A red book is one of the mandatory conditions when transferring land use rights without other equivalent documents. The act of deliberately buying and selling land without a red book is a violation of the law and will be subject to sanctions according to the provisions of law. Specifically as follows:
According to the provisions of Clause 3, Clause 4, Article 17 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP stipulating the act of transferring land use rights without meeting one of the conditions prescribed in Clause 1, Article 45 of the 2024 Land Law, a fine of VND 30,000,000 to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for the act of transferring land use rights without a red book.
In addition, remedial measures are also applied such as forcing the transferee to return the land to the transferor, forcing the return of illegal profits obtained from the violation.
Note: according to Clause 2, Article 5 of Decree 123/2024/ND-CP, the above fine level applies to individuals. The fine for an organization is twice the fine for an individual committing the same violation.
Thus, the act of deliberately selling land without a red book will be fined up to 50 million VND for individuals, up to 100 million VND for organizations.
The penalty for this behavior has been increased compared to previous regulations. Specifically, according to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 18 of Decree 91/2019/ND-CP, the act of transferring land use rights when not eligible will be subject to a fine of the following level:
- Fine from VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 for rural areas, from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for urban areas when lacking 1 transfer condition.
- Fine from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for rural areas, from VND 10,000,000 to VND 20,000,000 for urban areas when lacking 2 or more conditions.
Accordingly, if transferring land use rights without a red book (lacking 1 condition when transferring), there will be a fine of VND 3,000,000 to VND 5,000,000 for rural areas, from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000 for urban areas. In case of lack of other conditions, the fine will be higher.
Thus, according to previous regulations, the highest fine for the act of deliberately selling land without a red book is 40 million VND for organizations in urban areas, and Decree 123/2024/ND-CP has increased the fine for this behavior to a maximum of 100 million VND for organizations, and at the same time, no distinction is made between rural and urban areas.
Note: The above fine is also applied to individuals, the fine for organizations is twice the fine for individuals.
