How to not get ripped off?

[thaibroomer]

Thanks for any help in advance. 

 

Can a new contract replace the old contract with the new lease dates and can other parts of the contract be altered, like the withholding period for the deposit?

 

2nd question: the contract doesn’t say anything about the tenant being responsible to let people inside the condo, unless one month prior to the end of the lease. The bank now wants to asses the value of the condo so the new owner can make finance. Does The tenant has to let the bank in now or can it wait?

 

The owner wants the tenant to pay the commission from the agent plus an exorbitant cleaning fee upon the end of lease. Neither of those is stated in the contract. This is in Bangkok and the tenant read that deposit rip offs and exorbitant cleaning fees are the norm. What can be done?

 

Is hiring a lawyer to get back the deposit worth it? (in case the contract is altered or ended at the original date)

 

Any help is greatly appreciated. Also a contact to a lawyer knowledgeable of rental law would be perfect. 

[crazykopite]

In my humble opinion I would seek the advice off a lawyer Property lease can be very complicated . I would assume there are many good lawyer in BKK who would charge a fair price .

[Jeffrey346]

Any contract can be altered if both sides agree. I suggest you get a good lawyer to represent you.

[soistalker]

It's too little money to get a lawyer involved. 

How much is the cleaning fee? If you are not a smoker, and not a complete slob, anything more than 1000 baht in cheating you. 

[thaibroomer]

I got quoted 3.5k cleaning fee and I am not allowed to get it cleaned myself. 

 

The lawyer advised me to write a memorandum to the contract that states the owner will pay back the deposit in case of early end of the lease (contrary to the initial contract). 

 

The lawyer said everything is possible and up to the tenant and owner to decide/discuss. 

 

Going to court to get the deposit back would  cost 30k, but if the owner loses the case, she will have to pay the lawyer fees. 

[cornishcarlos]

I would just not pay the rent 2 months before end of contract, as long as I had not damaged anything...

Although, technically deposit is not for rent payment. The crooked landlords, stealing deposits here, kinda lets my conscience off the hook :)

[Jimbo1964]

This is a typical land lord scam here. As already mentioned, done waste your time or money with a lawyer. Just stop paying rent before you leave and get your money back that way.

[KittenKong]

I would approach the Office of Consumer Protection. A phone call from them will probably convince the landlord to be more reasonable.

That said, any tenant should ensure that all such details are covered specifically in the lease before signing it. I did exactly that when I was a tenant here: changing the wording of the lease agreement myself and to suit me. The landlord had the option of agreeing or watching me walk away. Needless to say he agreed.

[thaibroomer]

Problem with not paying the rent is it’s all paid upfront in exchange for a shortened lease duration..

[Lacessit]

The only advice I can give is to move out of Bangkok. It's a shithole anyway.

[ericthai]

It's hit or miss on getting a deposit back in Thailand.  I have had places give back no issues, others I had to hound for 4-5 weeks to get it back after I moved out and of course had one that refused to give anything back and tried to hit me with extra cleaning etc. You need to figure when renting a place you are going to loose the deposit.

[elgenon]

22 hours ago, Jimbo1964 said:

This is a typical land lord scam here. As already mentioned, done waste your time or money with a lawyer. Just stop paying rent before you leave and get your money back that way.

What happens if you don't pay rent? Can they/ do they dump your stuff outside?