Residents of Star City project strongly request the investor to hand over the maintenance expense
The Ministry of Construction estimated that there are more than 200 complaints related to the management and operation of apartments. One among urgent problem is that investors of the projects don’t hand over the maintenance fund to the management board. Some examples include Star City Apartment (Le Van Luong Street, Thanh Xuan District) and Ho Guom Plaza (Ha Dong District).
Residents who are in dispute with the investors over the maintenance fund and residential usable areas also submitted petitions to authorities to propose solutions.
In this situation, the Prime Minister asked the People's Committees of provinces and cities including Hanoi to resolutely revoke the funds for maintenance of common parts of condominiums.
If the investors tried to appropriate the maintenance fund, showing a sign of "illegally occupying the property" or "breach of trust to appropriate property", the resident council and the management board have the right to report to the police. They don’t have to wait the intervention of the State management agency.
However, although the law has been clearly defined, it has not been applied drastically, so the "civil war" in many apartments becomes more and more complicated.
In accordance with Circular 02/2016/TT-BXD of the Ministry of Construction, if the building has over 50 per cent of apartments sold, developers have to organize a meeting to elect the management board within 12 months of its operation. The Law of Housing issued by the National Assembly in 2014 also pointed out that the maintenance of housing will be used to repair damage in housing for quality assurance.
The investor has to transfer the maintenance funding - including interests, to the management board within seven days, from the day on which the management board of the apartment building is established. If the investor fails to transfer that funding, the management board can request the People’s Committee of the province where the apartment building is located to enforce the transfer as prescribed in regulations of the Government.
Some experts said that to implement the law effectively, the authorities should soon amend and supplement legal documents related to the functions, tasks and powers of sides. At the same time, the particular sanctions on violations should be issued.
A representative of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction) said that the Ministry considered to set up a law on the management and operation of condominiums. But in some specific cases which the law has not covered, relating parties have to negotiate to ensure the equal responsibility and interests between investor and residents.
