Worrying precedent for landlords? Renter leaves 30K electric bill

[webfact]

Picture: Daily News

 

Daily News reported on a case of a renter leaving a large electric bill for a landlord to pick up that could be a worrying loophole for people who rent out property.

 

A story that featured on Facebook on the "We'll make you famous Kim Signature" page attracted widespread interest.

 

A landlord was faced with paying an electric bill for 30,802 baht after their tenant disappeared. 

 

The bill had gone eleven months without being paid yet the meter had not been removed and the electricity had not been cut off.

 

The landlord said that the electrical authorities told them that government policy during the pandemic was not to cut electricity for a whole year. 

 

The landlord would have to chase the tenant to get the money. 

 

Netizens commented in droves saying in their experience just a short non-payment of electric bills resulted in it being cut.

 

A meter would be removed in less than a month of non-payment said some.

 

They called for the authorities to explain and the media to investigate.

 

Daily News did not  go to the authorities. But they said they had a story last month in which the same thing happened to a Chonburi couple whose tenant disappeared leaving a 50,000 baht bill.

 

They were told the same thing about it being government policy not to cut electric until a year had elapsed on an unpaid bill.

 

They attempted to give the bill back to the authorities but were told that they are the landlord and it is their responsibility to get the money or they will be prosecuted for non-payment. 

 

The landlords had filed a police complaint with the renter to get their money. 

 

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[Enzian]

That's nothing. In Italy, and in the US at least until recently and perhaps still in some places, tenants who do not pay the rent cannot be evicted, there is no way for the owner to regain possession, but the property taxes are still owed under penalty of a lien sale.

[2 is 1]

Reason owner should always pay the bill and charge that from renter! Lazy landlord! My friend happen almost same but electric company take meter away. Normaly electric company will act before going to watch 11 month! So this is strange.

[blackcab]

The landlord can install an MEA/PEA app that keeps them updated about their tenant's payment status.

 

If the bill remains unpaid then cancel the tenant's lease and deduct the amount from the tenant's deposit.

 

As a landlord you have to actively manage your properties or retain someone to do this for you.

 

Otherwise you can end up with nasty surprises.

[jackdd]

The landlord was obviously quite negligent.

Even if they had removed the meter after 1 month of non-payment, as in the past, the landlord could have been left with a 5000THB bill.

So obviously the landlord should make sure that the renter paid the bills before returning the deposit.

If it's now indeed one year before they remove the meter, the landlord should just check it now and then.

[Surelynot]

I wonder how he might change his current contract......or might there be some resistance to any charges he might wish to introduce.......should spark some changes at least.........I bet he has a short fuse now.,,,,feel free to follow my lead.......

[Destiny1990]

Well at-least he has a ONE month deposit ????????. 

[natway09]

Should have 2 months deposit, but as the charge is in the landlord's name he is very 

remiss not to keep an eye on it

[chilly07]

I always check that the bill has been paid when paying my own bill monthly. Same for water and estate charge. Would serve notice to quit if bills not paid.

[Pilotman]

I don't condone it at all,. but its interesting to hear that some landlords get ripped off, as it is usually the other way around, with many landlords keeping the deposit on very flimsy grounds indeed. 

[scorecard]

This is why landlords should ask for big deposits, and a good reason to not refund the deposit until there's proof of payment of all bills, all damage etc.

 

Been there done that, and the foreign tenants the worst at leaving the house filthy dirty, furniture, walls, or disappeared, pool damaged and bills not paid. 

[scorecard]

7 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

I don't condone it at all,. but its interesting to hear that some landlords get ripped off, as it is usually the other way around, with many landlords keeping the deposit on very flimsy grounds indeed. 

 

Two sides to every story.

 

 

[DPKANKAN]

3 hours ago, 2 is 1 said:

Reason owner should always pay the bill and charge that from renter! Lazy landlord! My friend happen almost same but electric company take meter away. Normaly electric company will act before going to watch 11 month! So this is strange.

Makes a change from the usual when the landlord rips off the tenant by keeping the deposit!!! ????????????????

[tomazbodner]

5 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

I don't condone it at all,. but its interesting to hear that some landlords get ripped off, as it is usually the other way around, with many landlords keeping the deposit on very flimsy grounds indeed. 

I wasn't a landlord. I was staying at a hotel owned by a friend and when an Aussie former boss of mine had a streak of bad luck so I offered to pay for his room for a few months until he gets back on his feet. On last day he was moving out, the reception called me and asked if I was OK with the bill... well, I thought it was fine, I mean I promised to pay, right... When I got back to hotel, I was presented with over 50,000 baht surcharges on top of the monthly fees... Asking what on Earth that was about - I was shown the list of international calls in last days before moving out...

 

So you don't need to be a landlord to get burned with something like this...

[overt2016]

3 hours ago, Surelynot said:

I wonder how he might change his current contract......or might there be some resistance to any charges he might wish to introduce.......should spark some changes at least.........I bet he has a short fuse now.,,,,feel free to follow my lead.......

The use of bold type made  no sense. But nevertheless "A" for effort.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

A landlord was faced with paying an electric bill for 30,802 baht after their tenant disappeared. 

Lazy landlord not checking on things.

