My Thai girlfriend bought a house in Cha'am in March 2020, but apparently it was not put in her name yet. She paid a down payment of 100,000 baht, and has been paying 4,400 baht per month ever since, not directly to the bank, but to the owner. Now it turns out the owner hasn't paid the bank in quite a while, and on 21 June there will be a court case of the bank against the owner. If the owner doesn't pay the bank the money, the bank will seize the house and my girlfriend will have to move out.

 

If that happens, she's going to lose more than 300,000 baht: the 100,000 baht down payment, 118,800 baht in 'rent' payments for 27 months, plus at least 100,000 baht that she put in the house herself in improvements and renovations. That is quite a lot of money.

 

My question to you is if there is anything she can do to get her money (or part of it) back from the owner. It's quite obvious that the owner has been taking my girlfriend's money, and has not paid the bank with that money. What the owner has done is wrong and illegal, and there must be a way to hold the owner accountable.

 

The problem is that my girlfriend doesn't have a lot of money, certainly not enough to pay a lawyer to go to court for her, to sue the owner of the house. Is there anywhere she could go for free legal advice in the Cha'am / Hua Hin area?

 

My girlfriend feels quite ashamed of herself, since most of the 300,000 baht mentioned above has come frrom me, and she feels she has let me down. She is quite hesitant to look for legal aid herself, but I think it's ridiculous to let the owner of the house get away with this and just walk away from the house and the 300,000 baht that we put into it.

 

Any and all help and/or advice would be highly appreciated.

 

Rudi

She didnt buy the house. Its not in her name.

 

Maybe they scamming u

Sure sounds like it

 

Your 300k is gone

 

"that happens, she's going to lose more than 300,000 baht: the 100,000 baht down payment, 118,800 baht in 'rent' payments for 27 months, plus at least 100,000 baht that she put in the house herself in improvements and renovations. That is quite a lot of money.

"

 

For a house she doesnt own yes!

 

She and this guy conned you good

4 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

She didnt buy the house. Its not in her name.

 

Maybe they scamming u

Sure sounds like it

 

Your 300k is gone

 

There is a contract.

Just now, rudi49jr said:

There is a contract.

Invalid contract unless stamped by land titles office.

 

1 the house not in her name

2 the bank loan not in her name

3 i think they both conned u

1 minute ago, Sparktrader said:

Invalid contract unless stamped by land titles office.

 

1 the house not in her name

2 the bank loan not in her name

3 i think they both conned u

Let’s get something straight here: I’ve been together with my girlfriend for 12 years and I trust her with my life, so stop with the ‘they both conned u’, OK? Jeez. 

March 2020 2 years ago

 

U might want to stop sending money to this "gf"

 

 

If she can't afford a lawyer, she can at least go to the local police and ask for their help.  When my expat friend was involved in an auto vs motorbike accident with a Thai, it was the local police higher ranking guy that acted as a intermediary to help solve the issue.

I don't think she conned him. But why involve herself in such an arrangement? Same question to the OP. What about due diligence?

1 minute ago, rudi49jr said:

Let’s get something straight here: I’ve been together with my girlfriend for 12 years and I trust her with my life, so stop with the ‘they both conned u’, OK? Jeez. 

Do you live together? Doesnt sound like it.

 

It doesnt take 2 years to change a name on a house.

 

 

Make a Police report and get it recorded there with as much info and proof  as possible, she may not be the only one effected by his actions.

 

Has she contacted him at all about this ?

If we take it on face value the house owner can't afford the mortgage payments so the bank will seize the house, then it's down to the girl to sue the owner, but he doesn't have the money so maybe not worth it. Lawyers aren't as expensive as you think.

 

If we don't take it on face value, it could be a scam, my lawyer friend was just telling me about a Korean man scammed by his girlfriend, her brother was living in the house, turned out the brother was her husband

6 minutes ago, Bruno123 said:

I don't think she conned him. But why involve herself in such an arrangement? Same question to the OP. What about due diligence?

I know, my girlfriend is quite naive and trusting. I had no idea the house was not in her name (yet) until she told me about the problem with the bank. 

2 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

If we take it on face value the house owner can't afford the mortgage payments so the bank will seize the house, then it's down to the girl to sue the owner, but he doesn't have the money so maybe not worth it. Lawyers aren't as expensive as you think.

 

If we don't take it on face value, it could be a scam, my lawyer friend was just telling me about a Korean man scammed by his girlfriend, her brother was living in the house, turned out the brother was her husband

Heard of lots of scams like that.

