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

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) simultaneouslyHang banners 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 the red book would be available shortly after moving in, they have waited for nearly 5 years and still have not received it.

What makes residents in 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 it. Not to mention, many families who want to sell their apartments to move to land-based houses 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 an operating license, 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 regarding the payment of registration fees and by February 10, 2023, the tax payment to the State budget was completed. 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 had not held the red book in his 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 the first and second batches of red books are currently available. However, in reality, many households, although they have been told 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 the people.

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 available for residents to move 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 announced appraisal conditions for 13,135 apartments to residents; at the same time, 12,187 red books (corresponding to 12,187 apartments) have been issued to households and individuals. Of which, from January 2022 to May 29, 2023 alone, the whole province has issued 3,877 red books (corresponding to 3,877 apartments).

Vinh City is the place with the most apartment buildings in the whole province. Photo: Tien Dong

A representative of the Land Registration Office said that there are currently 948 apartments that have not been granted red books. Of these, 723 apartments are because families have not yet requested to be granted red books; 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 red books...

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 for granting books.

Regarding the settlement of outstanding issues and obstacles 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, focus 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 for preparing dossiers 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 afterwards, 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 meeting the conditions for buying and selling land and houses in housing development projects.

"For investors, after people have fulfilled their financial obligations, they need to notify them to cooperate 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 cooperate with investors in fulfilling financial obligations, and at the same time complete documents and procedures for issuing red books according to regulations" - Mr. Thanh emphasized.