Does trading real estate have to be notarized or authenticated in Vietnam? If the land does not have enough area to separate the plot, can the transfer contract be notarized in Vietnam?
Does trading real estate have to be notarized or authenticated in Vietnam? If the land does not have enough area to separate the plot, can the transfer contract be notarized in Vietnam? If the house transfer contract is not notarized, can I get my money back in case of dispute in Vietnam?
Does trading real estate have to be notarized or authenticated in Vietnam?
As far as I know, notarization and authentication are different, so according to the law in Vietnam, Does trading real estate have to be notarized or authenticated? Thank!
Reply:
Clause 3, Article 167 of the 2013 Land Law stipulates:
3. The notarization and certification of contracts and documents on the exercise of the rights of land users shall be conducted as follows:
a/ Contracts on transfer, donation, mortgage or contribution of land use rights as capital or the rights to use land and land-attached assets must be notarized or certified, except the case of real estate business prescribed at Point b of this Clause;
b/ Contracts on lease or sublease of land use rights or the rights to use land and land-attached assets, a contract on exchange of agricultural land use rights, a contract on transfer of land use rights or the rights to use land and land-attached assets in which one party or all parties involved in the transaction is/are a real estate business organization or organizations must be notarized or certified at the request of the parties;
c/ The documents on inheritance of land use rights or the rights to use land and land-attached assets must be notarized or certified under the civil law;
d/ The notarization shall be conducted at notarization-practicing organizations and the certification shall be conducted at commune-level People’s Committees.
Thus, for real estate transactions in Vietnam, it must be notarized or authenticated. That is, the parties have the right to choose one of the two, depending on their conditions. For example, notary offices are often available in big cities, so authentication will be convenient for people in places where there is no notary office.
If the land does not have enough area to separate the plot, can the transfer contract be notarized in Vietnam?
I have a plan to buy a neighbor's non-agricultural land with an area of 200 m2. However, in my locality, the land must have an area of 300 m2 to be divided. I have a question, can it be notarized when making a land transfer contract? Please advise me
Reply:
Pursuant to the provisions of the 2013 Land Law, the minimum area for the division of land parcel in each locality will be based on the decision of the provincial People's Committee in that locality. Therefore, the minimum area for the division of land parcel in each locality will be different in Vietnam.
According to the information you provided, the minimum area for the division of land parcel in in your locality is 300m2. Therefore, in case the area of land you purchased is 200m2 smaller than the minimum area to be split, you will not be allowed to split the parcel of land in Vietnam.
According to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 29 of Decree 43/2014/ND-CP:
2. Notarization, certification, grant of a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets, and carrying out of procedures to exercise the rights of land users are not allowed in case land users arbitrarily divide the land parcels already registered and granted with the certificates into two or more smaller land parcels at least one of which is smaller than the minimum area prescribed by the provincial-level People’s Committee.
Thus, in case the land does not have enough area to separate the parcel, it is not allowed to notarize, authenticate or issue a certificate of land use right in Vietnam. Therefore, when you perform this land transfer contract, the notary agency will not notarize it for you.
Above is our advice for your support request.
If the house transfer contract is not notarized, can I get my money back in case of dispute in Vietnam?
Hello, I have bought a house 700 million, when I bought it, we wrote a handwritten paper to buy and sell the house without notarization or certification. I just gave them 100 million, when the paper is done I will hand over the rest. They promised that by the end of the year they would quickly complete the procedure and transfer it to me. However, this house is being mortgaged at the bank. Until now, I asked them to quickly carry out the procedures to transfer my name or return the money to me, but they refused and did not intend to cooperate. Can you tell me if I can get my house back or get my money back in this case? Please help me answer.
Reply:
According to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 167 of the 2013 Land Law:
3. The notarization and certification of contracts and documents on the exercise of the rights of land users shall be conducted as follows:
a/ Contracts on transfer, donation, mortgage or contribution of land use rights as capital or the rights to use land and land-attached assets must be notarized or certified, except the case of real estate business prescribed at Point b of this Clause;
b/ Contracts on lease or sublease of land use rights or the rights to use land and land-attached assets, a contract on exchange of agricultural land use rights, a contract on transfer of land use rights or the rights to use land and land-attached assets in which one party or all parties involved in the transaction is/are a real estate business organization or organizations must be notarized or certified at the request of the parties;
c/ The documents on inheritance of land use rights or the rights to use land and land-attached assets must be notarized or certified under the civil law;
d/ The notarization shall be conducted at notarization-practicing organizations and the certification shall be conducted at commune-level People’s Committees.
According to the information you provided in Vietnam, you only made a handwritten contract without notarization or authentication, so this contract is not consistent with the regulations on the form of the transaction and may be declared invalid.
According to the provisions of Article 129 of the 2015 Civil Code, invalidity of civil transactions due to non-compliance with form as follows:
A civil transaction violating conditions for validity pertaining to form shall be invalid, except for any of the following cases:
1. If the form of a civil transaction, required to be established in writing, does not comply with regulations of law, but a party or the parties has/have fulfill at least two third of the obligations in the transaction, a court, at his/her/their request(s), shall issue a decision on recognition of the validity of such transaction.
2. If the form of a civil transaction, required to be established in writing, violates against regulations on notarizing or authorization, but a party or the parties has/have fulfill at least two third of the obligations in the transaction, a court, at his/her/their request(s), shall issue a decision on recognition of the validity of such transaction. In this case, the parties need not perform the notarizing or authorization.
Thus, in this case, the house trading transaction is a mandatory transaction that must be notarized and authenticated in Vietnam. In this case, if you do not notarize and authenticate the house sale and purchase contract, this contract will be invalid. For invalid civil transactions, the parties are obliged to return to each other what they have received. Therefore, in this case, you can apply to the Court to request that your house trading transaction be declared invalid and ask the other party to return you the amount of VND 100 million.
Above is the content of our consultation for your support request.
Best regards!
