My First Experience Renting A Condo In Bangkok

[swm59nj]

     I retired and moved to Bangkok this past June from the USA. I used an agency to find a one bedroom condo for me. It is a one bedroom in a hi-rise building. The owner is a 40 year old Thai woman. She speaks fluent English. According to her she lives in Bangkok. But she never rented the condo to anyone. She did not live in the condo full time. Only stayed overnight now and then, or stopped in during the day to take naps from her job.

      The agency, owner, and myself signed a one year contract. I read the contract, its to the point, and simple. The contract states the owner is responsible for repairs. Of course if I break something Im responsible. Everything was ok between her and I, she seemed very nice. She also gave me her Line in case I had any issues or questions.

       Everything was ok until certain things started to go wrong and needed repair. She seems to be under the impression that she collects the rent, and Im responsible for repairs. Which is not what it states in the contract. First one of the air conditioning units started leaking badly recently. I contacted her. The agent contacted me that she called him about it. She was under the impression Im supposed to repair or replace the air conditioner. The agent told her she is responsible. So she called an air conditioning service to repair the unit. When the tech took off the cover he called me over. There was what looked like a large cloud in the air conditioner. It was white and black mixed together. The tech told me it was mold and bacteria. in the contract it states the owner is supposed to clean the AC units before I move in. She claims she did. I asked the tech to take the cover off the other AC unit. I have two units. He took the cover off the other one and he showed me. Inside the other unit was covered in black. The tech told me it was mold. Since I moved in I have been to the doctor numerous times having chronic sore throats. Now I see why. I called the owner and told her the AC units needed to be cleaned. And it looks like they haven't been cleaned for years. She instructed the tech to clean them.

     About a week later I noticed a large shelving unit was leaning out of the wall under where you would put a television. I called her about it. She asked what I had in the shelving unit. It was five bottles of vitamins, two were only have full. All weighing not probably more than one pound. She tried to say that is what dislodged the shelf from the wall. I told her that was ridiculous. She then said this is Thailand , not the USA, and renters have no rights here. I told her she signed a contract and needs to read it. I told her if she thinks I have no rights, I will take the contract to a law firm and have them explain it t0 her.

    I then called the agency because they signed the contract also. I was told the owner is very upset. That I basically don't know how to talk to Thai people. That it is a different culture, and basically given the impression I was taking advantage of this poor woman. I told the agency this has nothing to do with culture or personality. We have a written signed contract. And I didn't appreciate the owner saying renters have no rights. I said Im the one being taken advantage of. So the agency told her she had to have the shelf repaired also.

     I found out after this the owner has blocked me from her Line account. So I have no way of contacting her even if there is an emergency. I told the agency that if any repairs or issue come up I would need to contact them.

[Pilotman]

You made a fundamental error, in getting an agent to do the work you should have done yourself.  Agents work for their own interests and profit, and those of their associates, and not for the client who is paying them.  Good luck. and next time, I suggest that you do your own leg work and stop getting involved with rip off agents. You are on a hiding to nothing with complaints.  Put it down to a Thai experience, we have all been there 

[Maverell]

29 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

You made a fundamental error, in getting an agent to do the work you should have done yourself.  Agents work for their own interests and profit, and those of their associates, and not for the client who is paying them.  Good luck. and next time, I suggest that you do your own leg work and stop getting involved with rip off agents. You are on a hiding to nothing with complaints.  Put it down to a Thai experience, we have all been there 

Clients do not pay agents in Thailand, the owners of the properties do after a contract is signed. Let me know if you know of any agents that charge prospective tenants a fee.

[Pilotman]

7 minutes ago, Maverell said:

Clients do not pay agents in Thailand, the owners of the properties do after a contract is signed. Let me know if you know of any agents that charge prospective tenants a fee.

ask the OP if he paid an agent.  I would lay a bet that he did. 

[Beggar]

"I gound out after this the owner has blocked me from her Line account. So I have no way of contacting her even if there is an emergency. I told the agency that if any repairs or issue come up I would need to contact them." 

 

I would contact the agent if you have problems in the future. Send him an email with the problem first so that you have a written evidence.

 

 

[madmen]

The joys of renting. Nightmare threads popping up more than ever before. Problem is the landlord has the deposit so she that holds the gold makes all the rules

[Maverell]

45 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

ask the OP if he paid an agent.  I would lay a bet that he did. 

I asked, I should have taken you up on that bet (but its illegal 555)- he didn't pay the agent a fee.

