Recently, we have received a question from our customer: “Hello Lawyer, I have lent my neighbor some business money, but now I ask for my money back, the borrower does not pay the debt? I want to ask what regulation the borrower violates in this situation?”
So, in this article, LSX legal firm will provide information regarding: “The crime of not paying debt in Vietnam”
Legal grounds
- Civil Code 2015
- Criminal Code 2015
Level of handling behavior from a criminal perspective
The borrower’s behavior shows signs of abusing trust to appropriate property according to Point a, Clause 1, Article 175 of the 2015 Criminal Code. Specifically:
“Article 175. Abuse of trust to appropriate property
1. A person who commits any of the following acts to obtain another person’s property which is assessed at from VND 4,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000, or to obtain another person’s property which is assessed at under VND 4,000,000 despite the fact that he/she incurred a civil penalty for property appropriation or has a previous conviction for this offence or any of the criminal offences specified in Article 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174 and 290 hereof which has not been expunged, or to obtain another person’s property which is the primary means of livelihood of the victim or has a spiritual value to the victim shall face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community sentence or 06 – 36 months’ imprisonment:
a) Taking a loan, borrowing, leasing property of another person or receiving property of another person under a contract, then uses deception to appropriate it or refuses to repay or return the property when the repayment or return of property is due despite he/she is capable of doing so.”
Thus, if the application is brought to court, the accused will be sentenced to non-custodial reform for up to three years or imprisonment from six months to three years.
Settlement when the borrower unable to repay the loan
When you lend money to the borrower and have a promissory note as well as a photocopy of his identity card as security, you have entered into a property loan agreement between you and the borrower. Therefore, according to Article 466 of the 2015 Civil Code on the debt repayment obligation of the borrower:
“1. Where the property lent is a sum of money, the borrower must repay the lender the loan in full when due. If the property is an object, the borrower must deliver to the lender an object of the same type, quantity, and quality, unless otherwise agreed.
- Where a borrower is not able to deliver an object, it may, with the consent of the lender, repay the value of the borrowed object, in cash, as at the time and place of delivery.
…”
You have the right to request a competent authority to prosecute the borrower’s behavior when having sufficient grounds as prescribed by law. However, in case the borrower unable to repay the debt, based on Article 351 of the Civil Code 2015 on breach of civil obligations:
Civil liability arising from breach of civil obligations
- Firstly, an obligor who fails to perform or performs incorrectly an obligation has the civil liability to the obligee. Breach of obligations means that the obligor fails to perform the obligations on time, and performs the obligations incompletely or incorrectly.
- Secondly, if an obligor not able to perform a civil obligation due to an event of force majeure, it shall not have civil liability, unless otherwise agreed or otherwise provided by law.
- Thirdly, an obligor shall not have civil liability if able to prove that failure to perform any obligation because of the fault of the obligee.
In this case, if the borrower does not have any assets to repay the loan as well as prove that the borrower has not committed a crime of credit abuse to appropriate assets, the lender will have to take the risk.
Can you sue the borrower?
A person who uses deception to obtain another person’s property assessed at from VND 2,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000 or property assessed at under VND 2,000,000 in any of the following cases shall face a penalty of up to 03 years’ community sentence or 06 – 36 months’ imprisonment:
- Borrowing, or renting another person’s property, or receiving another person’s property under a contract, and then using fraudulent tricks or fleeing to appropriate that property, or on time to return the property, despite having conditions and capabilities, but failing to pay on purpose;
- Borrowing, renting a property of another person, or receiving another person’s property under a contract and having used that property for an illegal purpose results in the inability to return the property.
This offense committed in any of the following cases shall carry a penalty of 02 – 07 years’ imprisonment:
- Firstly, the offense committed by an organized group;
- Secondly, the offense committed in a professional manner;
- Thirdly, the property obtained assessed from VND 50,000,000 to under VND 200,000,000;
- Fourthly, dangerous recidivism;
- The offense involves abuse of the offender’s position or power or committed in the name of an agency or organization;
- The offender employs deceitful methods to commit the offense;
- Lastly, the property obtained assessed from VND 2,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000 or but the offender commits the offense in any of the cases mentioned above.
In your case, you can write a petition to the people’s court of the district or district where that friend resides, attaching the loan documents as proof of lawsuit.
Borrowing money no longer able to pay, what are the responsibilities?
In case you borrow money from a bank as a mortgage loan and you are unable to repay the loan, the collateral you have used as collateral will be distrained to fulfill the debt obligation. In this case, the bank can sue according to the civil law so that the judgment enforcement agency will then distrain the property that you have mortgaged to serve your debt repayment obligation. According to the Civil Code 2015:
“Article 280. Performance of obligations to pay money
1. An obligation to pay money shall be performed in full, strictly on time, at the place, and by the method as agreed.
2. The obligation to pay money shall include the payment of interest on the principal unless otherwise agreed.”
If you borrow an unsecured loan without mortgaging the property with the bank, the bank can also sue for property under civil law if you can not repay the loan.
Legal service of LSX Legal Firm
LSX legal firm provides legal services to clients in various legal areas. To make your case convenient, LSX will perform:
- Legal advice related to new regulations;
- Representing in drafting and editing documents;
- We commit the papers to be valid, and legal for use in all cases;
- Represent to submit documents, receive results, and hand them over to customers.
With a team of experienced, reputable, and professional consultants; The firm is always ready to support and work with clients to solve legal difficulties.
Furthermore, using our service, you do not need to do the paperwork yourself, We guarantee to help you prepare documents effectively and legally.
Also, you will not have to waste time preparing the application, submitting application, or receiving results. At those stages, we will help you do it smoothly.
After all, LSX provides the service with the desire that customers can experience it the best way. Additionally, we guarantee the cost to be the most suitable and economical for customers.
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Related questions
1. Contracts;
2. Unilateral legal acts;
3. Unauthorized performance of acts;
4. Unlawful possession or use of or receipt of benefits from property;
5. Causing damage through unlawful acts;
6. Other bases as provided by law.
The subject matter of an obligation may be property or acts which must be performed or acts which must not be performed.
The place for performing an obligation shall be agreed by the parties.
Where the parties do not have an agreement, the place for performance of the obligation shall be:
– The location of the immoveable property, if the subject matter of the obligation is immoveable property;
– The place of residence or head office of the obligee, if the subject matter of the obligation is not immoveable property.
Contact LSX
Finally, hope this article is useful for you to answer the question about “The crime of not paying debt in Vietnam”. If you need any further information, please contact LSX Law firm: +84846175333 or Email: [email protected]
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