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Owner of condo asking for ~4 months of rent in damages after 1.3 years of renting - condo is in mint condition - looking for help


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Hello friends, 

I've been lurking on this forum for over 8 years and found much help, guidance and advice.
In all my time in the Kingdom, I've never had to actually create a post, but this situation has struck a wrong chord with me. 

 

I've been living in a condo in central Bangkok for 1.3 years now and moved out at the beginning of this month. 
The contract was actually due in a few months from now, but I agreed with the owner to move out early, losing 1 of 2 month deposit. All fine, no issues.

However, when the owner checked the place, they said it was "worse than expected". I'll refrain from posting pictures and go into details, but suffice to say the place was left in mint condition, with usual wear and tear, and small damages on wood. Ever since, due to the demands and conversation had, the relationship has soured beyond repair.

 

The owner sent over a handwritten summary of charges for all repairs, with small details in Thai, and some references to carpenters, replacement companies etc. 

The total sum of damages amounts to a full renovation: close to 4 months of rent. 
Amounts are nice and rounded to hundreds and thousands (of course), and accompanied by contacts of carpenters and conversations with them where she inflates the damages and the situation in Thai. Conversations are out of context, and I suspect the owner has used the carpenters many times.
The owner refuses other carpenters to fix up her place because "she doesn't trust anyone else with her wood".

 

Key to point out is that I signed a contract stating I'm legally liable for damages beyond my security deposit, if it's considered non regular wear and tear.


Actions I'm considering:
1/ Walk away, block on chat/go radio silent, let her walk away with the deposit, and let the situation simmer
2/ Renegotiate, get quotes from other carpenters, replacements etc. and hopefully reach some in between outcome
3/ Pay the price, hard lesson learned and extremely bitter pill to swallow

Assuming I would like to avoid to pay as much as possible, while also avoiding any risk for legal proceedings, is there anything you would advice, based on experience of hearsay? I'm leaning towards the first action but I don't know what would be the possible outcomes.

Thank you for any help, advice, or experience offered, or anything you can share. 
I've heard of the vague statistic of 25% of foreign tenants not getting their deposit here, but never expected to land in a significantly worse situation myself..

Regards,
Somtime

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3 minutes ago, 2long said:

You're leaving early, and you admit there's wear and tear, but you won't attach pictures.

Before and after pictures would be necessary.

 

Someone once ran into the back of my car, and HE said it's only a little scratch. I said that there was no damage to the bumper before you ran into me. It's a bit like that, isn't it?

 

In any case, you will not win, and the more you rile up a local (who obviously has money) the worse things will become. Smile, be courteous and get away as quickly and cheaply as you can, but be nice even if you don't mean it.

Thank you for the response @2long, I appreciate it. 
I understand the he say/she say part of it but for the purpose of the post, I'd rather not go into the details. 

Suffice it to say that objectively if I would show the pictures or a video of the place, most people would agree, but I understand this still does not convince you. 

Noted on the cannot win part.

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The OP has admitted damage to wood. What he thinks is small may not seem that way to the landlady. She wants the money you should have paid if you maintained the original period. As she probably won't be able to let it for a while?

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41 minutes ago, Golden Triangle said:

The trouble is that his landlady can just pay a small sum to an immigration officer to find out his new address, TM30 ???? unless of course he is leaving  the country, which means a police summons or raid on his new gaff.

no one I know does TM30s. 

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51 minutes ago, matchar said:

Too many landlords on this forum and most of them haven't bothered to read your post properly.

 

1 month's rent should be plenty to cover any wear and tear so if you haven't damaged anything then just walk away.

It appears that you didn’t read his post properly.  He already admitted to minor (whatever minor means) damage on the wood but wouldn’t (for whatever reason) go into any detail about it.

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