The regulations on management and use of apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City that have just come into effect are expected by many to be a legal corridor to bring the management of apartment buildings into a framework, helping residents have a more secure and safe living environment.
An apartment building in Thu Duc (HCMC) has an airbnb rental model - Illustration: Q. DINH
Not only this new regulation, but the Housing Law 2023 also stipulates prohibitions and permitted and prohibited activities in apartment buildings, but in reality, the enforcement of legal regulations has not been thorough.
What regulations must be followed when staying in an apartment?
In the new regulations of Ho Chi Minh City, the notable point is that the city determines the conditions for exploiting apartments for tourism accommodation services in apartment buildings must satisfy mandatory conditions.
That is, the apartment used as a tourist accommodation facility must belong to a mixed-use apartment building. The person doing business in tourist accommodation services and tourist apartments must meet the conditions and standards according to the law on tourism and must comply with the law on conditional investment and business sectors.
Ho Chi Minh City stipulates that organizations and individuals providing tourist accommodation services in apartment buildings must register for temporary residence, notify tourists of their stay, and fully comply with regulations on management and use of apartment buildings.
Regarding the management of apartment rental activities, Ho Chi Minh City stipulates that the rental of apartments in apartment buildings must ensure the correct purpose of use for residence, and absolutely do not use apartments for purposes other than residence.
Renting an apartment in an apartment building requires a contract signed between the apartment owner and the person wishing to rent the apartment.
The apartment building management board and the apartment building operation management unit shall, based on the lease contract, require the person using the rented apartment to comply with the rules and regulations on management and use of the apartment building to ensure security and order of the apartment building.
In addition, the City also clearly defines the authority and responsibility of government levels, management boards, and administration boards in the management and use of apartment buildings.
Ho Chi Minh City stipulates that only tourist apartment projects can be exploited for short-term rentals, residential apartments cannot be used for this type of business - Illustration: Q. DINH
Cannot equate apartments with condotels
Renting apartments by the day or hour for accommodation through online platforms such as AirBnB, Agoda, Booking... is currently popular in Ho Chi Minh City and tourist cities such as Hanoi, Ha Long, Hai Phong, Nha Trang.
The activity of renting apartments for short-term stays also gives rise to many conflicts between the community of residents living in apartment buildings and tenants.
For example, short-term apartment rentals in many apartment buildings have faced opposition from residents and management boards when the apartments "ban" tourists from staying.
The apartment management board even made a list of apartments for short-term rental, requiring apartment owners not to rent them out short-term and setting up checkpoints at the entrances to prevent tourists from entering.
Representatives of apartment building operators in Ho Chi Minh City said the key to these reactions was that the management board and residents requested the management board to block this service due to concerns about the large number of people coming and going, which could potentially cause security problems as well as wear and tear on common property and common services of residents.
Meanwhile, the 2023 Housing Law, although not prohibiting the rental of apartments for residential purposes, lacks clear regulations between long-term rentals with temporary residence registration and short-term rentals by day or hour.
Many experts believe that this is a legal gap in housing, leading to constant conflicts and disputes in many apartment buildings in recent times.
The practice of renting apartments for short-term stays by the day or by the hour has turned them into condotels, nestled in the middle of the residential community. This is a problem that needs to be overcome to ensure a comfortable and safe life for residents of today’s apartment buildings.
Speaking with Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Duc Lap - director of the Institute of Real Estate Research and Training - affirmed the principle that apartments for residence are only for residential purposes.
The law does not prohibit renting apartments for short-term stays, but it is necessary to stipulate that apartment owners who want to rent must register their business as individual business households or enterprises. This is the basis for state management agencies to include them in the accommodation business, serve residence management, and collect taxes.
In the case of apartment rental businesses through online booking platforms, Mr. Lap said that companies managing online booking platforms must pay taxes on behalf of the owners of the apartments, while apartment owners must pay personal income tax, ensuring fairness with other businesses.
According to Mr. Lap, short-term tenants are usually tourists, have jet lag, and need to travel more than residents, making noise and affecting the community's life, so building security and management often have to speak up.
Furthermore, when there are apartments in the building for short-term accommodation, the building management board must arrange additional security guards to ensure security because guests come and go continuously, causing additional services and costs, so the apartment owner must negotiate with the management board to handle the additional costs. This ensures fairness between those who rent out apartments and earn profits and the households living in the building.
Sharing this view, Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh - permanent vice president of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association - said that apartments used for rental purposes like hotels also have problems because the building management board has difficulty managing people coming in and out.
Apartment building management boards want to maintain security and safety for the community of residents, and eliminate those who take advantage of renting apartments to cause disorder and insecurity, and commit illegal acts.
Mr. Thanh said that in reality, when renting a hotel room, the tenant must present his/her ID card, so renting an apartment for a short stay must also comply with this regulation. However, the management board of the apartment building does not have professional reception staff like a hotel, so it is difficult to control who comes in and out.
"For apartment buildings with apartments for rent, the building management board must add regulations on apartments that are eligible or ineligible for rental business to the apartment building management regulations. From there, it is possible to determine which apartments are eligible for rent and which are not," said Mr. Thanh.
According to Mr. Thanh, in principle, apartment owners must follow the majority, not do whatever they want. Living in an apartment means following the common rules, using the common elevator, common hallway, and common services.
Owners who want to turn their apartments into “hotels” are responsible for declaring their temporary residence to the local police, reporting to the management board about tenants, and signing contracts with tenants. Online booking platforms only help find tenants, while the landlord is responsible for the tenants.
Some real estate experts also believe that renting apartments through AirBnB is almost like running a hotel business, no one knows how long the tenant stays, and even the apartment owner only deals with the tenant online and does not know each other in person.
