must be a damn clever agent to get building access, past security, acquire 25 sets of unique apt. keys & unique utility bills, without owner keys handover and make 25 contracts…. and fool all those Tenants ……all without Owner knowledge…. or knowledge of “ real” Owner Agent ( there must have beenone) …..MI6 Agent level…..wasted in the renting business. of course basic rental contract practices & law apply. non- resident Owners of multiple condos will nearly always typically & legally appoint agents. OP doesn’t give sufficient detail so we are left to guess the blanks. 

8 hours ago, Henryford said:

Who pays 6 or 12 months rent in advance, in Thailand. That was the biggest mistake. Just asking for someone to take it and run. Under English law you might be able to argue the agent was acting on behalf of the owner but here just not worth the cost of taking it through the courts. What was the loss @50,000 baht?

I rent houses always and pay 6-12 months in advance, its worth it really

6 hours ago, topt said:

I want to know why the morning news mail has this subject titled -

 

"My visa agent has done a runner"

 

Click bait much................

I'm surprised we hav,nt heard reports of visa agents doing a runner

yet another reason not to rent here…..they just keep crawling out of the woodwork…. 

7 minutes ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

yet another reason not to rent here…..they just keep crawling out of the woodwork…. 

Been renting 16 years now and never a bad experience (no agents) apart from the first house rental when after 3 years the owner suggested i buy the house but leave it in her name

“Been renting 16 years now and never a bad experience”

 

except 4-5 million baht lost rent ? but avoided Dead Capital I know. and not having your own home to cherish / extend/ renovate/ decorate / furnish / sell / rent out.

3 minutes ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

“Been renting 16 years now and never a bad experience”

 

except 4-5 million baht lost rent ? but avoided Dead Capital I know. and not having your own home to cherish / extend/ renovate/ decorate / furnish / sell / rent out.

how does 5k per month work out to 4-5 million?

Thing is a condo is of no use to me and as i cant own a house renting was the only option

5k. a month. says it all really. wont even ask what or where you get for that. but you seem settled & happy there. which is all that matters for a home really. so thats the deal of the century then. less than my 7k Common Fund ! you can own leasehold or with thai company.  but not economic at that level ……

10 minutes ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

5k. a month. says it all really. wont even ask what or where you get for that. but you seem settled & happy there. which is all that matters for a home really. so thats the deal of the century then. less than my 7k Common Fund ! you can own leasehold or with thai company.  but not economic at that level ……

At the moment a very large nice 3 bedroom bungalow in the quiet burbs of bkk, wonderful and in some ways a hiso area 6k rent

BTW i enjoy moving every few years, if i owned anywhere that would,nt be so easy

tingtong: thats seems incredible. not a commercial rent. good information btw. but how is that economic for owner. unless you are a friend/ housesitter/security guard to keep the place clean and deter squatters & burglars ? more economic to sell surely? thais intending to pass on to their family when dead perhaps ? I’ m a Phuket West Coaster myself. Done with City Living. But your place sounds ideal for you ! 

1 hour ago, WhiteBuffaloATM said:

tingtong: thats seems incredible. not a commercial rent. good information btw. but how is that economic for owner. unless you are a friend/ housesitter/security guard to keep the place clean and deter squatters & burglars ? more economic to sell surely? thais intending to pass on to their family when dead perhaps ? I’ m a Phuket West Coaster myself. Done with City Living. But your place sounds ideal for you ! 

Mostly when i want to move i just ride the scooter around in areas where i want to live looking for houses to rent, forget the internet as many just put a hand written sign outside or stuck to a lamp post with a phone number, or even ask at the local noodle shop.. if they know a place they just give the number,

View a house and talk with the owner then for instance if they want 8k offer 5k but 6 or even 12 months in advance... often they got for it and are also convinced there will be no problems collecting the rent as would/has been the case with thai renters,

When the deal is done give 2 months deposit and transfer the first 6 months to their account ..all with a signed contract available from the post office,

After that its just a matter of moving your funiture and get the internet cable moved to the new house, after a few days i feel at home as does the dog,

Kevins job is to keep the squirel and monitor lizard population down and deter other unwanted visitors

I’ve always rented from a company/ condo office. Never had a problem. So when I rent a new one, and pay my rent monthly ( with contract ) how do I know where the moneys going to ? I get a receipt, ok, what else should I get ? 

I’ve never had a problem in 15 years in Bangkok. Agent has always made the introduction to the owner then I’ve dealt direct with the owner.

this is my first experience with a “property manager”

 

never again 

Tell whoever is hastling you that you don't recognise their authority and to get a court order to remove you.See out the next couple of months to cover what you have paid out and then leave

On 10/22/2021 at 2:19 PM, FridgeMagnet1 said:

Yes I have her Thai ID number (didn’t take a copy of, but verified the number on the contract matched the card) and know her real name. She has purged all her Facebook accounts, but left a few things up on other sites that are harder to take down, and some are cached.

 

as I say, lots of people in my building are in the same boat as me, actually most are in much worse as they paid all upfront. 

Very difficult to 'really' purge an FB account.

5 hours ago, tingtongfarang said:

I'm surprised we hav,nt heard reports of visa agents doing a runner

Why? What's the point of stealing 15k and a passport?

A very misleading headline. Shameless

On 10/22/2021 at 2:28 AM, FridgeMagnet1 said:

But if the owner says I have to leave, do I have a legal

Leg to stand on?

