1. In an advertisement on 591.com for its "Xin Bao Xi Yue" housing project (hereinafter referred to as the housing project) in Sanchong District, New Taipei City, Xin Bao Construction Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Xin Bao Construction) posted the wording of "public facilities:...gym, KTV, cooking classroom…" as well as the "1F floor plan" and pictures of "top floor; Cloud Gym with panoramic views and Starlight KTV" and "2F Prince Pool Room and Life Cooking Classroom." The FTC's personnel visited the site in Apr. 2017 for inspections and found out Mei Li Sheng Realty Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Mei Li Sheng Realty) was delegated to market the housing project. During marketing, Mei Li Sheng Realty also used print advertising material, including the "1F floor plan," to introduce the housing project, but false advertising was involved.
2. Findings of the FTC after investigation:
   1. The FTC sent written requests for Xin Bao Construction and Mei Li Sheng Realty to present their written statements and also provide oral statements at the FTC. The results indicated that Xin Bao Construction built and marketed the housing project and also delegate Mei Li Sheng Realty to be in charge of advertising planning and sell the units. Mei Li Sheng Realty could get a certain percentage of the sales amount for its services as well as receive a part of the sales premiums for profit. Therefore, both Xin Bao Construction and Mei Li Sheng Realty were considered advertisers in the case.
   2. In answer to the FTC's request, the New Taipei City Government opinion was that the area for the gym and KTV on the top floor would take up two thirds of the open structure indicated in the as-built drawings. If the space was surrounded by French windows and a glass roof, there would be an increase of floor space and it would become an illegal structure. As for the area for the pool room and cooking classroom on the second floor, it was the space to be used by the management committee as indicated in the as-built drawings. According to Article 3 of the New Taipei City Regulations for Use, Management and Maintenance of Space in Apartment Buildings, the space was for the duty room for management and service personnel, other necessary facilities, the management committee office and a meeting room. Pool rooms and cooking classrooms were not items included in the regulations. In other words, unauthorized change of use was involved and the conduct was in violation of Paragraph 2 of Article 73 of the Building Act.
3. Grounds for disposition:
   1. The use of buildings described in home marketing advertising is a decisive factor when homebuyers consider whether they will make the purchase. Xin Bao Construction posted the wording of "public facilities:...gym, KTV, cooking classroom…," the "1F floor plan" and pictures of the "top floor; Cloud Gym with panoramic views and Starlight KTV" and "2F Prince Pool Room and Life Cooking Classroom" in the advertisement on 591.com. Mei Li Sheng Realty, which was delegated to sell the units, also adopted the "1F floor plan" and other print advertising material for the personnel at the reception center to introduce the units. The overall advertising was able to mislead consumers to believe the gym, KTV, pool room and cooking classroom respective on the top floor and the second floor could be legally used as advertised. Nonetheless, according to the New Taipei City Government, the gym and KTV on the top floor were illegal structures whereas the pool room and cooking classroom involved unauthorized change of use. Both were in violation of Paragraph 2 of Article 73 of the Building Act. Hence, the representation in the advertisement was inconsistent with reality and could mislead consumers to have wrong perceptions and decisions with regard to the content and use of the housing project. In subsequence, market competition and order would lose functions and unfair competition would be resulted. The conduct was in violation of Paragraph 1 of Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law.
   2. After assessing the motive of Xin Bao Construction and Mei Li Sheng Realty for engaging in the unlawful act, the level of harm created, the seriousness of violation, the scale of business of both companies and the attitude of the two companies after the violation, the FTC imposed an administrative fine of 1 million on Xin Bao Construction and NT$450,000 on Mei Li Sheng Realty in accordance with the first section of Article 42 of the Fair Trade Law.

Appendix:

Xin Bao Construction Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 53127885
Mei Li Sheng Realty Co., Ltd. 's Uniform Invoice Number: 96929836

Summarized by: Yang, Hsiang-Yu; Supervised by: Lai, Mei-Hua