Lam Dong: Dispute over land bought and sold 20 years ago because the area on the "red book" is different from the actual area

Request to cancel contract after nearly 20 years of land sale

The land was transferred 20 years ago and now there is a dispute.

The People's Court of Bao Loc City, Lam Dong Province is handling a dispute over a contract for the transfer of land use rights (LUR) between the plaintiff, Mr. Le Van Quang (residing in Loc Son Ward, Bao Loc City; authorized representative is Mr. Phan Trong Cau, residing in Ward 2, Bao Loc City) and the defendants, Mr. Dang Minh Khang and his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Phuong (residing in Loc Phat Ward, Bao Loc City), according to Notice of Acceptance of Case No. 10/TB-TL-VA dated January 16, 2024.

Accordingly, the plaintiff requests the People's Court of Bao Loc City to declare the cancellation of the land use rights transfer contract No. 170/CN, established on June 27, 2005, certified by the People's Committee of Loc Phat Ward on the same day June 27, 2005, for land plot No. 198, map sheet D.87.IV, Loc Phat Ward, Bao Loc City between the transferor, Mr. Khang and his wife, and the transferee, Mr. Quang.

Mr. Quang requested to cancel the above land use rights transfer contract because the land area on the land use rights certificate (LURC) is different from the actual area.

At the request of the People's Court of Bao Loc City, Mr. Khang submitted a number of notes of his opinions on the case. These included the origin of the land, the process of cultivation, transfer and his views on the plaintiff's lawsuit request.

According to Mr. Khang, he bought the above land plot in 1995 from Ms. Tran Thi Thom (residing in Loc Phat ward, Bao Loc city). When buying and selling, the two parties actually measured the land plot with a width of 15m, length of 70m (equivalent to 1,050m2), determined the boundary with adjacent plots, the current status of tea land, and no land use rights certificate.

The land use right certificate issued to Mr. Khang with an area and plot number that is not true to reality.

In 1998, Mr. Khang applied for a land use right certificate for the above plot of land, the measurement was carried out by the cadastral officer of Loc Phat ward. On December 23, 1998, the People's Committee of Bao Loc town (now Bao Loc city) issued a land use right certificate to Mr. Khang with an area of 1,682m2, belonging to plot number 198, map sheet D.87.IV.

After 10 years of stable cultivation without any disputes, on June 27, 2005, Mr. Khang transferred the above land plot to Mr. Quang. During the sale, the two parties measured and marked the actual land plot with a width of 15m and a length of 70m, the transfer price was 110 million VND.

On June 27, 2005, both parties went to the People's Committee of Loc Phat Ward to certify the transfer contract. The land plot was then transferred to Mr. Quang's name on the Land Use Right Certificate.

“I bought a plot of land with an actual area of 15m wide and 70m long and I sold it to Mr. Quang with the same area of 15m wide and 70m long, not transferring it according to the area on the “red book”. Therefore, I do not understand why Mr. Quang sued me for the missing area of the plot of land”, Mr. Khang explained.

What are the results of the on-site assessment?

The results of on-site measurement and assessment have initially clarified the case.

On March 25, 2024, Bao Loc City People's Court decided to conduct on-site review and appraisal of the disputed land area.

The results of the current land use survey map (confirmed by the Lam Dong Provincial Land Registration Office and Bao Loc City People's Court) show that the land plot that Mr. Khang transferred to Mr. Quang actually belongs to plot 201, with an area of 1,081.2m2 (including 84m2 of road boundary; the measurements of the two sides are 14m and 16.3m wide; the lengths are 69.5m and 70.4m respectively).

This area is relatively consistent with Mr. Khang's presentation of the actual measured area in the sales transactions.

Meanwhile, the actual plot of land 198 is currently being used by Mr. Pham Van Thang's family, who has built a house there for many years, and its actual measured area is only 1,487.2 square meters. This plot of land is not the plot that Mr. Khang transferred to Mr. Quang.

“Thus, the results of the on-site measurement and appraisal by the People's Court of Bao Loc City showed that the number of plots and the area of the plot of land on the Land Use Right Certificate issued to me by the People's Committee of Bao Loc Town were not true to reality. Therefore, I hope that the People's Court of Bao Loc City will consider and resolve the case fairly so that my family can soon stabilize their lives,” said Mr. Khang.

Regarding this case, Ms. Tran Thi Thom said that she had been cultivating the above plot of land since 1989, with an area of 15m wide and 70m long. In 1995, due to needing money for medical treatment, she sold the plot of land to Mr. Khang and his wife for 3 taels of gold. The current status of the plot of land is still the same. Ms. Thom is ready to go to court to testify about this matter.

Talking to the People's Representative Newspaper , Lawyer Tran Duc Phuong ( Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that there are many cases where land records stored at the People's Committees of wards and communes (land maps, inventory books) previously collected and compiled by land officials have inaccurate information, even wrong areas, plot numbers, names of land users, etc. There are cases where the plot location diagrams are correct but the plot numbers and land users are mistaken for other people, leading to the issuance of "red books" with incorrect information.
In this case, in reality, there is an area of land that has been handed over and used for many years, the plot numbering location and cadastral map may not be consistent, so it is necessary for the Court to consider and resolve based on reality.
In addition, this transfer contract was completed 20 years ago and is no longer legally valid (expired). Therefore, the defendant has the right to request the Court to apply the statute of limitations to suspend the case.

*People's Representative Newspaper continues to inform readers and voters nationwide.

Tuan Linh

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/lam-dong-tranh-chap-dat-da-mua-ban-tu-20-nam-truoc-vi-dien-tich-tren-so-do-khac-thuc-te-post408843.html