Case Study No. 11 — Vietnam Real Estate Investment Dispute: A Successful Negotiation Recovering Funds for Four Japanese Investors
Case summary: Sector — real estate, resort apartments, condotels. Clients — four individual investors resident in Japan. Amount in dispute — over VND 1.2 billion in total. Delay in handover — more than six years. Method of resolution — settlement through pre-litigation negotiation. Outcome — successful recovery of the principal investment.
This case involved four Japanese investors who, around 2017, entered into sale and purchase agreements for a resort real estate project in Vietnam and paid the majority of the purchase price, yet were unable to obtain handover of the units for an extended period.
01 - Background: resort property investment premised on a high-yield return guarantee
The developer had promised handover of the units along with a guaranteed rate of return and interest subsidies. However, the project remained unfinished long after the promised handover date, and payments under the return guarantee were also suspended partway through.
02 - Legal and practical difficulties in this case
The case involved a language and information gap between the parties, repeated extensions of the handover date by the developer, the developer's attempts to avoid liability by invoking force majeure, and — most critically — the risk that even a court victory might not translate into actual recovery of funds.
03 - NEXORA Law Firm's approach
We addressed the matter through four pillars: a comprehensive review of the contracts and payment records; consolidating the negotiation channel and managing the flow of information; designing the negotiation strategy around a distinction between the maximum claimable amount and a realistically recoverable amount; and applying negotiating pressure by preparing litigation in parallel.
04 - Outcome
After multiple rounds of negotiation, the developer entered into an agreement to terminate the contracts and make repayment, resulting in a negotiated resolution — and successful recovery of the principal investment — for all four clients.
05 - Takeaways for foreign investors in Vietnamese real estate
High-yield return guarantees should be approached with caution; extension agreements or memoranda should not be signed lightly; “winning in court” and “actual recovery” are two separate issues; early action significantly affects the likelihood of recovery; and investors need representation that understands both the language and the practical realities on the ground.
06 - How NEXORA can help
We recommend seeking advice at an early stage in cases involving prolonged delays in property handover, requests to sign extension agreements, or suspension of payments under a return guarantee.