Disputes over condo management rise

At the seminar, titled “Apartment buildings and knotty problems,” which was jointly held by the Building Management Club and Doanh Chu School, a member of the 2030 Businessmen Club, under the Saigon Times Club, participants remarked that disputes between condo investors and buyers of apartments in unfinished projects typically involve the project’s progress and quality, while pressing issues affecting operational projects relate to apartment management and maintenance fees.

In particular, investors should share with residents the revenues from advertising boards placed on buildings, remarked attendees at the seminar. However, regulations on the problem have yet to be issued, so the investor can still distribute the money earned from advertising.

Le Van The, head of the management board of an apartment building in District 2, said that the revenues from advertising were high, recorded at some hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong per year. He proposed using the revenue for the operation of buildings.

In addition, the investors must collect the apartment maintenance fee, equivalent to 2% of the value of the apartments, from apartment owners and transfer it to the building management boards after they are established. However, some investors do not fulfill their duty.

Meanwhile, some building management boards have abused their power to misuse the funds.

According to Nguyen Chi Thanh, director of Global Home Group, the revenues from the maintenance fee must not be used for installing new items in the buildings, such as surveillance cameras, or paying for fire and explosion insurance premiums. However, violations can be seen in many buildings, leading to serious disputes.

Nguyen The Loi, a lecturer at Doanh Chu School, pointed out that apartment building boards are defined as organizations that represent apartment owners. However, their rights and duties are the same as for specialized organizations, resulting in the inefficient management of condos.

Despite the increasing number of disputes at apartment buildings, sanctions against violators have yet to be issued. For example, the Laws on Housing and the Real Estate Business regulate what investors and management boards of apartment buildings must not do, but they do not include guidelines on penalties for violating the bans.