Im renting in Bkk and the condo ac needs regassing alot. Owners not interested.

[Regain]

Its had 2 regasses and a component swap in a month. The second time the maintenance guy did a quick regass and ran, no further inspection on why its failing.

 

Assuming the owners have no interest in maintaining the ac, despite it getting sun for most of the day, what choices do i have?
 

Can i reduce rent payment, pay government electric rates instead of nearly double?

[The Hammer2021]

Get your own maintenance man to assess the situation

[Captain Monday]

Nothing in your rental contract says you can reduce monthly payments

The AC unit needs repair or replacement

Write your owner demanding a reasonable amount of time to repair or replace the unit

say 10 working days. If no action move house, this kind of owner a nightmare not worth dealing with.

 

 

[grain]

Sounds like the AC has a leak, it needs proper checking and no doubt some repairs (like fixing a leak or some connections) if it's a very old AC then perhaps it needs replacing. As owner isn't interested you really have 2 options as far as I can see:

 

1) find a good AC man to come around and do a proper test for leaks, and repair the leaks, and give the AC a complete flush & cleaning, and then re-gas it....you of course will have to pay for this but you'll save on elect bills and will have cold AC.

2) move.

 

If it's an old AC then ask the owner to replace it, which he probably won't do, then you move.

[steve187]

give the landlord instructions to repair in a reasonable amount of time, if he fails then you have it repaired deduct from rent.

[clivebaxter]

We had that situation, cleaning guy said always needed gassing up. In the end got Mitsubishi in who said it had too much gas in it and that it did not have a leak, sometimes it's a scam

[worgeordie]

You are not responsible for fixing  the A/c , it is solely the owners responsibility,

if he wont fix it , start looking for another place ,there's plenty available , take it

as an omen , if he wont fix A/c ,what happens if something more serious occurs.

time to start looking for new place.

regards worgeordie

 

[LarrySR]

Move out...but don't forget to stuff the hollow curtain rods with shrimp heads and squid.

[scubascuba3]

Look for a new condo

[blackcab]

1 hour ago, Regain said:

Can i reduce rent payment, pay government electric rates instead of nearly double?

 

No, that's not going to be part of your contact.

 

Your legal options are to pay to fix it yourself or to give your landlord notice and move, assuming you are past your minimum length of contact.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Captain Monday said:

The AC unit needs repair or replacement

Write your owner demanding a reasonable amount of time to repair or replace the unit

It would be better for him to check his lease re what the owner and OP are each responsible for before demanding what the owner should do!

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, steve187 said:

give the landlord instructions to repair in a reasonable amount of time, if he fails then you have it repaired deduct from rent.

What makes you think that he's entitled to do that?!

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

You are not responsible for fixing  the A/c , it is solely the owners responsibility,

That depends on the terms of the lease that I'm assuming you haven't seen.

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, Regain said:

Assuming the owners have no interest in maintaining the ac,

Check you lease conditions, if it's your responsibility, pay to get it fixed.  If it's the owner's responsibility, move if he won't fix it.

[Pmbkk]

In the condo's I let there is a paragraph that states the A/C gets cleaned every 6 months, once at the tenant's expense and one at mine over the year. I obv' do the first when they move in.

 

I've had to replace units before as they can drip and damage wooden flooring / furniture if faulty.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

26 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

It would be better for him to check his lease re what the owner and OP are each responsible for before demanding what the owner should do!

 This whole topic has long been a mystery to me here in Thailand.

 

In my home country, clearly, the landlord would be responsible for needed repairs to things like air con or provided appliances in the unit. Because, it's their property, not the tenant's.

 

Here, it often doesn't seem to work that way. I've lived in the same rental for almost 15 years now in BKK, and the boilerplate lease in TH language I've always had and renewed with the private party TH landlord is silent on such things.

 

In practice, the landlord has never paid for things like air con service or cleaning, or even the replacement of one air con unit that died at one point. We have, and did.

 

But, we also like our home very much, have a great location, don't want to move, are on very good terms with the landlord's family who also lives-on site, AND, are paying the same below market rental rate as when I moved in almost 15 years ago.

 

So, I pay for the air con cleaning and service, and to replace the unit when one dies every 10 years or so.... Hard to complain really, under the circumstances.

 

But, in general, as a tenant, I think things like air con repairs ought to be the landlord's responsibility. I still don't know what Thai law thinks on that subject.

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_smith237]

I’ve had varied rental contracts.. 

 

In this situation these stated either the owner was responsible, or the tenant responsible for anything up to 1500 baht….

 

Op see what your contract mentions.,

If you believe the owner should pay, then tell them that. If they refuse, hold back rent, then move out. 
 

How much is your deposit ? 
1 or 2 months? 
What is the deposit vs cost of repair? 
 

 

[NanLaew]

The tenant is using the air con, the landlord isn't.

 

Although the landlord is taking care of the servicing, I doubt that is specifically mentioned in the rental contract. Therefore, the tenant should get his own aircon guy in for a second opinion. If it needs replacing, the tenant should cut to the chase, get it done and claim it back off the rent. Waiting for a landlord to buy a new one is a waste of time.

 

This is a great time of year to get aircon bargains. You don't want to be paying the extra to get it 'gassed' or replaced in April.

[steve187]

53 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Check you lease conditions, if it's your responsibility, pay to get it fixed.  If it's the owner's responsibility, move if he won't fix it.

as easy as that, problem solved, next!

