Court orders man to give up house he inherited

A person who inherited a house has been ordered to give it up after their claim to ownership was ruled to be invalid because the house had been transferred to its former owner by a "false transaction," Pudong New Area People's Court said Monday.

The person, who was not identified by the court, inherited the property from a man named Xiao.

However, a local businessman named Song challenged the inheritance, saying he in fact had the right to the property.

Song said that he originally owned the property, but that in 2007 he fell upon hard times. In order to raise funds, he approached Xiao with a plan under which, with the help of a real estate agency, he transferred the property ownership rights to Xiao.

Xiao then mortgaged the property for 182,000 yuan ($29,720), and gave the money to Song. Song continued to live in the property, making regular payments to Xiao's bank account. From July 2008 to April 2013, Song paid a total 106,900 yuan in to the account.

When Xiao died in March 2012, his next of kin wanted to keep the property, prompting Song to take the case to court.

Xiao's heir argued that the property was transferred to Xiao through legal means.

However, the court ruled that the contract between Xiao and Song was a "false transaction," that Song provided solid evidence that he had made continuous payments to Xiao, and that Xiao had never asked him to move out of the property.

According to the court, the transaction was real but the intention was to "extract money from it."

The court ordered Xiao's heir to transfer ownership back to Song, and for Song to pay the related fees and taxes.