Why so difficult to get Thai landlords to realise that they don't own your deposit?

[tomazbodner]

Just now, Promula said:

Agreed, and there's no way I'm bringing millions of baht into the country to buy anything in Thailand. Plus isn't buying a condo simply a 30 year rental? As it's leasehold.  

Not every condo is a leasehold. Actually, most are freehold.

[madmen]

1 minute ago, Promula said:

Agreed, and there's no way I'm bringing millions of baht into the country to buy anything in Thailand. Plus isn't buying a condo simply a 30 year rental? As it's leasehold.  

No 

[lopburi3]

1 minute ago, Promula said:

Agreed, and there's no way I'm bringing millions of baht into the country to buy anything in Thailand. Plus isn't buying a condo simply a 30 year rental? As it's leasehold.  

No it is ownership but restricted to less than 50% of units in those selling to foreigners.  It is land that can not be owned by foreigners.

[Promula]

2 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Not every condo is a leasehold. Actually, most are freehold.

That's interesting but it still wouldn't tempt me. What happens if the building starts to subside and needs to be torn down?

[lopburi3]

4 minutes ago, Promula said:

That's interesting but it still wouldn't tempt me. What happens if the building starts to subside and needs to be torn down?

[bigupandchill]

Please correct me If I'm wrong here but my understanding is when the locals rent just not paying the last months rent is the way it done. 

[Oldie]

4 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

That I have to agree with you. Although I am on lookout for a condo (just haven't found anything I like - and it's not like you buy one, if you don't like it you just go and buy another one), I enjoy the place I live at mostly for the reason that my landlord is beyond incredible. I don't call them up when something breaks though but just fix it myself. There will be a train station where my place sits in a few years though, so I'll have to move. To my own place most likely, though.

The main problem since I have my own condo is to find reliable people that can fix things. After a lot of bad experience I try to fix many things myself - with the help of YouTube and other internet sources. After several useless aircon cleaning companies (not cleaned much, missing and broken parts) I even started to clean the aircons myself. All this required some effort to learn how to do it correctly and time to do it. I never have thought that I will have to learn so many new things at my old age... 

[Henryford]

Accept you will never get the deposit back. Don't pay your last month's rent.

[ChipButty]

50 minutes ago, tomazbodner said:

Not every condo is a leasehold. Actually, most are freehold.

Mine is a Foreign Freehold upto 49% of the units 

[ChipButty]

6 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Accept you will never get the deposit back. Don't pay your last month's rent.

I dont let that happen the one time i did it came back to bite me on the ass, we have it written in the contract it is a security deposit and cannot be used to cover the rent

[onekoolguy]

13 hours ago, Pilotman said:

sorry but the best, perhaps only thing to do when you pay a deposit here, is to write it off. A lot of landlords are chancers, if not downright criminals and you have no rights. Best to divide the deposit amount by the number of months you will be in the property and treat it as part of the rent.  If you get some back so be it. No wonder some people leave a rented property and don't give a toss about what they do to it, or the state they leave it in.  It's hardly surprising. 

Unfortunately, this is the best way to plan. I rented a house 3 years ago and when I moved out the owner said he owed me the deposit and surely would pay it when he had the money! 3 years later still waiting.

Just never pay more than one months deposit and be happy if you get it back.

Other than this one time I have always gotten my deposit returned.

[ChipButty]

I think I should start a thread about tenants "Tenants from Hell" have I got some stories to tell? 

[Promula]

7 minutes ago, onekoolguy said:

 when I moved out the owner said he owed me the deposit and surely would pay it when he had the money! 3 years later still waiting.

 

That's an important point. Perhaps owners spend the money as if it's their own or are in debt so they can't return it. That doesn't stop it being theft in my book. 

 

Landlords aren't allowed to keep the deposit in their bank account in the UK https://www.gov.uk/tenancy-deposit-protection

Edited October 7, 2020 by Promula

[Promula]

33 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Accept you will never get the deposit back. Don't pay your last month's rent.

