Hyundai RNC Ha Tay to pay $222,200 compensation

A spat with a customer turned into a legal battle, with developer Hyundai RNC Ha Tay on the losing end

In the latest court held on May 26, Hyundai RNC Ha Tay was ordered by the court to pay this fine to compensate customers for the delay on the villa hand over and arbitrarily terminating the contract.

According to the purchase agreement signed on June 24, 2010, Duong Thi Mai Thuy bought a 118.8-square metre villa from Hyundai RNC Ha Tay with the value of VND11 billion ($488,888).

Thuy has paid 70 per cent of the property value to the developer already, while the rest was agreed to be paid after the villa is handed over.

On August 11, 2011 the developer had announced to the buyer that it would hand over the villa on October 15-23, 2011 and the buyer must pay the remaining sum between October 24 and 30.

However, Thuy discovered that the developer had deviated from design they agreed on and requested them to revert the changes. Her request had not been met and Hyundai RNC Ha Tay handed over the villa to Thuy on December 15, 2013.

In response to the developer breaking its agreement, Thuy decided not to pay the remaining 30 per cent. Hyundai RNC Ha Tay therefore decided to terminate the contract and Thuy turned to the court.

On March 30, 2016 the Hadong People’s Court announced that Hyundai RNC Ha Tay’s termination of the contract was illegal and ordered the company to pay a total compensation of VND6.3 billion ($280,000) to Thuy.

Hyundai RNC Ha Tay appealed to the Court of Appeals, which promptly ordered Hyundai RNC Ha Tay to continue its contract with the buyer and finish all items of the villa as originally committed.

Due to the delay in handing over the property, it had to pay a compensation of VND5 billion to the buyer. The buyer, in turn, was ordered to pay the remaining 30 per cent of the villa’s value.

Hyundai Hillstate is the first real estate project of South Korean Hyundai Group in Vietnam and overseas.

Hyundai Hillstate is a high-end apartment and villa complex which got off the ground in 2009. It covers 4.67 hectares and has the total investment capital of $200 million. Hyundai Hillstate comprises of two main components with 928 apartments in five buildings and 100 villas, all of which have already been sold out.

Hyundai dogged by resident rights row Residents in the high-end residential Hyundai Hillstate in Hanoi’s Ha Dong district have petitioned to the local authorities, claiming that the investor had imposed disadvantageous conditions on buyers in their draft purchasing contracts.