[Case Summary]This case involves the township government's failure to perform its duties in administrative review. Z * is a member of the collective economic organization of a village in a certain town of Mentougou District, Beijing City. Since September 2025, neighbor M * has been illegally building a structure adjacent to Z *'s house without proper procedures, which has caused wall leakage, affected lighting and structural safety. Z * entrusted Beijing Henglu Law Firm to handle the case.Ma QianwenOn October 28, 2025, the lawyer mailed the "Application for Investigating and Handling Land Violations" to the town government. However, the town government only provided a perfunctory response and delayed handling the case for a long time.Marcia WenThe lawyer filed an administrative reconsideration on behalf of the client, and the reconsideration authority revoked the reply and ordered the town government to fully perform its duties. The core dispute is whether the town government substantially performed its statutory duties of investigation and punishment. Applicable laws: Article 64 of the Administrative Reconsideration Law; "Several Provisions of Beijing City on Prohibiting Illegal Construction"; and the Urban and Rural Planning Law.

I. Review of the Case Facts

Neighbors' unauthorized construction and renovations often affect their own homes, leading to frequent searches for solutions such as "What should I do if my neighbor's illegal construction affects my home?" "Reporting illegal construction to the town government but getting no response" "Can I appeal against the administrative authorities' evasive responses?" and "How to investigate and deal with illegal construction on rural residential plots?" Z某 owns legal rights to use the residential plot and ownership of the house in the village. Starting from September 1, 2025, neighbor M某 began expanding the area of the construction site adjacent to Z某's house without obtaining any construction permits. By the time the foundation work was largely completed, the height of the foundation was almost the same as that of Z某's residential wall. There were no warning fences set up, and no waterproofing or drainage channels were provided, resulting in significant water seepage on Z某's wall, which seriously affected the lighting and the structural safety of the house.

Z某委托Ma QianwenThe lawyer safeguards the rights and interests of the client. Based on the "Guiding Opinions on Strengthening the Management of Rural Housing Construction" and the "Urban and Rural Planning Law", the lawyer analyzes that M * failed to follow the approval process of "villager application, village-level review, and town-level approval", and violated the law by constructing a building exceeding the permitted area without obtaining a rural construction planning permit and a "Rural Homestead Construction Approval Letter". On October 28, 2025, the lawyer submitted a request for investigation to the town government on behalf of Z *, and the town government received it on October 29th. On November 10th, the town urban and rural construction office issued a "Notice of Identifying Illegal Construction", confirming that the building lacked approval procedures and was an illegal construction, and requiring the law enforcement team to issue a demolition notice. However, on December 22nd, the town government only gave a formal reply listing the procedural steps and stating that "the investigation is still ongoing", without proposing any substantive measures. Z * has contacted the law enforcement team multiple times, but no one answered the phone, and the town government was unable to verify the situation. In the past two months, the illegal construction has remained unchanged, and the client's rights and interests continue to be damaged.

II. The focus of the case

  • Focus 1: Does the town government have the statutory duty to investigate and deal with illegal construction within its jurisdiction?The responsibilities are clearly defined, and the key lies in whether the duties are carried out effectively.
  • Focus 2: Whether the town government's response constitutes a substantive performance of its duties.Is it considered a comprehensive performance of duties to simply list the procedural nodes and inform that an investigation is ongoing, without taking any substantive action?

III. The professional intervention of Hengluo Law Firm

The applicant (Z*) claimed that:The neighbor's illegal construction infringes on our rights. After receiving the application for investigation and punishment, the town government only gave a superficial response and failed to take substantive measures, which constitutes administrative omission. We request that the town government be ordered to investigate and demolish the illegal construction and provide a written response.

The respondent (the town government) argued that:He/She has the duty to investigate and deal with cases, and is currently performing his/her duties. The responses to the cases in question are clear and the application of the law is correct.

