A legal execution department in Ho Chi Minh City released a decision Wednesday to confiscate a house owned by seasoned actor Nguyen Chanh Tin over his son’s bad debt of US$500,000, but has yet to make a forced execution.

The District 10 Department of Civilian Case Execution made the decision, demanding that Tin, 62, hand over his house, on Ba Vi Street in the district, to Phuong Nam (Southern) Bank as his son’s company failed to settle a loan plus interest, which amounted to VND10.5 billion ($500,000).

According to Nguyen Van Hoa, head of the department, his agency had rejected Tin’s petition for a delay in the house reclamation to September 2014.

However, Hoa added that his department will seek opinions from leaders of the District 10 Party Committee and People’s Committee on what to do next, and is yet to force a house handover on Tin, a well known actor in the 1980s who later became a film producer and businessman.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Nhan, CEO of Phuong Nam Bank, said that on March 19, Tin discussed with the bank’s lawyer his plan to pay the debt, as a group of philanthropists have expressed wishes to help him reclaim the house.

“If Tin has the financial ability to pay off the debt, we’ll allow him to reclaim his house at its contracted price of VND10.5 billion ($500,000). In case of foreclosure, we’ll still offer him VND500 million ($23,585) to help Tin pay his rent at a new place as previously proposed,” Nhan said.

In recent days, several mass media agencies and social networks have reported Tin’s hassle.

In July 2008, Tin used the house, priced at some VND9 billion ($424,500) then, as security for a whopping loan of VND8.3 billion ($395,000). The loan was taken by Chanh Tin Film and Media Co., which is run by Tin’s son, Nguyen Chanh Minh Thuc.

Tin signed a contract to sell his house to Phuong Nam Bank in May 2009 as the firm could not pay the loan plus interest, which equaled VND10.5 billion ($500,000).

The bank then pledged that if his son’s company could settle its debt within 12 months, Tin would be able to claim his house back.

In September 2009, the ownership of Tin’s house was transferred to Phuong Nam Bank under an agreement between the two sides. However, Tin and his family have stayed there so far.

In 2010, as Chanh Tin Film and Media Co. failed to pay the debt, Phuong Nam Bank took the case to the District 10 People’s Court, demanding that Tin and his family move out of the house.

After several trials and appeals by Tin, the appeal hearing in March 2013 upheld the first instance trial’s decision that Tin hand over the house to Phuong Nam Bank.

The bank later petitioned to the District 10 Department of Civilian Case Execution to execute the appeal court’s decision in June 2013.

The department then issued a decision to enforce the court ruling almost one month after that.

Some newspaper articles and personal Facebook pages have suggested that locals raise funds to help Tin survive his current financial crisis.

While a few have shown sympathy towards the actor and supported the call to help him, others have dismissed the petition as unnecessary, saying that losses in business are normal so there is no need to provide him with aid.

Nguyen Chanh Tin has starred in many Vietnamese films, including the 1980s classic “Van Bai Lat Ngua” (The Upside-Down Card Game), directed and produced a handful of films, and worked as a TV host for some local shows such as Rong Vang (The Golden Dragon).

He is also uncle of Charlie Nguyen, a locally famous Vietnamese American film director, and his younger brother Johnny Tri Nguyen, who performed stunts in one of Hollywood’s Spiderman episodes and played a minor role in another American movie.