I have just received a draft contract for the sale of my house. It includes wording that say should I fail to complete the sale I must return the deposit with 7.5% interest (which seems fair); and must also pay a penalty  equal to the original deposit (which doesn't). Looking back, this phrase is also in the contract for a condo I sold a few years ago, so assume it is standard wording. My limited experience of Thai law is that it does not support the payment of excessive penalties, which this seems to be. Is this clause standard practice in your experience?

 

Thanks

So don't sell the house to them or don't take a deposit.

Cash, full amount at land office is normal here, no contracts required.

Why are you bothering with contracts, it isn't normal in Thailand?

I would say if you're willing to take a deposit and keep it in the event of non completion on the buyer's part you should be willing to lose the same amount if you for any reason change your own mind.

After all you both want to be able to rely on the deal.

The buyer after all might be selling somewhere else or giving up a tenancy etc so it's very important to him.

The agreement of sale just makes things fixed and clear and can be used as a receipt i guess.

Fair, no?

Any contract offer you receive is not set in stone and by using contract addendum you can counter offer back to buyer.

 

In reference to contract you received I have never seen such terms concerning deposit when buying and selling residential property in US and Thailand.  The usual terms for deposit are seller keeps if buyer backs out or returned if seller backs out.

 

What does contract say about deposit if buyer backs out?