[Puchaiyank]

Welcome to Thailand...Landlords are notoriously bad about keeping up their rental units...last time I rented I fixed everything myself to keep from going through the motions of trying to get landlord to honor her responsibilities...

 

Less stress...and I am never disappointed in the repair work...????

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, swm59nj said:

I found out after this the owner has blocked me from her Line account. So I have no way of contacting her even if there is an emergency. I told the agency that if any repairs or issue come up I would need to contact them.

Don't blame her, you sound like the tenant from hell.

Cleaning air-con units, 200bht/unit, putting a screw in the wall, no cost apart from the screwdriver.

 

Thai landlords don't repair anything, if the tenant can't stand the condition of the property any longer they move out, and the landlord repairs everything for the next tenant.

[YoungBrit]

3 hours ago, Pilotman said:

ask the OP if he paid an agent.  I would lay a bet that he did. 

I would bet he didn't. The commission for finding the tenant comes from the owner to the agent. There are the "broker" in this deal and the contract is between the owner and tenant. 

[RJRS1301]

3 hours ago, Beggar said:

"I gound out after this the owner has blocked me from her Line account. So I have no way of contacting her even if there is an emergency. I told the agency that if any repairs or issue come up I would need to contact them." 

 

I would contact the agent if you have problems in the future. Send him an email with the problem first so that you have a written evidence.

 

 

Is the agent your agent or the landlords agent?

To whom does the rent get paid, or is it the agent or the landlady?

If you are paying the agent your contact should be wit that agent in the first instance

 

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, madmen said:

The joys of renting. Nightmare threads popping up more than ever before. Problem is the landlord has the deposit so she that holds the gold makes all the rules

Ten out of ten for a predictable response. I must be lucky, no security deposit and the landlord's agent repairs everything that needs it. The aircon is cleaned and recharged once a year at no cost to me.

[Beggar]

24 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Don't blame her, you sound like the tenant from hell.

Cleaning air-con units, 200bht/unit, putting a screw in the wall, no cost apart from the screwdriver.

200 Baht? Where is this? 

[Number 6]

Apartments are the way to go. It's clearly the owners property and flats 6k and up are usually reasonably cared for. Our AC is cleaned annually. We changed flats and the AC has broken a few times. The apartment fixes it that day. Further, they process my tm30 in minutes and give me a receipt. Never understood why especially single men rent small condos.

[Number 6]

20 minutes ago, YoungBrit said:

I would bet he didn't. The commission for finding the tenant comes from the owner to the agent. There are the "broker" in this deal and the contract is between the owner and tenant. 

It's possible. Bunch of dopey ads from agents, often farang middle manning deals. In such cases you are really walking in quicksand

 

 

 

To the OP I find it hilarious the - you are so low born and don't know how to speak to the high-so. She's injected herself into a business matter. Further she is the seller. It's the customer or client that needs the stroking. What's worse only 40. Most likely younger than you as well. Many monied women have an absolute inability to run their lives.

[mercman24]

i have always rented from farangs, at present a great welsh guy,2.5 years ago i came down from BKK to Jomtien, older condo (the best) brand new refurb, one bed, sea views, 45 sq m ,  not the usual 35 sqm trying to pass it off as a one bed when in fact it is a gloryfied studio. he threw me the keys and said stay for a week, i only had the clothes i stood up in, but stayed a couple of days, walked away from my 2 month deposit,in BKK, but the time the following march came round i was 10,000 baht better off, 17,000 bkk as opposed to 9,000 Jomtien, for the same spec.

[pookondee]

Your first and major mistake is approaching this with a western mindset.

 

With labour and repairs being so reasonable here, you could have got all the things you mentioned fixed for an absolute pittance.

 

In effect, you have now put the landlord offside, and have bบggered the chance of any future dealings/help..

for the sake of 500baht or so.

 

Not smart!

 

just 1 example:

In future, if you need the landlords particulars for reporting address to Immigration, she will most likely snub you..

and therefor it will be you who gets fined thousands.

 

Also the biggie.. you have now given her (in her mind anyway) a cause and motivation to mess you around with the deposit.

And realistically, without going through a lot of hoo-haa, there's not much you can do about it. 

[Lacessit]

51 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

Apartments are the way to go. It's clearly the owners property and flats 6k and up are usually reasonably cared for. Our AC is cleaned annually. We changed flats and the AC has broken a few times. The apartment fixes it that day. Further, they process my tm30 in minutes and give me a receipt. Never understood why especially single men rent small condos.

