"Handfast" to pay interest because the investor does not pay rent
With the hope of having accumulated assets to cover her future life, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tien Duyen (Ba Dinh, Hanoi) decided to spend money to buy an apartment at the Grand Hotel Ha Long project (Quang Ninh) at the end of the year. 2018. Ms. Duyen said that when "inviting" customers, FLC Group Joint Stock Company (FLC Company) promised that investors who bought apartments would be rented by FLC or a company designated by FLC. again.
“Believing in the commitment of FLC Group Joint Stock Company, I have paid 95% of the apartment value according to the purchase contract and received the apartment handover when the project was completed. FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Company Limited (FLC Ha Long Company) is the unit in charge of exploiting and operating the project, signing a lease and asset management contract with the investor - the legal owner of the apartment. household.
According to the property lease contract, FLC Ha Long Company must pay rent to the owner (CSH) for 1 year and 2 installments with an interest rate of 12%/year for 8 consecutive years under any circumstances. Since handing over the apartment to FLC Ha Long Company for management and operation. After those 8 years, the amount will be divided between owners/FLC Ha Long Company at the ratio of 85/15 of profit after tax.
However, as soon as the rent payment was due at the end of 2019, FLC Ha Long Company did not pay as committed. Some owners had to directly claim FLC Ha Long Company in Quang Ninh and FLC headquarters in Cau Giay. Since then, FLC Ha Long Company has always cited different reasons for delay and intentionally not paying the owner as agreed in the property lease contract" - Ms. Duyen said.
More miserable than Ms. Duyen's case, because of the good location of the Grand Hotel Ha Long project, the large number of tourists plus the investor's aggressive advertising, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Toan (Hanoi) took out a loan. 70% of bank money to invest in apartments. However, according to the contract, Mr. Toan was only paid by FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Co., Ltd. for the first 6 months of 2019. Since then, he has not received any other payments but still Must regularly pay bank interest.
“Two years ago, I had to pay interest of more than 20 million VND/month, it was extremely difficult. Up to now, thanks to "running around" to borrow from relatives, I have been able to partially repay the bank, but still have to pay nearly 5 million VND in interest/month. Since 2020 until now, I have not received money, and bank debt with high interest rates still has to be paid. I had to borrow money, which affected my daily life. Many cases of people borrowing money to invest like me and not being able to pay monthly interest have become bad debts" - Mr. Toan said.
Day and night I hope the case will soon be brought to trial
According to the apartment owners , because they were too helpless to face the act of disregarding customers and violating commitments in the contract, many owners sued FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Co., Ltd. to the Ha Long City People's Court. Long to reclaim legal rights. The lawsuit was filed in February 2022, it has been more than 2 years now but the case has not yet been brought to trial.
“People went to the company's headquarters to demand their rights but to no avail. Therefore, we can only rely day and night on the authorities and the People's Court of Ha Long City to soon bring the case to trial to protect the rights of the people" - said the apartment owner.
In document No. 3404/UBND-TD1, the People's Committee of Quang Ninh province also requested the People's Court of Ha Long City to soon complete the prescribed procedures to resolve cases involving citizens with assets related to the Company. FLC Ha Long sued.
Talking to a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper, Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang Thanh - Deputy Chief Judge of Ha Long City People's Court (Quang Ninh) said that Ha Long City People's Court is handling the case related to the Grand Hotel Ha Long building. Currently, the People's Court of Ha Long City has accepted 128 cases and received about 100 new lawsuits. For accepted cases, the documents are in the process of being prepared to go to trial.
According to Deputy Chief Judge of Ha Long City People's Court, the process of resolving the case encountered many difficulties because of the large number of plaintiffs. In addition, there are some other difficulties including:
First, FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Company Limited (the defendant) and FLC Group Joint Stock Company (the person with related rights and obligations) initially did not coordinate. Ha Long City Court has sent summons and documents to the above two litigants many times but they were all absent. At the same time, during the court's review and on-site appraisal of the leased assets (the project's apartments), FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Company Limited did not send anyone to participate.
Second, in the process of resolving the case, a number of plaintiffs filed a request to consider the fact that FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Company Limited mortgaged its property rights (right to rent apartments) to borrow capital from the Bank. Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank). The Court sent a document to the Bank, after which the Bank took the view that FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Company Limited borrowed capital from the Bank.
However, the Bank sold this debt to Asia Investment and Asset Management Joint Stock Company (headquartered in Long An province). The court sent a document to Asia Investment and Asset Management Joint Stock Company, but there were cases where the judge received a written response, and other cases did not receive a written response. During the investigation and collection of evidence of the case, it is necessary to collect many documents from many agencies, departments and branches. Therefore, the time to resolve the case is prolonged.
“The court's solution is to always protect the legitimate rights and interests of the people but must comply with the provisions of law. The court found that it was true that people bought apartments from FLC Group Joint Stock Company and then rented them to FLC Ha Long Investment and Development Company Limited.
The people's lawsuit request is to ask the defendant to pay the outstanding rent from 2019 to present. The defendant also gave the reason that during the COVID-19 epidemic in 2019, the room had no one to rent. Therefore, the Trial Council will review all evidence and make a decision in accordance with the law. It is expected that before September 2024, the Court will bring the case to trial" - Deputy Chief Judge of Ha Long City People's Court affirmed.
