Drafting the house rental contract in Vietnam

A house rental contract is an agreement between parties whereby the owner coveys his/her house to the tenant for a specified time, in return for a periodic payment, which establishes the rights and responsibilities of each party. Forming the house rental contract is propably essential to minimize many risks while performance the agreement of the parties such as: unilateral termination of the tenancy, rent increase without any annoucement, property damage in the rented house…In Vietnam, the house rental contract is regulated by The Civil Code 2015 and Housing Act 2014.

Form of contract:

The contract must be in writing, no need to be notarized or authenticated unless there is a requirement of the parties.

The contents of house rental contract (for reference only):

• Information of both parties: the owner and the tenant;
• Information of the house for rent: address, net usable are, furniture (if any)
• The purpose of lease: to stay or to do business…
• Duration of the contract
• Rights and obligations of the parties
• Compensation for damage caused to the rental property: normally, according to regulations, the party causing damage will have to compensate, if there no other agreement.
• Other terms but not in contravention of the law (eg sublease term, termination of contract, repair of the rented house, restoration, extension of the contract …)

Notes:

• It is necessary to determine whether the rent includes the other costs (electricity, water, internet …).
• The security deposit also need to be considered, such as the method of collecting the deposit: the tenant can get back the deposit if he/she fulfills all requirements during the tenancy and does not cause any damage. In cases where the tenant violates the contract, the owner shall be entitled to retain the deposit to remedy the damage. In the other hand, when the owner breaches the contract, he/she must return the deposit together with a compensation if damage occurs to the tenant.
• If the rented house is under common ownership (for example, the property of husband and wife or the inheritance of more than one person), the lease must be agreed upon by all owners, except for the case the owner lease the part of the house which he/she owns.
• Under Vietnamese law, foreigner who rents a house in Vietnam need to be registered for temporary residence. The contract needs to have a provision that the landlord will be responsible for this temporary registration.