Buying an apartment with a pink book: the checks before placing a deposit

An apartment that already has a pink book (certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land) changes hands faster than a unit still under an agreement with the developer, but the risks lie elsewhere: whether the certificate matches the unit, whether it is mortgaged, and whether the person signing the sale has full authority. Most of these risks can be checked before you transfer the deposit.

1. Read the original pink book carefully

• Registered owner: compare with the seller's identity documents. If the certificate is in the names of a married couple or several people, all must sign together, or there must be a notarised power of attorney.
• Unit details: unit number, floor, tower, floor area and form of ownership — check against the actual unit you viewed.
• Term: read the lines on the land use term and the apartment ownership term. The 2023 Law on Housing no longer fixes a set lifespan for apartment buildings; it is determined by the design documents and actual inspection results. If the certificate states a specific term, ask what it is based on before deciding.
• Changes page: whether the unit has previously been mortgaged, had a mortgage released, or been transferred.

2. Check for mortgages, disputes and distraint

Under the 2023 Law on Housing, housing that is bought and sold must have a certificate, must not be in an ownership dispute, must not be under distraint for judgment enforcement, and must not be subject to a land recovery decision or a clearance or demolition notice.

• File a request for information at the land registration office (branch) where the apartment is located to compare the certificate with the cadastral records and see any mortgage or blocking status.
• Ask the notary office where you plan to sign: the notary checks the transaction-blocking data before notarising.
• A unit mortgaged to a bank can still be bought, but agree clearly in writing who repays the loan, when the bank releases the mortgage, and which account your money goes into.

3. Maintenance fund, management fees, zoning

• The 2% maintenance fund: buyers purchasing an apartment from the developer must pay 2% of the apartment's value. Ask for the receipt or confirmation of payment; if it has not been paid, agree which party bears it.
• Management fees, utilities, parking: ask the building management board to confirm that the unit has no outstanding amounts up to the handover date.
• Zoning: ask the local planning authority whether the land is subject to recovery or clearance.

4. The deposit agreement

Under Article 328 of the 2015 Civil Code, if the party paying the deposit refuses to buy, they lose the deposit; if the party receiving it refuses to sell, they must return the deposit plus an equal amount, unless the parties agree otherwise. The law does not require a deposit agreement to be notarised, but it should be in writing and state: the sale price, the deposit amount, the deadline for notarising the sale contract, the documents the seller must hand over, who pays taxes and fees, the deposit penalty, and the conditions for a refund if checks show the unit is mortgaged, in dispute or blocked.

5. Notarisation and transfer of title

• A housing sale contract must be notarised or certified; it takes effect from the time of notarisation or certification (2023 Law on Housing, Article 164). The amended Law on Notarisation (Law No. 04/2026/QH16), effective 1 January 2027, changes the list of transactions requiring notarisation — if you sign from 2027, check with the notary office which rules apply at that time.

• Within 30 days of notarisation, the application to register the change (transfer of title) must be filed. Filing late can lead to a fine of 2–3 million VND.

• The processing time for a transfer application is currently no more than 8 working days (during the period Decree 151/2025/NĐ-CP applies, until 28 February 2027), and can be longer if the file needs additional documents.

6. Taxes and fees on transfer of title

Item	Rate	Who pays (usually)	Example for a unit priced at 4 billion VND
Personal income tax	2% of the transfer price	Seller	80 million VND
Registration fee	0.5% of the fee calculation price	Buyer	20 million VND
Notary fee, file appraisal fee	Per the current fee schedule	As agreed	—

• The 2% tax applies under the 2025 Law on Personal Income Tax, effective 1 July 2026. A seller who owns only one home in Vietnam, has owned it for at least 183 days and sells the whole unit may be exempt.
• The registration fee is calculated on the contract price if that price is higher than the price issued by the provincial or city People's Committee. The parties can agree otherwise on who pays — write it clearly into the deposit agreement.

7. Buying with a loan

The bank values the apartment itself and sets the loan limit based on its valuation, which may be lower than your purchase price. Get the valuation result and loan approval notice before signing the deposit agreement, and set payment deadlines that match the disbursement timeline. To estimate your monthly payments, use the home-buying cash-flow tool.

