To correctly rent a property in Vietnam, what legal papers do I need as a European?

If you want to rent a property in Vietnam you should show your passport & visa that is valid for more than six months. Also you have to be working at a company, organization that is fully registered, a certificate paper shall be required when you move in by the ward police officer.

Does this company need to be Vietnamese or can it be a foreign company registered in Vietnam (like Philips for example) ?

As a Company it is of prime importance to be fully registered as a representative office or any other form of legally accepted partnership.

According to Articles 91, 131 and 132 of the 2005 Housing Law, foreign organizations and individuals that are allowed to enter and stay in Vietnam for three or more consecutive months may rent houses in Vietnam. However, residential houses in Vietnam, which are leased to foreign organizations or individuals, must fully satisfy the following conditions:

- Having house ownership right certificates as provided for by law;

- Being free from disputes over ownership rights;

- Not being dis trained for execution of judgments or execution of administrative decisions of competent state bodies.

- Ensuring the quality, safety for house lessees, power and water supply, environmental sanitation and other essential conditions.

Order and procedures

The lessor and the lessee shall directly or through their representatives reach agreement on house renting. A house-renting contract must be made in writing with the following contents:

- Names and addresses of the parties;

- Description of characteristics of the house;

- Rent and payment mode, if the rent is agreed upon in the contract;

- Time for hand-over and receipt of the house; the warranty duration (if any); the duration of house leasing, lending, permitted temporary stay, authorized management;

- Rights and obligations of the parties;

- Commitments of the parties;

- Other commitments;

- Date of signing the contract or document;

- Signatures of the parties (seals and positions of the signers, for organizations).

House-renting contracts must be made in writing under the provision of the Housing Law and the Civil Code. Contracts on house leasing by individuals for less than six months or by organizations having the function to deal in houses need not be notarized or authenticated.

For cases of leasing houses by individuals for six months or more, the house-leasing contracts must be notarized by public notaries or authenticated by district-level People’s Committees, for urban houses, authenticated by commune-level People’s Committees, for rural houses. The lessors must submit the copies of contracts to the commune-level People’s Committees of the localities where the houses exist.

Either of the parties shall, according to their mutual agreement, pay taxes and fees according to the provisions of law.

So: What are rights and obligations of the lessor and lessee?

According to Decree No. 90/2006/ND-CP of September 6, 2006, detailing and guiding the implementation of the Housing Law, the lessor and the lessee have the following rights and obligations:

1. Rights and obligations of the house lessor

- To request the lessee to pay the rent in full and on time stated in the contract;

- To request the lessee to repair the damaged sections of the house; pay compensations for the damage, if the lessee is at fault.

- To unilaterally terminate the performance of the house-renting contract when the lessee commits one of the following acts:

+ Failing to pay rent for three consecutive months or more without a plausible reason;

+ Using the house not in accordance with the renting purpose as agreed upon;

+ Intentionally causing damage to the house;

+ Repairing, exchanging or subleasing the house to another person without the written consent of the lessor;

+ Repeatedly disturbing public order and environmental sanitation, causing serious impacts on the normal life of people in the neighborhood;

- To maintain and upgrade the leased house when so consented by the lessee.

- To take back the leased house upon expiration of the contract.

- To hand over the house and equipment attached to the house to the lessee in accordance with the contract.

- To brief the lessee on the regulations on house management and use.

- To ensure the stable use of the house wholly or partially by the lessee.

- To maintain and manage the house under legal provisions; if the lessor does not maintain and repair the house, thus causing damage to the lessee, he/she/it must pay compensation therefor.

- To guide and urge the lessee to implement the regulations on temporary residence registration.

2. Rights and obligations of the house lessee

- To receive the house and equipment as agreed upon.

- To request the lessor to repair the damage to ensure the safety.

- To continue the rent under the conditions agreed upon with the lessor in case of changing the house owner.

- To unilaterally terminate the performance of a house-renting contract when the lessor commits one of the following acts:

+ Failing to repair the house when its quality deteriorates seriously;

+ Increasing the rents unreasonably or failing to notify the lessee thereof in advance as agreed upon.

+ Restricting the lessee’s right to use the house for the interests of a third party.

- To pay rent in full and on time as agreed upon;

- To use the house for the right agreed purpose, preserve the house and repair damage caused by himself/herself/itself;

- To observe the regulations on house management and use.

- To observe the regulations on environmental sanitation and public order in residential areas;

- To return the house to the lessor as agreed upon.-

Ho Quan Hoa - Legal adviser - Tp HCM.