Renting in Thailand

[Don Chance]

I guess they would present a lease in Thai and i would have to get it translate.  Do you have to pay 6 months in advance? What if you break the lease after 6 months? Would they do it for 3 months?

[gk10002000]

The one lease I signed was for 60 days, and it was in Thai and english.  There were words about breaking early, and how much I would pay.  It all seemed reasonable.  I believe in addition to paying the full terms of the lease, the lease said there would be a one month penalty for early breakage. I had no issue with that since I was sure I was staying the full 60 days.  I am sure that just like in other places and countries there may be leases written in ways you the tenant may not like.  Definitely read the fine print.

[poanoi]

i rent my room per month and paid 2500 in deposit,

i can leave with 1 day notice but i will obviously have to clear electric bill.

i have lived here before and know i get the deposit back when i leave, something  that can not be said for all places i have stayed at.

i once signed up for a 6 month lease,

i will never again do such dumb shit,

the house was infested with mosquitos,

but really it can be any annoyance,

i strongly advocate that if you can,

stay just one night first, try to minimize how

long you might be stuck in a shithole

Edited April 24, 2018 by poanoi

[tropo]

4 hours ago, poanoi said:

i rent my room per month and paid 2500 in deposit,

i can leave with 1 day notice but i will obviously have to clear electric bill.

i have lived here before and know i get the deposit back when i leave, something  that can not be said for all places i have stayed at.

i once signed up for a 6 month lease,

i will never again do such dumb shit,

the house was infested with mosquitos,

but really it can be any annoyance,

i strongly advocate that if you can,

stay just one night first, try to minimize how

long you might be stuck in a shithole

LOL> I signed up for 2 years and would have gone another if not for the immigration department's restriction on 3 years or longer leases. Why did I sign up so long, you may ask. That's a good question. The reason is to prevent the rent from going up as I have a good deal. 

 

Mosquitos don't infest a house, they come from outside. You may have just come at the wrong time when mosquitoes were breeding like crazy. For example, November - February was crazy where I live, but now in April, there's hardly any. I would always rent a house with fly screens though, as a precaution. The last place I lived would have been uninhabitable without flyscreens.

 

Sad to say, with no legislation to protect tenants, deposit return is optional for landlords. If they refuse, there's nothing legal you can do about it that's worth your while. Court processes are slow and expensive, so you just have to kiss it goodbye. The landlords all know this, so the trick is to find a kind-hearted one and hope for the best. I've been lucky so far, but I've only dealt with Farang landlords and prefer it that way.

 

You generally only have to pay 3 month's in advance to move in. 2 month's security deposit and one month in advance. If you break the lease you don't have to pay the balance of rent owing for the period, but you could lose your security deposit.

Edited April 24, 2018 by tropo

[poanoi]

9 minutes ago, tropo said:

LOL> I signed up for 2 years and would have gone another if not for the immigration department's restriction on 3 years or longer leases. Why did I sign up so long, you may ask. That's a good question. The reason is to prevent the rent from going up as I have a good deal. 

 

Mosquitos don't infest a house, they come from outside. You may have just come at the wrong time when mosquitoes were breeding like crazy. For example, November - February was crazy where I live, but now in April, there's hardly any. I would always rent a house with fly screens though, as a precaution. The last place I lived would have been uninhabitable without flyscreens.

 

Sad to say, with no legislation to protect tenants, deposit return is optional for landlords. If they refuse, there's nothing legal you can do about it that's worth your while. Court processes are slow and expensive, so you just have to kiss it goodbye. The landlords all know this, so the trick is to find a kind-hearted one and hope for the best. I've been lucky so far, but I've only dealt with Farang landlords and prefer it that way.

even so, there is a hundred things that can turn out to be in hell,

another place turned out to be without water during dry season

since the landlady figured it should only be a few month before water returned so why not jai yen yen ?

right ?! i took a pee at big C as needed and a shower at the gym all the while i tried my best to find a replacement asap.

i strongly recommend make it a habit to stay a night or a few before signing up long term.

 

another thing i have found out the hard way is its best to be at place when its time for the money to be returned, i got screwed once by the owner premeditated a bank transfer after i had left the building, the other case i made the mistake of sending my gf

Edited April 24, 2018 by poanoi

[tropo]

5 minutes ago, poanoi said:

even so, there is a hundred things that can turn out to be in hell,

another place turned out to be without water during dry season

since the landlady figured it should only be a few month before water returned so why not jai yen yen ?

right ?! i took a pee at big C as needed and a shower at the gym all the while i tried my best to find a replacement asap.

i strongly recommend make it a habit to stay a night or a few before signing up long term.

