Village Maintenace Charges

[Leaver]

On 10/22/2019 at 3:10 AM, giddyup said:

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.

If they haven't got the money for the village fees, how are they going to get the money to sue you?

[mahjongguy]

The deadbeats in our mooban are very wealthy. Being cheap is how they stay that way, and they enjoy clinging on to every baht. They also keep lawyers on retainer.

[giddyup]

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

If they haven't got the money for the village fees, how are they going to get the money to sue you?

Because they refuse to pay doesn't mean they are broke.

[nickmondo]

cut electric, cut water.

if no success

baseball bat

[Jeffkp]

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.

Who owns them now? Did the lender take possession? Have you contacted them?

 

 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

If they haven't got the money for the village fees, how are they going to get the money to sue you?

I suspect they aren't destitute, just cheap! Their 'friends' can often be more of a problem than the police or legal challenges. 

[BritManToo]

Just now, Jeffkp said:

Who owns them now? Did the lender take possession? Have you contacted them?

Why would I care, not my business.

[giddyup]

17 minutes ago, nickmondo said:

cut electric, cut water.

if no success

baseball bat

The water and electric is not owned by the village and it's illegal to turn them off. Baseball bat is just stupid.

[jacko45k]

Just now, BritManToo said:

Why would I care, not my business.

I have a friend who has lived rent free in a bank owned property, they repossessed it. He claimed they preferred it was occupied... as far as I know he is still there. Why the bank doesn't offload it heaven knows. 

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, jacko45k said:

I have a friend who has lived rent free in a bank owned property, they repossessed it. He claimed they preferred it was occupied... as far as I know he is still there. Why the bank doesn't offload it heaven knows. 

Banks aren't allowed to sell a property for less than the outstanding loan amount.

So they may not be able to 'offload it' if they loaned too much money on the property.

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by BritManToo

[kevinmartyn]

The "Law" in Thailand really SUCKS in this! Their is a large detached house which has four expensive cars!(Mercedes, Lexus, etc) who have refused to pay for several years! Clearly the family has money but just refuse to pay! Anywhere in UK and Europe you would be given 90 days to pay! 1st you would be sent a letter informing  the household if they do not pay in 30 days services would to cut until paid. Personnaly i think cars should be banned from entering. As mention the "Law" in Thailand is weak in this situation! Do not know why. A lot of Thai nationals feel they are above the "Law"!

[JAFO]

3 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

Seems just about every village has this problem.

^ And Condo's.

 

People buy into them and then do not pay the HOA fees. I have a friend in a Condo complex that has been chasing this for a few years. There really isn't anything that can be done. The HOA committee keeps mailing the owners the latest bill and showing how much they currently owe and are behind. I do know a few that have had security chase them out of the community pool as they have the names listed by the office and mail boxes. 

 

To the OP, while frustrating you are gonna drive yourself nuts trying to get it addressed. I'd read the HOA rules that those folks had to sign and agree too and see what can be applied to those that are not paying. If the HOA rules are vague, just move on. It all boils down to personal integrity and some people have none. 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, kevinmartyn said:

Anywhere in UK and Europe you would be given 90 days to pay!

I've never known anywhere in the UK where houses have HOA charges.

Property there just isn't set up like that.

Edited October 24, 2019 by BritManToo

[sunnyboy2018]

They can be sued for breach of contract by the management committee.

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've never known anywhere in the UK where houses have HOA charges.

Property there just isn't set up like that.

I suspect he means any debt, and there are rents, rates and plenty of expenses. A high court order is apparently the ultimate solution and the bailiffs then pay a visit. It isn't easy, may take years, cost thousands, but I watched a few episodes of 'Won't pay, we'll take it away'.......

[JAFO]

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I've never known anywhere in the UK where houses have HOA charges

The states has HOA's in lots of areas nowadays and they are strictly enforced. If you let them lapse 90 days a Lien is set against your property until you do pay. If it exceeds 6 months the HOA committee files grievances with the owners and they are stripped of privileges which includes deactivating your access card to all amenities including the front gate to drive in thus forcing the owners to park outside the community which is problematic as most cars on a basic street get a ticket or towed away as they do not have a permit.  

[giddyup]

10 minutes ago, JAFO said:

The states has HOA's in lots of areas nowadays and they are strictly enforced. If you let them lapse 90 days a Lien is set against your property until you do pay. If it exceeds 6 months the HOA committee files grievances with the owners and they are stripped of privileges which includes deactivating your access card to all amenities including the front gate to drive in thus forcing the owners to park outside the community which is problematic as most cars on a basic street get a ticket or towed away as they do not have a permit.  

Unfortunately there is little in the way of enforcement in Thailand.

[owenm]

I have lived in a gated village for over 2 yrs now as a tenant of a house.. I have never really known who was responsible for the monthly fee of 261thb for lighting, security, rubbish and street cleaning. If in the lease, in Thai, couldn't read it anyway. My GF said that I have to pay, another farang in the village refuses to pay. Says it is the owner that pays. 

 

I've been paying it myself every month. But who is usually responsible for this monthly fee, landlord or tenant? 

[BritManToo]

9 minutes ago, owenm said:

But who is usually responsible for this monthly fee, landlord or tenant? 

It'll say in your rental agreement.

[mahjongguy]

Ultimately the owner is responsible, even if in a lease they make it the responsibility of the tenant.