Do you mean small as in number of rooms, or small as in room size? I'm confused.

[Pilotman]

3 hours ago, Maverell said:

I asked, I should have taken you up on that bet (but its illegal 555)- he didn't pay the agent a fee.

You missed a pay out.  I stand corrected. ????

[Pilotman]

39 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

i have always rented from farangs, at present a great welsh guy,2.5 years ago i came down from BKK to Jomtien, older condo (the best) brand new refurb, one bed, sea views, 45 sq m ,  not the usual 35 sqm trying to pass it off as a one bed when in fact it is a gloryfied studio. he threw me the keys and said stay for a week, i only had the clothes i stood up in, but stayed a couple of days, walked away from my 2 month deposit,in BKK, but the time the following march came round i was 10,000 baht better off, 17,000 bkk as opposed to 9,000 Jomtien, for the same spec.

"A Great Welsh Guy", isn't that an oxymoron? ????

 

Joke !

[BritManToo]

56 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

walked away from my 2 month deposit,in BKK, but the time the following march came round i was 10,000 baht better off, 17,000 bkk as opposed to 9,000 Jomtien, for the same spec.

You had sea views in Bangkok?

[BritManToo]

57 minutes ago, mercman24 said:

i have always rented from farangs, at present a great welsh guy,2.5 years ago i came down from BKK to Jomtien, older condo (the best) brand new refurb, one bed, sea views, 45 sq m ,  not the usual 35 sqm trying to pass it off as a one bed when in fact it is a gloryfied studio. he threw me the keys and said stay for a week, i only had the clothes i stood up in, but stayed a couple of days, walked away from my 2 month deposit,in BKK, but the time the following march came round i was 10,000 baht better off, 17,000 bkk as opposed to 9,000 Jomtien, for the same spec.

I hate white folk, but not enough to call them 'farangs'.

[DannyCarlton]

28 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I hate white folk, but not enough to call them 'farangs'.

Farang isn't pejorative per se. Give it a rest.

[swm59nj]

7 hours ago, Pilotman said:

ask the OP if he paid an agent.  I would lay a bet that he did. 

I did not pay the agency a fee

[swm59nj]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Don't blame her, you sound like the tenant from hell.

Cleaning air-con units, 200bht/unit, putting a screw in the wall, no cost apart from the screwdriver.

 

Thai landlords don't repair anything, if the tenant can't stand the condition of the property any longer they move out, and the landlord repairs everything for the next tenant.

 Im the tenant from hell?? You shouldn't pass judgment unless you know the facts. If you knew how to read you would see the AC unit needed to be repaired. The cleaning issue was found during the repair which the owner lied about. Putting a screw in the wall? How do you know the extent of the issue? Did you see it? If the refrigerator or washing machine needs to be replaced, should I just buy the owner a new one? I see on this forum certain members on here spend their time bashing and try to bully people when they ask questions. 

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, swm59nj said:

ou shouldn't pass judgment unless you know the facts.

Sorry, I agree with your landlady, I'm blocking you too (using the 'ignore' feature of this forum).

[Matzzon]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Don't blame her, you sound like the tenant from hell.

Cleaning air-con units, 200bht/unit, putting a screw in the wall, no cost apart from the screwdriver.

 

Thai landlords don't repair anything, if the tenant can't stand the condition of the property any longer they move out, and the landlord repairs everything for the next tenant.

You are so right about the general procedure in who does what, and that it´s also very simple to fix some thing instead of complaining. However, cleaning aircon units for 200 baht per unit. Please tell me where you find that. We pay 400 baht and that is 100 lower than most in my area.

[Orton Rd]

Had a condo for 6 years in Bkk, owner never repaired a thing, and the air con was filthy also. Surp

4 hours ago, Beggar said:

200 Baht? Where is this? 

He's in CM aint he? used to have in done for 250 in bkk but the sod was filling up the gas when it was not needed so ended up at 600. Mitsubishi had to let gas out when I got them round. Our landlords never fixed a thing but at least we got the deposit back and no arguments. If you pay on time and don't bother them that seems to be the way to go.

[Lacessit]

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

You had sea views in Bangkok?

Soon will with climate change.

[bkk6060]

You sound a little bit like odd.

She fixed the major aircon issue good for her.

You cannot fix the shelf yourself?

If a light bulb went out you would call her?

Geez, figure it out and take care of the minor issues.

Now, good luck getting your deposit back....