That will probably get you evicted by thugs within days of your default. 

[mr mr]

14 hours ago, Promula said:

b - the deposit money is mine

mistake #1 thinking this.

[pixelaoffy]

On 10/7/2020 at 10:23 AM, ChipButty said:

I think I should start a thread about tenants "Tenants from Hell" have I got some stories to tell? 

never surpass the S**** owners and management in Land of Scams 

[ross163103]

Had this same issue, pursued it a little, but realized I had no leverage so dropped it and wrote it off as a learning experience.....have never rented since. It seems to be standard operating procedure in Thailand. Oh and by the way; I repaired many things that broke in the house--not caused by us, and returned it in better condition than we we first rented it, didn't help any. 

 

[5633572526]

On 10/6/2020 at 8:12 PM, Promula said:

Thanks for the info. However, this is a condo building not an apartment building. Individual units bought and owned by landlords. Arranged by an agent, and I've never met the landlord, who lives in Bangkok but seems to have got rid of the agent since I moved in. It's a different kettle of fish to an apartment where the owner owns the whole building and you can ask other people what they're like.

 

As a side note, the condo building, facilities, staff and security are fine.  

Use your own agent when renting a condo. It costs you nothing and you will have legal documents detailing what the landlord can deduct from your deposit. I have always used an agent (6 different condos) and always got my deposit back within 30 days as specified in the contract.

[TheFishman1]

I have lived in apartments condo and houses and I always get my deposit back I’ve never had one problem I guess I’m just lucky TIT

[Darksidedude]

On 10/6/2020 at 5:21 PM, lopburi3 said:

You are aware the average life is 14 to 17 years?  So 5 years old is almost new.  Have no idea if your usage had anything to do with failure however.

 

doesn't matter its a rental which the landlord pays for any of this stuff unless otherwise stated in the contract, if it was mentioned in the contract the tenant has to pay i wouldn't go any where near that contract

[paul545]

It’s easy. Just don’t pay your rent when you know you will be going to leave and tell the landlord to take it from your deposit. It’s a hassle for them to take you to court to fight you too. 

[ExpatOne]

Lived here for over a decade, never had any issues with them trying to keep my deposits.

[lopburi3]

5 minutes ago, ExpatOne said:

Lived here for over a decade, never had any issues with them trying to keep my deposits.

Me too.  ????

[ncc1701d]

My girlfriend had to close her shop beginning of the year. She paid 40,000 to get the shop back tho the pristine state it was in when she first took it over. All to do the right thing as well as get her deposit back. In retrospect she should have just left it - because the deposit was only 30,000. Owner gave all the excuses under the sun as to why he couldn't pay it back. His business was not doing well, he was stuck in Singapore due to covid, lost his phone etc. I told her to go see a lawyer. They charged 3,000 to take him to court. Court told him to turn up and to his credit he did. Court said he had until November to pay it. (6 months from the court date). I'm told if he doesn't he'll be thrown in jail (not sure about that...).

 

The point being, it's actually no that hard to get a lawyer and get your money back. Just takes a little bit of your time. I was actually expecting him to just pay it and get out of going to court.

 

Current house rental (one year paid in full to get a better rate), I told my girlfriend to put in the contract that if anything happens to the aircon, that the landlord will have to fix it. It was negotiated to if anything happens in the first 6 months. of course, at 5 months and 15 days, the aircon packs it in. Owner wants her to pay - I said read the contract. He tried to weasel out of that. then he aid he will pay but will take it out of her deposit. I said no way, it was negotiated in the contract... and here's my favourite bit... at the time of negotiations when butter wouldn't melt in his mouth and promised everything and that there would;dnt be any problems, I told my girlfriend to record the entire conversation on her phone. She tells him this and he has no further room to maneouvre. So he agrees, gets it fixed and then says he can't pay due covid. So I end up paying for it, because end of the day she needs the aircon. 

 

So if he hasn't got 5,000 to fix the aircon - I can see a court date in the future for him too wrt to the deposit. 

