Crowds Demand Answers for the $90 Million Hoi An Apartment Project

On August 30, Mr. Dinh Dung, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Cam An Ward, Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, confirmed that on August 29, a group of about 20-30 customers gathered at The Pearl Hoi An – A Festa Hotel Resort (now known as Citadines Pearl Hoi An in Cam An Ward) to demand their rights.

Some people held banners accusing the project investor, Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company, of “deception” and “appropriation” of their houses, and demanding that the company hand over the apartments to the customers.

Upon receiving this information, the local police force was present to ensure security and order.

In the presence of a representative of the local government, directly Mr. Dinh Dung, the representative of the customer group and Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company had a working session. According to the minutes of the meeting, the customer representative requested Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company to implement the signed purchase contract, hand over the apartments, refund the apartment price for the past 5 years, and implement the sales policy…

Meanwhile, the representative of the investor, the assistant director of Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company, said that the board of directors was not present at the project and would inform the customers of the specific working time.

The local government representative witnessed and recorded the customers’ wishes and demands for debt repayment related to the apartment purchase contract. The leader of Cam An Ward suggested that if the customers felt that there were signs of fraud and appropriation of property, they should file a complaint with the police…

After the working session and being persuaded and explained, by noon of August 29, the group of customers stopped gathering and hanging banners in the project area.

According to the customers, they had signed contracts to buy villas and apartments at The Pearl Hoi An – A Festa Hotel Resort with Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company from 2016 to 2017, and had paid 95% and 100% of the contract value.

In 2019, customers were handed over the apartments and signed an operation and lease contract with the investor with a profit rate of 8% compared to the apartment value. However, after 1 year, the investor asked to cancel the old contract and sign a new one, with a profit sharing ratio of 70% for the investor and 30% for the customer from the profit earned from the business.

Realizing that their interests were not guaranteed, the people did not agree to sign the new contract. Nevertheless, from then until now, the investor has been exploiting the apartments and continuously reporting losses, without paying any profits to the customers.

In the past time, customers have come to the project many times to demand the red book but to no avail. Some have filed lawsuits in court to claim their rights…

Mr. Nguyen Van Son, Chairman of Hoi An City People’s Committee, said that recently, some people have come to Citadines Pearl Hoi An to claim debts because they bought apartments but have not been handed over; some people sued and the court ruled in their favor, and some cases are still being handled by the court.

Regarding this project, on August 26, 2022, the Inspectorate of Quang Nam Province concluded the inspection of the management, investment, and business situation of The Pearl Hoi An – A Festa Hotel Resort project of Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company.

According to the inspection conclusion, the project invested in 364 4-5 star hotel rooms, 4 apartment buildings with 218 luxury apartments, and 12 villas, with a total project area of more than 87,800 m2. The project officially came into operation in 2019, with a total investment of VND 2,100 billion.

At the time of the inspection, the company reported that it had sold 139/218 apartments and 6/12 villas; the total amount of money received from real estate business was more than VND 611 billion, of which apartment sales accounted for more than VND 466 billion and villas accounted for more than VND 145 billion.

The inspection conclusion stated that there were cases of customers suing Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company due to its cooperation with New Hoi An City Management Company. Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company proposed a common solution to the lawsuits, which is to refund the money that customers have paid and compensate 15% of the amount paid, with a payment period of 18 months from the date of mediation…

In the conclusion, the Inspectorate of Quang Nam Province pointed out the existing shortcomings and requested the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to revoke 16 land use right certificates that had been granted to the company for adjustment. In addition, the provincial inspectorate also requested Tri Viet Hoi An Joint Stock Company to pay the tax that was declared deficient, amounting to more than VND 4.7 billion.