have a daughter named Lin Jiemei. Afterwards, Lin remarried on November 16, 2006, forming another family, and then divorced again in July 2009.
The unexpected "seizure"
Lin Jiemei is 26 years old. To take care of her mother, she returned to work in Humen Town after graduating from university and currently co-owns a clothing store with friends. Due to Wang Jiandi's mobility issues, all household affairs are managed by Lin Jiemei.
On August 24, Lin Jiemei told the Legal Weekly reporter that the original location at No. 6, Shatai Road Residential Area, Humen Town, was a four-story building. In 2003, when Wang Jiandi and Lin agreed to divorce, they left this four-story building to Wang Jiandi. Although the property was still registered under Lin's name, since 2003, Wang Jiandi has been the actual user of the property, and the rental income from the house has been under her control.
"After my parents' divorce, since my mother couldn't handle household chores due to her poor health, I kept the property certificate," Lin Jiemei added. In 2006, due to the construction of a trade city nearby, the house foundation became loose and was identified as a dangerous building, soon recommended by the government for demolition. "Later, my grandmother and uncle jointly financed the construction of an eight-story building on the original site. During the construction, the names in the construction project planning permit under the construction unit (individual) and contractor columns were Wang Jiandi, not my father who had left home after the divorce."
"In 2008, after the new house was completed, I rented out the eight-story building to a company, and part of the rent was repaid to my uncle," Lin Jiemei emphasized to the reporter.
"When signing the lease contract, although my father Lin was present, I was listed as the lessor, and the tenant asked why I signed it. My father's explanation at the time was that the house had been awarded to me and my mother during the divorce." Lin Jiemei said she never expected that the newly built eight-story building would face today's situation.
"In March 2010, the tenant called me and said that the Dongguan court required him to go to the court to explain the situation because the house had been sealed and was about to be evaluated and auctioned." Lin Jiemei is still very agitated when talking about this event now, "At this point, we learned that the eight-story building had been sealed by the Guixi City People's Court of Jiangxi Province in February 2009."
After consulting with the Guixi court, Lin Jiemei learned that in February 2009, the dispute over the loan between Lin and Xiao was tried and concluded by the Guixi court. On February 19, 2009, the Guixi court sealed the eight-story building and planned to evaluate and auction it in March 2010 to repay Lin's debt.
"I find it incredible. First, both Lin and Xiao are in Guangdong, so why did the court in faraway Guixi hear their loan dispute case? Second, my father Lin left the house to me and my mother during the divorce, so why does the court want to auction my mother's eight-story building to repay his debt?" After knowing this, Lin Jiemei was very angry and filed an execution objection with the Guixi court. The objection was quickly rejected. Later, they filed a reconsideration application with the Yichun Intermediate People's Court of Jiangxi Province, requesting the lifting of the seal and auction of the eight-story building, but the reconsideration application was also rejected.
Why does a Guangdong person's dispute get heard in Jiangxi?
On August 26, the reporter came to the Guixi City People's Court and met Judge Guan Xuhua, who handled the loan dispute case between Lin and Xiao.
Guan Xuhua told the reporter that the loan dispute between Lin and Xiao was under agreed jurisdiction, and both parties clearly agreed in the loan contract that any disputes would be handled by the Guixi court, "As for the reason for such agreement, I don't know. As a judge, after taking over this case, I can only handle it according to the law."
Lawyer Su Huaidong, specializing in private lending, told the reporter that civil cases can be under agreed jurisdiction. Both parties in the loan contract can agree in writing to choose the defendant's domicile, the place of performance of the contract, the place where the contract was signed, the plaintiff's domicile, or the location of the subject matter for jurisdiction, but they must not violate the legal provisions on hierarchical jurisdiction and exclusive jurisdiction.
According to the reporter's understanding, in the case of Lin and Xiao, neither Lin nor Xiao's domicile is in Guixi. The possibility that the Guixi court could legally accept the case should lie in whether the place of performance or signing of the loan contract was in Guixi. However, the reporter did not see the original or copy of the loan contract between Lin and Xiao.
The reporter tried to contact Lin or Xiao to understand the reason for such an agreement, but Xiao's phone could not be reached, and now, including Lin Jiemei, no one can find Lin himself.
In the civil mediation document of the loan dispute between Lin and Xiao seen by the reporter, Lin and Xiao signed a loan contract in December 2007, where Lin borrowed 1.5 million yuan from Xiao, with a loan term of four months, agreeing to pay back the loan by April 3, 2008. If overdue, a penalty of three per thousand of the outstanding amount per day would be paid. Subsequently, Xiao sued Lin, demanding repayment of the principal and payment of the penalty at three per thousand of the outstanding amount per day from the date of breach until the date of repayment. On February 16, 2009, the Guixi court accepted Xiao's lawsuit, and after mediation, both parties reached an agreement on February 20: "The total debt owed by the defendant to the plaintiff is 3 million yuan, with a principal of 1.5 million yuan and a penalty for overdue repayment of 1.5 million yuan."
