Online Contract Registration and Down Payment in Home Buying

After signing the purchase agreement, both parties should promptly complete the online contract registration. This helps prevent the seller from selling the same property to multiple buyers—while the seller may still enter into contracts with third parties, those parties will be unable to obtain title if the property is already registered online—and also prevents the seller from placing additional mortgages on the property.
To guard against situations where the seller cannot release an existing mortgage or other issues arise after registration, the buyer’s earnest money can be placed in escrow. This ensures the funds are used to pay off the seller’s prior mortgage, rather than being withdrawn and left unpaid, which could prevent the buyer from obtaining a new mortgage or force the buyer to pay extra to clear the lien before successfully transferring title.
Both mortgage processing and tax payments are based on the online registered contract, not any supplementary agreements. Since this contract is required for loan approval, tax assessment, and title transfer, it must be printed and signed despite being filed online. Both buyers and sellers can access the registered contract online using a password provided by the authorities.
If the price or terms in the online registered contract differ from those in a handwritten contract, the handwritten contract prevails.
Some parties undervalue the online registered contract to reduce taxes, setting it below the actual transaction price but not below the government’s reference price. Others intentionally overstate it to secure a larger mortgage—both practices are illegal.
If issues arise with the online registration, it can be cancelled.
As long as the registration remains in place, the seller cannot transfer the property to anyone else.
Cancelling the registration requires cooperation from both buyer and seller, which provides buyers with a certain level of protection. However, registration alone doesn’t guarantee safety—the seller may still attempt to breach the contract by placing liens or obtaining court seizures on the property.