A Homebuyer's Rights Protection Journey: Purchased a "Sunac" Property for Over 2 Million Yuan, Only to Discover "One Property Sold Twice" Before Renovation

Why does AI · Sunac hide the mortgage status of houses when selling properties?

After paying 2.17 million yuan for the house and waiting nearly five years, the buyer, Huang Kaiyou from Hunan, received the news that his house had already been auctioned and transferred by the court. Huang and his friends and relatives encountered a long-standing rights protection ordeal in Mentougou District, Beijing.

“Together with my siblings, relatives, and friends, we pooled over two million yuan to buy the house, trusting the reputation of a big developer like ‘Sunac.’ But in the end, we bought ‘air,’” Huang said when talking about that house.

Paid over 2 million yuan for an existing house, waited more than 3 years, only to find others moving in to renovate

Time rewinds to 2021. “We looked at many properties multiple times, and were very cautious,” Huang recalled. Because it was an existing house and part of a well-known project under Sunac, they thought it was reliable. In November 2021, he signed a purchase agreement with Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate Co., Ltd., buying a commercial-residential unit of over 80 square meters for a total price of 2.53 million yuan.

“At that time, we thought it was an existing house, with independent floor-to-ceiling windows on the south and east sides, and it had gas. The environment was good.” Huang remembered. The price was nearly 40,000 yuan per square meter, not low at the time, but considering Sunac’s reputation, they paid in three installments totaling 2.179 million yuan, over 86% of the total price. The developer issued receipts, but never handed over the keys or completed online signing procedures. “They said they would handle the online signing and asked us to wait. It was during the pandemic, and we thought a big company wouldn’t have problems.” That wait lasted over three years.

In June 2025, a worker who had contacted Huang about renovating his new house found that someone was inside doing renovations in unit 1306, which Huang had purchased. “When I heard that, my head just ‘buzzed’.” Huang immediately rushed to the scene and saw a notice about renovation posted on his door. He stayed nearby for two days trying to find the new owner to clarify, but the person never appeared. After inquiries from multiple sources, Huang was shocked to learn that the house he had spent everything on had already been auctioned and transferred to another company in 2024 due to debt issues of Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate. He had no idea about this entire process. “One house, two sales!” Huang felt dizzy.

The selling company registered at the town government? Multiple mediations by relevant departments failed

Angry, Huang began a difficult rights protection journey. He first tried to find Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate Co., Ltd., but discovered its registered address was “8th Floor, Room 804, People’s Government Office Building, Yongding Town, Mentougou District, Beijing.” Hoping to find the town government, he went there, but Room 804 was empty with no staff or equipment. The relevant department said they knew nothing about it. Under Huang’s strong questioning, they provided a contact number. Later, Huang found Sunac’s head office in Chaoyang District based on clues, visited three times, and finally communicated with the legal department, submitting a notice, but received no response.

In July 2025, out of options, Huang reported the situation to the relevant department in Mentougou District. The district Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee filed a case and organized multiple mediations.

Documents Huang provided show: The first mediation was on August 14, 2025, under the auspices of the district Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee. Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate Co., Ltd. admitted the issue, asked Huang to waive interest, and promised to refund most of the house payment within a week. To recover his money quickly, Huang signed a written waiver of interest. On September 16, Sunac proposed another solution: using two parking spaces valued at 800,000 yuan as offset against the house price, with the remaining unpaid amount to be paid as the company raised funds.

The second mediation was on October 27, 2025. Sunac did not fulfill its previous promise. During this session, Sunac proposed “providing a list of properties for offset or a refund within one week.”

The third mediation was on February 4, 2026. Sunac presented a specific plan: using two parking spaces far from the house worth 800,000 yuan, and a top-floor house in Zhangjiakou’s “Jingbei Sunac City” over 200 km away worth 1.2 million yuan. “We checked with friends and agents in Zhangjiakou, and that house is on the top floor, leaking rain, hard to sell, and priced low,” Huang said. “As for parking spaces, we no longer have the house, so what would we do with parking spaces?”

The fourth mediation was on March 13, 2026. Huang flatly rejected their “exchange plan.” Sunac again promised to find a suitable property for offset within Beijing within a week.

Unable to recover the house payment, lawyer suggests possible contract fraud

From summer 2025 to spring 2026, Huang lost track of how many trips he made regarding this house. As of this report, he still has not recovered his 2.179 million yuan. The latest promise from Sunac in the March 13 mediation has passed, and he has not received any substantial progress. “There’s no way around it; we are preparing to report to the police,” Huang said.

Huang claims that Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate Co., Ltd. concealed the mortgage status when accepting the payment, and he was not notified when the house was auctioned. “Our money was pooled together by my siblings and relatives back home,” he said. He believes that Sunac’s “double sale” behavior may have legal violations.

On March 19, a reporter from Xin Huanghe called a responsible person at Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate Co., Ltd. After identifying himself, the call was immediately hung up.

According to an official reply from the Beijing Mentougou District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Committee dated September 2, 2025, they had interviewed relevant persons from Sunac and ordered the company to correct the illegal behavior of selling, leasing, exchanging, or gifting mortgaged properties without notifying the mortgagee, in accordance with the “Notice on Strengthening Dynamic Supervision of the Municipal Housing Transaction Market.”

Regarding the refund of the house payment, replacement with similar property, and compensation, this is a civil contractual dispute with Beijing Sunac Xingye Real Estate Co., Ltd. Both parties are advised to negotiate actively and reach an agreement. If negotiations fail, legal channels should be used to protect rights.

Lawyer Fu Jian, director of Henan Zejin Law Firm, stated that Huang signed a purchase contract and paid the house payment, making the contract valid and legal. The developer’s failure to deliver the house as agreed, and the subsequent auction without informing the buyer, constitutes a fundamental breach. Moreover, if the developer knowingly sold a mortgaged property with the risk of judicial disposal, and had an illegal intent to occupy the buyer’s money, this could constitute contract fraud under Chinese criminal law. The buyer can collect evidence and report to the police to pursue criminal responsibility.

Reporter: Mei Han Editor: Liu Dan Proofreader: Tang Qi