Tens of thousands of land registration files are being held up.

Never before has the handling of administrative procedures related to land received so much public attention as in recent times. Therefore, tens of thousands of pending applications have become a focal point for questioning and discussion at a provincial People's Council meeting, aiming to resolve grievances and build trust among the people.

Receiving and processing administrative procedures related to land at the "one-stop" service center of Nong Cong district. Photo: To Phuong

The delays and negligence of some officials and civil servants have resulted in tens of thousands of land-related applications being overdue, causing widespread frustration and resentment among the public. Where does public responsibility lie, and how will this responsibility be addressed? This is a matter of great public concern. In particular, this issue became a "hot" topic when it was raised during the questioning of the head of the Natural Resources and Environment (TN&MT) sector at the 14th session of the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council, 18th term, held in July 2023.

Overdue - it's a common occurrence.

On December 13, 2023, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoi (representing the co-heirs of Mr. Nguyen Huu Bien and Ms. Ngo Thi Choai), from Hoang Yen commune (Hoang Hoa district), submitted an application to the Hoang Hoa District Land Registration Office for registration and issuance of a land use right certificate, house ownership certificate, and other assets attached to the land. According to regulations, all steps to complete this procedure should only take 25 working days. However, disregarding the regulations, Mr. Hoi's application was "stuck" until July 11, 2024 (the time the reporter was working on this case) and remained unresolved. A simple calculation shows that this application was 183 days overdue – a figure far exceeding the regulated 25 working days.

After months of frantic efforts and unable to wait any longer, Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, the co-heir of Mr. Hoi, contacted a reporter from Thanh Hoa Newspaper to report the matter. Immediately afterwards, on July 11, 2024, a reporter from Thanh Hoa Newspaper worked with the Hoang Hoa District Land Registration Office Branch. It was learned that on December 13, 2023, the branch received Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoi's application. After assessment and review, just five days after receiving the application, on December 18, 2023, the branch forwarded the application to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to advise the Hoang Hoa District People's Committee on issuing a decision recognizing the land use rights. However, after more than six months of consultation by the specialized department, the Hoang Hoa District People's Committee has still not been able to issue the decision as required. "Even though all the required documents have been completed, for some reason my uncle's application has been stalled month after month. This is unacceptable," Toan said angrily.

To investigate the matter thoroughly and clarify responsibility, a reporter from Thanh Hoa Newspaper worked with the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Hoang Hoa District. Both the department's leadership and the responsible staff member stated that the delay in processing Mr. Hoi's application was due to both objective and subjective reasons. The subjective reason was that the application was processed during a transitional period involving the reassignment of duties for both the staff member and the leadership responsible for handling the application. Based on this, many people wonder whether there was a shirking of responsibility or a deliberate disregard for regulations to "delay" the citizen's application.

More importantly, Mr. Toan's case is not unique. We previously documented the equally frustrating experience of Ms. Dang Thi X. in Quang Tam ward (Thanh Hoa City) when registering changes to land ownership and assets attached to the land. According to the appointment slip dated June 17, 2024, from the application receiving and results delivery department of the Thanh Hoa City Land Registration Office, Ms. X.'s application was to be processed within 15 days from the date of receipt. Specifically, she was to receive the tax notification on July 1, 2024, and the results on July 8, 2024. However, as of July 15, 2024, when our reporter spoke with Ms. X.'s family, she had still not received the tax notification. This also means that Ms. X's application has been overdue for processing by many days, while her family has not received an "apology letter" for the delay from the Thanh Hoa City Land Registration Office as required by Decision 876/2017/QD-UBND of the Provincial People's Committee "On publicizing the results of administrative procedure processing; public apologies in the processing of administrative procedures by agencies and units in the province".

Delays and negligence in handling administrative procedures in the land sector are a worrying reality. Simply posting a status about this situation on social media platforms like Facebook and Zalo will elicit numerous comments expressing public dissatisfaction, such as: "My family has been trying to change the land use purpose for years and it's still not done," "You guys should choose wisely," "It's hard to get it done without money," "Use a middleman to speed things up"...

The recurring issue of overdue or "missed deadlines" that remains unresolved has caused widespread public outrage. In Nong Cong district, a report from the specialized department on the issuance of land use right certificates, house ownership certificates, and other property certificates (for the first time) for households and individuals in the district during the 2020-2023 period shows that in 2020, the total number of processed applications was 2,160, with 153 applications (7.08%) being overdue. In 2021, the total number of processed applications was 3,944, with the number of overdue applications increasing to 353 (8.95%). In 2022, a total of 7,469 applications were processed, with 86 applications processed overdue (accounting for 1.15%). Similarly, in Quang Xuong district, monitoring by relevant authorities also showed that in 2021 and 2022, the entire district had 1,606 overdue applications for land use right certificates under the jurisdiction of the District Land Registration Office Branch.

"Previously, departments and agencies strived to be assigned more tasks, but now it's the opposite; when assigned tasks, they shirk responsibility (the less tasks assigned, the better), causing delays in administrative procedures, leading to many projects being prolonged, resulting in losses and waste for businesses, causing businesses to miss investment opportunities, affecting the lives of workers and the socio-economic development goals of the province," said delegate Cao Tien Doan, Chairman of the Provincial Business Association.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environment has acknowledged the delays and overdue processing of land-related documents with "telling figures." For example, in 2020 and 2021, the entire province had 7,063 applications for the issuance, re-issuance of land use right certificates, and registration and adjustment of land use changes for households and individuals, processed by land registration office branches, that were overdue. Sadly, among these 7,063 overdue applications, many were eligible but were not processed by officials and staff according to regulations.