"Even if the place where my father and Xiao's loan contract was signed or performed was in Guixi, the Guixi court's handling of this case still violates the relevant provisions of the 'Notice on the Jurisdictional Provisions for First Instance Civil and Commercial Cases throughout the Province' issued by the Higher People's Court of Jiangxi Province," Lin Jiemei explained. The regulation states that "basic courts have jurisdiction over first instance civil and commercial cases where the litigation value is less than 2 million yuan and one party's domicile is not in this jurisdiction," "but the litigation value between Lin and Xiao exceeded 2 million yuan, and neither party is in Guixi."
Why did the court seize my ex-wife's property?
Regarding the reason for sealing the eight-story building, Guan Xuhua explained that in 2009, he went to the Dongguan Housing Administration Bureau and the Humen Town Housing Management Office in Dongguan to inquire and learned that Lin owned three properties under his name, including a four-story building at No. 6, Shatai Road Residential Area, Humen Town, with a property certificate number of 0550201.
"After sealing the property, Lin did not raise any objections and did not inform the court that he and Wang Jiandi had left the property to Wang Jiandi during their divorce. Moreover, upon investigation at the household registration department, both parties were still registered as married, leading to the seizure of Wang Jiandi's 200,000 yuan bank deposit. At the time, Lin requested us to unseal Wang Jiandi's 200,000 yuan deposit, citing that doing so would affect their marital relationship," Guan Xuhua said. Since the property was registered under Lin's name and Lin had no objections to the sealing, there was nothing inappropriate about the sealing.
In the ruling rejecting Wang Jiandi's execution objection, the Guixi court detailed the reasons for sealing the eight-story building: According to the Property Law, the establishment, change, transfer, and termination of real property rights shall take effect upon lawful registration; otherwise, they shall not take effect unless otherwise provided by law. Although Lin and Wang Jiandi agreed during their divorce to leave the court-sealed property to Wang Jiandi, they did not legally register the change of ownership, and Wang Jiandi did not obtain ownership of the property. The Property Law stipulates that the owner of real or personal property enjoys the rights to possess, use, benefit from, and dispose of it according to law. Lin could dispose of his property through reconstruction. After the house was demolished and rebuilt, Lin enjoyed ownership of the reconstructed house on the land.
However, Wang Jiandi and Lin Jiemei do not accept this explanation.
"The property with certificate number 0550201, a four-story building, actually no longer exists, so the house to be sealed by the court also disappeared. The funds for demolition and reconstruction were unrelated to Lin, and the owner of the new real estate should be the investor, which was applied for and funded by my mother, so my mother should own the eight-story building," Lin Jiemei explained her reasoning.
In Lin Jiemei's view, even the four-story building with certificate number 0550201 cannot be owned by Lin just because it was registered under his name and thus be sealed by the court.
"From 2003 to when the house was demolished, the actual users of the four-story building were always my mother and me. Moreover, during the divorce, my mother repeatedly went to the housing management office to request the transfer of ownership. However, the original four-story building only had a property certificate and no land certificate. A regulation issued by the Dongguan municipal government in 1996 requires both certificates to complete the transfer. The government has yet to issue a policy for individuals to make up for land certificates, so the transfer was never successfully processed," Lin Jiemei explained.
The reporter contacted the Humen Town Housing Administration Bureau of Dongguan, and the bureau's responsible person confirmed that the above situation regarding property registration described by Lin Jiemei was true.
Who owns the newly built property?
In the ruling rejecting Wang Jiandi's reconsideration application, the Yingtan Intermediate People's Court mentioned that since the property with certificate number 0550201 was registered under Lin's name, the seal by the Guixi City People's Court was legal. Wang Jiandi's reconsideration request to lift the seal on the newly built eight-story building constituted a substantive rights claim against the house sealed and executed by the enforcement court. Before confirming the ownership of the eight-story building, it could not prevent the enforcement.
Currently, Wang Jiandi has initiated a confirmation lawsuit based on ownership claims to the Guixi City People's Court, and the case will be heard on September 14.
"Besides, we have also submitted a 'Request for Retrial Application' to the Higher People's Court of Jiangxi Province and a 'Request for Protest Application' to the People's Procuratorate of Jiangxi Province, hoping for a fair handling of the eight-story building," Lin Jiemei said.
Guan Xuhua told the reporter that once the result of the confirmation is out, if the court determines that the property belongs to Wang Jiandi, the Guixi court will immediately lift the seal.
During the interview, Lin Jiemei told the reporter that her and her mother's current assets consist of one self-owned house and the sealed property, and their income mainly comes from the rent of the sealed property. Her own clothing store business is not performing well.
"Our daily expenses are high. Every month, we spend a lot of money hiring nannies and buying medicine for my mother. If the house is really auctioned to repay Lin's debt, our future life will be very difficult," Lin Jiemei said. Because her mother needs constant care, the costs of hiring nannies and buying medicine will definitely be long-term.
On August 25, when the reporter met Wang Jiandi, although she couldn't communicate smoothly in Mandarin, and needed Lin Jiemei to translate during the interview, she repeatedly expressed to the reporter her hope that this case would be fairly and impartially handled.
Source: Legal Weekend