My rent just went up because of the new electricity rate reduction for tenants - that was supposed to save me money

[Dazinoz]

1 minute ago, jackdd said:

 

 

1 minute ago, jackdd said:

They don't make extra money from electricity.

So why are people complaining that their rent will go up when the electricity price halves?

[jackdd]

9 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

 

So why are people complaining that their rent will go up when the electricity price halves?

For people in condos or houses that pay the government rate the electricity rate will stay the same, nothing changes in this regard.

 

The electricity price halving occurs only in apartments where the landlords charged double the government rate before:

15 hours ago, jackdd said:

Before you paid let's say 10k rent and 3k electricity. He charged you double the government fee so got effectively 11.5k THB for his room

Now he can charge you only 1.8k (1.5k government + 20%) for electricity, so his effective income for this room is 10.3k THB

Did you think he will just give you a lower rent and accept less income? Of course he increases your rent, and that's what all apartments will do (unless the rent before was too high and they hope to attract more tenants with the new lower rent)

[tigermoth]

16 hours ago, InMyShadow said:

+1

 

There are thousands renting apartments who cannot afford to buy a condo. ost of these people are on low incomes and are the ones that will be badly hit by the owners raising rents to compensate. Any increase in rates for apartments should be outlawed for a minimum period of time.

[Dazinoz]

19 minutes ago, jackdd said:

 

Before you paid let's say 10k rent and 3k electricity. He charged you double the government fee so got effectively 11.5k THB for his room

Now he can charge you only 1.8k (1.5k government + 20%) for electricity, so his effective income for this room is 10.3k THB

Did you think he will just give you a lower rent and accept less income? Of course he increases your rent, and that's what all apartments will do (unless the rent before was too high and they hope to attract more tenants with the new lower rent)

But you said they don't make make extra money from electricity. Contradicting yourself.

[Dazinoz]

3 minutes ago, tigermoth said:

There are thousands renting apartments who cannot afford to buy a condo. ost of these people are on low incomes and are the ones that will be badly hit by the owners raising rents to compensate. Any increase in rates for apartments should be outlawed for a minimum period of time.

Yes, easy for people to say just buy your own condo problem solved.

[jackdd]

6 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

But you said they don't make make extra money from electricity. Contradicting yourself.

In apartments they do, in condos where people pay directly to the government they don't. Obviously you don't understand the difference between apartment and condo.

This whole thread here is about apartments.

Edited April 28, 2018 by jackdd

[Dazinoz]

6 minutes ago, jackdd said:

In apartments they do, in condos where people pay directly to the government they don't. Obviously you don't understand the difference between apartment and condo.

This whole thread here is about apartments.

The OP mentions apartments, rented rooms and condos. Quote"“The Government required the apartment block owner to increase the rent and service charges on each condo"

 

But obviously I am an idiot. I should have read the word "condo" to mean "apartment" from the OP.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Dazinoz

[seancbk]

17 hours ago, InMyShadow said:

What did you expect? You really thought a thai landlord is going to take a hit to the wallet?

 

There are tens of thousands of cheap rentals with 7-10 baht electricity cost to bring the rent back to market value. If your paying 10k/month you can expect a 3k rent increase.

 

Keep in mind the law is only for private condo owners of 5 condos or more however I believe all guest houses and condotels are affected

 

Private condo owners should be giving you the bill direct from the MEA, it is Apartment owners who charge their own rate for electricity.

[topt]

59 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

But obviously I am an idiot

If you say so........but if you have actually not seen any of the previous posts about this subject perhaps have a look here where Crossy links to an original article -

My understanding is that before the new law any owner, whether an owner of a condo or an apartment block, could theoretically charge what they wanted for water/electric. In practice in most stand alone condos with separate meter managed by the owner you stood more chance of paying the bill direct at the govt. rate.

I hope that is clearer for you........ 

[mihalis]

Tell them your leaving and find a new place, mate did so, as many rental homes are around ! Owners decided increase was wrong and current rate is ok.. ????

[denby45]

I am still waiting for the OP to tell the actual Baht numbers involved on a monthly basis. You got a reduction in your lekky bill and it also looks like the landlord did not add back the 20% he was entitled to. How much more are you paying per month overall after the increase in your rent?

 

Den

[Scouse123]

2 hours ago, Dazinoz said:

But you said they don't make make extra money from electricity. Contradicting yourself.

Dazinoz,

 

Some people are getting their bills via the landlord who put their increase on it, sometimes double the electric company rates.They then pass it on to the tenant/condo renter. For example, the condo owner checks the unit rate of 4 baht per unit and you use 100 units, so your bill is 400 baht. Some condo owners are charging 8 baht per unit, so your bill is 800 baht. New government legislation has come in to stop this. So now, unscrupulous landlords are giving out rent increases for the money they will lose in their ' electric scams ' to compensate.

