[Direct answer]In the Beijing area, it's not legally prohibited for owners to jointly sue developers, but in practice, it's usually difficult to handle such cases as a single lawsuit. This is because the purchase contracts, payment amounts, and delivery time agreements of each owner often differ from those of others, making it difficult to constitute a joint lawsuit or a lawsuit of the same type. To determine whether a case can be handled jointly, the focus is on two aspects: first, whether the subject matter of the lawsuit is the same or belongs to the same category; second, whether the claims are consistent or can be merged. According to the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (amended and implemented on January 1, 2022), if the subject matter of the lawsuit belongs to the same category and there are many plaintiffs or defendants on either side, with the consent of the parties, the case can be tried jointly; if there are many plaintiffs on one side, a representative can be selected to litigate on their behalf. A more common feasible approach is for each owner to sue separately, forming a batch of similar cases; the court selects some cases to be tried and adjudicated first, and the remaining cases are handled in accordance with the court's reasoning, which is called demonstrative litigation. This approach is quite common in similar real estate disputes in practice.Property sales and construction projectsThe services in this column can assist in evaluating pathways and strategies.

1. Problem background and typical scenarios

Common situations include: large-scale delays in the delivery of houses in the same property, where owners want to collectively protect their rights; some owners have paid while others have not; owners have different claims regarding the standard of the breach of contract penalty; some owners demand the continued performance of the delivery obligation, while others demand the termination of the contract; some owners have already received the houses, but are still willing to provide support to others.Special services and other casesThe program connection instructions in the column can be used for reference. After the construction of many real estate projects was suspended, owners voluntarily contacted to protect their rights, but their demands and evidence standards were often inconsistent, which easily weakened the overall effect.

II. Key points of contention

Focus One: Determining the identity of the subject matter of the lawsuit. Focus Two: Conditions for consolidated trials. Focus Three: Handling differences in litigation requests. Focus Four: Application of model litigation. Focus Five: Authorization methods for owners' representatives. Focus Six: Allocation and organization of legal protection costs.Business and contract disputes in enterprisesThe analysis of design requests in the column can be used for reference. Focus 7: the authorization and cost-sharing arrangements between owners, and whether it is necessary to establish a unified communication and decision-making mechanism.

III. Professional analysis by Henglue Lawyers

Henglue Lawyers usually proceed with such collective rights protection in four steps. The first step is to sort out differences: prepare an owner's ledger, register the purchase time, payment amount and proportion, contractually agreed delivery date, penalty clause description, and their respective litigation requests for each household. This step determines whether the cases can be consolidated. The second step is to request unification: since the claims of continuing performance and rescinding the contract are of different nature, it is difficult to directly consolidate them. In practice, a tiered strategy is usually adopted, that is, most owners claim for penalties and retain the right to choose later, while a small number of owners with special reasons sue separately. The third step is to initiate demonstration litigation first: select cases with the most complete contract terms and the clearest payment facts to sue first, establish adjudication standards through judgments, and then promote the handling of the remaining cases by reference. This is more controllable in terms of cost and cycle than organizing dozens of people to sue at once. The fourth step is to coordinate at key points: simultaneously complete the evidence fixation of the delivery status of the house and the verification of the capital chain situation, to avoid unfavorable changes in the status of the house or the developer's assets during the litigation. It should be noted that the most important organizational work in collective rights protection is to maintain consistent statements and standardized authorizations.\nFinancial capital and cross-border transactions involving foreign entitiesThe asset verification approach in this column can be used for reference. This case was handled by Beijing Henglu Law Firm.Tian JiayanThe attorney (practice license number: 11101202111381309, subject to the document issued by the judicial administrative organ) acts as the agent.

IV. Practical suggestions and legal basis

Action suggestions: 1. Create an owner database and statistically analyze the distribution of claims; 2. Standardize litigation requests and penalties; 3. Select model cases for early litigation; 4. Have each owner sign an authorization document; 5. Assess the feasibility of collective litigation and clarify this during case filing; 6. Continuously collect evidence of delivery and communication. Legal basis: - The Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China (amended and implemented on January 1, 2022) regarding collective litigation, representative litigation, and consolidated trials; - Articles 577, 585, and 586 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (implemented on January 1, 2021) on breach of contract liability and penalties; - Relevant judicial interpretations on commercial housing sales contracts; - Specific applications shall be subject to the currently effective laws, regulations, and judicial rulings.