Therefore, it is necessary to add a regulation that apartment landlords must register with the state management agency before doing business because accommodation and hotel services are conditional business lines.
Customers wait for a car to pick them up after returning from an apartment on Ben Van Don Street, Ward 9, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of March 4 - Photo: TTD
Need to amend the law to be clearer
According to Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, current housing laws prohibit renting apartments for offices but do not prohibit renting for residential purposes.
In reality, there are two cases of long-term apartment rentals with basic temporary residence registration that do not cause conflicts, but short-term rentals by the day or hour cause many problems, affect the common space, and are very difficult to control.
"We are confusing long-term apartment rentals with short-term rentals by the day or by the hour.
Many individuals choose to rent short-term apartments through AirBnB because they do not want to be controlled by anyone, so it is necessary to add regulations on this issue to avoid being taken advantage of by bad people, affecting the lives of residents," said Mr. Thanh.
According to lawyer Truong Thanh Duc - director of ANVI Law Firm, there are two problems arising in the apartment rental business: the first is related legal regulations, the second is self-management.
Mr. Duc said that no resident would question if the apartment owner let his father, mother, or children stay long-term.
The problems that have arisen in recent times are 99% related to civil contracts such as renting houses, such as renting through cross-border booking platforms such as AirBnB, Agoda, Booking.
It should be noted that short-term apartment rentals by the day or hour are not for normal residential use. In essence, this is a hotel and accommodation service business.
Therefore, it is necessary to amend the law in the direction of more detailed regulations, because if we survey apartment buildings that have apartment rental businesses, most people will certainly object.
Even in hotels, the reception department usually does not allow strangers to go to the room. If you want to make a transaction, you have to stay in the lobby because they have to manage security and order with guests coming in and out.
According to Mr. Duc, for the self-management factor, the rental fees for apartments must be double or triple the amount paid by residents living in the building. In case the building has an apartment owner who wants to do rental business, the community of residents must bring it to the apartment building conference for a vote.
If the community does not agree, the apartment owner will not be allowed to rent. In case the community agrees to allow business, the apartment owner must meet the following conditions: pay additional fees, register for temporary residence, and sign an apartment rental contract.
Need laws to make "technical barriers" easier to implement
Many experts agree that the apartment management board will not be allowed to prevent tenants from staying if the apartment building's management rules and regulations do not prohibit it.
If the apartment building management regulations prohibit renting out apartments, the building management board must comply, even though it can easily lead to conflicts with households who intend to rent out. Therefore, in the long term, the Housing Law needs to supplement clear and distinct regulations to avoid conflicts.
Currently, housing law does not prohibit renting out apartments, but the management boards of apartment buildings can erect "technical barriers" such as tenants having to present their ID cards, register for temporary residence, sign a rental contract, comply with regulations on entry and exit times, and clean the building.
Lawyer Truong Thanh Duc added that the management board represents the community of residents and operates according to the regulations governing the apartment building. It is impossible to increase the authority of the management board beyond the law. They can only propagate and mobilize residents to understand and comply with the law.
Business in apartments must also follow the law.
In particular, Ho Chi Minh City also clearly stipulates the conditions for service and commercial business in apartment buildings in cases where the apartment buildings have mixed-use purposes, including functional areas for office, service and commercial business.
Business lines that do not fall under the cases specified in the Housing Law 2023 and must comply with legal regulations on conditional investment and business lines.
Shop house for rent on the ground floor of an apartment building in Thu Duc City (HCMC) - Photo: Q. DINH
There is a legal corridor to handle long-standing violations.
Speaking with Tuoi Tre, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tao (residing in Phuoc Long B ward, Thu Duc city, Ho Chi Minh city) hopes that new legal corridors combined with the determination of local management agencies will help people have a better living environment.
According to Mr. Tao, right in the apartment building where he lives, a family turned their apartment into a cat farm, raising dozens of very smelly cats.
At first, residents thought that this family kept cats for companionship, so they sympathized and gave gentle comments, but when they found out that this was a place to raise cats for breeding and selling them online, the surrounding households suggested stopping it. With the new regulations in the Housing Law and the city's regulations, Mr. Tao said that this business has affected the air and living environment of the residents, so the management board and local authorities can completely handle it according to regulations.
Mr. Tran Tuan Hoan - head of the management board of an apartment building in Thu Duc City - said that although the regulations stipulate that apartments are only for residential use and residents are not allowed to do business in the apartment building, some residents still circumvent the law by opening grocery stores, nail salons, livestreaming online sales locations, warehouses, or tutoring locations for students, even though they close the doors and pull the curtains.
Therefore, Mr. Hoan believes that these specific regulations will help management boards and administration boards to be more aggressive in handling non-residential activities that affect residents and the security of the apartment building.
"For activities that do not affect security, order and the lives of surrounding residents, and residents do not react or file a complaint, the management board will consider them. However, for activities that fall under the prohibited acts, the management boards of all apartment buildings must definitely take strong action," said Mr. Hoan.
Lawyer Tran Minh Cuong - Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association - said that the Housing Law has stipulated prohibited acts in the use of apartment buildings, the regulations of Ho Chi Minh City specify more clearly the acts that are allowed and not allowed in the management and use of apartment buildings as well as clearly stipulate the responsibilities of each agency.
Therefore, this will be a clear legal corridor for management agencies to handle and sanction violations, helping people live in safer and more secure apartments.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/siet-lai-ne-nep-ung-xu-lam-sao-voi-cho-meo-tiem-nail-tiem-an-trong-chung-cu-20250305084411057.htm
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