Thứ Hai, 20 tháng 5, 2024

Real Estate Dispute Law Firms in Vietnam Discuss Land Disputes

 What Procedures for Conciliation and Settlement of Land Dispute?


Land disputes or real estate disputes or property disputes in Vietnam are among the most complicated disputes which arise regularly in daily life in Vietnam. Resolving these kinds of disputes might take time and the lawyers at real estate dispute law firms in Vietnam could help identify the root causes and propose suitable approach for conciliation and settlement.

What types of land disputes in Vietnam?

The disputes related to land, real estate and property are normally of high value and are very diverse which may be dispute over land use right, ownership of house attached to land use right, disputes over rights to land usage rights resulted from inheritance, disputes on division of property during divorcedisputes of transfer and transformation transaction, leasing, sub-leasing, mortgage relating to property or land use rights.
What are land dispute resolutions in Vietnam?

Land use right dispute means a dispute over the rights and obligations of land users among two or more parties in a land use right relationship.

In case of conflict over land, what should parties do to settle dispute? If negotiation or mediation work, that is great. What if the alternative dispute resolutions do not help? Hence land dispute can be settled at court or settlement procedures at state administrative agencies.

Firstly, for some type of land disputes, conciliation procedure at commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located is mandatory condition and procedure.

In particular, if conciliation by parties cannot be achieved, the parties may send a petition for conciliation to the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located.

The conciliation procedure carried out at the commune-level People’s Committees shall be completed within 45 days from the date which the commune-level People’s Committees receives a petition for settlement of land dispute. The conciliation may take place only when all the disputing parties are present. If any of the disputing parties is absent for the second time, the conciliation shall be regarded as unsuccessful.

If the conciliation at a commune-level People’s Committee fails, land dispute shall be settled according to one of the following two cases.

If the land dispute in which the party possesses a certificate or any of the papers prescribed in Article 100 of Land law and the dispute over assets attached to land shall be settled by the People’s Court.

If the land dispute falls under cases which the party does not possess above papers, the parties may choose between the following two options of settlement: filing a written request for dispute settlement with a competent People’s Committee or filing a lawsuit with a competent People’s Court in accordance with the law on civil procedures.

For the later, when the party choose to settle at competent People’s Committee, the chairperson of the district-level People Committee is responsible for the settlement of disputes among households, individuals and communities. If the parties disagree with the settlement decision, they are entitled to claim with the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee or to file a lawsuit at a People’s Court in accordance with the law on administrative procedures.

In case one party is an organization, a religious institution, an overseas Vietnamese or a foreign-invested enterprise, the chairperson of the provincial-level People’s Committee is responsible for the settlement. If the parties disagree with the settlement decision, they are entitled to file claim with the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment or to file a lawsuit with a People’s Court in accordance with the law on administrative procedures.

It should be noted that the legally effective decision on dispute settlement must be strictly abided by the parties. If the parties fail to comply, the decision shall be enforced.

The settlement of land disputes in which the disputing parties have no certificate or any of the papers prescribed in the Land Law and the Decree detailing a number of articles of the land law shall be based on the following grounds:

Evidences on the origin and use process of the land presented by the disputing parties;

Actual land areas currently used by the parties in addition to the disputed land area and the average land area per household member in the locality;

Conformity of the current use status of the disputed land with land use plans already approved by competent state agencies;

Preferential treatment policies toward persons with meritorious services to the State; Regulations on land allocation, land lease and land use rights recognition.
How lawyers at real estate dispute law firms in Vietnam could help?

In Vietnam, the people do not own land. Only land usage rights can be bought and sold. As said, disputes on land, property, real estate in Vietnam might be complicated due to the complexity of law and related regulations on land, the culture of land usage in Vietnam over the time.

Some types of land disputes must be reconciled at commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the disputed land is located is mandatory condition and procedure. For other types of property and real estate disputes, the disputants could file the claim petition at court immediately. Understanding the difference of dispute resolution might be an issue. It is suggested to consult with lawyers at real estate dispute law firms in Vietnam for advice and representation at early stage for dispute avoidance or dispute resolution.

ANT Lawyers, a professional law firm in Vietnam will be available to assist the clients when required to handle dispute matters out of court, at court or through arbitration in Vietnam.

Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 5, 2024

What Are New Conditions on Real Estate Purchase and Sale in 2022?

Real estate business activities have a great influence on socio-economic development. Accordingly, in order to ensure the legal framework for the current real estate business activities, the Government has issued Decree 02/2022/ND-CP detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Real Estate Business (“Decree 02/2022/ND-CP”) in order to promptly amend and supplement inadequate regulations to be consistent with reality. In which, conditions for the transfer of contracts of purchase and sale, lease-purchase of houses and construction works are mentioned.


The demand for the transfer of purchase and sale contracts, lease-purchase of houses, real estate, construction works on the market is at a high level, although there are no regulations on the transfer of contracts for the sale of non-residential real estate not to be formed in the future. Therefore, there is no legal basis to carry out these transactions in reality. Therefore, Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has had a number of amendments and supplements and has overcome some limitations compared to the past, which is expected to solve problems and inadequacies.

