Some buyers often sign a subscription letter with a real estate developer before formally signing a purchase contract, agreeing to buy a house from the real estate developer, sometimes paying a certain deposit, and agreeing on a certain period of time to formally sign the purchase contract. If the two parties do not sign a purchase contract at the end of the day, what will happen to the deposit paid by the buyer?
The Civil Code provides detailed provisions on the issue of deposits. The deposit is the security deposit of the contract, and if the payer breaches the contract, then it cannot get the deposit back; If the party accepting the deposit defaults, the recipient must return the deposit double. Accordingly, the deposit paid by the buyer is a deposit paid for the purpose of signing the purchase contract, and Article 4 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Trial of Cases Involving Disputes over Commercial Housing Sales Contracts stipulates that:"If the seller accepts a deposit from the buyer as a guarantee for the conclusion of a commercial housing sales contract by means of subscription, ordering, reservation, etc., if it fails to conclude the commercial housing sales contract due to the reasons of one of the parties, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the law on deposits; If the contract for the sale and purchase of commercial housing cannot be concluded due to reasons not attributable to both parties, the seller shall return the deposit to the buyer. "
It can be seen that after the buyer pays a certain deposit, if the purchase contract cannot be signed because of the seller, then the seller should return the deposit double; If it is the buyer's reason, if there is no justifiable reason and regrets and does not want to buy the house, then the deposit belongs to the seller, and the buyer has no right to get it back. Of course, if it is not the fault of both parties that the purchase contract cannot be signed, then the seller should return the deposit. Therefore, buyers must be cautious before buying a house, especially before paying the deposit, so as not to lose the deposit.