What to Do When You Face a Home Buying Dispute

Every surge in housing prices triggers home sellers to breach their contracts.

Can owners breach the contract? Yes, but they must bear the consequences.
The law provides multiple ways to handle breach of contract, and under normal understanding, it simply means paying compensation. Homeowners reasoned that as long as the compensation they pay is less than the increase in property value, even paying out of pocket is worthwhile. So feeling secure in this logic, they breached their contracts en masse. Once someone decides to profit through contract breaches, they've torn up basic contractual integrity. Following the "do or die" mentality, since they've already breached the contract, they might as well pursue "maximum profit."
• Not paying the penalty specified in the contract.
• Not returning double the deposit.
• Not returning the deposit at all.
• Not even returning the down payment.

For buyers who want maximum return, the priority list is as follows:
• Demand continued performance of the contract and forced transfer of ownership.
• Claim compensation for losses from the price increase.
• Demand payment of the penalty specified in the contract.
• Demand double return of the deposit.

For homeowners looking to breach, having the house forcibly transferred through court order is the worst outcome. So they must create a situation where the contract is impossible to fulfill—making the house unsellable or unable to transfer ownership. For example, selling the same house to multiple buyers, mortgaging it, having it seized by the court, or claiming multiple owners exist with one refusing to sell. They may not cooperate with tax avoidance or mortgage processes, causing buyers to lose payment ability. (Homeowners can design a lawsuit, finding someone to sue them, thereby preserving the property and keeping it under court seizure. In this state, if the house cannot actually transfer, the court cannot order continued performance—only termination and compensation.)

In cases where homeowners must pay compensation, it's not always possible to enforce against valid assets—the house may have been taken by other creditors (in scenarios involving double sales, mortgages, or seizures, there's a mysterious creditor). Buyers find it difficult to prove the validity of this creditor, and homeowners can easily transfer funds once received, such as converting entirely to dollars and taking them abroad. So in the battle between rising secondhand housing prices and homeowner breaches, speed is everything:
Regardless of which side you're on, you must act immediately. If the homeowner mortgages first, the homeowner wins (being sued by their own people or processing mortgage loans first). If the buyer preserves the house first, the buyer wins (filing a lawsuit immediately).