 

Other people are getting billed for their condos direct from the electric companies with the electric companies meter and thus paying the normal rate..... It all depends on where you live and the decency of the condo block owners.

 

Simple answer is, decide with your feet. There are plenty for rent. Go and find one where you pay the Electricity board rate directly with no adjustment to your rent and get a full written contract.

[gaff]

hello,

 

Can you please explain things clearly ?

 

Apartments owners won't be allowed to charge us 8thb for electricity anymore ?

 

But they are required to charge us more for something else ?

 

And what if the owner is just honest and only reduce electricity fee ?

 

Thank you.

 

 

[Dazinoz]

2 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

Dazinoz,

 

Some people are getting their bills via the landlord who put their increase on it, sometimes double the electric company rates.They then pass it on to the tenant/condo renter. For example, the condo owner checks the unit rate of 4 baht per unit and you use 100 units, so your bill is 400 baht. Some condo owners are charging 8 baht per unit, so your bill is 800 baht. New government legislation has come in to stop this. So now, unscrupulous landlords are giving out rent increases for the money they will lose in their ' electric scams ' to compensate.

 

Other people are getting billed for their condos direct from the electric companies with the electric companies meter and thus paying the normal rate..... It all depends on where you live and the decency of the condo block owners.

 

Simple answer is, decide with your feet. There are plenty for rent. Go and find one where you pay the Electricity board rate directly with no adjustment to your rent and get a full written contract.

Thanks for a more accurate reply.

 

Personally i rent a house so doesn't worry me. I was just curious as to how it happened as I mentioned in a previous post what happened to a friend. But as always seems to happen on TVF people read what they want to read and start downing people.

[Scouse123]

Just now, gaff said:

hello,

 

Can you please explain things clearly ?

 

Apartments owners won't be allowed to charge us 8thb for electricity anymore ?

 

But they are required to charge us more for something else ?

 

And what if the owner is just honest and only reduce electricity fee ?

 

Thank you.

 

 

Gaff,

 

If it works in the 'spirit of the law ' your electric goes down and end of story.

 

Landlords are now trying to find ways to get this money back from the tenant using ' dirty ways ' such as backdated rent increases. It depends on how decent the landlord is.

 

The landlords because they have got away with charging their own tariff for electric ( 8 baht a unit instead of government 4 baht a unit for example), which really is a sneaky way to charge you more rent but it is just done a different way. They are trying to recoup this money as they feel they are losing it.In reality, they are not, but they don't accept it.

[Jonnapat]

18 hours ago, jackdd said:

What did you expect would happen? I said that this would happen in another thread already.

Before you paid let's say 10k rent and 3k electricity. He charged you double the government fee so got effectively 11.5k THB for his room

Now he can charge you only 1.8k (1.5k government + 20%) for electricity, so his effective income for this room is 10.3k THB

Did you think he will just give you a lower rent and accept less income? Of course he increases your rent, and that's what all apartments will do (unless the rent before was too high and they hope to attract more tenants with the new lower rent)

 

That he tries to cheat you by charging you a higher rent than stated in your contract is of course wrong of him.

Wrong, but so typical of Thais 

[Acemaker]

19 hours ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Buy your own condo
Sorted.

Buying Property in this place is for Fools.

[Thaidream]

The landlords who do this to tenants with a contract are breaking the law- they can be forced to keep the rent the same via legal action or filing a complaint- However, once the contract is ended- they will ask the tenant to leave and increase the rent for the next person. It's a no win situation for long term renters who like their apartment and location.  I might have some respect (just a little) for the landlord if he just told the truth rather than present the Op with a nonsensical piece of paper indicating he was doing everyone a favor.

[newnative]

    My partner and I have rented condos out in the past, always with the understanding that the tenant pays his/her water and electric.  We've owned dozens of condos and they all have had their own electric and water meters.  We used to live at Centric Sea condo and also rented a condo there at the same time to a tenant. The tenant paid no higher a rate for water and electric than we did.  I didn't realize hiking the rates was such a problem but I suggest if someone is looking to rent they do a careful check on how the utilities are handled, look for a rental with its own meters, and have utilities billing to the tenant written into the contract. 

[Fruit Trader]

My wife's fire breathing auntie has asked her electrician about ways to compensate her rooms for rent if she charges less for a unit of electricity.

 

I often read between the lines of these family conversations and conclude that they maybe considering the dumb idea of adjusting the standard unit at meter level to fully or partially compensate the loss.

