*sigh* Landlord wants to keep the deposit, same old same old

[sead]

I always both photo and make a video record while the person renting out is there.

[madmen]

Maybe inform her that you are contacting the Inland Revenue people, (or whatever it's called here), and tell her you are checking whether she is/or has been paying tax on your rent, including your deposit. Tell her you are contacting the police, all relevant agencies and that you will have her property blacklisted - then tell her your lawyer is a red-hot wizard from Bangkok. 
 
It might put the fear of god into her, and it might not. But hey - you won't be going out without a fight....

Police will do nothing Its a civil matter. How can he get access to another person's tax records? There are privacy laws

[catman20]

On 12/7/2018 at 4:47 PM, Caine said:

Let her keep the deposit, but make sure much more that 20k damage is do before you leave. Simple

then maybe a little trip to the police station and fork out another 20 or 30,000 smart thinking. NOT

[chrisatchch]

It’s kind of common problem anywhere, I live in New Zealand, my landlord doesn’t pay bond back to the tenants who left, eventhough we have good legal system.  Can you not go to police station and see what they suggest? 

[chrisatchch]

15 hours ago, madmen said:

17 hours ago, Bundooman said:

Maybe inform her that you are contacting the Inland Revenue people, (or whatever it's called here), and tell her you are checking whether she is/or has been paying tax on your rent, including your deposit. Tell her you are contacting the police, all relevant agencies and that you will have her property blacklisted - then tell her your lawyer is a red-hot wizard from Bangkok. 
 
It might put the fear of god into her, and it might not. But hey - you won't be going out without a fight....

Police will do nothing Its a civil matter. How can he get access to another person's tax records? There are privacy laws

That’s what I would do

[chrisatchch]

If she have more than 5 properties,she is obligated to meet the new law requirements,if she doesn’t it becomes illegal, shouldn’t illegal stuff can be taken to police?

[chrisatchch]

Maybe you should call a lawyer, tell the situation, ask for the lawyer fee, if you feel confident then pay lawyer feee as long as it’s not so much, then atleast you get some money back ,even though you loose some lawyer fee,  something is better than nothing.

[Damrongsak]

Buy some voodoo dolls, fake shrunken heads and dead chickens and set them up outside her house with candles and incense or whatnot.  Hire a bunch of kids with noisy motorbikes to drive by her house 3 times in the middle of each night for 2 weeks. Show her you mean business.

[JimmyJ]

On 12/7/2018 at 1:20 AM, scorecard said:

 But be careful, I'm aware of a couple of cases where the tenant didn't pay the rent on time and suddenly came home to find a new lock on the door, and a note saying 'door stays locked until rent is up to date, and new lock will appear again if 1 day overdue'.

 

 

I asked if what you describe will occur by withholding rent for the last month and was told by a poster that it is illegal for them to lock you out if rent is not paid (without going thru other procedures first, I suppose).

 

Does anyone know for sure?

[JimmyJ]

16 hours ago, sead said:

I always both photo and make a video record while the person renting out is there.

It's a good method if there is a way to use it to your advantage if there's a problem in the future.

 

But after reading the other comments in this thread, it appears that if the owner refuses to give it back there is not much recourse even if you have video evidence.

Other than if they rent 5 units or more as then the Consumer Affairs Dept. is supposed to uphold the new laws regarding these issues.

[Katia]

18 hours ago, madmen said:

20 hours ago, Bundooman said:

Maybe inform her that you are contacting the Inland Revenue people, (or whatever it's called here), and tell her you are checking whether she is/or has been paying tax on your rent, including your deposit. Tell her you are contacting the police, all relevant agencies and that you will have her property blacklisted - then tell her your lawyer is a red-hot wizard from Bangkok. 
 
It might put the fear of god into her, and it might not. But hey - you won't be going out without a fight....

Police will do nothing Its a civil matter. How can he get access to another person's tax records? There are privacy laws

If the Thai Inland Revenue/whatever is anything like the U.S. IRS, my guess is that you don't need access to her tax records... just the suggestion that there may be a situation where tax should be paid would probably have them looking into it themselves!  I assume that's what the threat is...

 

 

1 hour ago, JimmyJ said:

 

I asked if what you describe will occur by withholding rent for the last month and was told by a poster that it is illegal for them to lock you out if rent is not paid (without going thru other procedures first, I suppose).

 

Does anyone know for sure?

Illegal, perhaps, but what will be the consequences for them if they do it anyway?  You'd still be locked out of your house until you were able to get legal help in rectifying that.

[BestB]

Besides consumer protection board, ask landlord for tax receipts of all rent paid and also receipt for damage that she is fixing.

