Circular No. 01/2009/TT-BXD dated February 25, 2009 of the Ministry of Construction providing for some issues on the grant of House Ownership Certificates and guiding the model contract on trading in apartments under construction investment projects of house dealing organizations

CIRCULAR

PROVIDING FOR SOME ISSUES ON THE GRANT OF HOUSE OWNERSHIP CERTIFICATES AND GUIDING THE MODEL CONTRACT ON TRADING IN APARTMENTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT PROJECTS OF HOUSE DEALING ORGANIZATIONS

THE MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 17/2008/ND-CP of February 4, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 90/2006/ND-CP of September 6, 2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of the Homing Law;

Pursuant to the Construction Ministry’s Circular No. 05/2006/TT-BXD of November 1,2006, guiding the implementation of a number of provisions of the Government’s Decree No. 90/2006/ND-CP of September 6, 2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of the Housing Law;
At the proposal of the director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department,

Article 1. Responsibilities to carry out procedures for the grant of certificates to purchasers and dossiers of application for first-time grant of house ownership certificates upon purchase of apartments under construction investment projects

1. House dealing organizations (sellers) shall carry out procedures for competent state agencies to grant certificates to apartment purchasers.

2. A dossier of application for an apartment ownership certificate comprises a basic dossier and a dossier of the apartment.

2.1. Within 30 days after the take-over test is carried out for the apartment building to be commissioned, the house dealing organization (the seller) shall complete and submit to the certificate-granting agency the basic dossier of the apartment building.

Basic dossiers shall be compiled for all apartments and sections under private ownership in the apartment building, each comprising:

a/ The following papers on the investment project on the construction of the apartment building:

A copy of the decision approving the project, investment decision or investment certificate;

A copy of the decision approving the project’s 1:500-scale detailed planning (if no copy of this planning-approving decision is available, a copy of the agreement on the general plan for the land plot with the apartment building is required);

b/ One of the following papers on the land on which the apartment building is constructed:

A copy of the land use right certificate;

The decision on land allocation and vouchers proving the payment of land use levies (except cases entitled to exemption from or deferred payment of land use levies under law);

c/ The blueprint of the house or residential land plan:

It is permitted to use construction completion drawings for the architectural work or architectural design drawings depicting the current state of the house (without having to conduct re-measurement and drawing), including: the construction ground drawing of the apartment building and the ground drawing of the floor of the apartment; in case the ground drawing of the floor does not display the dimensions of the apartment, the ground drawing of the apartment is required. This drawing will serve as a basis for the certificate-granting agency to draw the house plan in the house ownership certificate.

d/ A list of apartments and sections under private ownership for which certificates are applied.

2.2. Within 30 days after owners of apartments and sections under private ownership make full payment under sale and purchase contracts, the house dealing organization (the seller) shall complete and submit to the certificate-granting agency dossier of each apartment, comprising:

a/ An application for a house ownership certificate, made according to the form in Appendix 1 to the Construction Ministry’s Circular No. 05/2006/TT-BXD of November 1, 2006, with the signature of the purchaser and certification of the seller;

b/ A contract on the sale and purchase of an apartment or a section under private ownership concluded by the two parties; a written record on the hand-over or liquidation of the contract on the sale and purchase of the apartment or section under private ownership in the apartment building and vouchers on the collection of financial obligations from the purchaser for the grant of the certificate (in case the purchaser pays financial obligations by himself/herself, he/she shall hand over these receipts to the seller for inclusion in the dossier of application;)

c/ A copy of the document issued by a real estate trading floor certifying that the apartment has been traded through the floor, made according to the form in Appendix 4 to the Construction Ministry’s Circular No. 13/2008/TT-BXD of October 15, 2008, detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Real Estate Business.

3. In case the apartment purchaser has made full payment for the purchase of the apartment before the time of compiling the basic dossier prescribed at Point 2.1, Clause 2 of this Article, the basic dossier and the dossier of application for a certificate for each apartment shall be concurrently compiled and submitted to the certificate-granting agency. The certificate-granting agency shall fill in procedures and grant certificates to the apartment owners within 30 days after the receipt of complete and valid dossiers.

4. Fees for first-time grant of house ownership certificates to apartments comply with Article 49 of the Government’s Decree No. 90/2006/ND-CP of September 6, 2006.

Article 2. Indication of apartment areas on house ownership certificates

The area of an apartment written on a house ownership certificate is its floor area, including the area of its balconies and loggias (if any), which is measured according to the apartment’s clearance dimensions or dimensions from the center of party walls to the center of surrounding walls (party walls are walls partitioning two adjacent apartments and surrounding walls are walls partitioning the apartment from corridors or passages or the exterior of the apartment). The apartment’s floor area and the method of measuring this area must be clearly indicated in the contract on the sale and purchase of the apartment and the house plan draw specified in Item c, Point 2.1, Clause 2, Article 1 of this Circular.

Article 3. Apartment trading contracts

An apartment trading contract must contain the following principal details:

1. Regarding sections under common ownership and sections under private ownership:

An apartment trading contract must fully state the area under private ownership of the purchaser and areas under common ownership in the apartment building (clearly stating sections under common ownership prescribed in Clause 3, Article 70 of the Housing Law such as corridors, common passages, stairs, elevators, parking lots and other sections under common ownership). If the apartment building consists of other facilities or areas (such as swimming pool, tennis court, shopping mall, parking lot for business purposes and other areas) under private ownership of the investor or another owner, such must be clearly stated in the contract.

2. Regarding regulations on management and use of the apartment building:

When concluding an apartment trading contract, the investor must enclose regulations on the management and use of the apartment building (these regulations constitute an integral part of the contract). These regulations must cover principal contents prescribed in Article 9 of the Regulation on management and use of apartment buildings, issued together with the Construction Minister’s Decision No. 08/2008/QD-BXD of May 28, 2008.

3. Regarding the area of the apartment

An apartment trading contract must clearly state the apartment’s floor area and the method of measuring this area prescribed in Article 2 of this Circular.

4. Regarding funds for maintenance and operation of the apartment building:

a/ An apartment trading contract must clearly state that the sale price of the apartment is inclusive of funds for maintenance of sections under common ownership in the apartment building (equal to 2% of the sale price) as prescribed at Point a, Clause 1, Article 54 of the Government’s Decree No. 90/2006/ND-CP of September 6, 2006. In case the collected funds are not enough to cover maintenance expenses, it is permitted to mobilize contributions from apartment owners corresponding to the area under private ownership of each owner.

b/ An apartment trading contract must clearly state the estimated level of contribution for management and operation of the apartment building as well as principles on the adjustment of that contribution level. The contribution level must not exceed the ceiling level prescribed by the People’s Committee of the province or centrally run city where the apartment building is located.

5. The model contract on trading in apartments defined in the Appendix to this Circular (not printed herein) must be used for first-time sale of apartments under construction investment projects in which the seller is a house dealing organization. The principles defined in this Article and the model contract in the Appendix to this Circular may also be used for the sale of other sections under private ownership in apartment buildings.

Article 4. Organization of implementation

1. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall direct provincial-level Construction Services and lower-level People’s Committees to implement this Circular.

2. The Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department shall assist the Minister of Construction in guiding, examining and urging localities to implement this Circular.

Article 5. Implementation effect

1. This Circular takes effect 45 days after its signing for issuance. The provisions in the Construction Ministry’s Circular No. 05/2006/TT-BXD of November 1, 2006, on the grant of house ownership rights certificates for apartments which are contrary to this Circular are annulled.

2. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Construction for amendment or supplementation according to its competence or submission to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision.