Interest on rental deposit

[recom273]

We are thinking of moving out of our place in the south, taking small steps, moving towards the land we have bought in Issan and I thought it wise to ask our solicitor if we needed to make plans with regard to out deposit. We have no real target dates or firm plans.

 

We have rented the house for over 10 years now, and paid 25k deposit + 5k upfront rent before we moved in.

 

The house was a new build, and over the years the landlord has done very little in upkeep, he should have sprayed for termites, but only did it once after they ate through a doorframe, which he never repaired. That was 3 years ago. Recently the termites have reappeared and water damage has appeared on the living room ceiling, just little things. We like the house and the area, the problems we have had is that the landlord has never been interested in keeping on top of small issues as they arise. 
 

We contacted the solicitor to ask if we needed to make him aware of these and more issues that have happened over the rental period, before we start to make plans to move out. I was expecting him to suggest to send some notification of the damage to the landlord and pictures, surprisingly, he said, not to worry too much, he would defend us if needed and that actually the landlord should really pay us some interest, after holding out cash for so long.

 

Has anyone else heard this? 
 

It might be interesting to see if he tries to sting us to fill the raw plug holes and we can counter him with a request for a little bit of interest. 
 

 

Edited October 1, 2020 by recom273

[Pottinger]

Landlord paying interest on rental deposit? Pull the other one.

[worgeordie]

Why did you pay 25K THB deposit,when your rent was Only 5K THB. ?

the maximum should have been 2 months security deposit 10K THB.

Forget about interest,you will be lucky to get your deposit back,

judging by the way you describe the owner,fixing nothing in all that

time......good luck.

regards worgeordie

[2 is 1]

You not going to see any of 25k! We only pay half month deposit from our town house.

[recom273]

The landlord isn’t a total crook, he’s just not interested in doing work on the house. The rent is comparatively small, and hasn’t gone up in the past 10 years. We have probably paid for the house by now.

 

We live in a row of 6 town houses which his family built, two never sold and he rented one for 5 years to a Filipino family, they got sick of his attitude and they moved out to a place around the corner, same size 7.5K month, they got their deposit back, he then renovated the house and rented to a Thai family who moved out a couple of days ago, the landlord showed up today, 1st month, weighed them out and then sped off before he had to speak with us.

 

I thank all for concern, we paid the deposit because we wanted a / the house, and they wouldn’t rent unless we paid it. Researching this topic today, I have seen the comments about deposits, maybe it was too much, but really, 25K, i would like it back, but it’s not going to break the bank. I can draw a key down his wing on the way out the gate and laugh. 
 

The question isn’t if he is going to pay the deposit or interest ... has anyone else heard of interest on a deposit? It was news to me.

[Oldie]

31 minutes ago, recom273 said:

 

The question isn’t if he is going to pay the deposit or interest ... has anyone else heard of interest on a deposit? It was news to me.

This is the law for instance in some European countries. But here... I doubt that he put your deposit into a separate or even any bank account. You really are lucky if you get it back. For some people here 25k Baht are a lot of money. They might not have it anymore... 

[recom273]

14 minutes ago, Oldie said:

This is the law for instance in some European countries. But here... I doubt that he put your deposit into a separate or even any bank account. You really are lucky if you get it back. For some people here 25k Baht are a lot of money. They might not have it anymore... 

No, he’s good for it, don’t worry,

[FritsSikkink]

You won't get any interest

[Airalee]

My Bank of America savings account interest rate is .01%. Not 1%, but 1/100 of a percent.  

 

10 years at that rate and I’d be looking at a whopping ฿25. If I reinvested the interest it might push me up to ฿30.

 

No idea what the rates are here, but if I had a tenant ask me about interest on a deposit, I would most certainly be offended.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

Each time I've moved I've heard every excuse to cut my deposit. It was left dirty, yet we had cleaned. There was something not working, when it never had been. The best was the highest electric bill ever, when I had spent two weeks in BKK, rather than my Issan room. I really felt like showing him the bus tickets, then decided it'd be best to let it go.

[Airalee]

2 minutes ago, CrunchWrapSupreme said:

Each time I've moved I've heard every excuse to cut my deposit. It was left dirty, yet we had cleaned. There was something not working, when it never had been. The best was the highest electric bill ever, when I had spent two weeks in BKK, rather than my Issan room. I really felt like showing him the bus tickets, then decided it'd be best to let it go.

I was lucky with fair minded landlords who never stiffed me.  I gladly paid the cleaning deposit because even though I’m already a clean person, ฿500-1000 is well worth just being able to walk away.  
 

But on a more serious note...if a tenant had the gall to even mention interest on a deposit (no....I don’t care how they do it back home), I would give him/her/whatever their deposit back in coins ranging from 25 satang to 2 baht denominations. 

