mrboats

I don't use lawyers much to do these transactions....because I've don't it many times i know the procedures

At the land offices it could be selective....i only experienced pattaya and chaing mai/rai offices

At these offices you have no chance to transfer if its not 100% thai owned...in fact to many questions get asked which are best avoided

its also best if you don't get out of the company just before acquiring land...to many difficult questions to be answered also

100% certain land can only be purchased by 100% thai company

have done this many times....each time I've had to remove myself from the company

many foreigners get alarmed when their name is not initially on the company registration 

that is why it gets added later

Yes as stated before you will have to take yourself out of the company to purchase the land/building

this can only be purchased by 100% thai owned company

when its done then you can reinstate yourself back in the company and i suggest you become the 49% Director

when you purchase the property you can make it a loan from you to the company...that way you protect your investment as your registered loan is paid off first should the assets be sold

i cannot see any problem regarding illegal nominees as you know the people in the company ....i suggest the 1% also has their signature on the company minutes that will be required to purchase any property

By the way Ed...just to let you know for any future dealings....you don't need lawyers to open company's....you can do it yourself very cheap...you just need a Thai that's had decent schooling

i actually abstained 2 of my company's for free....some foreigner sold their house to a Thai....of course don't need the company anymore.....costs money to close it....better to give it away....just have to look around ...they are available....ask at accountant offices

Yes Ed ...sold a condo and a house ...both were in company names....the benefit was no fees to pay at the land office

the guy who had to pay 1million....well it's his own fault....obviously he had no company exit forms pre signed....so the guy saw his chance...also I'm guessing he also had no documents that the Thais owed him money....I have loan documents against my shareholders...just in case one wants to be greedy....but so far in 12 years never had any problems

of course many people are dubious taking someone's company on purchase....but every company has annual balance sheets...any fool can see if there's any loans or outstanding if they learnt arithmetic at school....also I don't only use 1 lawyer....I have several and sound them out...then I decide who's got the best ideas

cheers

yes Ed....a foreigner is not allowed to own land in thailand

but a company can....as is evident with the thousands of foreigners purchasing their houses that way

there are no gripes or complaints from these foreigners including me...have many houses in company names...I'm very happy with my setups....you didn't do enough homework and probably chose the wrong lawyer

it may not be perfect but it sure as hell is better than having it in a Thai woman's name

Better you forget about all this Ed and move on....your out of your depth here trying to understand all this

lawyers and accountants never volunteer any information....they only answer your questions if it suits them

maybe they saw a wood duck like yourself and decided you were easy prey

Destiny 1990....if you got nothing decent to contribute better you stay quite....what a silly comment

ive done this company thing 6 times....only the first time did I use a lawyer

i soon learnt why pay lawyers hugh  sums of money for something I can do myself

so after doing everything myself 5 times your comment is really silly

you just cannot get your head around the fact that some people want to do this 

Kuhn Jean....the 51% Thai shareholders don't need to phisically put up the money

you can do loan documents that they still owe the company the money

i think this is all to complicated for you guys to get your head around so just keep renting and let us smart guys derive our income

There is nothing illegal about what the OP was trying to do

he was opening legitimate company's to purchase houses which would be rented out to derive income

theres nothing illegal about that and there are no negative consequences if it's all done right

thats why you open a company right....to do business....there's no law that says company's cannot own property

the law also says a foreigner can be 49% shareholder

there are thousands and thousands of companies that have foreign directors....nothing illegal about that

the headline of this post just tells me the OP had no idea what he's doing...so he done the appropriate thing and walked away

again don't blame the lawyer....they are not at fault

simple equation....don't enter into anything you know nothing about

No it's not that obvious....the property is transferred at the land office into the company

then after a few weeks the foreigners name is put on the company register at the Department Business Development 

'completely seperate offices

in the OP case there's no problem because he was going to rent out the properties

a completely legitimate business as long as he declared the income for the company

