In the Grand Sunlake project, Thang Long Company and An Phu Gia Company executed Memorandum of Agreement No. 135 in 2022, under which Thang Long agreed to transfer 380 apartment units to An Phu Gia. However, when disputes arose between the two enterprises, Thang Long issued Notice No. 125 in 2024, unilaterally terminating the contract with An Phu Gia. This unilateral termination reflects Thang Long’s position that the contract between the two companies was a “complete and final sale,” creating no obligations or any connection to the rights and interests of the hundreds of customers who had received contract assignments for the purchase and hire-purchase of apartments from An Phu Gia. As a result, these customers were effectively excluded from the project.

Nevertheless, An Phu Gia is an enterprise engaged in real estate business. Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 3 of the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business, real estate business activities include real estate management. Accordingly, Thang Long’s act of transferring 380 apartment units to An Phu Gia while still receiving payments from customers through An Phu Gia via bank transfer orders, but subsequently denying all responsibility toward these customers when unilaterally terminating the contract with An Phu Gia, constitutes conduct with signs of legal violations.

Specifically, this conduct bears signs of violating Clause 4, Article 8 of the 2023 Law on Real Estate Business, which prohibits acts of fraud, deception, and scams in real estate business activities. The fact that the project developer transferred apartments, accepted payments from customers through an intermediary, but then denied all customer rights once a dispute arose, is an indication that must be seriously examined in accordance with current laws.