Delays and overdue applications are a daily occurrence that frustrates the public. This frustration is entirely justified, given the ever-increasing number of delays. From January 1, 2022, to May 31, 2023, the entire province had over 11,000 overdue applications. Of these, 10,181 applications fell under the jurisdiction of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the land registration office, while 895 applications fell under the jurisdiction of the district-level People's Committees. Notably, during this period, the number of initial applications that were returned or awaiting additional information accounted for 20.39%. Statistics from the Thanh Hoa Provincial Land Registration Office show that from June 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024, the entire province had over 1,000 overdue applications that had not yet been processed. Perhaps this is the "actual" number shown on the profile tracking software; in reality, the number is likely much higher.

"Taking the stage" to resolve the issue.

Undeniably, land is a complex field, involving a "forest of procedures." Citizens have to go through "many doors," and even law enforcement officials sometimes face difficulties due to various obstacles. For example, consider the case of Mr. Nguyen Cong H., from Quang Tam ward (Thanh Hoa City). In 2001, Mr. H. acquired over 380 square meters of land for annual crop cultivation from a neighboring family. For the past 23 years, Mr. H. has repeatedly sought assistance from authorities, but to this day, he has not been able to have his name registered on the land title. Despite having completed all necessary paperwork and submitted the land survey documents to the local government and relevant agencies for consideration and resolution, his family has still not been able to obtain the land title.

Through our investigation, our team of reporters witnessed numerous cases where not only citizens but also "brokers" complained about the overly complicated procedures for obtaining land use right certificates, involving multiple steps, stages, and functional units. Even officials and civil servants directly working in this field admitted that the legal documents related to the issuance of certificates, as amended and supplemented over time, lacked stability and contained provisions that were not in line with the actual situation in the locality. Meanwhile, the software for tracking applications sometimes did not function smoothly; the number of land transactions by citizens increased dramatically while the human resources, equipment, and machinery of the land registration office system were still limited, leading to delays in processing administrative procedures for citizens...

From 2020 to June 1, 2024, the entire province had 19,063 overdue applications for the issuance, re-issuance of land use right certificates, and registration and adjustment of land use changes for households and individuals, processed by land registration office branches. Of these, 7,063 applications were overdue in 2020 and 2021. From January 1, 2022 to May 31, 2023, this number rose to over 11,000 applications. From June 1, 2023 to June 1, 2024, the number was 1,000 applications.

Besides the objective shortcomings, at the 14th session of the Provincial People's Council in July 2023, Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Le Sy Nghiem acknowledged that the situation was partly due to the responsibility of officials and employees of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the local land registration office branches. The situation involved officials and employees not fulfilling their responsibilities, not setting a good example in performing their duties, and not providing thorough and timely guidance to citizens and businesses, leading to complaints and suggestions from the public and creating negative public opinion.

Also at this session, many delegates analyzed and offered insightful observations regarding the delay in issuing land use right certificates. Those who closely followed the session will surely not forget the opinion of delegate Mai Xuan Binh, Head of the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee, who clearly stated at the session that: "The fear of making mistakes, fear of taking responsibility, and avoidance among a segment of officials and civil servants in performing their duties" and emphasized the "three no's" of some officials: not speaking, not advising or proposing, and not doing (or doing only half-heartedly, while observing and waiting).

Along with the opinion of delegate Binh, many also agreed with the opinion of delegate Cao Tien Doan, Chairman of the Provincial Business Association, who pointed out the "undercurrent storm in administration" when a segment of officials and civil servants show signs of avoiding and shirking work, failing to make decisions within their authority, pushing businesses into increasingly difficult situations.

It can be seen that at each session of the Provincial People's Council, in addition to evaluating the results of socio-economic development and discussing and approving proposals and resolutions, the questioning session is always the "focal point" that attracts the attention of delegates and a large number of voters. Having followed many sessions of the Provincial People's Council, perhaps the 14th session of the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council, 18th term, held in July 2023, was the session that received the most feedback from voters in the province through the hotline when conducting a questioning session with the head of the Natural Resources and Environment sector regarding land issues. Accordingly, Comrade Do Trong Hung, former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council, gave direct instructions and assigned specific tasks to relevant agencies and local authorities to promptly and satisfactorily resolve the voters' requests. Former Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Council Do Trong Hung also "questioned" the head of the Natural Resources and Environment sector about "whether or not there is harassment or corruption in the issuance of land use right certificates to the people?". In response to a question from the head of the Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Council, the Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Le Sy Nghiem, acknowledged: "The situation of harassment and inconvenience in the issuance of land use right certificates exists in many stages. The greatest responsibility still lies with the branch offices of the land registration office. Since its operation began (September 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023), the Land Registration Office has received 149 applications, including 132 petitions and complaints, 14 denunciations, and 3 grievances. The petitions request the resolution of administrative procedures for issuing land use right certificates; the denunciations concern the failure to process applications, causing inconvenience and harassment, and demanding bribes to process applications..."

The current issuance of land use right certificates is constrained by numerous regulations and procedures. This is a factor that easily gives rise to negative practices and violations in the process of handling administrative procedures for citizens and businesses. We have witnessed many officials and civil servants lacking public service ethics, deliberately exploiting the complexity of administrative procedures to harass, extort, and make things difficult for citizens and businesses, forcing them to "grease the wheels" or "bribe" when handling administrative procedures. As for those who are "uncooperative," delaying their applications is also "natural" and "understandable."

Phong Sac - To Phuong

Lesson 2: The practice of bribery and the consequences of corruption.

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/hang-chuc-nghin-ho-so-dat-dai-bi-ngam-tam-diem-chat-van-va-hoa-giai-buc-xuc-bai-1-cham-tre-va-tac-trach-225818.htm