3 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

I know, my girlfriend is quite naive and trusting. I had no idea the house was not in her name (yet) until she told me about the problem with the bank. 

Up to you. She probably wants more money now.

 

Highly likely the 300k is gone. Lots of Thais gamble.

7 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

I know, my girlfriend is quite naive and trusting. I had no idea the house was not in her name (yet) until she told me about the problem with the bank. 

The only likely possibility is to clear the debt with the bank, if they will allow the name change and then take over the payments.

4 minutes ago, Bruno123 said:

The only likely possibility is to clear the debt with the bank, if they will allow the name change and then take over the payments.

Buy the house from the bank at a discount. Clearing the debt whilst in another name is too risky.

My wife could have made the same mistake...

 

I would go to the bank and try to work out a purchase agreement with them.. maybe they can recoup some of the lost money - they usually do not want inventory, they just want the loan paid. 

 

I would not mention the 100,000 that was invested into the house. 

 

Sorry for your troubles and this might be a good time to extra console your wife. She sounds like a nice lady and she must be hurting - whatever happens, this is not the end of the world... 

10 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Lots of Thais gamble.

And we just play the markets

4 minutes ago, Sparktrader said:

Buy the house from the bank at a discount. Clearing the debt whilst in another name is too risky.

Do they give discounts? If so, that might be an option. 

The clearing the debt would be under agreed supervision.

Ideally the OP needs a 300k discount ????  Running after the idiot owner who stole their money is likely to be a painful and fruitless task.

I don't understand why a 100k down payment. What happened to that money?

1 minute ago, Bruno123 said:

Do they give discounts? If so, that might be an option. 

The clearing the debt would be under agreed supervision.

Ideally the OP needs a 300k discount ????  Running after the idiot owner who stole their money is likely to be a painful and fruitless task.

I don't understand why a 100k down payment. What happened to that money?

Banks just want their money back.

 

But the bank would need to repossess it first. The whole thing could take months.

 

 

Presumably the house is worth less than 1m baht and the 4,400 baht monthly would come off that value., Would take many years. Owner would never transfer house over until all payments were made. I see these deals on facebook sometimes, maybe they hope the purchaser defaults and the deal is off

I would add, for this reason, stay on good terms with the owner. He might be glad for a way out of the situation, if you can take over the payments. I cannot see the bank going for it unless your girlfriend is credit worthy. But better to have the owner on your side either way.

16 minutes ago, Bruno123 said:

The only likely possibility is to clear the debt with the bank, if they will allow the name change and then take over the payments.

Its quite likely that the bank have no idea who his GF is and wouldnt be interested in her story . 

  This is an issue between the bank and the property owner 

3 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

Its quite likely that the bank have no idea who his GF is and wouldnt be interested in her story . 

  This is an issue between the bank and the property owner 

 

 

That's what I have been saying. They need to get the owner on board. Then they can work together towards one goal. 

Dependent on the debt amount, they may be able to clear it and then organise a different payment system that includes the owner showing payment confirmation each month.

 

First step, find out how much is owed.

 

2 minutes ago, Mac Mickmanus said:

This is an issue between the bank and the property owner

I’m afraid you’re right, and that my girlfriend has no leg to stand on. 

3 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Presumably the house is worth less than 1m baht and the 4,400 baht monthly would come off that value., Would take many years. Owner would never transfer house over until all payments were made. I see these deals on facebook sometimes, maybe they hope the purchaser defaults and the deal is off

She needs the police and lawyer then.

 

 

1 minute ago, Bruno123 said:

 

 

That's what I have been saying. They need to get the owner on board. Then they can work together towards one goal. 

 

Not if the owner has pocketed the money. It could have been given to relative or gambled.

 

She needs a lawyer if she has some sort of contract on paper. 

2 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

I’m afraid you’re right, and that my girlfriend has no leg to stand on. 

Not necessarily. If the owed amount is affordable, then you might be able to continue the arrangement, but with some extra precautions and diligence.

1 minute ago, Sparktrader said:

Not if the owner has pocketed the money. It could have been given to relative or gambled.

 

She needs a lawyer if she has some sort of contract on paper. 

 

Who cares if he has pocketed it? She wasn't going to stay in the house for free. Is there a system wherein she can sue because the house could not be sold in that way? If not, don't waste energy on that route.

Find out how much it costs to keep the house in the first instance. Keeping the place is the best option.