Buying and selling property

Aaboe wrote:

I am married to a Vietnamese, we have decided to buy some land together. Do I need to sign on the deed/property certificate. If not can she sell the land without my knowledge or after some years she decide to get a divorce she own the land/property? and I won't get anything. I know if it is local then it is 50/50 but does that also applies for expats

Only VN's can own LAND in VN, maybe this might have changed by next year though, Advice, Get a prenuptial.( or do as I do, and trust your wife, lol ).  50/50 applies to everyone.

First of all - you cannot buy land in VN, it uses the Chinese/Russian system, you use the 'peoples' land by obtaining a User Certificate.

And you can't always get a User Certificate (long term lease) as a Foreigner.

You've hit the nail on the head. My wife is the legal holder of User Certificates BUT it is conditioned, by the lawyers, the land cannot be pledged for a loan or sold WITHOUT my WRITTEN permission. She also made me the manager of the land.

This means the wife must be on board with these conditions. You also EACH need a lawyer to neither of you get short changed (conflict of lawyer interest).

Some lazy lawyers say this cannot be done. Which is bull. A mortgage gives the lender superior rights to the registered owner of the User Certificate, they can seize and sell the UC. By insisting that your written permission be required means no underhanded thing can happen such as the land being sold to rescue an uncle who has been kidnapped and all the other wild excuses that have come up over the years. Another frequent one is Mother (or other) was extremely sick and I needed the money so urgently I didn't have time to tell you.

Presume that no property is yours until you get the UC. You are ENTITLED to the UC upon sale and handover of the money. No UC - no money.

Some idiots (of all nationalities) have bought property and AFTER FIVE YEARS are STILL waiting for that magic piece of paper. They cannot sell the property until they get a UC, either.

And, please make sure you get a land survey - to force the vendor to remove/have removed any infringing buildings/stuff.

In VietNam even Border Marker Posts move - when China and VietNam were 'realigning' the border, using high definition GPS, the Chinese farmers on the border used to move markers at night so they could increase the size of their farms.

Vietnamese jealously guard AIR RIGHTS. I witnessed a small battle between a Hue hotel owner and a school when the hotel installed a window air-con unit and it overhung the property line by 20 or so centimetres. The school had a strip of grass against the hotel wall. So there was no real damage or loss.

However, some Vietnamese are more than happy to pinch others air rights - houses in Pham Ngu Lao Ward have been extended over public roads, over or around high voltage electric cables, etc. Get a survey (about USD$100) - cheap insurance and the hassles are blamed on the vendor!

" And, please make sure you get a land survey - to force the vendor to remove/have removed any infringing buildings/stuff. "

Don't be surprised if your fence , or fruit trees ,  if you have any, ( my land only had an old fence around it,  and a very nice big Mango tree ),, go missing as well, this happened to us, ( but I had the last laugh, the big Mango tree he " reclaimed ", died, I would have given him mangoes off this tree, if he had left it, just another little piece of karma?

Also , if you erect a fence or wall, ( and you will be the only one paying for it ), make sure you don't build it exactly on the boundary line, if you decide to make it higher at a later date, you might get some pretty fierce opposition from your neighbour, as I did.

Thanks a lot, I do trust my wife, but again do I do that after five years, LOL

Thanks, this helps me, and I don't think my wife have any problems with that

Mimosa Huynh wrote:

Dear Sir,

BCZ you are foreigner you can't buy land , house, villa. Just you wife can own and it will be her properties when divorce you will leaf all.
You just can buy apartment with 50 years ownership and then you sell for another person, if Vietnamese will be own forever and if foreigner will be 50 year continue from the date you are selling.
When you buy apartment, Notarized office will ask you if you want to owner together with your wife or not? . if yes, apartment will own in 50 year. if not they ask you make a document the properties will be for your wife when divorce .
if you want to invest properties or rent flats in Ho Chi Minh city, please do not hesitate to contact me through my phone number (84) 916 542 598. Ms. Mimosa.

Unless the law has changed overnight, it's still a 50/50 split, doesn't matter who's name the land is in, same with all property , INCLUDING household affects, etc
Article 27. Common property of husband and wife

1. Common property of husband and wife includes property created by husband and wife, incomes generated from labor, production and business activities and other lawful incomes of husband and wife during the marriage period; property jointly inherited or given to both, and other property agreed upon by husband and wife as common property.

The land use right obtained by husband and wife after their marriage is their common property. The land use right obtained before the marriage or personally inherited by husband or wife shall be common property only if so agreed upon by husband and wife.

Common property of husband and wife falls under common ownership by integration.

2. Where a property under the common ownership of husband and wife is required by law to be registered for ownership, the names of both husband and wife must be inscribed in the ownership certificate thereof.

3. Where there is no evidence proving that a property being in dispute between husband and wife is his/her personal property, such property is common property..

I read somewhere, ( can't find it now??? ),  VN's actually only have a 77yr lease, but no ones applies that anymore. they also never own the land, they have a Land Users Certificate.