Looking for a unit that already has a pink book? See the apartments and ready homes consigned to HPR for sale — each listing shows the date HPR verified its documents.

This article is for reference only and does not replace legal or financial advice for each specific case.

1. See the original pink book; compare the registered owner with the seller's identity documents and marital status.
2. Check the unit number, floor and area on the certificate against the actual unit; read the ownership term and the changes page.
3. Make an enquiry at the land registration office where the apartment is located: does the certificate match the records, is there a mortgage or a block?
4. Ask the notary office where you plan to sign about any transaction-blocking data for the unit.
5. Ask for the receipt for the 2% maintenance fund and the building management board's confirmation that no management fees are owed.
6. Ask for zoning information on the land.
7. Buying with a loan: have the bank's valuation result and loan approval notice before the deposit.
8. Sign a written deposit agreement: price, deposit, notarisation deadline, who pays taxes and fees, deposit penalty, refund conditions.
9. Notarise the sale contract, receive the original certificate, then file the transfer of title within 30 days.

Sources in Vietnamese; titles kept in the original, with a short English translation in brackets.

• Luật Nhà ở số 27/2023/QH15 (Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15) of 27 November 2023 (effective 1 August 2024) — Articles 58, 152, 160, 164: full text on caselaw.vn, 27 November 2023.
• Tạp chí Tòa án nhân dân — Thỏa thuận phạt cọc theo pháp luật Việt Nam và một số quốc gia (Deposit penalty agreements under Vietnamese and some foreign laws) (Article 328 of the 2015 Civil Code), accessed 20 October 2026.
• Can Tho City legal education portal — Trường hợp nào phải đăng ký biến động đất đai trong thời hạn 30 ngày? (Which cases require registering land changes within 30 days?) (Article 133 of Land Law No. 31/2024/QH15), accessed 20 October 2026.
• Tạp chí Luật sư Việt Nam — Thời điểm xử phạt hành vi không đăng ký biến động đất đai (When failure to register land changes is penalised), 29 January 2026.
• VOH — Xã được cấp sổ đỏ lần đầu, giải quyết trong 3 ngày (Communes may issue first-time land certificates, processed within 3 days) (Decree 151/2025/NĐ-CP), 17 June 2025.
• VnExpress — Những thay đổi về thủ tục nhà đất từ 1/7 (Changes to property procedures from 1 July), 30 June 2025.
• VCCI — Chuyển nhượng bất động sản nộp thuế TNCN như thế nào? (How is personal income tax paid on real estate transfers?) (2025 Law on Personal Income Tax, Article 14), 2 February 2026.
• Tuổi Trẻ — Muốn miễn thuế khi bán nhà đất duy nhất: Phải sở hữu đủ 183 ngày (Tax exemption on selling a sole home requires 183 days of ownership) (Decree 253/2026/NĐ-CP), 5 July 2026.
• Báo Pháp luật Việt Nam — Bán nhà duy nhất được miễn thuế thu nhập cá nhân trong trường hợp nào? (When is selling a sole home exempt from personal income tax?), 2 July 2026.
• Thư viện Nhà đất — Mức thu lệ phí trước bạ nhà đất năm 2026 là bao nhiêu? (What is the property registration fee in 2026?) (Decree 10/2022/NĐ-CP, amended by Decree 175/2025/NĐ-CP), accessed 20 October 2026.
• Báo Đấu thầu — Sửa quy định về giá, tỷ lệ thu lệ phí trước bạ (Amended rules on registration fee prices and rates), 2 July 2025.
• Ministry of Justice — Từ ngày 01/01/2027, bỏ bắt buộc công chứng với 6 loại giao dịch (From 1 January 2027, notarisation no longer mandatory for 6 types of transactions) (Law No. 04/2026/QH16), accessed 20 October 2026.
• LuatVietnam — Đã có toàn văn Luật Công chứng sửa đổi 2026 (Full text of the amended 2026 Law on Notarisation now available), 14 May 2026.