Controversy over the handover of maintenance funds
At the 4S Linh Dong apartment building (Thu Duc City) invested by Thanh Truong Loc Construction Company Limited (Thanh Truong Loc Company), although the project has been handed over and put into use for a long time, the investor has not yet fully handed over the maintenance fund to the apartment management board.
The 4S Linh Dong apartment building consists of 4 blocks built in a rolling form and has been accepted by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction and allowed to be put into use since August 2018. Although the investor has handed over the apartments to residents from 2014 to 2017, many residents have not yet received the pink book.
In addition, residents here are also concerned about disputes related to common ownership of the building, warranty and maintenance of construction items, as well as the exploitation of underpasses for parking vehicles. Many items of the project have degraded and are damaged but there is no source of repair money, causing unsafety and even threatening people's lives.
According to the reporter's records, the authorities and local authorities have worked many times and have decided to administratively sanction Thanh Truong Loc Company, forcing it to fulfill its apartment warranty responsibility according to the law. However, Thanh Truong Loc Company only complied with the main penalty ( Fine) according to the content of the decisions, but has not yet taken remedial measures such as handing over maintenance costs to the Management Board.
Similarly, at the Opal Boulevard apartment project invested by Ha An Real Estate Investment and Trading Joint Stock Company, the story of handing over the maintenance fund is still very tense between the Management Board and the investor.
The apartment management board said that the maintenance fund has not been received from the investor, so there is no funding for repairing damaged elevators. Meanwhile, the investor responded to the handover of the Opal Boulevard apartment cluster that was postponed from November 2022 by the Management Board lacked personnel. So far, the investor has not received the notice of receipt or account number to transfer the maintenance fund.
profiting from maintenance funds
Even in apartments that have been handed over for maintenance funds, there are situations where when receiving money, conflicts arise, residents think that the management board is taking advantage.
On April 28, the Investigation Police Agency, Ho Chi Minh City Police issued a decision to search and arrest 2 defendants to temporarily detain two people who were the Head and Deputy Head of the Management Board of Golden Mansion Apartment. Previously, the Investigation Police Agency (Phu Nhuan District) issued a decision to prosecute the criminal case of "Embezzlement of property" occurring at the Management Board of Golden Mansion Apartment.
Information from the Golden Mansion Apartment Management Board, since 2021, the investor has handed over 45 billion VND as an apartment maintenance fund to the Apartment Management Board. By November 2022, the Apartment Management Board had set aside 23 billion VND to deposit at Vietcombank and in December 2021, continued to deposit another amount worth 22 billion VND to Vietcombank.
In the later maturity of the package of 23 billion dong, the Board of Directors retained the interest and 1 billion dong of principal to spend on maintenance. The remaining amount of VND 22 billion, November 2023 the Board of Directors withdrew to send 10 billion dong to South Asia Bank and sent 12 billion dong to VietinBank. But at that time, the members of the Board of Directors discovered that Mr. Le Trung Nguyen, Head of the Board and Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, the Deputy Head withdrew "Online" 2 billion to spend on personal affairs and only sent at VietinBank 10 billion dong. The incident was discovered by other members of the apartment management board. After that, these two people returned the above money plus the interest.
For the "package" of 22 billion VND, after several expirations and depositing at OCB, in April 2022, residents and the Management Board agreed to withdraw it to deposit at Vietcombank. However, because the Board of Directors has expired, the bank does not accept savings but requires waiting for the People's Committee of Phu Nhuan District to sign a decision to recognize the Board of Directors member after the Apartment Conference elects new members.
During this waiting period, Mr. Le Trung Nguyen and Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan arbitrarily transferred the 22 billion VND from the maintenance fund of Golden Mansion apartment to Mr. Le Trung Nguyen's personal account. A year later, when the maturity date came, the members of the Management Board and residents asked to withdraw the above amount before discovering the incident.
Need for more effective solutions
According to preliminary statistics, about 100 apartments in Ho Chi Minh City are facing disputes at different levels, mainly related to the issue of common ownership and private ownership, contribution and management of maintenance costs, and management and operation fees.
Lawyer Nguyen Dang Tu, Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, said that in order to solve the situation of disputes in apartments, it is necessary to classify problems in groups to have appropriate solutions. Regarding the appropriation of apartment maintenance funds, the authorities need to take coercive measures, request the investor to hand over the maintenance fund; coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security in issuing seals to the Board of Directors. Clearly stipulating that the account of the Board of Directors must have at least two people as the account holder to avoid abuse of power and profit.
Regarding disputes between residents and the board of directors, lawyer Dang Tu suggested that residents should proactively participate in selecting qualified people to join the board of directors. When detecting signs of fraud and property appropriation, residents should quickly send a complaint to the authorities for handling.
