HCM CITY — Lenders in HCM City have complained that they face difficulties in disposing of mortgaged assets to recover unpaid debts.

Finance industry executives told a seminar held in HCM City on Wednesday that it often takes them more time than stipulated by the Government since there are many stages and procedures in auctioning mortgaged assets, especially businesses’.

This is a problem faced by many banks, and causes them great difficulty in recovering bad debts, they said.

Some banks said even with court verdicts allowing sale of mortgaged property, some officials in the directorate of civil judgement enforcement want the litigants to renegotiate the repayment period instead of summarily disposing of the asset, resulting in delays in debt recovery.

They wanted the People’s Committee to set a maximum time for the execution agency to enforce judgements.

Another problem that banks complained about was that district and registration offices are tardy in dealing with applications for secured transactions.

The rules specify that their registrations should be completed in three working days, they said. While some districts like Bình Thạnh, 9, and 11 usually complete the task within a day, the process is sluggish elsewhere, they said.

They called on the district offices, especially those in outlying ones, to finish the task within a day to make it easier for the public and banks to carry out transactions related to land.

Even a delay of one day could have serious financial consequences, they said.

They called on the city Government to order relevant agencies to support them and resolve problems related to executing judgements and disposing of mortgaged assets so they could deal more efficiently with bad debts.

Nguyễn Phước Thanh, deputy governor of the State Bank of Việt Nam, said the central bank is submitting to the Government a proposal to amend the legal mechanism for dealing with bad debts. — VNS