Vinh City: Residents of the old apartment complex in Hung Binh ward are tired of waiting for their 'red books'.

Tired of waiting for the red book

As presented byhouseholds in the old apartment complexConstruction Enterprise 2, under Construction Joint Stock Company 16 Vinaconex (abbreviated as the old Lien Co block collective housing area), at Lien Co block, Hung Binh ward, Construction Enterprise 2 was originally a construction unit managed by the State, in 1975 this unit built a collective housing area for workers. In the years 1994 - 1996, when the old collective housing blocks were degraded, Construction Enterprise 2 rebuilt the collective housing area consisting of 4 blocks with 22 apartments to sell to workers living and working at the unit. The value of each house is 16,000,000 VND, workers who have money can pay in cash, workers who are in difficult circumstances will have their monthly salary deducted by the enterprise but must ensure that they have paid more than 50% of the amount.

By 2003, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1127/QD-UB-DC, dated November 10, 2003, reclaiming 7,527.3m²Specialized land in Hung Binh ward that Construction Company 2 is managing and using will be handed over to Vinh City People's Committee to manage and develop a land use plan according to the provisions of law.

Mrs. Hoang Thi Can's house is one of the households whose records were returned because the administrative handling of the expansion was not completed. Photo: Tien Dong

Ms. Hoang Thi Can - a resident of this old apartment complex said: After Decision No. 1127/QD-UB-DC was issued, Vinh City People's Committee assigned Hung Binh Ward People's Committee to be the investor and re-plan the land of Construction Enterprise 2 into 36 plots of land, including 22 collective households and 14 vacant plots of land to carry out procedures for granting red books to the people. However, later, for unknown reasons, Hung Binh Ward People's Committee separated it intored book issuance proceduresfor 14 households located on the vacant land, even though there were households that did not live on the factory's housing area.

Many households in this apartment complex also wondered why the households in the 14 vacant lots did not have to auction according to regulations but were allocated land and issued red books? While 22 households in the apartment complex had paid in full. They even had to pay compensation to Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hai's family (whose apartment is on the planned road) with a total amount of 216,000,000 VND, but up to now they have not been issued red books like the other 14 households.

Some residents are upset that the area divided into plots for 14 households has already been granted red books. Photo: Tien Dong

According to the residents of the old Lien Co apartment complex, when constructing the apartment buildings, Construction Enterprise 2 built kitchens and outbuildings behind each household. When applying for red book issuance, the residents were told that due to the expansion, the additional area had to be paid in order to apply for red book issuance.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Thuy - one of 22 households in this apartment complex said: When the red book application of the households was sent to the Branch Office of Land Use Rights Registration and was returned with the reason of increased area due to expansion, but the competent authority had not yet handled the violation according to the provisions of law, so the application was returned to the ward to complete the application. "We even accepted to pay a fine to resolve the issue of red book issuance, but until now it has not been done" - Mr. Thuy was upset.

Must complete the file to punish the act of encroachment

According to our investigation, after the Provincial People's Committee decided to reclaim the land of Construction Enterprise 2, on August 10, 2004, the Provincial People's Committee approved the planning of dividing the land into plots based on the current status of the Lien Co collective housing area, including 35 plots. On June 13, 2014, when approving the adjustment of the detailed construction planning at a scale of 1/500, it increased by 1 plot (to 36 plots). Since then, 14 households (not on the list of 22 households in the old collective housing area at Lien Co block) have been granted red books.

Planning map of 36 plots of land belonging to Construction Enterprise 2. Photo: Tien Dong

Mr. Ho Viet Thanh - Vice Chairman of Hung Binh Ward People's Committee said: The questions about the issuance of red books of 22 households in Lien Co collective housing area have also been answered by the ward. Regarding the question of why these households have not yet been issued red books, according to Mr. Thanh, the current land use status of these households has increased compared to the time of purchasing houses from Construction Enterprise 2, this increased area is determined to be due to expansion and encroachment. This matter needs to be checked, determined and recorded for specific handling, after which the issuance of red books can be completed.

Mr. Thanh also emphasized that if it is determined that there is an act of encroachment on unused land managed by Construction Enterprise 2 since 1994 and construction within the residential area of ​​the land plot, it will violate Clause 5, Article 14, Decree No. 91/2019/ND-CP dated November 19, 2019 of the Government. Accordingly, in case of encroachment on unused land, agricultural land, non-agricultural land in urban areas, the penalty is twice the penalty for the corresponding land type prescribed in Clauses 1, 2, 3 and 4 of this Article and the maximum penalty is not more than VND 500,000,000 for individuals, and not more than VND 1 billion for organizations.

The apartment area of ​​Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hai's family has now been cleared by residents to open a path according to the planning. Photo: Tien Dong

Currently, implementing the direction of Vinh City People's Committee, on May 18, 2023, Hung Binh Ward People's Committee issued Notice No. 21/TB-UBND to households and individuals in the old Lien Co collective housing area, requesting households to coordinate with the block leader to check the current status and draw up a record of administrative violations.

Regarding the case of 14 households that the old collective households of Lien Co block reported that, although they did not live in the collective area, they had been granted red books. Mr. Ho Viet Thanh also said that these households were also in the category of purchasing old collective houses at the price of Construction Enterprise 2 and had complete documents. However, these households were in the category of land granted by the State with land use fees collected, and at the same time had to build their own infrastructure according to the planning. Meanwhile, 22 households were in the category of land use right certificates issued by the State based on the current land use status and had to comply with the planning. In the case of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hai's family, because the house was located on the planning road, the land had to be cleared and resettled. When the resettlement land was arranged next to the old house, and there were no problems, the red books were granted first.

Working with the representative of Vinh City People's Committee, we learned that the city is currently assigning Hung Binh Ward People's Committee to conduct inspections and make records of administrative violations according to Decree No. 91/ND-CP of the Government as well as Decision No. 28/2021/QD-UBND dated September 17, 2021 and Official Dispatch No. 2145/UBND-VP dated April 23, 2021 of Vinh City People's Committee on resolving some existing problems and difficulties in handling administrative procedure records. After Hung Binh Ward People's Committee has made a record of violations, it will be sent to the City People's Committee to issue a decision on penalties. When households complete the procedures for paying fines (if any), they will submit a confirmation slip with the red book application file to the Branch of the Office of Land Use Rights Registration to carry out procedures for issuing the book according to regulations.