 

In future, I think I will try and push for a lawyer or the agent holding the deposit. Similar to when buying a house.

 

 

Edited October 12, 2020 by ncc1701d

[spidermike007]

On 10/6/2020 at 8:07 PM, samsensam said:

 

sorry you're having problems but such situations can easily be avoided. i've lived in several apartments and never had any issues, i dont know of any friends who have had problems either. i recommend putting effort and research into where you choose to live, check places out, speak to people who live there, if you have friends ask for recommendations. my current apartment block is managed extremely well; the owners are educated and speak english, courteous staff who speak passable english, good security, any problems are sorted efficiently by in house staff, anyone causing noise or other problems gets one warning and is then evicted. there are good places out there.

Very, very good advice. I do not think I would rent another house or apartment, without speaking to people who knew the landlord. For an apartment building it is easy. Just speak to several people coming and going. Get their feedback about the landlord. Everyone hears stories. My current landlord is great. She repairs things in need of repair quickly, and is willing to reimburse us for work we have done. She has pride in the house, and she has not raised the rent in many years. So, as Samsensam says, there are good landlords out there. Find one. It is worth it. Consider this when selecting your next place. 

 

If it were me, I would shame your landlord into returning the 7,000 baht. A freezer is his issue, not yours. All things break, or wear out over time. That is on him, not you. And he should be responsible for cleaning the AC units, after you leave. Plus, I have never heard of more than 500 baht to clean the units. How many do you have? Marking up that kind of work should be illegal. Shame him on FB, twitter, with his friends, family, and whatever other forum or method you can find. Humiliation is often a very effective tool here. He is likely wealthy, and just being a petty, cheap dimwit. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by spidermike007

[Peterphuket]

To be honest, the deposit which you have given in good faith, he issued the same day.

[London Boy]

On 10/6/2020 at 9:02 PM, tomazbodner said:

Maybe you should buy your own condo and avoid all this.

My landlady was so bad it inspired me to buy my own condo. Best thing I ever did. I was there for 4.5 years and was the perfect tenats. However in mid 2019 the kitchen tap started leaking and I was concerned it might flood the place if i was away for a weeks holiday. It only cost 200 bhatt to replace, but she quibled, 'you use it so you should pay for it'. Right I thought, kiss the deposit goodbye and buy my own place. She eventully evicted me as i refused to pay the last months rent as the A/C broke in the living room and she wouldn't repair it (it was the compressor not the invertor which would have cost 8k to fix). I went to the police with a Thai speaker due to her constant threats and it was at that point I knew I had no rights. So I didnt pay the last months rent and last two months electricty bill to try to mitigate the lost 2 months deposit. Although it was stressful, glad I did, didn't feel like a mug bullied and cheated by unscrupulous landlord.

[elgenon]

Because they have you by the huevos?

[KhunFred]

Because they DO!!!!   Good luck on getting a deposit back. The law is a joke to Thai landlords and farang landlords, too.

[KhunFred]

52 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Very, very good advice. I do not think I would rent another house or apartment, without speaking to people who knew the landlord. For an apartment building it is easy. Just speak to several people coming and going. Get their feedback about the landlord. Everyone hears stories. My current landlord is great. She repairs things in need of repair quickly, and is willing to reimburse us for work we have done. She has pride in the house, and she has not raised the rent in many years. So, as Samsensam says, there are good landlords out there. Find one. It is worth it. Consider this when selecting your next place. 

 

If it were me, I would shame your landlord into returning the 7,000 baht. A freezer is his issue, not yours. All things break, or wear out over time. That is on him, not you. And he should be responsible for cleaning the AC units, after you leave. Plus, I have never heard of more than 500 baht to clean the units. How many do you have? Marking up that kind of work should be illegal. Shame him on FB, twitter, with his friends, family, and whatever other forum or method you can find. Humiliation is often a very effective tool here. He is likely wealthy, and just being a petty, cheap dimwit. 

Shaming a Thai????? Surely you jest.