Living In A Moo Baan (Village)

[jingjo01]

I have two questions for any TV members who own a house in a village (gated community). My house is in a small village of 25 completed houses located in Sattahip. The foreign developer has not handed the management over to the home owners as yet. Question 1 : Our Common fee (Annual maintenance) is very expensive compared to the previous two villages where I have lived. The reason being that it is compulsory that we pay the developer for our private pool servicing and private gardening which is undertaken by the developers village staff. I have never experienced this situation before and wondering if any other TV members are in a similar situation ? If so, have they been able to get out of it ? Question 2 : In this same village both the electric and water meters outside our houses are not connected to the actual utility providers. The developers staff read the meters and then issue a monthly invoice to home owners to pay the Developer at higher than domestic standard unit rates. Have any other TV members experienced this same set up ? If so, were you able to change the situation ?

[scorecard]

"...The reason being that it is compulsory that we pay the developer for our private pool servicing and private gardening which is undertaken by the developers village staff..."

 

 

Is the above specifically mentioned (and mentioned as compulsory) in the contract to buy the land and house? Same questions re elec. and water meters set-up, is it mentioned in the contract in any way?

 

And is this an old developer? If yes can you contact a few owners in any previous villages and check if it's the same picture? 

 

And is the quality of the building work OK or...

 

 

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by scorecard

[happylarry]

Project developers more often than not charge inflated prices for utilities on private estates, did you not know this before you bought the property? Its a very old scam and been going on for years.

HL

[baansgr]

Talay Sawan? I believe original sales contracts there state that. 

[jingjo01]

17 hours ago, baansgr said:

Talay Sawan? I believe original sales contracts there state that. 

I am not naming the village. My Maintenance contract does not state that private pool and private garden will be maintained by the management staff. In fact, when I first purchased the pool was maintained by an external company and paid for by management from our maintenance fees. I wish TV members would just simply answer my questions. Nor does my contract mention the rate payable on electricity or water usage.

[jingjo01]

22 hours ago, happylarry said:

Project developers more often than not charge inflated prices for utilities on private estates, did you not know this before you bought the property? Its a very old scam and been going on for years.

HL

As I have said, this is my third village and my meters have always been connected directly to the providers.I have visited at least four nearby villages and all owners pay direct to the providers, not the developers. I have lived in Thailand for more than 15 years. So I assume you live in a village and pay for your electric and water at inflated prices to the developer ? I wish TV members would simply answer the questions and not sidetrack the thread or denigrate the poster..

[jingjo01]

22 hours ago, scorecard said:

"...The reason being that it is compulsory that we pay the developer for our private pool servicing and private gardening which is undertaken by the developers village staff..."

 

 

Is the above specifically mentioned (and mentioned as compulsory) in the contract to buy the land and house? Same questions re elec. and water meters set-up, is it mentioned in the contract in any way?

 

And is this an old developer? If yes can you contact a few owners in any previous villages and check if it's the same picture? 

 

And is the quality of the building work OK or...

 

 

 

No. Not mentioned in my contract. Rates for water and electricity also not mentioned in contract.I wish TV members would just answer my simple questions, thats why I usually refrain from posting in this forum.

[KittenKong]

I suppose that some relevant questions might be:

 

Are all the houses sold?

 

Have all the chanotes been issued?

 

What do other owners think about it?

 

Depending on the answers to the above I imagine that it would be in your interest to hire a lawyer, form a residents' committee and kick the developer out. As long as you have signed no contract that allows him to do the management for a certain time then it should not be hard to do. Just make sure that he doesnt leave with your common funds.

[Vacuum]

11 minutes ago, jingjo01 said:

As I have said, this is my third village and my meters have always been connected directly to the providers.I have visited at least four nearby villages and all owners pay direct to the providers, not the developers. I have lived in Thailand for more than 15 years. So I assume you live in a village and pay for your electric and water at inflated prices to the developer ? I wish TV members would simply answer the questions and not sidetrack the thread or denigrate the poster..

Ok, I'll aswer:

Question #1:  No.

Question #2   No.

 

Edit; And as it's not mentioned in your contract, you should not pay.

Edited July 23, 2018 by Vacuum

[jingjo01]

All but two.

Dont know.

The few that actually reside here not interested.

Only a few live here. Not interested in forming a committee or HOA.

Yes. That is a worry.

[KittenKong]

3 minutes ago, jingjo01 said:

The few that actually reside here not interested.

Only a few live here. Not interested in forming a committee or HOA.

Apathy triumphs again.

 

You are stuffed.

[malcolminthemiddle]

1.      Assuming the development is licensed, the Developer can only charge fees for the maintenance of common areas at the rate approved by the Land Department based on actual costs supported by accounts.

2.      Maintenance of private pool and garden areas is subject to a separate contract between the Developer and the Owner. If there is no contract the Owner can employ his own subcontractors or do it himself.