There is basically no rule of law in Thailand, and you'll soon understand the full meaning of that.  If you had the money and years/decades to fund a team of lawyers (which would far exceed the amount of rent lost), you might prevail, if you are a Thai citizen.

 

Any contract in Thailand isn't worth the paper it's written on and the 'justice' system is simply a tool for the wealthy to batter the less-wealthy.  So, if you're rich and Thai you'll get your money back and will not be thrown out of your rental.  If not, you should pack your bags and move on.

On 10/22/2021 at 9:37 AM, FridgeMagnet1 said:

Contract is between me and the property manager. I guess that’s the problem here, she breaks the contract and does a runner and im left without anything between me and the owner.

 

should have gone with my gut and walked away from this before signing. 
 

im used to dealing with owners direct in BKK rather than dodgy 

Contract with an agent and not with the owner? Alarm bells shld have gone off. 

Only the person owning the property can rent out. "Agent" is just an appointed link between you & the owner because owner isn't in Thailand.

I had a similar situation happen to me 15 years ago or so. One of the ladies working in the Juristic office of a complex rented me a unit and had me pay 6 months up front. A month or so later the owner showed up and told me he had not been paid. As I had the lease and receipt, I went to the local police station and initiated a complaint. They forwarded it to the local officer that covers that complex.

 

So the officer sets up a 3 way meeting between me, the owner and the jursitic lady. Here he told the owner I needed to be allowed to stay and he could collect the money from the juristic lady.

 

Soon after that, I found out what was really going on. The local cop was a loan shark who had loaned money to the juristic lady. My rent money was actually paid to the cop to cover her debt. As it was apparent to the cop that I was not going to take it quietly, I guess he decided to give the loss to the Thai owner. Any real investigation would have uncovered the loan sharking, etc.

 

The fridge in the unit did not work and the juristic lady "borrowed" one from somebody else's unit, without permission of course. At least the Thai owner got a new fridge out of it.

 

I arranged for the juristic lady to be fired. 

On 10/22/2021 at 8:23 AM, FridgeMagnet1 said:

Yes, but the issue there is that the owner is in China and there is really no way of me getting anything out of him unless he is feeling generous. 

He might as well just write it off and turf me out, as he can’t do anything to the agent from there 
 

 

How is the owner going to turf you out if he/she is in China? Stay put and enjoy the rest of your contract. The issue is between the owner and the agen and not you. IMO.

 

 

1 hour ago, gargamon said:

I had a similar situation happen to me 15 years ago or so. One of the ladies working in the Juristic office of a complex rented me a unit and had me pay 6 months up front. A month or so later the owner showed up and told me he had not been paid. As I had the lease and receipt, I went to the local police station and initiated a complaint. They forwarded it to the local officer that covers that complex.

 

So the officer sets up a 3 way meeting between me, the owner and the jursitic lady. Here he told the owner I needed to be allowed to stay and he could collect the money from the juristic lady.

 

Soon after that, I found out what was really going on. The local cop was a loan shark who had loaned money to the juristic lady. My rent money was actually paid to the cop to cover her debt. As it was apparent to the cop that I was not going to take it quietly, I guess he decided to give the loss to the Thai owner. Any real investigation would have uncovered the loan sharking, etc.

 

The fridge in the unit did not work and the juristic lady "borrowed" one from somebody else's unit, without permission of course. At least the Thai owner got a new fridge out of it.

 

I arranged for the juristic lady to be fired. 

All kinds of underhand arrangements go on that many are unaware of. You did well to remedy the situation.

 

5 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Very difficult to 'really' purge an FB account.

Not really. Delete all posts, deactivate account and don't log in for 30 days or so. Most people don't know to visit cache pages, so to the average person, everything is purged.

16 hours ago, bbko said:

People here saying walk away from the 20k loss, I say at the minimum file a joint police report to get your name on the record.

Agreed. You may recoup any money, but it's on record.

12 hours ago, vinci said:

Thai only know how to take money but they don't understand the concept of giving it back.

The owner is not Thai. But do keep up the misinformation. (Or at least read the thread before posting.)

23 hours ago, Nip said:

I...

The third one I rented, after two weeks the owner accused me of switching the expensive batteries in the TV remote for cheap ones. ...

Lol - there are some real nutters out there! ????

I got seriously cheated 35+ years ago with my very first rental contract. 

Lesson thereof is; ever payment for anything ever since went through bank channels. In the past tedious queueing at the counters or writing cheques, today internet banking. Some did not like it, two flatly refused it - for taxation reasons = I walked. Never ever lost any argument of non-payment. 

Above refers to clear paperwork, which you understand after having done your homework. 

20 hours ago, Salerno said:

 

Perhaps reread the thread before casting aspersions. All you've done so far is highlight your lack of comprehension and nasty streak.

yes,  the deposit was 20k ....   sorry.

On 10/22/2021 at 3:06 PM, Zikomat said:

6 months up front payments? Those people were, most probably, offered greatly discounted rates and are now being punished for the greediness.

 

Ive seen in Phuket landlords asking for 12 months up front, 

5 hours ago, Letseng said:

Contract with an agent and not with the owner? Alarm bells shld have gone off. 

Only the person owning the property can rent out. "Agent" is just an appointed link between you & the owner because owner isn't in Thailand.

Unless the agent had a POA