Apartment customers are facing a lot of risks and being placed in an awkward situation recently in Ho Chi Minh City.
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| Customers need thoroughly review all details of deposit agreements (Illustrative Photo) |
Nguyen Ngoc Canh living at 18/53A, Nguyen Duy Road, Ward 3, Binh Thanh District claimed to Hong Linh Investment & Construction Joint Stock Company, the investor of Hong Linh Plaza Apartment Building, that his apartment area had been inexplicably cut by 13.9 square metres.
Under an agreement with the investor, Canh’s apartment was supposed to have three bedrooms and cover 96.9 square metres.
However, when Hong Linh Company asked Canh to pay money in December 2009, he was informed that his apartment area would now be 83 square metres because the design had been changed.
Canh said that he was not informed about designing amendment, nor his apartment area reduction, yet he was still forced to pay the same amount of money in accordance with initial agreement when his apartment was supposed have 96.9 square metres.
Dinh Thi Hoa, living at District 4, was in trouble when informed that her apartment area was suddenly going to be larger. She said she had a contract to buy a B4 apartment of the Constrexim Square Apartment Building, covering 81.4 square metres.
However, during their construction, they expanded its area into 90 square metres without informing Hoa. In addition, she was forced to pay another VND21 million ($1,105) for each square metre if she still wants to have that apartment.
“I don’t know how they come up with such a price. The investor changed construction materials without any agreement and never consulted with me,” said Hoa.
According to Hoa, the investor did not hand over her apartment on time and she was forced to accept her apartment when they had not completed the infrastructure of the building.
It is just a few examples of a growing number of customers being put into tricky situations.
Tran Ngoc Huy, Vice Manager of Hong Linh Company explained that when the project went under construction, the design had not been approved. The investor needed to amend the design to match with new construction regulations. He acknowledged that the company was wrong when they did not inform customers in a timely fashion about changes because the sales department had a problem with human resources.
A representative from the Constrexim Company admitted that the infrastructure of the building had not been finished yet. He added, “We discussed with customers about their claims and both parties came to an agreement about some issues.”
Lawyer Dang Dinh Thong recommended that customers should thoroughly research investor’s financial, construction, and legal capacity before they decide to deposit money for their apartments. In addition, they need to understand clearly all details in the agreement.
However, Thong added that customers should be aware that deposit contracts are considered just as a commitment of investors that they would sell you their apartments. Only when you have purchase contract with them, the deal has legal value.
