Will I be fined for buying land without a land title certificate?

Reply:Clause 1, Article 45 of the 2024 Land Law stipulates the conditions for transferring land use rights as follows:

Article 45. Conditions for exercising the rights to convert, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, and donate land use rights; mortgage and contribute capital using land use rights; and receive transfers and donations of land use rights.

1. Land users may exercise the rights to convert, transfer, lease, sublease, inherit, and donate land use rights; mortgage and contribute land use rights as capital when the following conditions are met:

a) Possessing a Certificate of Land Use Rights or a Certificate of Ownership of Housing and Land Use Rights or a Certificate of Land Use Rights, Ownership of Housing and Other Assets Attached to Land or a Certificate of Land Use Rights and Ownership of Assets Attached to Land, except in cases of inheritance of land use rights, conversion of agricultural land during land consolidation and exchange, donation of land use rights to the State, the community, and cases stipulated in Clause 7 of Article 124 and Point a of Clause 4 of Article 127 of this Law;

b) The land is free from disputes, or any disputes have been resolved by competent state authorities, court judgments or decisions, or arbitration awards that have become legally effective;

c) Land use rights are not subject to seizure or other measures to ensure the enforcement of judgments as prescribed by the law on civil judgment enforcement;

d) During the land use period;

d) Land use rights are not subject to temporary emergency measures as prescribed by law.

Therefore, one of the conditions for the owner of land use rights to transfer those rights is that the land plot must have a land use certificate (except in certain cases).Inheritance of land use rights, conversion of agricultural land during land consolidation and exchange, donation of land use rights to the State, local communities, and cases stipulated in Clause 7 of Article 124 and Point a of Clause 4 of Article 127 of the 2024 Land Law).

If violated, those who transfer land use rights without a certificate may be subject to penalties as stipulated in point c, clause 3, Article 17 of Decree 123/2024/NĐ-CP, specifically as follows:

Article 17. Transfer, lease, sublease, and mortgage of land use rights without meeting the prescribed conditions.

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3. The acts of transferring, leasing, subleasing, inheriting, gifting land use rights; mortgaging, or contributing capital using land use rights that do not meet one of the conditions stipulated in Clause 1, Article 45 of the Land Law shall be subject to the following penalties:

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c) A fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of transferring or contributing capital in the form of land use rights.

Therefore, the information he heard was not entirely accurate, because:

ButThe party penalized in a land transfer transaction where the land plot does not yet have a land use certificate is the transferor (i.e., the seller), not the transferee (i.e., the buyer - which is you).

ButIn addition to the penalty, if the land plot meets the requirements, a land certificate will still be issued as usual.