Solving the problem of management and use of apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City

On October 31, in Ho Chi Minh City, a dialogue conference between Enterprises and City Government took place with the theme "Guidance and discussion on the management and use of apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City".

This is a direct dialogue event, organized by the Department of Construction in coordination with the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Trade and Investment Promotion, to demonstrate the City government's commitment to accompanying, listening to and removing difficulties for apartment building management boards, residents and businesses.

Many "hot" issues about apartment housing

The organizing committee answered and resolved problems raised by investors and apartment building management boards at the Conference.

At the conference, the Organizing Committee presented and guided new points in the housing law and received and answered questions and recommendations from apartment building management boards and businesses revolving around many practical contents, reflecting urgent issues in the process of operating and managing apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City such as: Legal status, rights and obligations of apartment building management boards; procedures for electing, dismissing, and replacing members of the management board, as well as registering tax codes, opening bank accounts and using maintenance funds, and operation management funds; proposing a mechanism to handle cases of delay, dispute, or incomplete handover of maintenance funds; revenue and expenditure, declaration and tax payment for apartment building operations.

Procedures for repairing, renovating, and changing the design of apartments or building exteriors; work to ensure safety, security, and fire prevention and fighting, especially charging electric vehicles, handling the act of throwing objects from above, managing pets, and regulations on handling violations in apartment buildings; organizing apartment building conferences, collecting residents' opinions, attendance rates, and proposing adjustments to a number of regulations in the Housing Law 2023 and Circular 05/2024-TT-BXD to suit the practical management and operation of apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City.

The event attracted hundreds of management boards, residents and apartment investors to participate.

“The management and operation of apartment buildings is a key, long-term task, requiring the synchronous participation of the government, businesses and people. In the coming time, the Department will continue to strengthen the guidance, inspection, and strict handling of violations in the management and operation of apartment buildings; promote the application of information technology, complete the housing management database, ensure publicity, transparency, and connection with population data; improve the professional capacity of staff and operating units, and at the same time promote the role of the Management Board, residential groups and the community of residents in monitoring and management; closely coordinate between departments, branches and local authorities to promptly resolve arising problems, creating a safe, civilized and sustainable living environment for people,” Mr. Nam added.

According to the representative of this investor, some apartment management units have received guidance documents from the authorities, which clearly state that "for collection and payment on behalf of others, the unit does not need to issue invoices but only needs to prepare receipts and payment documents as a sufficient basis for accounting". However, in reality, this regulation still causes confusion for many units during the implementation process.

A representative of an investor presented problems at the Conference.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Manager of an apartment building in Phu Tho Ward (Ho Chi Minh City) shared: “At this conference, I hope that the Department of Construction and related departments and branches will continue to create more favorable conditions for apartment buildings to easily complete all types of licenses, including environmental licenses. In addition, in the field of tax, we really need specific instructions for the apartment building management board to conveniently declare and report. Currently, the tax regulations for apartment buildings are still not really clear, so in the implementation process, the management board still encounters many difficulties."

Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, commented: “A 20-25 storey apartment building usually has an average maintenance cost of about 20 billion VND, some apartments even cost up to hundreds of billions of VND, in some places up to 500 billion VND. This is a very large asset, if not strictly managed, it will be easily exploited by bad guys, affecting the legitimate rights of residents. Therefore, in my opinion, there should be strong and thorough measures to completely handle violations related to the maintenance fund. Current laws also clearly stipulate that "depending on the level of violation of the investor or the management board, administrative sanctions or criminal prosecution may be applied".

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Manager of an apartment building in Phu Tho ward (Ho Chi Minh City) presented her opinion at the Conference.

Enforce handover of maintenance fund, protect residents' rights

Mr. Nguyen Tien Huong, Head of Housing Management and Real Estate Market, Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction said: "Previously, when the management board had not been established, the maintenance fund was managed by the investor, and there were even cases where the investor used this fund for his own purposes. However, the current legal regulations are very strict, better protecting the rights of residents. The Housing Law also stipulates that the investor must open a separate account for the maintenance fund and is not allowed to use the money in it.

Scene of the Business - City Government Dialogue Conference with the topic "Guidelines and exchanges on management and use of apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City"

When the apartment management board is established, the investor must hand over the entire maintenance fund to the management board. Currently, the Housing Law and Decree 95 clearly stipulate that the responsibility and authority to enforce maintenance costs belong to the commune-level authorities.

Specifically, if the investor still holds the maintenance fund account, the competent authority will enforce and transfer money from that account to the management board. In case the investor no longer has or has used up all the maintenance funds, the competent authority is allowed to enforce the investor's operating account to transfer the corresponding amount to the apartment management board.

Residents and management board directly discussed and presented the difficulties they were facing in the apartment building.

Mr. Tran Sy Nam, Deputy Director of the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City, said that in recent times, a system of legal documents on the management and use of apartment buildings has been built and issued from Laws, Decrees, and guiding Circulars; at the same time, the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Construction , and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City have issued Directives to strengthen inspection and rectification of the management and operation of apartment buildings, ensuring fire prevention and fighting safety.

“The management and operation of apartment buildings is a key, long-term task, requiring the synchronous participation of the government, businesses and people. In the coming time, the Department will continue to strengthen the guidance, inspection, and strict handling of violations in the management and operation of apartment buildings; promote the application of information technology, complete the housing management database, ensure publicity, transparency, and connection with population data; improve the professional capacity of staff and operating units, and at the same time promote the role of the Management Board, residential groups and the community of residents in monitoring and management; closely coordinate between departments, branches and local authorities to promptly resolve arising problems, creating a safe, civilized and sustainable living environment for people,” Mr. Nam added.

Mr. Tran Sy Nam, Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction spoke at the Conference.

With the spirit of solidarity, responsibility and innovation, along with the proactive participation of relevant parties, the City Department of Construction believes that the management, operation and use of apartment buildings in the area will become increasingly orderly and effective, contributing to realizing the goal of building a civilized, modern, and humane Ho Chi Minh City, worthy of being the economic locomotive of the whole country.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/van-de-quan-tam/giai-bai-toan-ve-cong-tac-quan-ly-su-dung-nha-chung-cu-tai-tp-ho-chi-minh-20251031151713913.htm