Attendees at a seminar named “Apartment buildings and knotty problems” jointly held by the Building Management Club and Doanh Chu School, said disputes between developers and buyers of apartments in unfinished projects typically involve the project’s progress and quality, while issues affecting operational projects mostly relate to apartment management and maintenance fees.
Developers should share with residents the revenues from advertising boards placed on buildings, remarked attendees at the seminar. However, in fact, regulations on the problem have yet to be issued, so the developers can still distribute the money earned from advertising.
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The revenues from advertising were high, recorded at some hundreds of millions of Vietnamese dong per year, Le Van The, Head of the management board of an apartment building in District 2 revealed. Mr The proposed using the revenue for the operation of buildings.
Besides, the developers must collect the apartment maintenance fee, equivalent to 2 percent of the value of the apartments, from apartment owners and transfer it to the building management boards after they are established. However, many developers do not fulfill their duty.
On the other hand, some building management boards have abused their power to misuse the funds.
Director of Global Home Group Nguyen Chi Thanh pointed out the revenues from the maintenance fee must not be used for installing new items in the buildings, such as surveillance cameras, or paying for fire and explosion insurance premiums. Violations, however, can be seen in many buildings, causing many serious disputes.
Apartment building boards are defined as organizations that represent apartment owners, said Nguyen The Loi, a lecturer at Doanh Chu School. However, their rights and duties are the same as for specialized organizations, resulting in the inefficient management.
In spite of the growing number of disputes at apartment buildings, sanctions against violators have yet to be issued. For instance, the Laws on Housing and the Real Estate Business regulate what developers and management boards of apartment buildings must not do, but they do not include guidelines on penalties for violating the rules.
