21 Oct What is the best process to sign a lease agreement in Vietnam?

It is complicated to sign a fair deal in Vietnam with Vietnamese landlords unless you are well prepared and well advised. Here are some guidelines to protect yourself or at least to know where the trouble will usually come from:

1/ get a good contract that protect you from eviction and abusive clauses
2/ make sure you sign with the landlord, the real one, not some agents, etc.
3/ get a decent term anything 3 years or over will do
4/ if you invest in some CAPEX, make sure the landlord gives his/her written authorization to do so and make sure you can take away or leave all behind when the contract ends
5/ in all cases, notarize the contract! Private contracts are difficult to enforce
6/ if you want to deduct the rent from the taxable profit, the contract must be under company name and make sure you wire the rent exclusively from the company bank account
7/ make sure the landlord will assist in all legal procedures (certificate of residence, etc.)
8/ make sure the location is compliant for office/business registration

If you need some professional people to work this out for you, please feel free to contact us.