Joint Circular No. 14/2015/TTLT-BTNMT-BTP promulgating auction of land use rights

JOINT CIRCULAR

Promulgating regulations on organizing auction of land use rights

for allocation of land with land use levy or land lease

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Pursuant to the Law on Land, dated November 29, 2013;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 detailing the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Land;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 44/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 prescribing regulations on land prices;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 17/2010/ND-CP dated March 4, 2010 prescribing regulations on property auction;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 21/2013/ND-CP dated March 4, 2013 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 22/2013/ND-CP dated March 13, 2013 defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Justice;

The Minister of Natural Resources and Environment and the Minister of Justice hereby issue the Joint Circular on organizing auction of land use rights for allocation of land with land use levy or land lease,

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation

This Circular shall prescribe in details regulations on organizing auction of land use rights for allocation of land with land use levy or land lease.

Article 2. Subjects of application

State agencies in charge of land management, property auctions, collection of land use levy and land rental; the units in charge of organizing auctions, the units in charge of conducting auction of land use rights and other organizations and individuals related to the auction of land use rights.

Article 3. Interpretation of terms

In this Decree, the terms below shall be construed as follows:

1. Units in charge of organizing auction of land use rights shall be land fund development organizations or functional agencies, organizations assigned by competent People's Committees to organize auction of land use rights.

2. Units in charge of conducting auction of land use rights shall include functional organizations in the field of property auctions in accordance with the law provisions on land, law provisions on property auctions and other relevant law provisions or the Council of auction of land use rights established by a competent People's Committee in special cases.

Article 4. Land funds used for auction of land use rights

Land funds used for auction of land use rights shall include:

1. Land recovered for socio-economic development in the national or public interest in accordance with regulations in Article 62 of the Law on Land; land recovered due to violations of the land law in accordance with regulations in Clause 1, Article 64 of the Law on Land; land recovered due to termination of land use as prescribed by the law, voluntary return of land in accordance with law regulations specified at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1, Article 65 of the Law on Land;

2. Land recovered by the State due to rearrangement and handling of working offices, non-business establishments, manufacturing and business establishments whose properties attached to land are owned by the State;

3. Land owned by the People's Committees of communes, wards, townships or owned by assigned land fund management organizations but has not been allocated or leased in accordance with law provisions;

4. Allocated land as specified at Point b and Point c, Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on Land which is assigned, leased by competent state agencies in accordance with law provisions.

Article 5. The Council of auction of land use rights in special cases       

1. The Council of auction of land use rights in special cases shall be established to conduct auction of land use rights for the following cases:

a) To allocate or lease land, for land used in projects of great value when the value of land use rights of the entire land plot calculated according to the land price in the land price list is from VND 1,000,000,000,000 or more for municipalities; from VND 300,000,000,000 or more for mountainous and highland provinces; from VND 500,000,000,000 or more for the remaining provinces;

b) To allocate or lease land to organizations, households and individuals in order to implement investment projects or to allocate residential land to households and individuals in communes of mountainous areas which are at least 60km far from the city center and do not have any auctioning organizations in accordance with law provisions.

2. People's Committees at the competent level shall allocate land, lease land in accordance with law provisions in the Law on Land, decide on the establishment of the Council of auction of land use rights in special cases as specified in Clause 1 of this Article for each specific case.

3. Member of the Council of auction of land use rights for cases specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall include the representative leader of the People's Committee at the competent level to decide on land allocation or land lease or an authorized person in accordance with law provisions to work as the Chairman of the Council; representatives of agencies specialized in the field of natural resources and environment, justice, finance, construction at the same level and other related agencies and organizations to work as members.

Chapter II

THE ORDER AND PROCEDURE FOR ORGANIZING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AUCTION OF LAND USE RIGHTS

Article 6. Establishment of plans for auction of land use rights

1. Based on the approved district-level annual land use plan and proposal of relevant units on the auction of the existing land fund, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment or the Division of Natural Resources and Environment shall report to the People’s Committee at the same level to direct units in charge of managing land funds, which are specified in Article 4 of this Circular, to prepare plans for auction of land use rights and submit to the People's Committee at the same level for approval.

2. A plan for auctions of land use shall include the following main contents:

a) List of land types, location, area and technical infrastructure, properties attached to the auctioned land plots (if any);

b) Purpose, form (land allocation or land lease), term of use of land plots when conducting auction of land use rights;

c) Estimated time for organizing the auction of land plots;

d) Objects and conditions to participate in the auction; the auction participation fee and the deposit amount paid when participating in the auction;

dd) The form of auction chosen to conduct the auction;

e) Funds and sources of expenses for organizing the auction;

g) Expected revenue and proposed use of revenue earned from the auction;

h) Method of selecting the unit to conduct the auction (competitive bidding or assigning a specific unit to perform) or proposing the establishment of the Council of auction of land use rights in special cases (in cases where the special Council of auctions shall be established in accordance with law provisions);

i) Proposal on the unit to be assigned to conduct the auction of land use rights.

