Spending billions of deposits to buy apartments, customers are angry when the project owner wants to liquidate

The project has been sold for 4 years and is still an empty lot

High-rise housing project combining trade and service at address 375 – 377 No Trang Long, Ward 13, Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City (trade name is Ascent Plaza) is a project by Co., Ltd. Tien Phat Dong Bac (Tien Phat Company) as the investor.

In 2018, the Ascent Plaza project was introduced to the market and attracted many interested customers. For customers who buy apartments in this project, Tien Phat Company has signed an agreement to deposit and collect money in installments.

Mr. PT, a customer who bought an apartment at the Ascent Plaza project, said that at that time, the investor had not completed the project’s legal procedures. However, due to the need for housing, he and many other customers put down a deposit.

According to Mr. PT, up to now, Ascent Plaza project investor collects deposits from customers up to 25% of the apartment value, ranging from 600 million VND to even billion VND. The investor also sets a deadline home consoles project in the fourth quarter of 2020.

A customer buying an apartment at the Ascent Plaza project said that after collecting the deposit, Tien Phat Company repeatedly broke its promise on the deadline for signing the sale and purchase contract and handing over the house. In June 2021, the investor announced to postpone the handover deadline to the second quarter of 2024.

Having paid a deposit of great value, during the past 4 years, customers who bought the Ascent Plaza project were very worried because the project did not move to build, while Tien Phat Company continuously delayed the construction of the project. sign sale contract.

Suddenly, at the beginning of April 2022, customers who bought apartments in the Ascent Plaza project received a notice from the investor. Accordingly, the investor thinks that the best option is to liquidate the deposit agreement that the two parties have signed.

The investor will return the entire amount received from the customer according to the deposit agreement, with an interest rate of 5%/year from the time of payment until the completion of the liquidation procedure.

Receiving the above notice, many customers expressed frustration. They think that the investor has not handled it satisfactorily, affecting the interests of homebuyers.

“No one who buys a house wants to receive 5% interest per year. We accept the delay of handing over the house and have been waiting for 4 years, but now the investor wants to liquidate the contract. It is not excluded that the investor wants to recover the apartment to sell at a higher price.”said Mr. PT.

Disagreeing with the solution of the Ascent Plaza project owner, on the morning of April 21, 2022, dozens of customers came to the headquarters of Tien Phat Company on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Vo Thi Sau Ward, Dist. 3 and also in the project to stretch the banner.

Banners with content such as: “Tien Phat investor takes money from customers of Ascent Plaza Binh Thanh project”, “Tien Phat investor of Ascent Plaza apartment collects 25% of money from customers 4 years ago and did not build construction”, “We do not accept contract liquidation with 5% interest compensation. Requesting authorities to strictly handle Tien Phat investor “…

The investor collects money illegally

Regarding the controversy at the Ascent Plaza project, in a press release dated May 25, 2022, Mr. Vo Minh Hoang – General Director of Tien Phat Company admitted that in 2018, the company signed an agreement Deposit agreement to secure the right to buy apartments formed in the future under the Ascent Plaza project.

After that, Tien Phat Company tried to implement and completed a number of legal procedures such as deciding on investment policy, applying for a license to build a model house, assessing traffic impacts, approving fire prevention and fighting. .

“For many reasons, both objective and subjective, up to now, the project has not completed the legal procedures to start construction…”Tran Tinh, General Director of Tien Phat Company.

According to the leader of Tien Phat Company, a number of factors affect the project’s legal progress, such as: The legal system in the field of investment and real estate has changed a lot; Leadership personnel in Ho Chi Minh City have many changes, leading to some procedures of the company being prolonged due to having to handle many times; companies affected by the epidemic Covid-19…

With the option of refunding the deposit with an interest rate of 5%/year, Mr. Hoang believes that this is completely a negotiation between the company and each individual customer on the principle of ensuring the interests of both parties.

Regarding the investor’s collection of money from customers when the project is not eligible for business, according to lawyer Nguyen Duc Chanh (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association), Article 55 Law on Real Estate Business 2014 Regarding the conditions of real estate formed in the future to be put into business, in the case of apartment buildings, mixed-use buildings for living purposes to be formed in the future, there must be a record of acceptance of completed parts. foundation of that building.

Before selling, leasing buy housing formed in the future, the investor must notify in writing the housing authority of the province that the house is eligible for sale or lease-purchase. Thus, raising capital in the form of a “deposit” to hold a place from a customer when the conditions are not met is not in accordance with the law.

“It is not correct for the investor to explain or use this as a civil legal relationship on deposits, because it is clear that the investor is doing real estate business, so he must be governed by the Law on Real Estate Business. . In my opinion, this is illegal behavior.” Lawyer Chanh said.

Lawyer Nguyen Duc Chanh recommends that home buyers should carefully study the legality of the project before paying money in any form. Because if you encounter an unscrupulous investor, doing business in a snatching style, deceiving customers, the loss will belong to the customer.

Mr. Phuong