Nevertheless, in Ho Chi Minh City, there remain 14 projects encompassing 6,130 houses that are still pending land-use charges due to the necessity of fulfilling supplementary financial obligations.
Residential Area 13C Project, in Phong Phu Commune, Binh Chanh District, invested by Tan Binh Construction Investment Joint Stock Company (Tan Binh Company), was implemented in 2002. By 2004, the company had commenced sales procedures with customers. However, to date, the issuance of pink books for 99 plots of land in lots A and B of this project remains incomplete.
Director Nguyen Quang Dung of the Legal Department at Tan Binh Company reported that in 2002, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee granted the company land to develop and manage the urban technical infrastructure of Residential Area 13C as per Decision 1500. Following this land allocation decision, the company proceeded with the project and completed its financial obligations by 2008.
In 2013, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a decision to adjust and supplement Decision 1500 according to the actual situation.
Accordingly, the company still owed land use fees for the increased area of more than 4,800 square meters. The company signed a contract with a valuation unit to establish a certificate to determine additional financial obligations. Moreover, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment also has instructions how to carry out procedures.
Despite multiple revisions to the certificate, the result remained unsatisfactory, leading the valuation unit to cease its efforts. Additionally, during the dossier completion process, the 2013 Land Law came into effect, thereby transferring the responsibility for organizing land valuation to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
The determination of land price for the company to fulfill its financial obligations was not completed, so the pink books of 99 households were suspended, Mr. Dung recounted.
Similarly, buyers of flats in Tan Huong Tower apartment building in Tan Phu District which Chuong Duong Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company (Chuong Duong Company) is the investor have not held their pink books. The construction project was completed and put into use in 2014.
The representative of Chuong Duong Company explained that the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, along with pertinent agencies, has not yet ascertained the land use value of the property invested in the project, thus rendering the issuance of pink books to residents unfeasible. In response, some residents, refusing to accept this situation, have filed lawsuits against the investor, seeking judicial intervention to compel the investor to honor the contract and expedite the procedures for issuing pink books.
In An Khanh Ward of Thu Duc City, Do Dac apartment building has been in use for over two decades, yet the issuance of a pink book remains elusive.
Expressing her disappointment, an anonymous woman living in the ground-floor moaned that this apartment building will likely never receive a certificate. The residents in the apartment buiding once harbored hopes for a pink book, but after 20 years, that their hope has turned into despair.
According to the woman, the Department of Surveying and Mapping, presently known as Southern Natural Resources and Environment Company, invested in this apartment building. Constructed in 2001, the building comprises six floors and forty-eight apartments. The buyers, primarily company officers and employees, acquired the apartments through capital contributions.
In 2019, the local government issued a directive instructing residents to complete the procedures for obtaining pink books. The directive explicitly stated that the issuance of pink books would proceed upon the project's fulfillment of its financial obligations. Following these instructions, residents submitted their applications to the Land Registration Office Branch of District 2 (now Thu Duc City); however, the pink books remain unprocessed to date.
A representative from Southern Resources and Environment Company asserted that a decade ago, the company handed over all pertinent documents and records related to Do Dac apartment building to the local government, enabling them to guide the issuance of pink books to residents. The company had met its obligations, leaving the issuance of pink books within the jurisdiction of state agencies.
Contrarily, Director Tran Dinh Quan of the Land Registration Office Branch in Thu Duc City, provided divergent information. According to him, the District 2 Division of Natural Resources and Environment submitted a report to the People's Committee of District 2 (now Thu Duc City) detailing the status of pink book issuance for Do Dac apartment building on May 8, 2019.
According to the report, the building, constructed in 2001 in line with planning regulations, faced no disputes. Consequently, both the Party Committee and the People's Committee of District 2 agreed to the issuance of pink books to households. However, the investor had not yet fulfilled its financial obligations related to land use.
In September 2018, the People's Committee of District 2 formally requested guidance from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, as well as the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department, on the collection of land use fees for the 380.2 square meter land area utilized for the construction of the aforementioned apartment building. However, to date, the People's Committee of District 2 has yet to receive a response.