Article 7. Preparation for the dossier for auction of land use rights

1. Based on the approved plan for auction of land use rights, the unit assigned to organize the auction of land use rights shall be responsible for preparing dossiers on auctioned land plots, submit to the agency in charge of natural resources and environment for appraisal before submitting to the People’s Committee at the competent level to decide on the auction of land use rights.

2. A dossier on auctioned land plots shall include:

a) A written statement and draft decision on auction of land use rights;

b) Documents related to the current status of management and use of the auctioned land plots and technical infrastructure and properties attached to the auctioned land plots (if any) of the competent agency;

c) Information on master plans, plans on land use and detailed construction master plan related to the auctioned land plots approved by the competent state agency;

d) Extract from the cadastral map or extract from the cadastral measurement of the auctioned land plots in case there is no cadastral map;

dd) Name and address of the unit organizing the implementation of the auction of land use rights.

Article 8. Decision on the auction of land use rights

1. Based on the dossier on auctioned land plots prepared by the in charge of organizing the implementation of auction of land use rights and based on the appraisal opinions of the agency in charge of natural resources and environment, the People's Committee at the competent level shall decide on the auction of land use rights.

2. A decision on auction of land use rights shall be made in written form and shall include the following main contents:

a) Legal grounds for issuing the decision;

b) List, location, area of land plot, technical infrastructure, properties attached to the land parcel (if any), purpose, form and term of use of the land plots to be auctioned;

c) Information on the master plan, plans on land use, detailed construction master plan already approved by the competent state agency and other regulations related to the management and use of the land plots having been decided to be auctioned.

d) Name and address of the unit assigned to organize the auction of land use rights.

Article 9. Determining and approving the reserve price of auctioned land plots

1. Based on the decision on the auction of land use rights, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment shall determine the reserve price of the auctioned land plots (including the land price, technical infrastructure, and properties attached to the land if any) as prescribed by the law and submit it to the provincial or municipal People's Committee (hereinafter referred to as the provincial-level People's Committee) for approval.

2. The dossier for approval of the reserve price of auctioned land plots shall include:

a) A written statement on the plan for the reserve price of the land plots to be auctioned, the price of technical infrastructure and properties attached to the land (if any);

b) A draft plan for the reserve price;

c) An explanatory report on the development of the plan for the reserve price;

d) Written appraisal of the plan for the reserve price.

3. Based on the dossier submitted by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the provincial-level People's Committee shall approve the reserve price of the auctioned land plots. The approved reserve price of the auctioned land plots shall be the basis for conducting auction of land use rights.

Article 10. Selecting and signing contracts for hiring units in charge of conducting auction of land use rights

1. Based on the method of selecting the unit in charge of conducting auctions specified in the plan for auction of land use rights having been approved; the unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights shall be responsible for selecting and signing contracts for hiring the unit in charge of conducting auction of land use rights in accordance with law provisions.

2. The organization of competitive bidding to select the unit in charge of conducting the auction of land use rights shall be carried out in accordance with the approved plan. The unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights must submit the People's Committee at the competent level to decide on the establishment of a bidding advisory team to develop and appraise the bidding dossier; announce the contents and bidding dossiers on the mass media at least 02 times; appraise bidding dossiers on the principle of objectivity and honesty and determine the winning unit according to the scale and criteria prescribed by law provisions on bidding and specific local regulations (if any).

For case of open bidding, if only one unit registers for bidding participation after the bidding period expires, the unit in charge of organizing auction of land use rights shall report to the agency of natural resources and environment for submission to the People's Committee at the competent level, for decision on assigning a specific unit with the function of property auction as prescribed by the laws to conduct the auction or on continuing to reorganize the open bidding to select the unit conducting the auction of land use rights according to regulations.

3. A contract to hire a unit in charge of conducting auction of land use rights shall include the following main contents:

a) Name and address of the unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights; of the unit conducting the auction of land use rights;

b) Location and area of the land plots to be auctioned (in case of multiple land plots, an appendix to the dossier must be attached);

c) The reserve price for auction;

d) Time and location of the auction;

dd) Objects and conditions to participate in the auction in accordance with the approved plan;

e) The form of auction applied when conducting the auction in accordance with the approved plan;

g) The fee for registration of participation in the auction and the deposit amount in accordance with the approved plan;

h) The method of collecting and handling the auction registration fees and deposit; the method, level of payment and settlement of the cost of conducting the auction;

i) The time limit, place and method of handing over the dossier and minutes of auction results;

k) Rights and obligations of the parties involved in the performance of the contract.

4. The unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights may sign a contract to hire an unit in charge of conducting the auction of land use rights in cases where the plan for the auction of land use rights has prescribed the method of assigning a specific unit to conduct the auction or in cases where the agency in charge of natural resources and environment issues a written report and proposes to assign a specific unit to conduct the auction in accordance with law provisions in Clause 2 of this Article.