How can he get any help from the Thai Bar Association

as quoted in previous posts the lawyer actually did nothing wrong

the OP didn't ask the right questions and then became confused...can't blame the lawyer on this one

its Ed Strong who doesn't know the procedure 

Ed Strong....you can possibly walk away from these companies as your name is not registered on the company docs

the lawyer will just flip them on to the next person who wants one

dont expect any return of you money though

yes it's possible to purchase a 3million baht property with a 1 million baht company....it's just paperwork...you loan the company the extra funds

Ed Strong your idea was good but you got yourself all messed up with wrong information

the lawyer is correct you cannot transfer a house into a company that's not 100% Thai owned

the house is transferred into the Thai company and then only when that's done is your name put in the company....not before...it's nothing unusual....I've done this many times....it's the way it's done

however if you don't trust the lawyer that's another story....you don't need a lawyer to do this....just take possession of your company's that you paid for and do the transfer yourself when your ready at the DBD

and another thing....yes it costs the same amount to close a company as it does to open one

Why do you need lawyers...your giving away the company

the fee at the DBD is about 600 baht to transfer the shareholders

the new shareholders would need to cover that fee and any due diligence that they require....it's all very simple 

Like I said before....just give it away....you will get plenty of takers including myself..I'm happy to take it off your hands....all I need is the exit forms from all the shareholders....stop moaning about the cost ....you knew what you were doing when you entered into the deal

Instead of closing the company and paying the costs you can always give it away free....Im interested if you want to save the expense of closing it...it just means changing the directors...no comments please regarding liabilities and other nonsense....I'm smart enough to read the understand the yearly financial statements

I own a house which is obviously in a company name and the blue book has always been accepted at jomtein as my address....never any questions asked

I don't think you will have this problem every year....I've had the same problems with a few motorcycles....it's only when you do a name transfer....after its in your name it's easy year after year.....I live in pattaya to but to do the name change I've had to take the vehicle to the original place of registration....afterwards you can do the yearly tax anywhere....suggest you put the vehicle back to standard as I've had modifications refused and you waste the trip to the liscencing office

I can only inform that my experiences have been fantastic .....have purchased many properties in the company method....and sold a few as well...it's easy and smooth...you just have to know how to do it...no need to scare monger about nominees and getting cheated....just need the correct documents...pre signed .exit documents are important to remove shareholders....simple loan document that you loaned them the money keeps all silly demands at bay. Company tax documents are prepared every year by an accountant....some of the 10000-13000 baht fee gos towards paying some taxes...it's clean and simple....you cannot be cheated out of the property . I also agree that selling houses and condos in Thailand can be difficult...BUT...again it depends on the asking price and the location....sold a condo and a house last year ....both within a week....location.location

Bottom line is having a company to own a house is not as scary as what it's made out to be...still have four properties in this method and I'm happy with it

Yes AlQaholic is correct....the condominium act only applies after you own the property

Before that it's just a normal sale contract with conditions.....some new builds you cannot even resale them without the developers approval and usually they want some fees to transfer the sale

John60 predicament appears to be he doesn't have sufficient funds to finalise the second purchase....better to borrow some money and pay the balance....this will give him time to sell it normally without pressure

John60 if you want to loan some money feel free to contact me

I don't think a lawyer can help the OP in this case....except take some money off him that would be better spent paying for the second condo....it's clear the OP does not have the money to pay off the second condo....a lawyer won't give him a loan....only make things worse....the OP needs a loan...that will buy him time to dispose of the condo

I don't know the details of your contract but of course like everything if you don't pay you can lose it

Better you loan some money using the paid condo as security and pay the developer...I'm sure the interest will be cheaper than losing what you've already paid....if you cannot afford the second condo it gives you time to sell it

Don't believe for one minute you will not get proper justice in a Thai court....from my experience it makes no difference where your from....I'm a foreigner and took a Thai to court ....the verdict was in my favour easily...I had a lawyer ....the Thai represented itself....if the Thai had a lawyer the verdict would have still been the same....justice is still there if you done nothing wrong

I guess they can claim because being married it's 50/50 ownership regardless who's name it belongs

Have bought 2 houses from foreign/Thai married couples and even though the house was in the wife's name each time I still needed a letter from the husband to show the land office he relinquished his 50%