Village Maintenace Charges

[lelapin]

I live in a 60 house gated  village in Pattaya. Midway through the financial year 3 homeowners have not yet paid their annual maintenance fee. What action do other villages take to try to obtain these charges. 2 of the houses are actually rented out.

[thaiflyer1]

Ours are named and shamed by house numbers posted on the entrance gate to the village............dont know much else can be done

[Leaver]

Cut the water.  ????

[giddyup]

We have the same problem in our village of 40 houses, one (Thai) has not paid for several years and refuses to do so, just enjoys all the benefits like security, lighting, pool etc that others pay for, others (Thai) have to be chased, pay in dribs and drabs, and end up months in arrears. I feel sorry for the people who have to collect the money, always getting excuses and having to go back several times. It's a nightmare.

 

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

Cut the water.  ????

They can do that in villages that have well water, but if you are on town water, as we are, it's illegal to do it.

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, thaiflyer1 said:

Ours are named and shamed by house numbers posted on the entrance gate to the village............dont know much else can be done

There is probably some legal action, butit would be expensive and probably still no guarantee that you'll get your money.

[Puchaiyank]

I rented a house where the home owner refused to pay the HOA fee...woke up one day with my water meter removed...had to pay association fee and a reconnect fee to get water restored...

 

Losing one's water is sure to get attention!   ????

[giddyup]

10 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

I rented a house where the home owner refused to pay the HOA fee...woke up one day with my water meter removed...had to pay association fee and a reconnect fee to get water restored...

 

Losing one's water is sure to get attention!   ????

It's illegal to remove someone's meter unless the water is from an underground source. Mains water meters can only be  removed by the Water Company for non-payment of bills. I've never heard a Thai maintenance fee called a HOA fee.

Edited October 21, 2019 by giddyup

[jacko45k]

Security should refuse to lift the barrier for him! 

[Vacuum]

57 minutes ago, Puchaiyank said:

Losing one's water is sure to get attention!

Electric must be a close runner-up....

[thaiflyer1]

6 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Security should refuse to lift the barrier for him! 

Our gate is on a key card (wireless) if you dont have the card from non payment of village dues then you have to hand your driving licence in everytime at the gate to be let in...............and collect it on the way out

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, thaiflyer1 said:

Our gate is on a key card (wireless) if you dont have the card from non payment of village dues then you have to hand your driving licence in everytime at the gate to be let in...............and collect it on the way out

Then they are actually using more of the security service than those who pay.....

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Security should refuse to lift the barrier for him! 

Again, illegal to deny entry to your own house, besides they just threaten security.

Edited October 21, 2019 by giddyup

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

Electric must be a close runner-up....

Illegal.

[giddyup]

2 hours ago, thaiflyer1 said:

Our gate is on a key card (wireless) if you dont have the card from non payment of village dues then you have to hand your driving licence in everytime at the gate to be let in...............and collect it on the way out

We have the same thing (remote key card), but the non payers just threaten the security guards so that they are terrified not to open for them. This is Thailand, it's the old "don't you know who I am" tactics. It sticks in my craw that these freeloaders get a free ride, but we just have to wear it, it causes more frustration that it's worth to try and get the money out of them.

[lelapin]

Are we allowed to advise the garbage collectors not to empty the bins from their houses.

[giddyup]

35 minutes ago, lelapin said:

Are we allowed to advise the garbage collectors not to empty the bins from their houses.

Yes. That's about the only action we've been able to take. They have to dispose of their own rubbish, who knows where, probably alongside a road somewhere. We also had the streetlight turned off outside their house, plus they aren't allowed to use the pool, but I guess they have saved themselves well over 100,000 baht in fees since they stopped paying.

Edited October 21, 2019 by giddyup

[topt]

8 hours ago, giddyup said:

There is probably some legal action, butit would be expensive and probably still no guarantee that you'll get your money.

@lelapin Our Juristic has taken some legal action in sending out letters from a lawyer threatening action which apparently produced some results.

I seem to remember you could take out a lien at the land office or something which stops the property being sold until old fees are paid off - unless only for condos? Also not much good if they have no intention of moving.

[Guderian]

We had this problem big-time when we first established the HOA in the village where I live (>190 units). Quite a few people, mainly but not exclusively Thais, resented having to pay for services that had previously been provided free by the developer (though they were poor quality and very unreliable). When the developer sold the houses they demanded 3 years of maintenance fees up-front, but because they provided such poor service everybody stopped paying them when the three years had passed. A lot of people felt that they could treat the HOA the same way, even though it provided reliable, good quality services to the village.

 

Initially the committee looked at all the suggestions already mentioned, but none of it was legal. Houses that pay the maintenance fee get a large sticker to put on the mailbox and the only sanction we could apply to houses that didn't pay was to refuse to take away their garbage. You can’t very well withhold street cleaning or lighting for specific houses, after all. As the garbage room in open 24 hours it wasn't much of a deterrent, really.

