Buying a restaurant that has not been granted a pink book for decades
According to the plan, the project is invested by Duong Hong Company, and was allocated land by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee under Decision No. 6541 of 2004, which has been approved in detail 1/500, with a total of 254 houses. The investor has completed 100% of the technical infrastructure, fully fulfilled financial obligations and handed over pink books to 229 apartments. However, the remaining 25 apartments have not yet been granted pink books, even though they have been sold to customers for many years.
This problem stems from the policy of housing allocation for low-income people issued by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee more than 20 years ago.
In 2003, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued Directive No. 07/2003, which required housing project investors to reserve 10% of residential land fund or 20% of residential land fund sold according to the principle of capital preservation (with audits) to the State to put into the housing fund for low-income people in key projects in the city.
On November 24, 2005, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued Official Letter No. 7623 regulating the removal of the regulation of 10% of residential land fund or 20% of housing fund in commercial housing projects to resell capital to the city according to Directive No. 07/2003.
Based on document No. 7623/UBND-DT, Duong Hong Company has deployed and sold all commercial housing products according to the approved detailed plan.
The leader of Duong Hong Company shared that after 20 years of investing in infrastructure and business, the investor has sold all housing products in the project to customers but was stuck in not being able to issue pink books for about 10% of houses in the project, causing many customers to complain and file lawsuits.
Similarly, hundreds of customers who bought houses in Binh Quoi 1 and Binh Quoi 2 apartment buildings implemented by Saigon Construction Corporation have not been granted pink books.
Binh Quoi 1 Apartment Building has 105 apartments built on 1,590m2 land, Binh Quoi 2 Apartment Building has 168 apartments built on an area of 3,128m2, both of which are long-term urban residential land.
In 2007, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued Official Letter No. 6588 approving the implementation of 2 projects. According to the above decision, Saigon Construction Corporation must be responsible for allocating at least 20% of the housing fund (apartment apartments) to create housing funds for resettlement for households affected by the Binh Quoi - Thanh Da New Urban Area project.
However, when implementing sales, Saigon Construction Corporation sold 100% of the apartments in the 2 apartment buildings, including 20% of the apartments, to resettle households affected by the Binh Quoi - Thanh Da New Urban Area project.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Land Registration Office, in 2008, the Department of Finance confirmed that Saigon Construction Corporation had paid for the purchase of the two above-mentioned premises and had fulfilled additional financial obligations due to changes in architectural planning targets. The Department of Agriculture and Environment then granted land use right certificates for the two above projects. Both apartment buildings have also been accepted by the Department of Construction and completed construction.
Meanwhile, in 2014, the People's Committee of Binh Thanh District (old) still requested investors to be responsible for at least 20% of apartments when the project was completed to create a housing fund for renovation in Binh Thanh District. Regarding the selling price of apartments, it is recommended that the company sell them at the cost of preserving capital. However, the investor still sold 100% of the apartments in the two projects above, including 20% of the number of apartments to resettle households affected by the Binh Quoi - Thanh Da New Urban Area project.
Because of the above problems, home buyers are still not granted pink books.
Removing obstacles for people
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, there are still many commercial housing projects approved since 2003 2005 that cannot issue pink books to buyers due to the impact of Directive 07/2003.
This regulation requires investors to reserve 10% of land fund or 20% of housing fund to build social housing for low-income people. By November 2005, the city had abolished it, but many projects were still bound by old obligations, causing residents to not have a certificate even though they had received a house for many years. The change in policy raises three types of problems: Confirmation of completion of obligations, unfinished projects and recommendations for transfer of obligations. This is the reason why a series of projects, despite selling their houses for nearly 20 years, have not been able to complete the procedures for granting pink books.
For the two projects, Binh Quoi 1 and Binh Quoi 2, recently, Working Group 5013 led by Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang - Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City - agreed to issue pink books to home buyers in Binh Quoi 1 and Binh Quoi 2 apartment buildings. Regarding the 20% resettlement housing fund, Mr. Nguyen Toan Thang suggested that the investor synthesize legal documents so that the Department of Construction and the Ho Chi Minh City Land Registration Office can clarify the obligation of 20% of the resettlement housing fund if the locality has a need.
For other cases, to resolve the issue, Working Group 5013 requested the Department of Agriculture and Environment to review the land price plan, determine additional financial obligations (if any). Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of HoREA, commented that the consequences of Directive 07 not only affect people, when they cannot mortgage, borrow capital, transfer or inherit assets, but also cause difficulties for businesses when they are involved in lawsuits and cannot implement new projects. He suggested that the city soon have specific instructions to completely resolve the problems, instead of allowing them to continue for nearly 20 years as at present.
