Good lawyer for condo management problems?

[JimboJ]

There are numerous problems with the management of the condo where I live, and any attempt to talk about them is met with threats to prosecute me for defamation.  These are probably exaggerated, but it seems sensible to take legal advice before going any further.

Another problem is that general meetings are held in the depths of the low season, when as few people as possible can attend.  I need a lawyer to act as proxy.

Does anyone know a good lawyer who would be interested in dealing with these problems?

[KittenKong]

I've come across such threats before, invariably from incompetent people and companies who have no other defence. There are many of these in Thailand. In my experience they are entirely empty threats, as one valid defence against such charges is to show that the supposed defamation is in the public interest. If your management company is wasting your building's money, or not doing its job, then it would certainly be in the public interest to let other co-owners know about it.

 

As for lawyers here, they are a pretty useless lot and charge far more than they are worth. If you do get one, make absolutely certain that they are specialised in condo law: it has little to do with general litigation and most lawyers dont know the first thing about it.

 

I think that your best answer will be in numbers: you have to get together with as many co-owners as possible, and arrange for those who live here to hold proxy votes for those who are often away. There are strict rules about proxies: follow them to the letter. Then you can elect a decent committee and the committee can fire the management and get a replacement company in.

If at your GM you have general agreement for removing the management company then you can call for a vote on it in the "other business" section. To an extent this will oblige your committee to act as co-owners wish, and any honest committee would do so. Of course your committee may not be honest either.

[Delight]

You have not specified your location

[JimboJ]

The location is Pattaya.

The point about a public interest defence is encouraging, but I do have to be prepared to go to court, and would like to find a lawyer I have some confidence in first.  It's strange that lawyers are not lining up to make a bit of money out of what must be a common form of litigation.

I know about the laws governing meetings.  The problem is that the management keeps just enough owners on their side by doing them favours, and hires proxies off the street to represent them when they hold meetings.  The only way of contacting owners would be through a public forum, since there are few in residence.

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, KittenKong said:

I've come across such threats before, invariably from incompetent people and companies who have no other defence. There are many of these in Thailand. In my experience they are entirely empty threats, as one valid defence against such charges is to show that the supposed defamation is in the public interest. If your management company is wasting your building's money, or not doing its job, then it would certainly be in the public interest to let other co-owners know about it.

 

As for lawyers here, they are a pretty useless lot and charge far more than they are worth. If you do get one, make absolutely certain that they are specialised in condo law: it has little to do with general litigation and most lawyers dont know the first thing about it.

 

I think that your best answer will be in numbers: you have to get together with as many co-owners as possible, and arrange for those who live here to hold proxy votes for those who are often away. There are strict rules about proxies: follow them to the letter. Then you can elect a decent committee and the committee can fire the management and get a replacement company in.

If at your GM you have general agreement for removing the management company then you can call for a vote on it in the "other business" section. To an extent this will oblige your committee to act as co-owners wish, and any honest committee would do so. Of course your committee may not be honest either.

Agreed, you could also do a face to face survey with other owners asking them if they would like the management company to be changed.

 

Do the survey in advance to alert the owners of a meeting and the possibility of the specific discussion and also to get some idea how much support there is for change amongst the owners. 

[Delight]

 If I were in your position I would know which lawyer to contact

Email me . My address is on this forum

[KittenKong]

9 hours ago, Delight said:

 If I were in your position I would know which lawyer to contact

Why not just give his details? Other people might be interested.

[KittenKong]

17 hours ago, JimboJ said:

The problem is that the management keeps just enough owners on their side by doing them favours, and hires proxies off the street to represent them when they hold meetings. 

This is very common. In fact I would say that it is typical of many bad management companies, which are far more numerous than most co-owners realise.

 

I think your only real hope is in numbers. You have to get more co-owners involved and on your side. This will require a lot of preparation and legwork, as mentioned by scorecard.

[Henryford]

We moved our year end  to the 30th of September which allowed us to have the AGM in late December which gave us the most attendees. Might be worth doing. I agree an AGM in May/June would not be well attended.

[Crossy]

A potentially libelous post has been removed.

 

Quote

6) You will not post comments that could be reasonably construed as defamation or libel.

Defamation is the issuance of a statement about another person or business which causes that person to suffer harm. It does not have to be false to be defamatory. Libel is when the defamatory statement is published either in a drawing, painting, cinematography, film, picture or letters made visible by any means, or any other recording instruments, recording picture or letters, or by broadcasting or spreading picture, or by propagation by any other means. Defamation is both a civil and criminal charge in Thailand.