Signing a Residential Housing Purchase Agreement: What to Note?

Regarding the parties entering into a contract:

Before entering into a contract, the parties must determine the subject with whom they are contracting, including their civil capacity. According to the 2005 Civil Code, the civil capacity of individuals is regulated as follows:

- Individuals from 18 years of age and older have full civil capacity, except in cases where a court declares them to have lost civil capacity or to have limited civil capacity. Individuals with full civil capacity have full authority to enter into all housing purchase transactions;- Individuals from 6 years old to under 18 years old have incomplete civil capacity. Therefore, if individuals from 6 to under 18 years old participate as one party (seller or buyer) in a housing purchase contract, the consent of their legal representative is required for the transaction to be considered legitimate. The will of the legal representative must be expressed in the housing purchase contract;- Individuals from 15 years old to under 18 years old can establish and execute housing purchase contracts within the scope of their own private assets;- Individuals under 6 years old or those who have lost civil capacity are not permitted to establish transactions. All transactions related to housing purchase contracts involving their rights and obligations must be established and executed by their legal representative.- For legal entities, households, and cooperatives: These entities engage in housing transactions through their representatives (by law or under authorization). The rights and obligations established by the representatives create the rights and obligations of the legal entities, households, and cooperatives.

In cases where the seller has multiple co-owners (such as spousal common ownership, common ownership by heirs, common ownership by household members, etc.), the sale requires the written consent of all co-owners. If the ownership documents only bear the name of either the husband or the wife, to prevent risk, it should be verified if the property is the exclusive possession of either spouse.

Purpose of purchasing the house

Typically, the object of a housing purchase contract is the house or the area of the house intended for living. In cases where the house includes a yard, the yard area is also part of the transaction. In reality, many cases involve housing purchase contracts where the purpose is not for living but for other uses such as offices or business premises of a legal entity. Article 455 of the 2005 Civil Code stipulates that if the law does not provide otherwise, buying a house for purposes other than living is still governed by the housing purchase contract regulations.

Current status and origin of the house

According to the law, houses subject to housing purchase contracts must be existing or under construction.

In cases involving future-formed houses, such as those under construction or planned apartments, the legal basis for such transactions must be ensured. Future-formed house transactions often entail risks. Therefore, careful consideration is necessary for such transactions. The buyer must have accurate information about the housing project under construction, and the project investor must notify the sale of apartments based on design drawings detailing the area, construction materials, and related equipment.

To obtain a realistic view and avoid risks, the buyer must personally visit the house site to check its current status, determine the ownership origin, check the transfer process of ownership rights, and verify if the house has a certificate of ownership. Determining the origin and legal status of the house is essential for ensuring the legal conformance of the contract and avoiding future disputes.

Additionally, it is important to note if the house is mortgaged or seized to secure the fulfillment of any civil or criminal obligations.

For inherited houses, it is necessary to verify whether the house belonged to the deceased, who contributed to maintaining or increasing the house's value, the legal heirs of the house, and the will of the co-heirs regarding the transfer.

For houses given as gifts or inherited through a will, it is necessary to check whether the gift or will imposes any conditions, especially to determine whether it was for ownership or merely for management and worship. If it is not for ownership, it should not be purchased.

Given economic constraints, customers may have to buy houses that were previously sold to various people, with each only purchasing a part of the house’s area. In such cases, it is necessary to consider whether the purchased area overlaps with other households', examine any restrictions, and check if it depends on prior buyers' contracts.

Contract signing, clear and detailed documentation

Another important aspect is that both the buyer and the seller must provide clearly and detailed related documents for the housing transaction. It is necessary to check whether the housing documents are valid or not in transactions such as:

- For houses owned privately, check if there is certification from the authorities under former policies;- For houses built by either party or jointly, verify whether there was a construction permit issued during the construction process and whether there is a certificate of ownership for the land or house. Additionally, other documents such as material purchase invoices, construction payment receipts, and construction outsourcing contracts are valuable evidence of who built the house.- For houses owned by the State or by agencies or organizations, identify who has the legal right to use the house (allocation decisions, house assignment decisions, etc.), whether there is a certificate of house ownership, and check any documents proving the ownership transfer.

>> CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE IN VIETNAMESE