Red book vs pink book: what is the difference? The Certificate under the 2024 Land Law

This content is for reference and is not legal advice. Regulations may change and vary by locality; for a specific case, ask the competent authority or a lawyer. Updated 24/10/2026.

Many home buyers ask "is the red book or the pink book better?". The short answer: in legal value the two are the same. What is written inside matters more.

1. Two popular names, one legal concept

Common name	Cover colour	Usually associated with	Legal name
Red book	Red	Certificate of land use rights (residential land, agricultural land, etc.) issued on the earlier form	Certificate of land use rights
Pink book	Pink	Certificate of home ownership and residential land use rights (houses, apartments) issued on the earlier form	Certificate of home ownership and residential land use rights
Certificate (unified form)	Pink-orange	Issued under current rules for both land and assets attached to land	Certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land

Older forms already issued remain valid; you do not have to switch to the new form just because the cover colour differs, unless information needs to be corrected.

2. What is new under the 2024 Land Law

The 2024 Land Law (No. 31/2024/QH15) took effect on 01/8/2024. The Law continues to use the common name Certificate of land use rights and ownership of assets attached to land; registration and issuance of certificates are guided by decrees and circulars (HPR could not open the documents to cite article numbers). For a specific case, check the document currently in force or ask the land registration office.

A note when cross-checking information: ward and commune names in certificates issued before 01/07/2025 may differ from the new administrative unit names. Documents already issued remain valid; you only need to write both the new and old names when doing procedures.

3. How to read a Certificate when buying a home

1. Land user or owner: do the name and ID number match the person selling? With co-owners (spouses, siblings), all parties' signatures are needed.
2. Land parcel: parcel number, map sheet, address, area — compare with reality and the planning map.
3. Purpose of use: residential land, commercial and service land, agricultural land, etc. The purpose determines what can be built and transferred.
4. Term of use: long-term or fixed-term (for example leased land). An apartment in a commercial project may show a term following the project's documents.
5. Origin of use: State allocation with land-use fee, recognition of use rights, land lease paid in one lump sum, etc.
6. Assets attached to land: house, apartment, floor area, construction grade.
7. Change-record page: transfers, mortgages, mortgage releases, parcel splits. This is where you can easily spot a certificate that is mortgaged.

4. Four common questions

• Can I buy without a certificate yet? Possibly, but the risk is higher; look at the contract, the certificate issuance schedule and the seller's responsibility (see buying an apartment without a pink book).
• What is a shared certificate for the whole building? Housing with many units usually needs a separate certificate for each unit; if the seller only has a shared one, ask clearly before paying a deposit.
• The certificate shows erasures or unclear printing? Stop and verify at the land registration office.
• Is a photocopy enough to buy? No. Ask to see the original and obtain an information extract at the registration office.

5. Example: quickly reading an apartment certificate

Suppose you view an apartment whose certificate states: land user Mr A, asset type "apartment", floor area 70 m², and the change-record page has the line "mortgaged at Bank X". You draw 3 things to do before the deposit: (1) compare Mr A's name with the seller's ID, (2) ask about the plan to release the mortgage and write it into the deposit contract, (3) re-measure the actual area against 70 m² (see handover and area acceptance).

6. Quick checklist before the deposit

Task	Done
See the original certificate, compare with the seller's ID
Read the change-record page: mortgage, dispute, seizure
Check land type, term, area
Look up the parcel's planning
Write the mortgage-release conditions and deposit refund into the deposit contract

7. How to check safely

Before paying a deposit, ask for a copy of every page, and ask the seller to go with you to the land registration office to check the mortgage, dispute and planning status of that exact parcel. For transfer costs and procedures, see apartment title-transfer procedures and costs.

For the document set of a new project, see also Checking a project's legal status before buying.

The pages below are all newspapers or legal news sites, not the original documents; article and clause numbers come from these pages and must be checked against the original documents before being relied on.

• 2024 Land Law No. 31/2024/QH15 — certificate name and effective date: full text not opened; cross-check at thuvienphapluat.vn or vbpl.vn, checked 24/10/2026.
• Batdongsan.com.vn wiki — articles on the red book and pink book, consulted for presentation, not copied (not reopened in this review).