 

another thing i have found out the hard way is its best to be at place when its time for the money to be returned, i got screwed once by the owner premeditated a bank transfer after i had left the building, the other case i made the mistake of sending my gf

When I look for a place I make a long list of everything I need to check. 

Water supply is an important one. How is it supplied? From tanks on a rooftop of a building, or your own line from the street. How's the pressure? Where are the pumps? If it's the latter (directly from the street), you will occasionally have problems and have to order your own water to fill your tank. Currently, I have a contract with a real estate agent. According to the contract,  everything has to be in order and it's the owner's responsibility to make it so. For example, the owner had to pay about 90k on air conditioning after I moved in, which he did. Actually all repair costs under 1000 baht I have to pay. You're not going to be able to rent a condo or house for a day or 2 before you move in unless perhaps the owner is super desperate to get tenants. Nice places at good prices are not easy to find as they go fast, obviously. They don't have to beg people to rent them. When I search I find most of the ones I like are already taken. It depends on how fussy you are.

 

Of course, your deposit risk depends on how much rent you pay. If it's only for a cheap room, you don't risk much. My deposit is 60k, so I need to do some homework before signing on the dotted line.

[Rdrokit]

New rental laws go into effect May 1 2018

 

http://thailandproperty.news/new-rental-law-start-may-1

[Don Chance]

So what does a tenant do when they give 30 days notice and the LL does not return the security deposit?

Edited April 27, 2018 by Don Chance

[Huayrat]

On 25/04/2018 at 4:51 AM, tropo said:

LOL> I signed up for 2 years and would have gone another if not for the immigration department's restriction on 3 years or longer leases. Why did I sign up so long, you may ask. That's a good question. The reason is to prevent the rent from going up as I have a good deal. 

 

Mosquitos don't infest a house, they come from outside. You may have just come at the wrong time when mosquitoes were breeding like crazy. For example, November - February was crazy where I live, but now in April, there's hardly any. I would always rent a house with fly screens though, as a precaution. The last place I lived would have been uninhabitable without flyscreens.

 

Sad to say, with no legislation to protect tenants, deposit return is optional for landlords. If they refuse, there's nothing legal you can do about it that's worth your while. Court processes are slow and expensive, so you just have to kiss it goodbye. The landlords all know this, so the trick is to find a kind-hearted one and hope for the best. I've been lucky so far, but I've only dealt with Farang landlords and prefer it that way.

 

You generally only have to pay 3 month's in advance to move in. 2 month's security deposit and one month in advance. If you break the lease you don't have to pay the balance of rent owing for the period, but you could lose your security deposit.

Go cut an extra key and if they refuse to give you your Deposit back then go and take property worth your Deposit until they do.. Yes it's not good to do this but neither are cheating scum landlords keeping your money for nothing

[tropo]

2 hours ago, Huayrat said:

Go cut an extra key and if they refuse to give you your Deposit back then go and take property worth your Deposit until they do.. Yes it's not good to do this but neither are cheating scum landlords keeping your money for nothing

If you tried that you'd be arrested and charged real quick... and end up being fined for theft and expelled from Thailand. It's super easy for a landlord to make up reasons (or excuses) to keep a security deposit, and you'd have to fight it in court. It really wouldn't be worth your time, money and effort.

[tropo]

On 4/27/2018 at 8:12 PM, Don Chance said:

So what does a tenant do when they give 30 days notice and the LL does not return the security deposit?

Kiss the money goodbye.

[jerry921]

On 4/27/2018 at 8:12 AM, Don Chance said:

So what does a tenant do when they give 30 days notice and the LL does not return the security deposit?

Kiss the money goodbye and write an angry post on TV - but don't name names or you'll run afoul of libel laws.

 

 

[KittenKong]

So what does a tenant do when they give 30 days notice and the LL does not return the security deposit?

Well, I would go straight to the Office of Consumer Protection. A phone call from them would probably encourage the landlord to return the deposit, unless he particularly wants to have his rental activities investigated by that office and the local revenue department.

[Khun Jean]

Playing the victim will make you a victim. So get some balls and always get your deposit back. Consumer protection is there to help as is the Ombudsman.

Personally i make it very clear that deposit is written down in the contract and also that it has to be returned on the day i leave. If not, then i go look at one of the 5000 other properties for rent.