Ms. Wang, a landlord in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, wanted to sell the property urgently, and proposed to the long-term tenant Mr. Li to sell the house for 1.9 million yuan, but after being rejected, she resold it to others for only 1.7 million yuan. When the tenant Mr. Li learned about it, he angrily sued and claimed 200,000 yuan, and the court finally made a ruling.
01
Case review
Ms. Wang from Hangzhou is in trouble with her business and needs a sum of money to turn over.
She thought of a neighborhood house of her own and decided to sell it.
She first thought of her tenant, Mr. Li.
Mr. Li is a very good tenant, polite to the landlord, pays the rent on time, and has a stable career.
Ms. Wang felt that selling the house to him was a good choice.
So, she found Mr. Li and told him about selling the house.
From 2.2 million to 1.9 million, Ms. Wang already feels that this is her bottom line. But Mr. Li still doesn't seem to be satisfied, he has been lowering the price, and he is also a little picky about the house.
Ms. Wang: "1.9 million is really the lowest price. "Maybe Mr. Li really thinks it's too high, or he knows that the landlord is in urgent need of money, and it will be lower, anyway, he keeps saying that the price is a bit high, and he hopes it will be cheaper.
The two of them just like that, bargaining for a month.
As time passed, house prices slowly fell.
Ms. Wang can't afford to wait, she can't afford to spend any more time with Mr. Li. We started looking for other buyers and hoped to sell the house as soon as possible.
In the end, Ms. Wang found someone who was willing to pay 1.7 million yuan to buy the house.
Although it was lower than the price she initially gave to Mr. Li, it was also acceptable considering that she was in urgent need of money.
Ms. Wang thought that this was the end of the sale of the house.
But what she never expected was that after Mr. Li learned that the house was sold at a lower price, he actually sued her in court with a complaint, demanding compensation of 200,000 yuan.
She didn't understand how selling her house by herself could cause such trouble.
What is the basis for Mr. Li's lawsuit?
02Case analysis
1. Legally, the tenant has the "right of first refusal"
This means that in a tenancy relationship, if the landlord wants to sell the property being rented, the tenant has the right of first refusal to buy it under the same conditions.
"Right of first refusal". It's like saying that if you rent a house and the landlord wants to sell it, you have to know first, and if you want, you can buy the house before anyone else.
2. But this right is not unlimited
If the tenant does not explicitly indicate that he wants to buy within 15 days after the landlord's notice, it is tantamount to giving up this right.
It's like when you see a dress you like, but you hesitate and it ends up being bought by someone else, you can't blame someone else.
3. Back to the story of Ms. Wang and Mr. Li
When Ms. Wang was planning to sell the house, she did tell Mr. Li and gave him a chance. But Mr. Li felt that the price was too high and did not immediately say that he wanted to buy it.
Ms. Wang waited and waited, but Mr. Li still did not agree.
At this time, Ms. Wang decided to find someone else to sell the house, which was her right.
4. The court held that
Ms Wong had fulfilled her notification obligations before selling the property and had given Mr. Lee ample time and opportunity to decide whether to purchase or not.
Mr. Lee did not make the decision to purchase within the stipulated time,
As a result, he lost his right of first refusal.
Ms. Wang did not violate the law by selling the property to someone else at a lower price.
The court ultimately found that Ms. Wang had not violated any legal provisions and dismissed Mr. Li's claim.
03 Case Reflection
1. Everyone has the right to make their own choices.
Ms. Wang has the right to decide how much her house will sell, and Mr. Li also has the right to decide whether he wants to buy it or not.
But when choices involve the rights of others, we have to be careful.
2. We must learn to empathize.
If you are Ms. Wang, you call the shots for your house, but if the buyer is not satisfied, what will you think?
If you are Mr. Li and you want to buy your favorite house cheaply, but the landlord ends up selling it to someone else cheaply, what would you think?