Legal opinion from Hengluo Law Firm:Marcie WenThe lawyer pointed out that the respondent only gave superficial and formal responses, failed to deal with the matter substantively and effectively, and failed to perform its duty of investigation and punishment, constituting administrative omission. By submitting evidence such as the application for investigation, the mailing receipt, the notice of determination of illegal construction, the on-site transcript, photos, written responses, and communication recordings, the lawyer demonstrated that after the town government initiated the case, it stalled due to the refusal of the counterparty to cooperate, failed to take further measures in accordance with the law, failed to provide feedback on the progress to the applicant, failed to fully and timely fulfill its obligation to inform the applicant of the progress of the case, and the content of the response was incomplete, failing to reflect that the town government had fully performed its duties in accordance with the law.

IV. Outcome of the case

The district people's government reviewed and concluded that: According to Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the "Regulations on Prohibiting Illegal Construction in Beijing", township governments are responsible for organizing and coordinating the prevention and investigation of illegal construction within their administrative areas. Although the town government carried out preliminary duties such as identifying illegal construction, conducting on-site inspections, and filing cases after receiving the application, the process stalled due to the non-cooperation of the relative party after the case was filed. The town government failed to take further investigation and disposal measures in accordance with the law, and has not fully and effectively fulfilled its statutory duties. The response to the application merely listed the procedural steps in a summary manner and failed to substantively address the investigation and disposal demands. Despite the applicant's repeated inquiries, the town government still failed to provide updates on the progress. In accordance with Article 64, Paragraph 1, Item (1) of the "Administrative Review Law", it is decided to revoke the town government's "Reply to the Application for Investigating Land Violations", and order it to investigate and handle the illegal construction issues in accordance with the law within the statutory time limit, and provide a written response to the applicant regarding the final results.

5. Hengluo Law Firm's Reminder

If a neighbor's unauthorized construction causes an impact, the law provides two legal avenues: you can sue the neighbor who committed the unauthorized construction to request the removal of the obstruction and restoration of the original state, or you can report the matter to the relevant department for verification by law enforcement agencies. The two approaches can be carried out simultaneously, and it is essential to fully preserve evidence such as photos, videos, and time records. In this case,Ma QianwenAttorney (Practice Certificate No.: 11101202411865324, subject to the certificate issued by the judicial administrative organ): Reminder: Whether an administrative organ has fulfilled its duties cannot be judged solely by whether it has made a decision, but should be reviewed whether it has "substantially performed" its duties. Simply listing the procedural nodes and informing "the investigation is ongoing" without actually handling the matter cannot be regarded as having fully fulfilled its duties. It can be corrected through administrative review.

VI. Common Questions and Answers about Land Acquisition and Demolition Cases

  1. Q: What should I do if my neighbor's illegal construction affects my family?
    A: Civil litigation can be used to request the removal of obstacles and the restoration of the original state, while at the same time reporting the illegal construction to the township government, which will be investigated and dealt with by the law enforcement authorities. The two approaches can be carried out simultaneously.
  2. Q: What should I do if no one takes action after I report illegal construction to the town government?
    A: If the town government only gives perfunctory responses and fails to deal with the matter for a long time, you can collect mailing receipts, responses, and communication records, and entrust a lawyer to initiate an administrative review to order them to fulfill their duties.
  3. Q: Can the administrative organ's perfunctory responses be appealed for review?
    A: Yes. A response that merely lists the procedural steps without substantively addressing the claimant's demands constitutes a failure to fully perform duties. Such a response can be reviewed and revoked, and the relevant authority can be ordered to handle the case again.
  4. Q: How to investigate and deal with illegal construction on rural residential plots?
    A: It is necessary to follow the process of "villager application, village-level review, and town-level approval". Any construction without obtaining a rural construction planning permit and approval letter is considered illegal, and the township government is responsible for investigating and dealing with such cases.
  5. Q: What evidence do I need to prepare when reporting illegal construction?
    A: Prepare ownership certificates, photos and videos of the illegal construction site, time records, application forms submitted to the government and mail receipt certificates, communication recordings, etc.