Apartment residents wait with bated breath for...red books

Frustrated because I have not received the red book yet

At the end of April, residents of the Bao Son apartment building located on Le Loi Street, Hung Binh Ward (Vinh City) simultaneouslybanners demanding investors to hand over red booksThis is considered the "last straw" when residents of this apartment building have lived there for nearly 5 years but have not yet received their red books, while they have fulfilled their financial obligations to the investor.

Mr. NXT, a resident who bought a house in this apartment building, said: His family bought a 79m2 apartment.². Although he bought a house and moved in nearly 5 years ago, up to now, Mr. T's family and hundreds of other households still cannot hold the red book in their hands.

Mr. NXT said that since buying the house, his family has paid all the expenses required by the investor, and will only pay 50 million VND to the authorities when receiving the red book. Although the investor promised that a short time after moving in, the red book will be available, but after waiting for nearly 5 years, it has not been seen.

What makes the residents of this apartment building upset is that even though they have spent a large amount of money, when buying a house, they only hope to hold a certificate to prove their ownership of the house but still do not have one. Not to mention, many families who want to sell their apartment to move to a house or use the red book as collateral to borrow money from the bank cannot do so.

Bao Son apartment building on Le Loi street, where people hung banners demanding red books at the end of April 2023. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Phan Thanh Son - Chairman of Hung Binh Ward People's Committee said: Immediately after the incident of residents of Bao Son apartment building on Le Loi street hanging banners demanding red books, the Ward People's Committee also coordinated with the city and worked with the investor. According to Mr. Son, because some construction items of this apartment building were not in accordance with the design, the authorities requested repairs and remedies. Up to now, the competent authority has not yet accepted and granted operating licenses, so the issuance of red books to people has not been implemented.

The "exhausted" situation of waiting for the red book is also happening to many residents at the T&T Victoria apartment building on Quang Trung street. Although they have completed the procedures and were promised by the investor's representative that they will have the red book in May 2023, they have not received it yet.

Mr. NTH, a resident who bought an apartment in this apartment building in the first phase, said: His family was one of the households that bought an apartment in this building in the first phase. On February 3, 2023, his family received a notice from the Vinh City Tax Department about paying the registration fee and by February 10, 2023, they had completed paying the tax to the State budget. After paying the registration tax, Mr. H also handed over the documents to the investor to complete the procedures for issuing the red book and was promised that he would have the book by May. However, by June, Mr. NTH still did not have the red book in hand.

At the T&T Victoria apartment building, many households have yet to receive red books. Photo: Tien Dong

It is known that the T&T Victoria apartment building project was also a "scandalous" project when it arbitrarily built 3 more floors (from 25 to 28 floors), exceeding the permitted height and was administratively fined by local authorities.

Contacting a person who is said to be the investor's representative in charge of receiving and delivering documents to issue red books to residents at the T&T Victoria building project, we received the answer that currently, the first and second batches of red books are available. However, in reality, many households, although they have been informed that they are on the list to receive the second batch of red books, have not yet received them.

Not only the above mentioned apartment buildings, currently in Vinh City, there are many apartment building construction projects that have been completed but have not yet delivered red books to residents.

For example, the Thanh Vinh Apartment and Office Complex project invested by Thanh Vinh Investment, Production and Trade Joint Stock Company has 168 apartments but has not yet completed the issuance of red books to residents. Or the 5-storey apartment building project of 9.1 Construction Joint Stock Company with 31 apartments, although completed and residents have moved in, has not yet completed the issuance of red books...

Urgently urge to prepare documents to issue red books to people

According to statistics, the province currently has 110 real estate business projects with apartment buildings, with 142 apartment buildings. Currently, there are 96 apartment buildings that have been built and put into use, with 14,685 apartments; there are 46 apartment buildings under construction and not yet built. Of which, the most concentrated is in Vinh City with 93 apartment projects built and put into use with 14,262 apartments (11,815 red books have been issued).

In addition, out of a total of 14,685 apartments built, to date, investors have also transferred and notified appraisal conditions for 13,135 apartments to people; at the same time, 12,187 red books (equivalent to 12,187 apartments) have been issued to households and individuals. In particular, from January 2022 to May 29, 2023, the whole province has issued 3,877 red books (equivalent to 3,877 apartments).

Vinh City is home to the most apartment buildings in the province. Photo: Tien Dong

The representative of the Land Registration Office said that currently, there are 948 apartments that have not been granted red books. Of these, 723 apartments are because the families have not yet requested to be granted a book; some people have not yet fulfilled their financial obligations to the investor; some households have not even coordinated with the investor to prepare documents to grant the book...

In addition, there are 225 apartments that have not been granted red books because some new projects have announced the appraisal of transfer conditions according to Clause 22, Article 1, Decree No. 148/2020/ND-CP, on amending and supplementing a number of decrees, detailing the implementation of the Land Law, so the investor is notifying individual households to prepare documents to grant certificates.

Regarding the resolution of outstanding issues and problems in granting red books to people, on December 30, 2021, the Provincial People's Committee issued Plan 815/KH-UBND to resolve the backlog in granting Certificates of land use rights, house ownership rights and other assets attached to land to households and individuals in the province.

Accordingly, the Provincial People's Committee requests the District People's Committee and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, directly the Land Registration Office, to synchronously implement, concentrate all resources, seriously implement and complete the proposed plan. For real estate projects, including high-rise apartment construction projects, it is necessary to have a specific work plan for each investor, guide and urge land users to declare and register land, assets attached to land and carry out procedures to prepare documents to apply for certificates according to regulations...

In Vinh City, many apartment projects have issued red books to residents, but there are still many projects that have not completed the issuance of red books, making residents extremely upset. Photo: Tien Dong

Immediately after that, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also directed the Land Registration Office to work with 140 investors of 156 projects to guide and urge the preparation of documents, and propose to the Provincial People's Committee solutions to resolve difficulties in granting red books to transferees in real estate business projects, including apartment buildings.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Thanh - Deputy Director in charge of the Land Registration Office said: To complete the progress of granting red books to people in apartment buildings, relevant agencies, departments and branches need to regularly urge investors to complete construction of works according to project progress and prepare documents to submit to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment for appraisal of transfer conditions. Investors who have transferred apartments to people must carry out registration procedures and grant red books to people according to regulations.

In particular, it is necessary to regularly review and inspect investors who are behind schedule, do not fulfill financial obligations, and do not promptly complete procedures to issue red books to people after receiving transfers. It is necessary to strengthen inspection, detection, and strict handling of cases of law violations when not qualified to buy and sell land and houses in housing development projects.

"For investors, after people have completed their financial obligations, they need to notify people to coordinate in completing procedures and preparing documents. Investors can submit registration documents, issue certificates on behalf of people or provide documents for people to register themselves. In addition, people also need to coordinate with investors in completing financial obligations, and at the same time complete documents and procedures for issuing red books according to regulations" - Mr. Thanh emphasized.