What is a subscription agreement?

Subscription agreement is an instrument signed by the buyer and seller of commercial housing before signing the pre-sale contract or the sales contract, and it is the initial confirmation of the relevant matters of housing transaction by both parties.

Legal analysis

To put it simply, the developer promises not to sell the house to a third person except the subscriber within a certain period of time, and the subscriber promises to negotiate with the developer on the purchase of the house according to the terms agreed in the agreement during this period. The main feature of this subscription behavior is that buyers and sellers agree to negotiate the future contract, rather than finally sign it. The housing subscription agreement generally confirms the location, orientation, floor, house price and the time when the commercial housing sales contract is signed. The subscriber pays a certain amount of deposit to the developer before buying a house as a guarantee for signing the Commercial Housing Sales Contract. Commercial housing subscription book includes: 1, subscription of real estate; 2. House price, including apartment type, area, unit price (currency), total price, etc. 3. Payment methods, including one-time payment, installment payment and mortgage payment; 4 subscription conditions, including matters needing attention in the subscription book, deposit, time of formal treaty evaluation, place of payment, account, signing place, etc.

legal ground

The Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Applicable Law in the Trial of Disputes over Commercial Housing Sales Contracts Article 4 If the seller accepts the buyer's deposit as the guarantee for concluding the commercial housing sales contract by subscription, order or reservation, if the commercial housing sales contract cannot be concluded due to one party, it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the Deposit Law; If the commercial housing sales contract cannot be signed due to reasons not attributable to both parties, the seller shall return the down payment to the buyer.