Rent in advance and deposit limits in Thai Law...

[SunsetT]

A Thai friend must find somewhere new to rent but one landlord is asking 6 months rent in a advance + 1 months rent (6.5k thb) in advance

I once read on this forum that there was a change in Thai law in either 2017 or 2018 limiting the rent in advance and deposit that landlords could charge in Thailand. I think that it was limited to one month's rent in advance and 5000thb deposit. At the same time landlords of 5 rental units or more were forbidden to charge more for electricity than the domestic rate that house owners/renters pay. I have unsuccessfully tried searching for this thread on here so cannot anyone please provide a link to the thread and/or a reference to the actual Thai law on this.

 

Also does anyone know if the rent in advance and deposit limits also only apply to landlords who rent 5 units or more?

 

When the law is being broken like this, who would you report it to anyway? I know It must be a problem to stop this because if you point it out to a prospective landlord they simply will not rent to you.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by SunsetT

[worgeordie]

Only applies to landlords with 5 or more units,

the Landlord's ,usually ask for 2 months security

deposit, and the first months rent.

regards Worgeordie

[SunsetT]

8 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

 

the Landlord's ,usually ask for 2 months security

deposit, and the first months rent.

regards Worgeordie

It must depend on where you are because in 14 winters I have never been charged that much in NE Thailand. Usually only the deposit and monthly rent in advance, or 2 months rent + deposit.

[richard_smith237]

OP - you are 100% correct.

 

Unfortunately the law also states motorcyclists can’t ride down pavements and must wear helmets...  I think you get my point here that no one pays any attention to the law. 

 

 

Last year my Wife and were looking to rent a place in a Serviced Apartment in Bangkok. The amendment to the rental laws were fairly recent news. I mentioned the 1 month deposit, local government rates for water - the Apartment manager just said no - these are the rates, its two months deposit (they didn’t care about the law). Needless to say, we didn’t rent there. If we wanted to rent there we’d just have to accept it. 

 

It has always been the norm (in Bangkok at least) that 2 months rent is paid as deposit, rent is paid in advance, places seem to charge what they want for electricity. Its disappointing, but the updated regulations / laws have made no difference whatsoever. 

[worgeordie]

32 minutes ago, SunsetT said:

It must depend on where you are because in 14 winters I have never been charged that much in NE Thailand. Usually only the deposit and monthly rent in advance, or 2 months rent + deposit.

NE Thailand, Issan ,You need to understand any landlord with a decent house

and furniture are going to need 2 months security deposit, It helps in making

the tenant look after things,that's the whole point of security deposit, 

regards worgeordie

[richard_smith237]

3 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

NE Thailand, Issan ,You need to understand any landlord with a decent house

and furniture are going to need 2 months security deposit, It helps in making

the tenant look after things,that's the whole point of security deposit, 

regards worgeordie

 

 

 

Tenants don’t like paying 2 months deposits because quite often the landlords refuse to give it back. 

Landlords want 2 months deposits because some tenants can’t look after a place. 

There needs to be some sort of ‘escrow service’ - but this is Thailand and we know even this would be abused and someone would run off with all the escrow monies !!!!

 

 

 

[chilly07]

2mths deposit of 30k goes nowhere near the cost of a new kitchen at 80k and we always return the deposit less damages and cleaning

[Foghorn]

I pay my rent 1 year at a time ,no deposit, it suits me and I get 12.5 % dicount

[SbuxPlease]

Have negotiated a dozen or so rentals in Bangkok. The agent or landlord has always asked for 2 months deposit BUT everything is always negotiable no matter what they say (they always complain that it's the normal and can't be negotiated ????).

 

You've got the money, they've got the properly, and assuming you're in a position to negotiate (now is a renters market pretty much everywhere in Thailand I think), then only poor businessmen landlords will walk away from good money over the negotiation of a 1 month deposit in my opinion.

[Max69xl]

On 7/23/2020 at 4:59 PM, SunsetT said:

It must depend on where you are because in 14 winters I have never been charged that much in NE Thailand. Usually only the deposit and monthly rent in advance, or 2 months rent + deposit.

You said the landlord asked for 1 months deposit + 1 month in advance. That's not very much. What's your friend complaining about? 

[SunsetT]

16 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

You said the landlord asked for 1 months deposit + 1 month in advance. That's not very much. What's your friend complaining about? 

'Should have gone to Specsavers'...lol.

[steven100]

Rented in BKK 10+ yrs same place and it was 1 months rent +  1 month deposit. 

You can find places like that.

[brianthainess]

Also if renting through an agent they will take 1 months rent commission which is non refundable, so i have been told. just saying.

[Sundown]

Could be a good start...search on Google..

 

https://law.sru.ac.th/prohibit-rental-store/

 

 

[flinc2020]

The rental system here is ridiculous. I was looking online to se if I could find somewhere closer to work to reduce my commute. Whilst the deposits (2 mth + 1 mth rent in advance) were acceptable it was the electricity charge of 7.5/unit that stood out for me. I thought they were only allowed to charge what the elctric company charges them, about 4.8/unit or less.

Some landlords to take the p#### though. I lost a job because I wasnt happy paying 4 months upfront for a pokey room when, for about 800 baht more a month I could rent a 2 bedroom house. Apparently the place the company wanted me to rent from was their preferred provider of accommodation. The big kicker was that if you moved out of the room before 3 months was up the landlord kept the lot (and probably claimed damage to the property to get more.) I wasn't happy about the cost and system and got fired for being "difficult". The place was a tiny rural community in Isaan and I'm guessing the landlord required, and kept the, huge deposit because the people sent to work there probably lasted more than 6 weeks with no big shopping malls, cinemas, bars etc. and what places were open usually closed by 9.30pm.