[DannyCarlton]

40 minutes ago, JAFO said:

The states has HOA's in lots of areas nowadays and they are strictly enforced. If you let them lapse 90 days a Lien is set against your property until you do pay. If it exceeds 6 months the HOA committee files grievances with the owners and they are stripped of privileges which includes deactivating your access card to all amenities including the front gate to drive in thus forcing the owners to park outside the community which is problematic as most cars on a basic street get a ticket or towed away as they do not have a permit.  

Our village is acccessed with a bluetooth card. The HOA rutinely deactivates the card for non payment of fees. The owners magically aquire another card from elsewhere. House sales are blocked at the Land Office which has no effect on those not wanting to sell. Rubbish collection is stopped but the owners either fly tip on land adjacent to the village or slip the rubbish collectors a few baht to take their refuse away. One Mom and Pop shop was closed, mainly due to teenage bikers gathering round it in the evenings. Within months another one had opened round the corner.

 

The only real solution is court action. This is time consuming and expensive so my HOC only manages to sue one per year, but having said that, in a village of 92 houses we have managed to reduce the number of offenders from more than a dozen to 4 or 5 in my time here.

 

All offenders are, and always have been, Thai. It's just a matter of hitting them hard in the wallet, it's the only thing that they seem to respect.

 

The village website names and shames them every month, even those that are only a month in arrears, again, no effect. So much for Thai face.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2019 by DannyCarlton

[Andrew Dwyer]

I pay 100 baht a month for garbage collection, street lights and the occasional clean up ( trees and bushes trimming etc ).
The couple over the road stopped paying, their garbage removal was stopped, the couple didn’t care just let it pile up outside their gate until their removal service was resumed.
They didn’t suffer but neighbours suffered from the intolerable stink !!

Sometimes a baseball bat is the only answer !!

( thankfully they have now moved out )

[JAFO]

Painful process for many. Because of the nonsense I saw in the states with the gated type communities I always tell expat friends to avoid them here, especially condo's. Best to build or rent in a regular old mooban community and put in your own private gate to the house. 

 

We have regular garbage pick up and the govt sends road crews every month or so to clean up the weeds that have grown. Amazingly our garbage bill annually is around $5 . But the good thing is, you don't pay they do not pick up and the other neighbors tell the owner to put their garbage back in their own yard. It only takes a few days of the smell and they cough up the 175bht or so. 

 

 

[DannyCarlton]

3 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Painful process for many. Because of the nonsense I saw in the states with the gated type communities I always tell expat friends to avoid them here, especially condo's. Best to build or rent in a regular old mooban community and put in your own private gate to the house. 

 

We have regular garbage pick up and the govt sends road crews every month or so to clean up the weeds that have grown. Amazingly our garbage bill annually is around $5 . But the good thing is, you don't pay they do not pick up and the other neighbors tell the owner to put their garbage back in their own yard. It only takes a few days of the smell and they cough up the 175bht or so. 

 

 

Only a painful process for the HOC. No problem for me. Lived in a non gated community when I first moved here, neighbours mostly Thai. Had so many problems that we moved after a year. Gated communities all the way for me, far more secure, security on site 24/7, one strictly monitored access, surrounded by high walls topped by spiked railings, CCTV covering every house, well maintained and constantly improved 20m pool, spotlessly clean (streets swept every day) and zero soi dogs roaming the estate. I pay a high figure of 1k baht/month but well worth it for peace of mind/lack of stress.

[hobz]

On 10/21/2019 at 2:10 PM, jacko45k said:

Security should refuse to lift the barrier for him! 

We tried that in our moo baan. Lasted like 1 hour and then security got back to letting everyone in ????

 

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, hobz said:

We tried that in our moo baan. Lasted like 1 hour and then security got back to letting everyone in ????

 

The problem is security get threatened by the non-payer. I don't blame them giving in, they are on very low wages, nobody should have to live in fear for peanuts.

[giddyup]

6 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Only a painful process for the HOC. No problem for me. Lived in a non gated community when I first moved here, neighbours mostly Thai. Had so many problems that we moved after a year. Gated communities all the way for me, far more secure, security on site 24/7, one strictly monitored access, surrounded by high walls topped by spiked railings, CCTV covering every house, well maintained and constantly improved 20m pool, spotlessly clean (streets swept every day) and zero soi dogs roaming the estate. I pay a high figure of 1k baht/month but well worth it for peace of mind/lack of stress.

i have pretty much the same, but still doesn't overcome the problem of non-payers.

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, giddyup said:

The problem is security get threatened by the non-payer. I don't blame them giving in, they are on very low wages, nobody should have to live in fear for peanuts.

Our daytime security guard is a diamond, really nice guy. If I and my friends found out that he was being threatened, the perp would get a severe "threatening".

[giddyup]

3 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Our daytime security guard is a diamond, really nice guy. If I and my friends found out that he was being threatened, the perp would get a severe "threatening".

Easy to say. We have a non-payer that has police connections, threaten him and you could find yourself in a world of hurt. Thais kill each other over a perceived insult.

[DannyCarlton]

2 minutes ago, giddyup said:

i have pretty much the same, but still doesn't overcome the problem of non-payers.

On a 92 house estate, we have reduced the number of non payers to 4 or 5. Not really a problem for me.

 

I also have sympathy for a couple of them, middle aged Thai ladies who's farang husbands have died and left them virtually destitute. One tours the estate on a saleng collecting recyclables. It's a community, happy to support each other.

 

As I said non payment of maintenance fees isn't my problem, it's the HOC's problem.