On September 10, 2017, Chen signed the "Property Customization Contract" with Foshan Zhongcui Real Estate Co., Ltd., agreeing that Chen would purchase the right to use the property of a certain unit located in the Zhongcui Plaza project, No. X, X Village, X Village, Dali Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City.
The service life is from June 20, 2017 to June 20, 2057. The payment is divided into the transfer of the right of use and the decoration payment.
Chen took possession of the property on October 31, 2020. It was also ascertained that the building where the property involved in the case was located had applied for a real estate ownership certificate, and the owner was Baisha Economic Society.
Chen asserted that Zhongcui Company had used the method of leasing and selling for sale in the sales and promotion of the project, which made the plaintiff Chen mistakenly believe that the transaction of the project was of a transactional nature, and later found that the project was essentially a lease of property use rights, so he claimed to return part of the invalid costs of the lease.
The court held that although the contract signed by the two parties was named "Property Customization Contract", it met the characteristics of a lease contract, so this case was characterized as a lease contract.
Therefore, the lease period of more than 20 years stipulated in the Property Customization Contract involved in the case is invalid, and therefore, the agreement of the Property Customization Contract on the period from February 29, 2040 to June 20, 2057 is invalid.
Due to the partial invalidity of the "Property Customization Contract", the plaintiff Chen sued for a refund of the part of the rent, which was supported by sufficient grounds, but the part of the refund of decoration costs was not supported. Case indexing omitted.