Investor brings bank mortgage project
Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong (69 years old, from Hung Yen) said that through a brokerage, in 2019, she went to the SingGarden project to buy a house. For the 3.5-storey townhouse, with an area of 112m2, Ms. Huong has paid 95% of the purchase contract value according to regulations.
However, after many promises from the investor, Ms. Huong has not yet received a red book. Too upset, Ms. Huong reported directly and sent a petition to the authorities of Bac Ninh province. Not receiving a red book after many years of buying a house has caused Ms. Huong's family many inconveniences. She cannot directly buy electricity from EVN but must buy electricity indirectly at business prices. Unable to transfer the shipment to Bac Ninh, her family's documents still had to be returned to Hung Yen for confirmation.
Like Ms. Huong, Mr. Hoang Van Manh (43 years old) said that in 2018, seeing the project being advertised heavily, he researched to buy. Mr. Manh's adjacent villa of 215m22, with a contract price of more than 2.24 billion VND, Mr. Manh has paid the investor 95% of the villa value to the investor, just waiting to receive a red book to pay the remaining 5%.
"At first, I signed a capital contribution contract with the investor, then switched to a house sale and purchase contract for future purposes. But waiting until 2021, the investor still did not build the house but turned to propose to return to me 3 million VND/m2 so I could build the house myself. Although I built it myself, the investor forced me to hire a contractor they designated. Due to the urgent need for housing, I agreed, the construction cost was nearly 1 billion VND" - Mr. Manh added.
In 2022, Mr. Manh heard that many families in the project had received a request for seizure from the bank, saying that the entire project had been mortgaged by the investor. Too worried, he contacted the investor and knew the information was correct.
Not only Ms. Huong or Mr. Manh, hundreds of people have bought houses in SingGarden, dozens of households have moved here to live, all are suffering the same fate.
The project is not qualified for business, the transactions pose many potential risks
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper reporters, the Department of Construction of Bac Ninh province said that Singland Real Estate Joint Stock Company is a secondary investor, approved by the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province in Decision No. 22/QD-UBND dated January 16, 2019, allowing the transfer of a part of the investment project to build and operate the VSIP Bac Ninh Urban and Service Area from VSIP Bac Ninh Company Limited in Tu Son city (now Tu Son ward).
The transferred part of the project has a total area of: 33,220m2. The number of houses is 266 (commercial name is SingGarden Urban Area - PV).
According to the investor's report by March 2025, the unit has basically completed the technical infrastructure, completed the rough construction and completed the exterior of the house for the housing in the project. However, according to the reflection of some citizens, there are still some unfinished items such as: Sidewalk patches, planting trees and lighting poles.
The Department of Construction of Bac Ninh province has repeatedly instructed and responded officially in writing about the project not meeting business conditions, and at the same time rectify and instruct the investor to complete legal procedures according to regulations. However, up to now, Singland Real Estate Joint Stock Company has not yet issued a document requesting the Department of Construction to notify that it is eligible to mobilize capital to develop housing in the project.
"Up to now, the above project has not met the conditions for transfer according to the provisions of the Law on Real Estate Business. If the investor signs a transfer contract with households when the real estate is not qualified, it is a prohibited act in real estate business as prescribed in Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on Real Estate Business 2014 (now Clause 1, Article 8 of the Law on Real Estate Business 2023)" - the Department of Construction of Bac Ninh province emphasized.
Also according to the Department of Construction of Bac Ninh province, the capital contribution contracts (if any) in this project are only civil transactions, not guaranteed by the law on Real Estate Business, posing many potential risks to participants.
* The character's name in the article has been changed
Risks when real estate transactions do not comply with regulations
The situation of brokerage platforms and investors inviting people to deposit, reserve, and sign capital contribution contracts in real estate projects when they are not qualified to do business, or even have not completed site clearance is not new.
Lao Dong Newspaper has repeatedly reported this situation, including some projects in Bac Ninh. The Department of Construction of Bac Ninh province has also issued documents many times to rectify and warn about the above situation. In fact, trading real estate without meeting the prescribed conditions has caused many consequences and risks for buyers.
Right in Bac Ninh, in some projects, many people have reported to the authorities and Lao Dong Newspaper about having paid the value of the land plot to the investor but have not been granted a red book for many years. Many of these cases have conducted transactions when the project did not meet the transfer conditions. Therefore, when the investor has problems with procedures, legality, capital... the buyer is the one who suffers.