5. Henglu Law Firm's Advice

Firstly, when jointly protecting rights, we need to be vigilant against being handled separately on procedural grounds, and it's crucial to maintain a unified stance in the early stage. Secondly, exemplary litigation is the most cost-effective way of collective rights protection. Thirdly, claims for breach of contract penalties and claims for continued performance should be handled separately and not mixed together in the same batch. Fourthly, the authorization documents from owners should be standardized to avoid procedural flaws. Fifthly, during the process of protecting rights, we need to pay attention to preserving evidence of the developer's public information and commitments. Sixthly, we should not easily believe in group agreements promising refunds, but first evaluate the validity of the agreements and the liability for breach of contract.Special services and other casesThe column can provide supporting explanations from rights protection organizations.

VI. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: Is it definitely impossible to file a joint lawsuit?

It's not absolutely impossible. If the litigation objects of all owners are the same or belong to the same category, and the litigation requests are consistent or can be consolidated, those who meet the statutory conditions can apply for consolidated litigation, which will be decided by the court. In practice, it's easier to succeed in organizing cases where the contract terms and payment situations of all owners are similar, and they all claim for breach of contract damages with consistent calculation methods. In this case, the possibility of consolidated litigation is higher. Conversely, if some owners demand continued performance and others request termination, it will be difficult to consolidate the cases, and they can only claim for damages separately.

Q2: Can the representative elected by the owners file a lawsuit on behalf of everyone?

It is possible to implement representative litigation under the framework of a class action lawsuit, where the parties elect representatives to conduct litigation on behalf of other parties. The representative should have litigation capacity, and the scope of authority to represent in litigation should be clearly specified in the power of attorney. It should be noted that the representative has extensive authority to dispose of substantive rights, and the election and authorization processes should be standardized and documented in writing. In addition, representative litigation does not exempt other owners from the obligation to provide evidence and cooperate with investigations, so all owners still need to cooperate by providing contracts and payment receipts.

Q3: How can we control costs when taking joint legal action to protect rights?

The most effective way to control costs is to adopt demonstrative litigation and a unified approach. The specific approach is: first, select a small number of cases with clear contract terms and sufficient payment evidence to sue, and then handle the remaining cases in accordance with the judgment after obtaining it; at the same time, unify the calculation method of the breach of contract penalty and the expression of claims to reduce the procedural back and forth caused by differences in requests; then, the same team will handle the evidence preparation and litigation documents in batches to avoid duplicated work. It should be noted that the allocation of attorney's fees among the owners should be agreed upon in writing in advance to avoid disputes in the future.

Q4: Some owners have already received their houses. Can they still join in the protection of their rights together?

It depends on the specific circumstances. If the claim for the breach of contract penalty is still valid for owners who have already received the house, they can sue for the breach of contract penalty during the delay in delivery separately; if the developer has already obtained their written confirmation and actually fulfilled it, these rights may have been disposed of. It is recommended to first check the contract and the receipt documents to see if they contain provisions confirming the delivery time or waiving relevant claims. If the house has already been actually used and the real estate registration has been completed, owners can still claim rights for the breach of contract liability for the delay in delivery, but they need to explain the impact of the delay in delivery on the actual use in the litigation.

Q5: Can jointly defending rights force developers to refund money?

Whether a refund can be achieved depends on the contract terms and the developer's solvency. If the contract stipulates that the buyer can terminate the contract if the delay in handing over the house exceeds a certain period, and the actual delay has indeed exceeded this period, the owner can claim to terminate the contract and demand the return of the paid amount; but if the developer has encountered operational difficulties, even if the court rules in favor of termination, actual repayment may need to be achieved through forced execution. Therefore, it is recommended to simultaneously evaluate the developer's asset situation before litigation, including the construction projects, the scale of sold but undelivered houses, and the capital chain, and if necessary, apply for property preservation to increase the probability of actual repayment.Real estate transactions and construction projectsThe column can also provide explanations on risk assessment.

The above content is based on the judicial practice in the Beijing area. The facts of individual cases and the jurisdiction of the court may affect the conclusions. Welcome to consult Henglu Law Firm for specific situations.

If you are currently facing similar problems, it is recommended that you consult a professional lawyer as soon as possible with the relevant evidence, to avoid missing the statutory time limit. →Legal services for the purchase and sale of real estate·Attorney Tian Jiayan·Beijing Henglue Law Firm

Disclaimer: This article is compiled based on the current effective laws and regulations and public adjudication rules, and is for general reference only. It does not constitute a formal legal opinion on specific cases. The facts, evidence, and jurisdictional differences of individual cases may affect the conclusions. In case of disputes, please consult a practicing lawyer in time.