81-Year-Old Woman's 20-Year Battle for Right to Buy Home She's Lived In Since 1982

In Can Tho City, southern Vietnam, 81-year-old Nguyen Thi Hong has been engaged in a nearly 20-year struggle for the right to purchase a state-owned house she has occupied for over four decades. As the wife of a former police officer, Ms. Hong wishes to buy the home, which was allocated to her family in 1982 under a housing policy. However, administrative processes have been slow. Ms. Hong's late husband, Tran Tan Tai, was a former Major and Head of the Economic Police Investigation Department of Can Tho City Police. In 1982, due to a lack of housing, the couple was permitted to reside in the house at 12 Hai Ba Trung Street, which had been vacated by its previous owner who had emigrated. In 2007, the family submitted an application to purchase the house under a policy for selling state-owned housing to current tenants. After an inspection, the Department of Construction of Can Tho City rejected the application. In 2017, Mr. Tai reapplied to purchase the house. However, he passed away in February of that year before the matter was resolved. Ms. Hong then continued the pursuit alone. She stated that over the past two decades, she has repeatedly supplemented and revised her application according to the guidance of the Department of Construction, but has never received clear reasons for rejection. After years of waiting without results, Ms. Hong filed an administrative lawsuit in September 2024 to protect her family's legal rights and interests. On July 18, 2025, the People's Court of Can Tho City, in its first instance, accepted Ms. Hong's lawsuit, ordering the Department of Construction to process the sale of the state-owned house to her family in accordance with regulations. The Department of Construction appealed, citing reasons such as the lack of evidence of a rental agreement before 2007. On March 17, 2026, the People's High Court in Ho Chi Minh City upheld the first-instance judgment, dismissing the appeal. Although the appellate court's ruling took effect immediately, Ms. Hong's purchase process remains incomplete. The Department of Construction of Can Tho City has stated that the house's deterioration and the undetermined valuation are causing delays. Ms. Hong expressed her concern about her advanced age and declining health, lamenting, "I wonder if I will live to see the day I sign the contract to buy the house my family has lived in for over four decades." Source: VnExpress