[InMyShadow]

Buying Property in this place is for Fools.

Funny that
All the busted arsed pensioner say that [emoji23]

[spambot]

2 hours ago, denby45 said:

I am still waiting for the OP to tell the actual Baht numbers involved on a monthly basis. You got a reduction in your lekky bill and it also looks like the landlord did not add back the 20% he was entitled to. How much more are you paying per month overall after the increase in your rent?

 

Den

The previous electricity charges were 6% of the rental costs - The New rental cost has increased by 13%. The new electricity cost will reduce now to 3% of old rental costs. 

In summary the amount extra being paid is 13% - 3% = 10% real increase.

[InMyShadow]

2 minutes ago, spambot said:

The previous electricity charges were 6% of the rental costs - The New rental cost has increased by 13%. The new electricity cost will reduce now to 3% of old rental costs. 

In summary the amount extra being paid is 13% - 3% = 10% real increase.

A blue print for Thai landlord mentality

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

1 hour ago, Acemaker said:

Buying Property in this place is for Fools.

Eh? Rubbishe.  Building another's wealth whilst being fleeced is for Fools.

[notmyself]

11 hours ago, InMyShadow said:

Funny that
All the busted arsed pensioner say that

 

Aye. Generally pretty safe when buying the type of dwelling involved in this issue but building a house on a 30 year land lease is a very high risk move.

[Benmart]

On 4/27/2018 at 6:00 PM, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Buy your own condo
Sorted.

Simplified solutions, without knowing the party concerned, is often without merit. Perhaps an offer to sort it out and finance this persons purchase would be the more simple solution.

[thailand49]

It is funny a number of poster here that complaint about this when it is the norm many the same individual who speak basically go home this is their country stuff a recent topic on helmets. Just as I noted a number of times it isn't perfect here even for those who constantly say go home.

[robblok]

19 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

Gaff,

 

If it works in the 'spirit of the law ' your electric goes down and end of story.

 

Landlords are now trying to find ways to get this money back from the tenant using ' dirty ways ' such as backdated rent increases. It depends on how decent the landlord is.

 

The landlords because they have got away with charging their own tariff for electric ( 8 baht a unit instead of government 4 baht a unit for example), which really is a sneaky way to charge you more rent but it is just done a different way. They are trying to recoup this money as they feel they are losing it.In reality, they are not, but they don't accept it.

Of course they are losing money, they priced their rooms based on the fact they could charge for electricity. Now they can't do you really expect them to take the hit ?

 

I would expect them to try to raise the rent for sure if possible. I know I would. (that being said I would not have used this business model but just charge a higher rent). I don't know why people expect the owners to take the hit. All of a sudden the government changes the rules. Not exactly fair. 

 

They probably can't legally change the rent if you have a contract. 

[Scouse123]

3 hours ago, robblok said:

Of course they are losing money, they priced their rooms based on the fact they could charge for electricity. Now they can't do you really expect them to take the hit ?

 

I would expect them to try to raise the rent for sure if possible. I know I would. (that being said I would not have used this business model but just charge a higher rent). I don't know why people expect the owners to take the hit. All of a sudden the government changes the rules. Not exactly fair. 

 

They probably can't legally change the rent if you have a contract. 

 

Well, we think differently. I believe the electric charge is a "sneaky trick" or a  " hidden extra charge " on behalf of the landlord for the many people from the West who don't even think about utilities being charged at a higher rate.

 

I do agree with you however, I would just be ' upfront ' and ask for a higher rent in the first place.

 

And I do own houses and I do not adopt the business model as mentioned. The rents are paid to me and the electric is paid to the company as per the meter. I sleep soundly and with a good conscience. Others may do it differently, up to them.

[robblok]

2 minutes ago, Scouse123 said:

 

Well, we think differently. I believe the electric charge is a "sneaky trick" or a  " hidden extra charge " on behalf of the landlord for the many people from the West who don't even think about utilities being charged at a higher rate.

 

I do agree with you however, I would just be ' upfront ' and ask for a higher rent in the first place.

 

And I do own houses and I do not adopt the business model as mentioned. The rents are paid to me and the electric is paid to the company as per the meter. I sleep soundly and with a good conscience. Others may do it differently, up to them.

I agree, but my point is you have a certain rental income that you want to get.. you can get it two ways.. higher rent or lower rent and electricity charges. These owners just went for an other strategy that is now outlawed (i dont like that strategy), so they will just raise rent to get the same amount. I think that had they known it was illegal before they would have raised their rent at the start to get their intended income.  Its just an other way to charge (not one i like but it was legal before)