 

once you get it or even if you struggle to get it, casually let her know you need this receipts for revenue department.

 

rest assured she has not paid any tax on rental property , you may find she would d willing to refund half deposit pretty fast. With little more squeeze you may get more than half back.

 

My ex landlord , a foreigner wanted to charge me to paint the house, in and outside.

 

His attitude changed fast when I asked for tax receipts and his work permit ????

[JimmyJ]

On 12/6/2018 at 8:48 PM, darksidedog said:

Getting a deposit back here is not at all easy. I have lost most of mine, even when leaving the house in better condition than when taking it over. I have found that the best way to avoid the problem, which has very limited legal options worth pursuing, is to insist on talking to the previous tenant before signing. If they got their money back, I will sign the lease. If they didn't I won't take the house and make a point of telling the prospective lessor exactly why.

 

"I have found that the best way to avoid the problem, which has very limited legal options worth pursuing, is to insist on talking to the previous tenant before signing"

 

How do you locate the previous tenant, assuming the apartment you are being shown is now vacant?

 

It's a good idea though - I think before renting if I wasn't referred by someone who had dealt with the owner, I would nose around as long as it's a multi unit building and speak to other tenants in the building. They would likely have heard stories from neighbors who had good or bad experiences while trying to leave. And they could at least tell me their impressions of dealing with the owner.

 

 

[JimmyJ]

On 12/6/2018 at 8:48 PM, darksidedog said:

Getting a deposit back here is not at all easy. I have lost most of mine, even when leaving the house in better condition than when taking it over. I have found that the best way to avoid the problem, which has very limited legal options worth pursuing, is to insist on talking to the previous tenant before signing. If they got their money back, I will sign the lease. If they didn't I won't take the house and make a point of telling the prospective lessor exactly why.

 

"I have found that the best way to avoid the problem, which has very limited legal options worth pursuing, is to insist on talking to the previous tenant before signing"

 

How do you locate the previous tenant, assuming the apartment you are being shown is now vacant?

 

It's a good idea though - I think before renting if I wasn't referred by someone who had dealt with the owner, I would nose around as long as it's a multi unit building and speak to other tenants in the building. They would likely have heard stories from neighbors who had good or bad experiences while trying to leave. And they could at least tell me their impressions of dealing with the owner.

 

 

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

 

I asked if what you describe will occur by withholding rent for the last month and was told by a poster that it is illegal for them to lock you out if rent is not paid (without going thru other procedures first, I suppose).

 

Does anyone know for sure?

Maybe it is illegal, I don't know, but would that stop 99% of landlords from doing it? No. 

 

Yes landlords can be asshxxxx, all over the world. However as has been said here before on many previous threads there are plenty of assxxxx tenants also, who delight in destroying the property, etc. Been there myself with a luxury house in Jomtien beach, all of the approx. 10 tenants were farang. Eight of them did enormous damage to the property costing more than the total rent income to fix.  One tenant I had to approach the HR Manager of the multi-national the brit husband worked for, they cooperated and brought the police to the house and the police supervised them moving out to a hotel and from there the company staff got the wife on a plane back to UK within a few hours. The twist was the brit's wife was the entire problem, a severe alcoholic, delighted in damaging things, making false claims, abusing the Thai workers and more. At one stage she stole the smartphone of the company driver sent to transport to the supermarket and back. After they were gone about 1 week I got approached by an air-conditioning company in Pattaya to pay for the 2 new air-cons she had ordered to be installed. In reality the 2 that were replaced were near new and had never been a problem.

 

Assxxx landlords, yes.

Assxxxx tenants, yes.  

 

 

 

 

[madmen]

Maybe it is illegal, I don't know, but would that stop 99% of landlords from doing it? No. 
 

Put yourself in the landlord shoes. You run down the deposit then leave trashing the place. It's laughable how renters put themselves on a pedestal... Trust me as landlord there are many humans living like pigs!

Anybody try to illegally run down the deposit as rent with me will get lift access, water and electricity cut. Done it a few times already

And if that fails there is option B. I wouldn't go there put thais won't hesitate.

[Jaxxper]

One ploy is to tell the landlord that whilst you are sure he/she is declaring the income to the tax authorities, you will be checking with them anyway. A lot of landlords believe that rental income is a tax free perk. Not so....

Even here nobody wants to get engaged with the revenue folks. The landlord might drop the withholding or drastically reduce it. Worth a try as a first resort.

[Wake Up]

If you want money back go to the Consumer Board at CW and file a complaint.  Only costs you the expense  to go to CW and back. Despite many threads they actually do help tenants in BKK. Good luck and let us know the result if you do file a complaint.