Conditions for transfer of land use rights
When buying and selling land (transferring land use rights), conditions must be met and registered at the land registration agency, effective from the time of registration in the land registry.
According to Clause 1, Article 188 of the 2013 Land Law, land users are allowed to transfer land use rights when they meet the following conditions:
- Condition 1: Have a certificate (red book), except for the case specified in Clause 3, Article 186 and the case of inheritance specified in Clause 1, Article 168 of the 2013 Land Law.
- Condition 2: Land has no disputes.
- Condition 3: Land use rights are not subject to seizure to ensure enforcement of judgment.
- Condition 4: Within the land use term.
In addition, there must be a number of other conditions as prescribed by the Land Law (special cases).
Thus, when transferring land use rights, all conditions must be met according to regulations, including having a red book, except in the following cases:
The inheritor of the property is the land use right but is a foreigner or a Vietnamese residing abroad who is not eligible to buy a house attached to the land use right, will not be granted a Red Book but has the right to sell it to another person.
In case of inheriting land use rights, the land user is allowed to exercise the right to sell when conditions are met to issue a red book (no need for a book yet).
In case of conversion of agricultural land use rights, land users have the right to sell land after having a decision on land allocation or land lease.
Is there a penalty for buying and selling land without a certificate?
Red book is one of the mandatory conditions when transferring land use rights (except for 2 cases as prescribed). Therefore, the case of buying and selling land without a red book will be punished according to the law.
According to Clause 3, Article 18 of Decree 91/2019/ND-CP, transferring, donating, leasing, or mortgaging land use rights without meeting the conditions will be subject to a fine at the following levels:
- Transfer, donation, lease, sublease, capital contribution using land use rights that do not satisfy one of the following conditions.
+ Fine in rural areas: From 3 - 5 million VND.
+ Fine in urban areas: From 5 - 10 million VND.
- Transfer, donation, lease, sublease, capital contribution using land use rights that do not satisfy two or more conditions.
+ Fine in rural areas: From 5 - 10 million VND.
+ Fine in urban areas: From 10 - 20 million VND.
Note: The above fine applies to individuals, the fine for organizations is twice the fine for individuals, up to a maximum of 40 million VND.
Thus, in case of transferring land use rights without a red book (satisfying the remaining conditions), individuals transferring land use rights in rural areas and individuals transferring land use rights in urban areas may be fined from 3 to 5 million VND.