Accordingly, Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has combined conditions for transfer of contracts for purchase and sale of future houses and conditions for transfer of lease-purchase contracts for existing houses and construction works with specific regulations.

Firstly, the transfer of the contract requires a purchase and sale contract or a lease purchase contract made in accordance with regulations. Accordingly, these contracts must ensure compliance with the provisions of the transfer agreement form for each transferred real estate object, whether it is a Contract for Sale, Purchase, Lease and Purchase of an apartment, or tourist apartments (Condotel), office apartments combined with accommodation (Officetel)… are valid and allowed to be used for transfer. In addition, for cases where the parties have signed a contract before the effective date of Decree 02/2022/ND-CP, the signed contract must be present. Therefore, when transferring these types of contracts, the parties should pay attention to ensure the legality of the respective contract in terms of form and time of establishment.

Secondly, the transfer contract must be in the category that has not yet submitted a dossier to request a competent state agency to issue a certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached assets. This provision has been mentioned in the previous regulations for the transfer of real estate contracts formed in the future. Up to now, this is still a necessary regulation to ensure that the handling of licensing procedures does not overlap, eliminating the risk that a real estate bears two or more certificates for the same object.

Thirdly, the contract of sale, purchase, lease-purchase of houses and construction works must be free of disputes and lawsuits. Accordingly, the disputed contract will not be used to transfer to a third party. This provision is consistent with the provisions on prohibition of transferring property rights to the disputed property. Therefore, in order to transfer the contract, the parties need to settle the dispute in advance to have a basis for the transfer of the contract. In many complicated cases, the real estate dispute lawyers need to be consulted for proper dispute solutions.

Fourthly, houses and construction works that are the subject of purchase and sale or lease-purchase contracts must not be subject to distraint or mortgage to secure the performance of obligations as prescribed by law. Recently, the phenomenon of transferring these contracts has increased with seriously violated the provisions of the law, making it difficult for relevant competent authority to handle, otherwise causing damages to the transferee without understanding the legal issues for the transferor in the contract. However, with the principle of respecting the agreement of the parties, the law still allows the assignment of the contract in this case if the mortgagee agrees and this consent must be recorded specifically to avoid disputes later.

It can be seen that the highlight of Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has initially solved the inadequacies in the transfer contract for tourist apartments (Condotel), office apartments (Officetel) that help relevant competent authority have a legal basis to handle the requirements. Further, Decree 02/2022/ND-CP has contributed to building a clearer mechanism so that the participants can actively comply with regulations on effective real estate business contracts, minimizing the contract disputes in Vietnam, creating a safer and more sustainable real estate market in Vietnam.

Thứ Năm, 9 tháng 5, 2024

Why Client Should Retain Real Estate Lawyers in Vietnam?

Laws on land is complicated in Vietnam

Due to changes in law attracting foreigners to come to live, and invest in Vietnam, foreigners have growing interest in investment and acquiring real estate. However, as real estate is valuable assets, the law on real estate ownership and real estate transactions are complicated, especially for foreigners. It is important to engage real estate lawyers in Vietnam for advice and representation.

People can not own land in Vietnam

Under the land ownership regime in Vietnam, land belongs to the entire people with the State acting as the owner’s representative and uniformly managing land. Hence, in Vietnam, the land users will have the land use right without the private ownership of the land. Land law 2013 does not allow foreigner to have land use rights in Vietnam. It only allows foreign invested enterprises to be permitted to use land through the form of land allocation or lease.

Although foreigner do not have land use rights in Vietnam, they are allowed to own houses in Vietnam under the Law on Housing. In addition, the Law on Real Estate Business has certain limitations for foreign investors to conduct real estate business in Vietnam and must meet the legal requirements.

Foreign investors investing in Vietnam wish to use the land to conduct business activities, or intend to conduct real estate business in Vietnam, or simply a foreigner wishing to purchase and own real estate in Vietnam should be aware of the legal provisions on conditions of implementation, orders and procedures to of the transactions to minimize risks. The assistance of the lawyers on real estate in Vietnam shall be worthwhile.
How real estate lawyers in Vietnam could help?

Real estate lawyers in Vietnam would have in-depth knowledge of the Land Law, Law on Housing, Law on Real Estate Business and related regulations. In addition, they would have practical experience in implementing legal procedures, handling disputes, and supporting real estate transactions in Vietnam. The real estate lawyers could explain the restrictions on land use rights of foreign organizations and individuals in Vietnam and the conditions for conducting business in real estate in Vietnam. The lawyers at request could assist the foreigners with the process and procedures to work with state agencies to obtain land use rights for enterprise and home ownership rights for individual more effectively.

When conducting transactions related to real estate such as buying, selling, transferring, renting, leasing, real estate lawyers in Vietnam could also provide assistance in in legal due diligence of the real estate to minimize legal risk to clients. It is important to evaluate the legal status of the property, the owner of property, whether property is in dispute, or subject to additional requirements of government before being sold by the developer and the people eligible for entering into the transaction. In addition, the lawyers in Vietnam can advise clients to draft or review the agreements, sales contract as well as the process to legalize the process to comply with the law in Vietnam.