[Crusader]

Haa..do agree with Pilotman - some landlords are just (cannot print) but how can an electric bill go unpaid for so long???

[AKJeff]

Pretty sure he was trying to emphasize the "electrical" based puns.  I would have used quotation marks but my writing skills are poor.

[pacovl46]

5 hours ago, 2 is 1 said:

Reason owner should always pay the bill and charge that from renter! Lazy landlord! My friend happen almost same but electric company take meter away. Normaly electric company will act before going to watch 11 month! So this is strange.

I totally disagree! The electricity company should’ve cut the electricity and removed the meter or at the very least informed the owner of the place about what’s going on instead of just letting it going on for a year and then holding out their hand expecting the owner to cough up the money when he most likely didn’t even know what was going on, plus it wasn’t him who used the electricity either! So, if you want to blame anyone apart from the POS who didn’t pay then it’s the electricity company! 

[tingtong]

11 month unpaid electric bills...landlord? What landlord?

Such lazy ass, got only what he bargained for.

 

 

 

 

[blackcab]

What would be nice would be a government controlled deposit scheme, such as the UK has. Landlords must place all tenant's deposit money into the scheme, and this can be checked online by the tenant. At the end of the rental period the landlord can claim for deductions (if any) and supply the relevant proof.

 

If there are deductions the tenant can argue their case to the impartial deposit scheme administrator and the tenant will be refunded whatever they are owed.

 

It's that simple, and it saves all the headaches and hassle from both sides. From a landlords perspective, however, you have to make sure that you fully document the state of the property before the tenant moves in. This is a good thing to do anyway in all cases though.

 

If Thailand had a scheme like this it would help so many people, both landlords and tenants. The scheme is funded by the interest generated on the deposits held.

[2 is 1]

14 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

I totally disagree! The electricity company should’ve cut the electricity and removed the meter or at the very least informed the owner of the place about what’s going on instead of just letting it going on for a year and then holding out their hand expecting the owner to cough up the money when he most likely didn’t even know what was going on, plus it wasn’t him who used the electricity either! So, if you want to blame anyone apart from the POS who didn’t pay then it’s the electricity company! 

Just what i say its strange they not take meter away! That they wait 11 month!

[hansnl]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

This is why landlords should ask for big deposits, and a good reason to not refund the deposit until there's proof of payment of all bills, all damage etc.

 

Been there done that, and the foreign tenants the worst at leaving the house filthy dirty, furniture, walls, or disappeared, pool damaged and bills not paid. 

Really?

Foreigners are the worst?

I have very different experiences.

[Susco]

19 minutes ago, 2 is 1 said:

34 minutes ago, pacovl46 said:

I totally disagree! The electricity company should’ve cut the electricity and removed the meter or at the very least informed the owner of the place about what’s going on instead of just letting it going on for a year and then holding out their hand expecting the owner to cough up the money when he most likely didn’t even know what was going on, plus it wasn’t him who used the electricity either! So, if you want to blame anyone apart from the POS who didn’t pay then it’s the electricity company! 

Just what i say its strange they not take meter away! That they wait 11 month!

 

The electricity company doesn't know who lives at the address, they assume it is the owner, and that it is him who receives the bill every month.

 

As why they didn't remove the meter, it is all in the OP if you bothered to read it, and the owner, same as almost everyone else who owns a place, and that includes me and most of the bashers on this forum, most probably wasn't aware either that during this period they don't remove the meter after the usual 7 days. So nothing to do with lazy.

 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The landlord said that the electrical authorities told them that government policy during the pandemic was not to cut electricity for a whole year. 

 

[Caldera]

Just another example for a poorly communicated or inconsistently applied government policy. If the landlord had known, they would have realized the importance of checking if the bills have been paid.

 

Under normal circumstances, checking when the tenant moves out and before returning the deposit is sufficient.

[Scott Tracy]

Can the electric bill payment be included in the rental agreement? Any utility should surely be part of the agreement. Estimate the costs and add it to the rental. 

As has been said, property management is what it's all about

[DefaultName]

20 hours ago, Scott Tracy said:

Can the electric bill payment be included in the rental agreement? Any utility should surely be part of the agreement. Estimate the costs and add it to the rental. 

As has been said, property management is what it's all about

Do that and some people would run aircon 24/7.

[pacovl46]

22 hours ago, Susco said:

 

The electricity company doesn't know who lives at the address, they assume it is the owner, and that it is him who receives the bill every month.

 

As why they didn't remove the meter, it is all in the OP if you bothered to read it, and the owner, same as almost everyone else who owns a place, and that includes me and most of the bashers on this forum, most probably wasn't aware either that during this period they don't remove the meter after the usual 7 days. So nothing to do with lazy.

 

 

Yes, I read that in the OP, but I also read in the same OP that a lot of people said their electricity was cut despite the pandemic. Either way I still blame the electricity company for not doing enough to resolve the problem. 

[Stargeezr]

Hey there is a pandemic going on. Is the renter a foreigner who went back to their country? If so why would the electricity be

left on, just unplug the fridge, and take the meter off, or switch off all the breakers so no electricity gets used. It does look like

a lazy landlord to me.  

Geezer