[richard_smith237]

Op - you want to get a solicitor involved for 25,000 baht deposit over 10 years ?????

Really ??????

 

You also want interest on that deposit ????? You deserve to get laughed out of the room. 

 

 

[recom273]

3 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Op - you want to get a solicitor involved for 25,000 baht deposit over 10 years ?????

Really ??????

 

You also want interest on that deposit ????? You deserve to get laughed out of the room. 

 

 

Another person who can’t read or can’t be bothered?
 

I was just interested to find out the truth.
 

The reason I contacted the solicitor was to prepare in the event of him refusing to pay an acceptable amount of the deposit back.

I am not expecting the full amount back, of course there are cleaning costs and i have drilled holes for aircon and shelves, etc.

 

This is why I have a solicitor, to prepare, so I don’t come to ThaiVisa whining that I the landlord ripped me off. It was the solicitor that just mentioned it at the end of the conversation.

 

Off topic but, you would just write off 25K deposit over 10 years? 

[jackdd]

I've never heard anybody getting interest on a rental deposit in Thailand.

Considering the current interest rates, i think even over 10 years this would be a few hundred Baht tops.

[baansgr]

5 hours ago, recom273 said:

The landlord isn’t a total crook, he’s just not interested in doing work on the house. The rent is comparatively small, and hasn’t gone up in the past 10 years. We have probably paid for the house by now.

 

We live in a row of 6 town houses which his family built, two never sold and he rented one for 5 years to a Filipino family, they got sick of his attitude and they moved out to a place around the corner, same size 7.5K month, they got their deposit back, he then renovated the house and rented to a Thai family who moved out a couple of days ago, the landlord showed up today, 1st month, weighed them out and then sped off before he had to speak with us.

 

I thank all for concern, we paid the deposit because we wanted a / the house, and they wouldn’t rent unless we paid it. Researching this topic today, I have seen the comments about deposits, maybe it was too much, but really, 25K, i would like it back, but it’s not going to break the bank. I can draw a key down his wing on the way out the gate and laugh. 
 

The question isn’t if he is going to pay the deposit or interest ... has anyone else heard of interest on a deposit? It was news to me.

Germany it is common, had a few German customers ask about it but explained their deposit is held in a non interest bearing company account. 

[richard_smith237]

2 hours ago, recom273 said:

Another person who can’t read or can’t be bothered?
 

I was just interested to find out the truth.
 

The reason I contacted the solicitor was to prepare in the event of him refusing to pay an acceptable amount of the deposit back.

I am not expecting the full amount back, of course there are cleaning costs and i have drilled holes for aircon and shelves, etc.

 

This is why I have a solicitor, to prepare, so I don’t come to ThaiVisa whining that I the landlord ripped me off. It was the solicitor that just mentioned it at the end of the conversation.

 

Off topic but, you would just write off 25K deposit over 10 years? 

 

You’ve paid 25,000 baht deposit. You want as much as that back as possible. 

You expect some deductions for holes drilled for shelves and AC etc.

There are water stains and termite damage (not your fault if you alerted the landlord immediately).

 

How much does this Solicitor cost?

 

On topic - would I write off a deposit which equates to 2,500 baht per year. I certainly wouldn’t bother getting a solicitor involved and I certainly wouldn’t be concerned over interest on 25,000 baht.

Simple interest at 0.5% would be 1250 baht over 10 years (if my calcs are correct).

 

So.. I did read the thread, but I think you’re being a tad neurotic when mentioning that you are prepping a solicitor and going to use interest as a bargaining chip. 

 

Just keep the guy onside and clean the place as best as you can. 

 

 

 

 

 

[recom273]

2 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

You’ve paid 25,000 baht deposit. You want as much as that back as possible. 

You expect some deductions for holes drilled for shelves and AC etc.

There are water stains and termite damage (not your fault if you alerted the landlord immediately).

 

How much does this Solicitor cost?

 

On topic - would I write off a deposit which equates to 2,500 baht per year. I certainly wouldn’t bother getting a solicitor involved and I certainly wouldn’t be concerned over interest on 25,000 baht.

Simple interest at 0.5% would be 1250 baht over 10 years (if my calcs are correct).

 

So.. I did read the thread, but I think you’re being a tad neurotic when mentioning that you are prepping a solicitor and going to use interest as a bargaining chip. 

 

Just keep the guy onside and clean the place as best as you can. 

 

 

 

 

 

No, the solicitor is free - We have other business, so why not make use of his services.

