Palm Garden handing back deposits after approval snags

Palm Garden is part of Palm City, which is located in the new Thu Duc city area of Ho Chi Minh City

South Rach Chiec City LLC (SRC), a tie-up between Singapore’s Keppel Land, Tien Phuoc Real Estate JSC, and Tran Thai Real Estate Co., Ltd., late last month announced to the buyers of the Palm Garden project in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 2 that the deposit contracts were being terminated with effect from May 30 due to inability to implement the project as scheduled and as committed to them.

According to a spokesperson for the SRC, it had to make the move due to delays in obtaining approvals for the project. It is also not known when the project can be commenced. “SRC will fulfil its refund obligations in accordance with the deposit contracts, and is in the midst of executing this refund process,” the spokesperson said.

In addition to the full refund of the deposit sum, buyers will be paid an interest rate of 1 per cent per month accrued on the received deposit sum from the date of receipt to the date of refund.

“We consider this interest rate, which is higher than the current fixed deposit interest rate, to be reasonable,” he said.

Buyers have been asked to submit their bank account details for the refund by June 30, 2021 at the latest. Following this, the joint venture will process the refund within 60 working days from the date of verification of bank account details, and it expects to complete the refund of monies by the third quarter.

The source further added that if a deposit payer does not submit the required information within the deadline, they will still be eligible for the refund. “We however strongly encourage deposit payers to let us know their bank account information by June 30 for faster processing of the refund,” said the spokesperson.

Palm Garden was launched in 2019, comprising 636 units. A 10 per cent deposit was collected for 630 units.

Palm Garden is part of Palm City, developed by SRC. Palm City is a residential project located over 30 hectares next to Giong Ong To and Muong Kinh rivers in Thu Duc city. The project was to comprise of low-rise houses and townhouse Palm Residences, high-rise apartment building Palm Heights, any many other support facilities. The Palm Residences and Palm Heights have already been handed over to homebuyers.

SRC is one of the few investors that have promptly refunded the deposit as committed in the contracts. Many others have been long delayed in the process to refund deposits and appropriated investment capital from homebuyers.

In 2018, buyers from domestic company LDG Group started a long and arduous journey involving many complicated procedures in trying to get refund for the Saigon Intela project, located in Binh Chanh district of Ho Chi Minh City.

Construction started in July 2017 and the project remains incomplete. Its buyers spent nearly two years attempting to receive their deposits back, and LDG Group also refused to pay any interest on top.

Late last year, homebuyers also took Duc Long Gia Lai Land to court, demanding a refund for units at Duc Long Western Park. This project received deposits from buyers in 2017, but lack of legal procedures inevitably delayed this project too.