Land Use Rights Dispute for Foreign-Invested Real Estate Project

We pursued a parallel track: administrative challenge to suspend the suspension, and substantive remediation of the file defects identified.

On the administrative track, we filed within the statutory ten-day deadline a formal challenge to the suspension decision, arguing on the basis of disproportionate response (the cited defects, even if accepted, did not warrant a complete construction halt) and procedural defect (the suspension itself had not followed the consultation requirements of the Land Law). We also filed in parallel a civil suit seeking a declaratory judgment confirming the validity of the original LURC.

On the remediation track, we worked with the client's surveyors and urban-planning consultants to commission an independent survey reconciling the boundary discrepancy, secured documents from the original sellers reconstructing the consultation step, and prepared a comprehensive submission to the Department of Natural Resources that addressed each cited defect with supporting evidence and appropriate certifications. We engaged actively but professionally with the Department, scheduling multiple in-person meetings to walk officials through the evidence rather than relying on written exchange alone.

Within three months, the Department of Natural Resources withdrew the suspension decision. The independent survey was accepted; the documented consultation step was deemed sufficient; the LURC was confirmed valid as originally issued. The civil suit was withdrawn (no longer needed). Construction resumed within four months of the original suspension, with a recovered project schedule that delivered the development on time. The client subsequently completed and sold all 220 units, generating profit consistent with original underwriting. The Vietnam programme continued without further incident, and the client has since acquired two additional development sites.