Harmona Apartment Building
The Harmona, located on Truong Cong Dinh Street, is a joint venture between the Tan Binh Import Export Material Joint Stock Company (Tamexim) and Thanh Nien Corp.
In 2011, Tamexim mortgaged the land using right of the project, as well as the Harmona’s three apartment blocks consisting of more than 600 flats for Thanh Nien Corp to borrow money from the Bac Saigon (North Saigon) branch of Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV).
The bank said Thanh Nien Corp has failed to repay their loans, forcing them to foreclose on the collateral.
According to some residents of the building, most of the 600 families bought their flats and have lived here for more than three years now but have yet to receive the pink certificates which proved their owner rights from the investors.
Apartment owners are now worried that they may lose their homes after receiving the announcement from the bank on May 24 which said they would seize The Harmona on June 9.
"We're all really shocked with this news," an unnamed resident said. "We knew nothing about the debt between the developer and the bank. But we're very worried that we may have to leave when the bank takes possession."
Asked about the case, chairman of Tan Binh District's People's Committee, Chau Van La, told local media on May 26 that the residents should not worry.
"We will work with the bank and the developer to try to protect the rights of the residents in this case," La confirmed.
Lawyer Nguyen Van Truong from HCM City also told Dan Tri that the rights of the residents would be protected.
"The developer had violated the law when selling their project and using it as collateral at the same time," Truong said. "I think BIDV should sue the developer, or the residents can sue the developer."