3.      Assuming there is no contract between the Developer and Owner for the charging of utilities, and assuming the distribution infrastructure is a part of the common facilities or owned by the utility provider, you can apply to the utility provider for individual meters registered in your name to receive bills directly from the utility provider at standard rates. A common electricity meter is normal where the electrical distribution is below ground.

 

Hope this helps.

[mike324]

serious red flags, when electricity and water rate are being inflated especially in a mooban.

No you can't do anything about Question 1, its mandatory. Question 2, you should ask to see where in the contract it states that you will be charge X rate for electricity or water. I don't know the law, perhaps you can get them to hook you up to public utility line and be charge actual rate, but that will take a bit back and forth and you will need a lawyer to get it done for sure. In my condo, the developer overpromised and never develop a sky garden, the owners in the building sued we won a couple million baht from the developer.

 

I say best to cut the losses and move to a better mooban, seems like nobody else in the mooban wants to form a committee, the developer seems to want to get extra income by charging tenants inflated rate for common fee, electricity and water.

[crazykopite]

Hi , I seem to recall early this year that the government made a ruling that regardless of nationality no individual or company could charge inflated prices for government electricity or water . Maybe it is worth finding out . Where I live there are a lot of Thai owners who have now followed the farang system of charging way above charges for electricity I even know of some people paying 15 baht per unit when the government rate is in the region of 4 baht. Hope you get the answers you are looking for.

[oldlakey]

8 hours ago, jingjo01 said:

I am not naming the village. My Maintenance contract does not state that private pool and private garden will be maintained by the management staff. In fact, when I first purchased the pool was maintained by an external company and paid for by management from our maintenance fees. I wish TV members would just simply answer my questions. Nor does my contract mention the rate payable on electricity or water usage.

They cant answer it because they dont know you will soon pick up the gist of what goes on, on here

[Dene16]

1 hour ago, crazykopite said:

Hi , I seem to recall early this year that the government made a ruling that regardless of nationality no individual or company could charge inflated prices for government electricity or water 

I don't mean wish to hijack the op's post (but seems to of been answered). Does anyone else here have knowledge of this ruling 

[KittenKong]

It's been covered on here a few times. Basically landlords with 5 or more properties cant charge more than the cost price of electricity and water on monthly/yearly rentals.

Edited July 23, 2018 by KittenKong

[AhFarangJa]

In our community the electricity charge is 6 Baht. According to the maintenance contractor it is to subsidise the repairs to the transformers etc. Thai electric board, apparently, does not own these, but insists they repair them, for a fee, on safety grounds. Been like that for the 6 years I have lived here.

I too would be very interested to know where it states by law that they cannot charge more than the Government rate, and is there a difference between Landlords, and maintenance contractors. 

[KittenKong]

3 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

In our community the electricity charge is 6 Baht. According to the maintenance contractor it is to subsidise the repairs to the transformers etc. Thai electric board, apparently, does not own these, but insists they repair them, for a fee, on safety grounds. Been like that for the 6 years I have lived here.

I too would be very interested to know where it states by law that they cannot charge more than the Government rate, and is there a difference between Landlords, and maintenance contractors. 

As far as I know this is not covered by the recent law which only relates to landlords with 5 or more properties.

 

I find it odd that your maintenance contractor should be handling your electricity payments. I would want to pay my bill individually, based on my own official PEA meter, or have the housing association organise the payments for a collective bill.

If and when the transformer blows up there should be a maintenance fee for repairing it. This could be collected in advance if necessary, ie in the form of a communal sinking fund.

 

I am deeply suspicious of any billing system in Thailand that lumps charges together: it always seems to be done to hide something. Give me detailed breakdowns and prices any day.

[baansgr]

On 7/23/2018 at 10:20 AM, jingjo01 said:

I am not naming the village. My Maintenance contract does not state that private pool and private garden will be maintained by the management staff. In fact, when I first purchased the pool was maintained by an external company and paid for by management from our maintenance fees. I wish TV members would just simply answer my questions. Nor does my contract mention the rate payable on electricity or water usage.

Knowing the village would be of help as some have a history that even you as a resident may not know about. Maybe thats why people cant answer your questions. 

[AhFarangJa]

3 hours ago, KittenKong said:

As far as I know this is not covered by the recent law which only relates to landlords with 5 or more properties.

 

I find it odd that your maintenance contractor should be handling your electricity payments. I would want to pay my bill individually, based on my own official PEA meter, or have the housing association organise the payments for a collective bill.

If and when the transformer blows up there should be a maintenance fee for repairing it. This could be collected in advance if necessary, ie in the form of a communal sinking fund.

 

I am deeply suspicious of any billing system in Thailand that lumps charges together: it always seems to be done to hide something. Give me detailed breakdowns and prices any day.

We have recently changed maintenance contractors. The owner of the common land has taken over, and, apparently, they own the meters. We set up a committee to try and stop them taking over, we employed a lawyer, and basically got shafted. They are doing a reasonable job of maintaining the common areas and rubbish collection etc. but we apparently have no choice with the electric. Also, apathy rules here as many house owners are absent Farangs who do not really care as they rent out the houses.

thanks for your info though, always useful.