The problem of 'brokers' in rural land auctions

(Baonghean)- At land auctions, many 'brokers' appear, causing a situationambiguous auctions, loss of security and order, even loss of budget revenue.

According to people's feedback, in Quynh Luu district, during the land auction process, there was a situation where "land brokers" oppressed buyers, controlled prices, caused loss of budget revenue from land auctions and disturbed security and order. In March 2016, Tan Son mountainous commune (Quynh Luu) organized an auction of 59 land lots with 500 applications, but up to 70% of the auction participants were people from outside the commune.

Mr. Dinh Tien Thuy - a resident in Tan Son commune said that if the average profit of each land lot from brokers is 30 million VND, then the local people have "lost" nearly 2 billion VND. The state loses tax revenue, while the people lose money unjustly, some with a few tens of millions of VND, some with hundreds of millions of VND, but they do not dare to say anything.

Mr. Thuy wondered: “According to the initial announcement of Quang Minh Finance and Auction Joint Stock Company, there were only 10 applications for some land lots, but when the official auction session began, there were 8 more applications, and these applications did not have a deposit certificate. Could it be that the auction company colluded and shared profits, so they deliberately turned a blind eye to the rampant “land brokers”?”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy - a resident of Quynh Ba commune (Quynh Luu) said: In 2015, the commune organized an auction and she had a very difficult time buying a plot of land. Because in addition to the auction winning money, she also had to give the "broker" 50 million VND more. There were cases where she had not yet given the agreed money because she could not manage in time and the "broker" came to her house to threaten her"...

The auctioned land in Quynh Giang commune (Quynh Luu) has now been used to build houses for local people. Photo: PV

Mr. Nguyen Van Quy - Vice Chairman of Quynh Luu District People's Committee said: Land brokers come from many places, such as Vinh City, Nam Dan District, Yen Thanh District. To limit land brokers, the district has some solutions: First, the starting price is set close to the market price; second, the organization and implementation of the preparation process is better, only those with applications are allowed to enter the yard to listen to the auction regulations.

Third, coordinate with the District Police to increase the number of people for the auctions from 7 to 12 per session. During the auction, direct the auction unit to grasp the situation. If there are signs of brokers, the land lot will increase, not in sequence. The District also established a monitoring team led by the Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment with the participation of the following departments: Finance and Planning, Justice. This team monitors the preparation and organization of the auction. The District assigned the organizing company not to disclose the list of bidders to the outside. Thanks to that, the auction work and recent auction results have been better.

In Dien Chau district, there is also a phenomenon of taking advantage of land allocation and auction of land use rights, some "brokers" have caused disorder in the district, hindering people when participating in auctions of land use rights, causing insecurity and disorder. Mr. Cao Hieu - Chairman of Dien Thinh Commune People's Committee said: The situation of "land brokers" is still complicated at auctions, sometimes there are fights, causing insecurity and disorder. The auction of Dien Thinh commune on April 3, 2017 with 10 land lots, but there are lots of land with only 2 "real buyers" in the commune, the remaining about 40 "brokers" participated. After winning the auction, the buyer had to pay each "broker" 1 million VND, 40 "brokers" equivalent to 40 million VND. The "brokers" have information, coming from everywhere, there were "brokers" in both auctions.

Dien Chau District People's Committee is currently signing contracts with two professional auction organizations of the State, namely Nghe An Property Auction Center under the Department of Justice and Nghe An Lottery Company Limited under the Department of Finance. Regarding the starting price, Mr. Ngo Dinh Tuu - Deputy Head of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said that the People's Committees of the communes surveyed and submitted to the District People's Committee and the Provincial Land Valuation Council for appraisal and the Provincial People's Committee approved it, basically close to the market price, so the situation of "drowning" the price is limited.

After the District People's Committee selects and signs a contract with a professional auction organization, the Professional Auction Organization will publicly disclose information about the land lot, land plot and land price on Nghe An Newspaper, Nghe An Provincial Radio and Television Station, post it at the Auction Contract Organization Headquarters, Dien Chau District People's Committee (at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment) and the headquarters of the People's Committee of the commune where the land is auctioned so that people can know and participate in the auction. The time of public disclosure is in accordance with regulations. Regarding the collection of applications and confidentiality of auction information, Mr. Ngo Dinh Tuu added: "The Department of Natural Resources and Environment is authorized by the professional auction organization to collect auction applications and collect deposits to participate in the auction. The collection of applications from auction participants and the list of people registering to participate in the auction are kept confidential by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment until the time of the auction. After the opening of the auction, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment will hand it over to the Professional Auction Organization to organize the auction according to regulations".

After grasping the situation of "brokers" threatening to suppress the auction winners to demand a "percentage", the People's Committee of Dien Chau district promptly directed the district police and the People's Committees of communes and towns with auctioned land, so the security work in the auction organization was basically well guaranteed. Depending on the auction situation and the auction participants, in addition to the police force of the commune where the auctioned land is located participating in the protection, before the auction, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment issued an Official Dispatch requesting the district police to arrange from 2 to 4 comrades to participate in the protection of the auction to ensure safety and order.

In fact, in recent times, Dien Chau and Quynh Luu districts have signed contracts with professional property auction organizations in the province to conduct land use rights auctions in accordance with the provisions of law on property auctions. The auction announcement is made public on mass media, and posted at the People's Committees of communes with land funds for auction, and also posted at the District People's Committee and the headquarters of the property auction organization. However, the relevant agencies need to continue to support the districts in ensuring procedures and processes, and at the same time have solutions to ensure the rights of genuine land auction bidders.

PV Group