Property developers irritated by released mortgaged property list

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After the list was aired, many property developers expressed concern, saying that the announcement was not wrong, but insufficient and unclear information may have a detrimental impact on developers’ business.

Gia Hoa Company Limited’s general director Le Hung Manh said that the information regarding the company’s The Art apartment project being mortgaged at VietBank’s Ho Chi Minh City branch was correct, but highly insufficient as to the whole picture.

“To meet central bank regulations, we have mortgaged the right to use the land and future assets on the plot at VietBank, with a view to securing bank guarantee for the sales procedure in the future,” said Manh.

Regarding the project, VietBank general director Nguyen Thanh Nhung certified that as of July 17, 2016 Gia Hoa’s loan balance at VietBank to expedite The Art project was zero dong, and that the bank was keeping a close eye on the developer’s sales activities.

“The released information was correct, but insufficient, prompting many of our customers to call in for inquiry after seeing the project on the list of mortgaged properties. This indicates that incomplete information disclosure may have a bad influence on market performance,” Manh commented.

The list also encompassed projects of major developers, such as those of Ho Chi Minh City-based group Novaland.

According to Novaland deputy chairman Bui Cao Nhat Quan, before purchase contracts were signed, customers have been informed of this fact.

When apartments were completed and handed over to customers, the company worked with authorised agencies to acquire ownership certificates for buyers.

The documents of 5,000 apartments were and are ready to be picked up by buyers who have finalised their financial obligations towards Novaland, meaning the buyers’ benefits were assured.

Similarly, chairman Nguyen Du Luc from Hung Phat Loc JSC, the developer of the Hung Phat Loc residential tower project in the South Saigon area, said that the apartments which appeared on the mortgaged asset list were unsold and are being kept by the company for other purposes.

In addition, six commercial floors are also held under their private ownership. Therefore, mortgaging these assets at Viet A Bank’s Ho Chi Minh City branch could do no harm to customers.

According to Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association chairman Le Hoang Chau, the city is currently home to 584 on-going real estate projects, only 77 of which were reportedly mortgaged at banks, accounting for 13.2 per cent.

“Information disclosure is a necessity for consumers and relevant stakeholders, thus the list contributed to building an increasingly transparent property market,” said Chau.

In response to the public opinion over the released mortgaged property list, director of the Land Registration Office under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment Pham Ngoc Lien said, “This is the first release and the department is collecting feedback from media agencies and businesses to make suitable adjustments.”

Lien also said that in the upcoming time the department will propose the Central Bank (SBV)’s Ho Chi Minh City branch office to request businesses with mortgaged projects to submit sufficient information about these projects to avoid future inconveniences.