 

We also applied fines to properties that didn't pay. I believe there's an approved level of fine that can be applied, as well as interest that can be charged on the outstanding balance. We were using a management company to run the operations so they knew all this stuff. Of course, you can't force people to pay the fines either, but they accrue as does the interest and if the owner wants to sell the property then they have to clear the balance before they can do so. Patience is a virtue, you might say.

 

We also started taking legal action against non-payers, suing them in court. This is time-consuming and expensive, but gradually we're getting through the list of non-payers. The main problem now after almost ten years of this is the developer, who still owns around 20 properties, mainly commercial units at the front of the village. Every few years we seem to manage to get them to stump up what they owe, or at least a chunk of it, but then it's back to non-payment. They also make our lives difficult by occasionally getting together with the non-paying residents and hijacking the AGM to cause trouble.

 

It's very annoying for those of us who just want a nice place to live, and the fees are only 800 Baht/month, which includes free access to the village's large swimming pool, so I wonder sometimes why people refuse to pay. The HOA has been going now for almost a decade and most people seem to think it's doing a good job, the village is well-maintained, clean and financially solvent (just!). It's also stopped numerous people from trying to run businesses out of their homes, such as a restaurant and an employment agency. The rules say commercial activities are only allowed to be carried out in the commercial units, not in private houses. Surprisingly, people actually listen when we tell them they can't run a business in the village.

 

So from the experience where I live there’s no silver bullet to solve the problem of non-payers. Apply the allowed fines and interest rate to their debts and one day you should get it back, but it needs patience. To pursue people in court you need a lawyer who’ll cut you a decent deal on his fees, the Thai legal system isn’t terribly cheap surprisingly. Patience and persistence should win out in the end, but it’s a grind. Good luck with it.

 

[Leaver]

8 hours ago, giddyup said:

They can do that in villages that have well water, but if you are on town water, as we are, it's illegal to do it.

The OP asked what can be done to force payment.  The OP didn't ask for legal ways to force payment.  ????

[worgeordie]

10 hours ago, lelapin said:

3 homeowners have not yet paid

3 out of 60 that's excellent, in our village about same size its

at least 25, and nobody does anything about it,no name and shame,

they are afraid of been sued.

The only thing the non payers will not get is garbage service, lights,

guards,all paid by the responsible owners.and it's only Bht 350 a month.

regards worgeordie

[BritManToo]

About 5%-10% of the houses in my moobaan have been abandoned.

Probably purchased on 90%+ home loans.

The grass is shoulder high, the water and electricity meters have been reclaimed.

Don't think there's anything, anyone can to to make them pay the fees.

Edited October 21, 2019 by BritManToo

[giddyup]

3 hours ago, Leaver said:

The OP asked what can be done to force payment.  The OP didn't ask for legal ways to force payment.  ????

You can't turn off people's water or electricity, you would be sued and they'd win. You could also hire some heavies to beat them up and kidnap their kids, that would work as well, but it's also illegal and stupid.

[gamesgplayemail]

On 10/21/2019 at 11:02 AM, giddyup said:

We have the same problem in our village of 40 houses, one (Thai) has not paid for several years and refuses to do so, just enjoys all the benefits like security, lighting, pool etc that others pay for, others (Thai) have to be chased, pay in dribs and drabs, and end up months in arrears. I feel sorry for the people who have to collect the money, always getting excuses and having to go back several times. It's a nightmare.

 

 

And you just cannot do anything about it ❤️

 

 

[Jeffrey346]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:45 PM, giddyup said:

Illegal.

We have the same problem. 40% of the home owners refuse to pay the village fees. 

We looked into it and legally, we can have the water and electric meter removed but the Thai board members won't make a decision. This has been going on for 5 years now. 

[Jeffrey346]

On 10/21/2019 at 8:18 PM, BritManToo said:

About 5%-10% of the houses in my moobaan have been abandoned.

Probably purchased on 90%+ home loans.

The grass is shoulder high, the water and electricity meters have been reclaimed.

Don't think there's anything, anyone can to to make them pay the fees.

There are 4 houses in our village that the bank repossessed. We called the banks and asked they take care of the grass/weed issues. Each bank did with no issue. BUT, refused to pay the village fees.

Call the banks they will accommodate you. 

[Jeffrey346]

On 10/21/2019 at 7:45 PM, Guderian said:

I wonder sometimes why people refuse to pay.

 

 

 

Most that don't pay are usually Thai, and they know they can get away with it. 

Seems just about every village has this problem.

[wonder6281]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:45 PM, giddyup said:

Again, illegal to deny entry to your own house, besides they just threaten security.

Just deny them access via their vehicle. Let the lazy buggers walk.

[thailand49]

These problems are the result of one main source and that is what people here been terming HOA, What is the actual language and why HOA has allowed this to happen?  It really starts at the top! 

[stephehr]

In my village the people who run the village report the owner to the local land office, so that person can not sell the house until they pay the money that they owe to the village.  You can not stop them from coming into the village that is illegal and the people who run the village could end up in court for not permitting them into their property.  One person in my Soi owes 96,000 and that was 5 years ago so now who knows.