Ho Chi Minh City: Businesses in turmoil over pre-Tet relocation order

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Planning and Investment has just issued a notice requesting more than 2,000 businesses operating in apartment buildings to complete procedures to change the address of their headquarters, branches, and representative offices within 15 days.

» Prohibition of business registration and company headquarters in apartment buildings

As one of the apartment buildings that many units rent premises, the representative of the management board of 42 Nguyen Hue apartment building said that currently there are no more than 10 households living here. The rest have moved to other places to rent premises to open coffee shops, fashion stores, and photo studios for 20-40 million VND per month.

“The apartment building currently has about 30 apartments for rent for business purposes. Our duty is to ensure security and order, maintain hygiene... and we do not have the right to interfere with the leasing of premises to open restaurants,” he said.

Business activities at the 42 Nguyen Hue apartment building are still going on as usual after the announcement of the “eviction” of the business. Photo: Phuong Dong

Most businesses said that the announcement was close to the end of the year, so the change would be very difficult and cause many problems. For example, the company headquarters is the place to receive notifications and transaction documents throughout the year, but now it has to be changed within half a month, causing many contracts to have to be edited and tax settlement to be problematic.

Mr. Le Van Bang, Director of Vingo Jewelry Company Limited, said that this company has rented an apartment at 26 Ly Tu Trong (District 1) as its headquarters and to display products since the beginning of this year. The rent has been paid in advance but the contract has not expired yet. If forced to leave within 15 days, it will significantly affect business activities and the number of visitors.

“Not only me but other businesses here have not received an official notice, but even if we did, we would not be willing to move because the business situation during the year-end shopping season is very positive,” Mr. Bang said, adding that businesses operating in the apartment building all rent space through an intermediary company, so they may ask this unit to resolve the issue.

To deal with the regulation prohibiting business in apartments, Mr. Nhut - director of a company specializing in providing film editing services, said that the apartment in Khanh Hoi apartment building (District 4) was previously used by him as the company's headquarters. Nearly a year ago, this business moved its headquarters to his family's address in Da Nang, but in reality, all activities such as meeting customers, signing contracts, post-production, etc. still have to be carried out here.

Dozens of businesses have registered their business headquarters at 26 Ly Tu Trong, District 1. Photo: Phuong Dong

Currently, many businesses are choosing to “circumvent the law” in a similar way because it both legalizes the documents according to the law and saves costs compared to renting a private office. In addition, some households selling fashion, homemade food, etc. through social networks also temporarily register the home addresses of friends and acquaintances while their business activities still take place in apartments in apartment buildings.

“I make handmade cakes and deliver them to customers, without affecting the lives of other households in the apartment building. The management agency should not ban businesses from moving their headquarters and operations out of the apartment building, but should classify them by business group and industry, and have a longer transition roadmap to give businesses time to prepare,” Ms. Thuy, the owner of a cake shop in an apartment building in Go Vap district, suggested.

According to the announcement just issued by the Department of Planning and Investment of Ho Chi Minh City, within 15 days from the effective date of the announcement, all enterprises are not allowed to continue to operate in apartment buildings, except for the area of ​​the apartment building used for business. At the same time, the Department will coordinate with many competent agencies to handle enterprises that do not submit documents to change the address of their headquarters, branches, and representative offices to other places other than apartment buildings after this period.

The announcement also reiterated Decree 99/2015 guiding the implementation of the Housing Law. Accordingly, organizations, households and individuals are not allowed to use apartment buildings as business locations after June 10, 2016, i.e. 6 months from the date of issuance of the Decree. However, in reality, business activities in apartment buildings in the city are still bustling.

According to VNE