[OneMoreFarang]

3 hours ago, Regain said:

Its had 2 regasses and a component swap in a month. The second time the maintenance guy did a quick regass and ran, no further inspection on why its failing.

 

Assuming the owners have no interest in maintaining the ac, despite it getting sun for most of the day, what choices do i have?
 

Can i reduce rent payment, pay government electric rates instead of nearly double?

You don't mention if the AC works and keeps your apartment cold.

And maybe does the AC always run on full power? And how much do you pay for electricity?

If it works then if it doesn't use lots of power than maybe just ignore it.

[worgeordie]

3 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That depends on the terms of the lease that I'm assuming you haven't seen.

Yes seen it yesterday ... ????  really, I don't think anyone would sign a lease

that would make them responsible for repairing an A/c , just like I don't see

a landlord putting that in the lease ,knowing no one would accept the terms,

 

BUT you just have to say something Lou , try posting something positive or

even helpful for a change

regards worgeordie

[worgeordie]

3 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 This whole topic has long been a mystery to me here in Thailand.

 

In my home country, clearly, the landlord would be responsible for needed repairs to things like air con or provided appliances in the unit. Because, it's their property, not the tenant's.

 

Here, it often doesn't seem to work that way. I've lived in the same rental for almost 15 years now in BKK, and the boilerplate lease in TH language I've always had and renewed with the private party TH landlord is silent on such things.

 

In practice, the landlord has never paid for things like air con service or cleaning, or even the replacement of one air con unit that died at one point. We have, and did.

 

But, we also like our home very much, have a great location, don't want to move, are on very good terms with the landlord's family who also lives-on site, AND, are paying the same below market rental rate as when I moved in almost 15 years ago.

 

So, I pay for the air con cleaning and service, and to replace the unit when one dies every 10 years or so.... Hard to complain really, under the circumstances.

 

But, in general, as a tenant, I think things like air con repairs ought to be the landlord's responsibility. I still don't know what Thai law thinks on that subject.

 

 

 

 

 

Wish I had you as a tenant , over the last 15 years I must have replaced  at least 10 A/c s for my tenants

regards worgeordie

[Regain]

So there’s no rental contract, but there was a deposit at this place. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

17 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Wish I had you as a tenant , over the last 15 years I must have replaced  at least 10 A/c s for my tenants

regards worgeordie

 

Are you renting your units today for the same monthly rate that you charged in 2007?  ????

 

[worgeordie]

31 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Are you renting your units today for the same monthly rate that you charged in 2007?  ????

 

Basically , Yes , oversupply of property for rent, lack of retirees ,NGOs' etc,

But we were lucky to pick up some good property when the bubble burst , 

went from cash into property when interest rates dropped, over time the

properties paid for themselves ,was easy to find longtime tenants , and

when you find good tenants you look after them , as least I do,and not

been greedy , happy with the rents they were paying.

 

Today I would say buying property for rent is not really viable ,price

of property verses rent you can recieve ,not worth the hassle.

regards worgeordie

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:44 PM, worgeordie said:

when you find good tenants you look after them , as least I do,and not

been greedy , happy with the rents they were paying.

I think to some extent, there's a different rental culture that exists here vs in my home country, perhaps in part because of market conditions, perhaps in part other things...

 

When I rented in the U.S., the owners were usually companies, either big or small. And there really wasn't any personal element to the transactions. Most of the time, the rents went UP every year for everyone in the complex, regardless of whether they'd lived there 1 year or 20. Often, 4-7 percent per year. And perhaps part of the reason for that is the rental market in the U.S. in general is tight.

 

Here. because of oversupply of new housing, the economy and lately COVID, I think tenants in general have more leverage. And PERHAPS landlords are more willing to operate the way you have, and the way my landlord has. Although, you're a private party landlord, as is my landlord, not some corporate rental entity. I'm guessing, those types here aren't so accommodating.

 

[smutcakes]

I used to just pay for all repairs and maintenance as I didn't want my Landlord traipsing in and out of the unit.

 

If i organize i can do it on my terms and a time of my choosing with a contractor of my choosing.

[chrisandsu]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:50 AM, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

I think to some extent, there's a different rental culture that exists here vs in my home country, perhaps in part because of market conditions, perhaps in part other things...

 

When I rented in the U.S., the owners were usually companies, either big or small. And there really wasn't any personal element to the transactions. Most of the time, the rents went UP every year for everyone in the complex, regardless of whether they'd lived there 1 year or 20. Often, 4-7 percent per year. And perhaps part of the reason for that is the rental market in the U.S. in general is tight.

 

Here. because of oversupply of new housing, the economy and lately COVID, I think tenants in general have more leverage. And PERHAPS landlords are more willing to operate the way you have, and the way my landlord has. Although, you're a private party landlord, as is my landlord, not some corporate rental entity. I'm guessing, those types here aren't so accommodating.

 

The 4-5% increases are probably right . The property tax on my house went up 15% this year ! This is also the reason rent shouldn't go up significantly in Thailand as there is no property tax . 

[steven100]

On 1/19/2022 at 3:17 PM, steve187 said:

give the landlord instructions to repair in a reasonable amount of time, if he fails then you have it repaired deduct from rent.

yeah that'll work   !

[steven100]

On 1/19/2022 at 6:12 PM, OneMoreFarang said:

You don't mention if the AC works and keeps your apartment cold.

And maybe does the AC always run on full power? And how much do you pay for electricity?

If it works then if it doesn't use lots of power than maybe just ignore it.

yes .... lacks details  ..... and is it just whining with no proof ...