Regulations for overseas Vietnamese to regain house in VN

Question (Pham Xuan Hue, Vietnamese resident in Australia): In 1977, my father had a house and a shop named Đông Kinh at 195 Trần Quốc Toản Street (now Avanue 3-2), District 10, Hồ Chí Minh City. In 1979, my family came to settle in Australia. Now my father wants to repatriate and spend the rest of his life in Việt Nam. Can he take back the house? What are the precedures? And what are the competent bodies in charge of these affairs?

Answer:

The right to take back house:

According to Article 1 of Resolution 23/2003/QH11 of the NA dated on November 26, 2003 on land and housing managed and allocated by the State during the implementation of policies on land management and on socialist transformation issued prior to July 1, 1991, « The State does not reconsider guidlines and policies on land management and land-related socialist transformation issued prior to July 1, 1991. The State does not accept any claim to land and housing that it has managed and allocated during the implementation of policies on land management and land-related socialist transformation".

Also, Item 6, Article 2 of the Resolution stipulates that: "The State finalizes all the legal procedures on public ownership over lands and housing that it has managed and allocated during the implementation of policies on mangaging lands and houses of evacuees and emigrants inside and outside the country".

Based on the above regulations, if your land plot was managed and allocated by the Vietnamese State, with written documents, during the implementation of policíe on land management and land-related socialist transformation policies, the State does not recognize your claim.

However, according to Article 4 of the NA Standing Committee’s Resolution 755/2005/NQ-UBTVQH11 dated on April 02, 2005 on some specific cases during the implementation of policies on land management and socialist transformation prior to July 1, 1991, if your father's land plot is subjected to Article 2 of Resolution 23/2003/QH11 (mentioned in the first paragraph) but, ”by the date the Resolution came into effect (July 1, 2004), the State bodies issued no documents to take over and allocate the land plot; then the State will not manage it as stipulated by old policies. And the recognition of ownership and use right over that land plot is regulated by laws.”

In this case, your father’s house will be subjected to Articles 5, 9 and 23 of Resolution 1037/2006/NQ-UBTVQH dated on July 27, 2006 by the NA Standing Committee on civil housing transactions conducted prior to July 01, 1991 and with the involvement of overseas Vietnamese party:

The owner will regain their land plot/house if: (1) the house is being rented; (2) the house is being borrowed; or (3) it is managed under the individual-to-individual mandate.

1) The house is being rented:

If the lease contract expired prior to September 01, 2006, the owner and the leaseholder can negotiate an extension; if they agree to extend the lease, they must make a lease contract as stipulated by the Civil Law 2005. Otherwise, the solution should be:

The leaseholder manages to obtain new accommodation through buying, building, hiring or inheriting, being donated, or provided with land by the State, or the owner voluntarily assists the leaseholder to acquire new accommodation, the owner can take back their house and must give a written notice to the leaseholder at least six months in advance. In case the leaseholder does not have new accommodation, the owner can still take back their house after giving a written notice at least 12 months in advance.

2) The house that is being borrowed:

In case the borrowing contract terminated before September 1, 2006, the lender can take back their property after giving a written notice to the borrower at least six months in advance.

3) The house is being managed under individual-to-individual mandate:

- Before leaving Việt Nam, the owner consigned a Vietnamese individual permanently living in Việt Nam to manage the house, if the mandate expired prior to September 1, 2006, the owner can take back the house after giving a written notice to the proxy/user at least six months in advance.

- Before leaving Việt Nam, if the owner authorized a Vietnamese permanent resident to manage the house and the mandate was still valid after September 1, 2006, the owner can take back their house since the date when the mandate expires and they must give a written notice to the proxy/user at least six month in advance.

- Before leaving Việt Nam, the owner authorized a Vietnamese permanent resident to manage the house and the mandate duration is unlimited, the owner can take back their house after giving a written notice to the proxy/user at least 12 months in advance.