 

tbh, I just want an easy life, like you say things should be brought to his attention. The wife refuses to call him these days because it goes in one ear and out the other, which is why I felt that it should be documented, detailed and left with the solicitor. The other month the mains breaker had problems due to neglect of maintenance and the humidity, we pointed out the ceiling, he wouldn’t even look up, he sat on the sofa mumbling “mai leu” whilst looking at the floor. 
 

But we love the house and the area, the rent is peanuts so we just put up with it all. 

 

LOL - I didn’t mention that I intended using the interest as a bargaining chip. The solicitor sparked my interest, but honestly, this guy squeaks when he walks, he’s a typical sino-Thai from this area, to him 100B is 100B, it may be fun to play him at his own game. 1250B is not bad.

 

Interesting. The first posters think that 25K is a lot, I am of the opinion that it’s fine for  the property and I’m sure I will receive a fair proportion of it back, but I certainly wouldn’t write it off over time, but each to their own. 
 

I have never heard of interest on a deposit, never even crossed my mind, but I now know it’s common in some countries. 

[patrick228]

Go back to your lease contract regarding the security deposit and the conditions for refund upon termination of the lease.

 

It is often stated in the lease contract that the security deposit bears no interest. In the lease contract with my tenant on a condo in the past, I stated clearly that it wouldn't bear any interest over time.

 

You may wish to focus on the big issue of getting your full refund of the 25K deposit, Some landlords may come up with different reasons/items to make deduction. Again, back to the contract.

[impulse]

8 hours ago, Airalee said:

My Bank of America savings account interest rate is .01%. Not 1%, but 1/100 of a percent.  

 

10 years at that rate and I’d be looking at a whopping ฿25. If I reinvested the interest it might push me up to ฿30.

 

No idea what the rates are here, but if I had a tenant ask me about interest on a deposit, I would most certainly be offended.

 

I'd pay him the 30 baht just to keep the peace.

 

[chuang]

Be realistic...

[steven100]

interest on your deposit in Thailand ....  

you expect your deposit back in full ...   

[Hamus Yaigh]

21 hours ago, recom273 said:

he said, not to worry too much, he would defend us if needed and that actually the landlord should really pay us some interest,

I think he was probably having a laugh - lawyers are good at that with certain clients!

[Darkside Gray]

21 hours ago, Pottinger said:

Landlord paying interest on rental deposit? Pull the other one.

Normally spent the day they receive never to be returned!

[Bender Rodriguez]

22 hours ago, recom273 said:

moving towards the land we have bought in Issan and I thought it wise to ask our solicitor

you bought nothing.... you cannot own land, you can pay for it

 

GOOD LUCK

[AgMech Cowboy]

23 hours ago, recom273 said:

...and that actually the landlord should really pay us some interest...

????

[Max69xl]

23 hours ago, recom273 said:

The landlord isn’t a total crook, he’s just not interested in doing work on the house. The rent is comparatively small, and hasn’t gone up in the past 10 years. We have probably paid for the house by now.

 

We live in a row of 6 town houses which his family built, two never sold and he rented one for 5 years to a Filipino family, they got sick of his attitude and they moved out to a place around the corner, same size 7.5K month, they got their deposit back, he then renovated the house and rented to a Thai family who moved out a couple of days ago, the landlord showed up today, 1st month, weighed them out and then sped off before he had to speak with us.

 

I thank all for concern, we paid the deposit because we wanted a / the house, and they wouldn’t rent unless we paid it. Researching this topic today, I have seen the comments about deposits, maybe it was too much, but really, 25K, i would like it back, but it’s not going to break the bank. I can draw a key down his wing on the way out the gate and laugh. 
 

The question isn’t if he is going to pay the deposit or interest ... has anyone else heard of interest on a deposit? It was news to me.

Why would there be an interest on a deposit that would benefit you? 

[khunPer]

I have never heard of interest being paid on rental deposits in Thailand. IMO you should be more than happy if your get anything of the deposit back – internal maintenance might be on the renter's expense, and the house was new when you moved in – but your might be able to avoid paying the last month's rent.

 

On 10/1/2020 at 8:20 AM, recom273 said:

The rent is comparatively small, and hasn’t gone up in the past 10 years. We have probably paid for the house by now.

When doing long term rental you always end of paying for the house at some point. In Thailand a good hand-rule is around 15 years including interest. That's why "investing" in a house for long-term stay in Thailand makes sense. However 5k bah a month times 10 years is only 600k baht, so not much of a patrician villa.

 

Always look at bright side of life: Compared to your home country's money, 25k baht is relative not a fortune worth a lot of headache and troubles for. Your solicitor's fee might end up being more than 25k baht, so even you get them back, you might loose more. Not worth a civil Court case for, and even if you win, the land lord might not pay you, and then you just need to proceed through the Court system, and pay lawyers more fees up front...????