Article 11. Supervising the organization of the auction of land use rights

1. The unit in charge of conducting the auction of land use rights shall be responsible for conducting the auction of land use rights in accordance with the order and procedure prescribed in law provisions on property auctions and specific content in the hiring contract to conduct the auction of land use rights.

2. The unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights shall be responsible for appointing representatives to attend and supervise the implementation of the auction of land use rights. On a case-by-case basis, the unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights shall coordinate with the unit in charge of conducting the auctions to invite representatives from the agency of natural resources and environment, justice, finance, and local authorities where the auctioned land is located and representatives of other related organizations and individuals to attend and supervise the implementation of the auction of land use rights.

Article 12. Approving the outcome of auctions of land use rights

1. Within 05 working days from the date on which the dossier and the Minutes on results of the auction of land use rights are handed over from the unit in charge of conducting the auction of land use rights, the unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights shall prepare a dossier and send it to the agency in charge of natural resources and environment for submission to the People’s Committee at the competent level which has issued the decision on the auction of land use rights to recognize the winning results of auction of land use rights .

2. The dossier applying for issuance of the decision on recognition of the auction’s winning result shall include:

a) The draft decision on recognition of the auction’s winning result;

b) The decision on the auction of land use rights of the People's Committee at the competent level;

c) The dossier on the auctioned land plots;

d) The contract for hiring a unit to conduct the auction of land use rights;

dd) The report on the organization of the auction and Minutes on the auction’s result.

3. People's Committees at the competent level shall sign and issue a decision to recognize the winning result of the auction of land use rights and send it to the agency in charge of natural resources and environment, the unit in charge of conducting the auction of land use rights, the tax agency and the winners of the auction of land use rights. The decision to recognize the winning result of the auction of land use rights shall the following contents:

a) Legal grounds for issuing the decision;

b) Location, area, purpose, form and duration of land use and technical infrastructure and properties attached to the land plots (if any);

c) Name and address of the winners of the auction of land use rights;

d) The winning amount in the auction of land use rights and technical infrastructure and properties attached to the land (if any); method, place and time to pay the auction winning money;

dd) The unit that signs the land lease contract and issues the Certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other properties attached to the land;

e) Responsibilities of relevant agencies and units.

Article 13. Payment of land use levy, land rental after receiving the decision on recognition of the auction’s winning result

1. Within 05 working days from the date on which the decision on recognition of the auction’s winning result of the People’s Committee at the competent level is received, the tax agency shall send a written notice of payment of land use levy or land rental to the persons who won the auction.

2. The written notice of payment of land use levy or land rental shall include the following contents:

a) The payable amount of land use levy or land rental and the method, place and time of payment in accordance with the auction’s winning result recognized by the People's Committee at the competent level;

b) Name, address and account number at the State Treasury to pay the land use levy or land rental;

c) Deadline for payment of land use levy or land rental;

d) Time limit for handing over the documents on payment of land use levy or land rental to the agency in charge of natural resources and environment.

3. The persons who have won the auction of land use rights shall be responsible for paying land use levy to the State Treasury and transferring the documents on such payment to the agency in charge of natural resources and environment for carrying out procedures for signing land lease contracts and granting certificates of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached properties in accordance with law regulations.

Article 14. Issuance of certificates of land use rights and allocation of land to auction winners

1. After receiving the documents proving the full payment of the auction of land use rights of the auction’s winners, the agency in charge of natural resources and environment shall submit the People’s Committee at the competent level to issue the certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached properties; sign the land lease contract in the case of land lease as prescribed at Point d, Clause 5, Article 68 of the Government's Decree No. 43/2014/ND-CP dated May 15, 2014 detailing the implementation of a number of articles the Law on Land.

2. Within 05 working days from the date on which the People's Committee at the competent level issues the certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached properties for auctioned land plots, the agency in charge of natural resources and environment shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the unit in charge of organizing the auction of land use rights and the People's Committee of the commune, ward or township where the auctioned land is located to organize the handover of land and grant the certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached properties to organizations and individuals that have won auctions of land use rights; to direct relevant units to update and correct the cadastral database and cadastral records in accordance with current law regulations.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 15. Effect

This Circular shall take effect from May 20, 2015.

Article 16. Organization of implementation

1. The municipal and provincial People's Committees shall be responsible for directing and organizing the auction of land use rights to allocate land with collection of land use levy or lease land in their locality in accordance with guidance prescribed in this Circular.

2. The Departments of Natural Resources and Environment and the Departments of Justice shall be responsible for guiding and inspecting the organization and implementation of auctions of land use rights in accordance with law provisions in this Circular; periodically every 6 months and annually, report to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Justice on the implementation of auctions of land use rights in their localities.

In the course of implementation, should any difficulties or problems arise, they should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Justice for consideration and decision./.