Rental Exit Strategy

[Woof999]

On 11/4/2022 at 1:43 PM, smutcakes said:

Dont like to agree with MM, but he is 100% right here. Legally speaking if you sign a 1 year contract you are legally obligated to pay for the year, unless there is express provision to the contrary in the agreement. Nearly all agreements say that you will lose deposit if you leave early and the losing the deposit does not prevent the landlord taking further action to enforce the agreement.

I think that's open to interpretation.

 

If the contract states "if you leave early then you will lose your deposit" then I believe it's reasonable to infer that the repercussions end there. I've written a fair amount of contracts and would always write something along the lines of "if you leave early then your deposit will be kept to pay for all outstanding rent due on the full term, as well as for damage etc". Something like that anyway.

 

In other words, if a contract states that the penalty for doing something is X, but doesn't make it clear that this is not the full extent of the penalty, then it would be reasonable to believe that X is all that happens.

 

In this instance I'd be very surprised if the landlord took matters further, but I've been surprised before, I'm not a lawyer and you shouldn't believe a word I write.

 

Have a nice day.

[smutcakes]

10 hours ago, Woof999 said:

I think that's open to interpretation.

 

If the contract states "if you leave early then you will lose your deposit" then I believe it's reasonable to infer that the repercussions end there. I've written a fair amount of contracts and would always write something along the lines of "if you leave early then your deposit will be kept to pay for all outstanding rent due on the full term, as well as for damage etc". Something like that anyway.

 

In other words, if a contract states that the penalty for doing something is X, but doesn't make it clear that this is not the full extent of the penalty, then it would be reasonable to believe that X is all that happens.

 

In this instance I'd be very surprised if the landlord took matters further, but I've been surprised before, I'm not a lawyer and you shouldn't believe a word I write.

 

Have a nice day.

Sure, if the contract expressly permits you to leave early with only forfeit of deposit then of course.

 

But i think you will find that is very rare. Why would a landlord accept that? It makes a contract with anything more than the deposit amount (maybe 1 month) completely worthless.

 

Most contracts say something along the lines of "If the Lessee wishes to terminate this Agreement before the expiration of the Lease Term, the Lessee shall give the Lessor written notice of at least 1 month in advance, and shall pay the Lessor compensation in the amount equivalent to the total rental of the remaining Lease Term within 30 (thirty) days prior to the proposed termination date, and the Deposit Amount shall be totally forfeited."

 

That is fairly strong, others simply say that the deposit will be forfeiture, and confiscation of the deposit does not preclude the landlord from taking action to recover monies owed under the agreement.

 

The whole premise of taking a longer lease is that you get a better rental as the landlord has secured rent for a year. If you can just up sticks and leave and lose your 1 month it makes the contract completely meaningless.

[smutcakes]

11 hours ago, BangkokHank said:

I am about to renew the lease on my condo. Today I asked the building manager what would happen if I signed a three year lease and left after one year. She said I would lose my deposit. I asked if I would have to pay for the other two years of the lease. She just laughed and said of course not. I suspect that this is the norm in Thailand - and in the rest of the world. As I said, that's what security deposits are for. 

You are completely wrong, and if there are any lawyers on here they would tell you so.  You have not one ounce of knowledge about contracts. 

[matchar]

2 hours ago, smutcakes said:

Sure, if the contract expressly permits you to leave early with only forfeit of deposit then of course.

 

But i think you will find that is very rare. Why would a landlord accept that? It makes a contract with anything more than the deposit amount (maybe 1 month) completely worthless.

 

Most contracts say something along the lines of "If the Lessee wishes to terminate this Agreement before the expiration of the Lease Term, the Lessee shall give the Lessor written notice of at least 1 month in advance, and shall pay the Lessor compensation in the amount equivalent to the total rental of the remaining Lease Term within 30 (thirty) days prior to the proposed termination date, and the Deposit Amount shall be totally forfeited."

 

That is fairly strong, others simply say that the deposit will be forfeiture, and confiscation of the deposit does not preclude the landlord from taking action to recover monies owed under the agreement.

 

The whole premise of taking a longer lease is that you get a better rental as the landlord has secured rent for a year. If you can just up sticks and leave and lose your 1 month it makes the contract completely meaningless.

If it was just a 1 month contract then the landlord wouldn't get to keep the deposit.

 

With a 12 month contract, if the tenant leaves early, the landlord keeps the deposit as compensation and then is able to look for a new tenant.

 

According to your logic the landlord is entitled to double rent from the tenant who left early and any new tenant who moves in.

 

Now if the landlord were to take all reasonable steps to find a new tenant and was unable to, then he may have a case to try and claim unpaid rent through the courts but it would depend on the wording of the contract and the appropriate Thai law.

[Mac Mickmanus]

13 hours ago, Woof999 said:

I think that's open to interpretation.

 

If the contract states "if you leave early then you will lose your deposit" then I believe it's reasonable to infer that the repercussions end there. I've written a fair amount of contracts and would always write something along the lines of "if you leave early then your deposit will be kept to pay for all outstanding rent due on the full term, as well as for damage etc". Something like that anyway.

 

In other words, if a contract states that the penalty for doing something is X, but doesn't make it clear that this is not the full extent of the penalty, then it would be reasonable to believe that X is all that happens.

 

In this instance I'd be very surprised if the landlord took matters further, but I've been surprised before, I'm not a lawyer and you shouldn't believe a word I write.

 

Have a nice day.

The laws of the land take preference over what is written in the contact .

   If you write something in a contract that doesn't comply with the law , then what you wrote is invalid and the law is adhered to 

[smutcakes]

7 minutes ago, matchar said:

If it was just a 1 month contract then the landlord wouldn't get to keep the deposit.

 

With a 12 month contract, if the tenant leaves early, the landlord keeps the deposit as compensation and then is able to look for a new tenant.

 

According to your logic the landlord is entitled to double rent from the tenant who left early and any new tenant who moves in.

 

Now if the landlord were to take all reasonable steps to find a new tenant and was unable to, then he may have a case to try and claim unpaid rent through the courts but it would depend on the wording of the contract and the appropriate Thai law.

The landlord is entitled to the rent for the length of your contract.... that is what a contract is, unless it stipulates that you can leave without penalty or under what conditions.

 

Why does the landlord have to jump to action to find a new tenant, that is completely up to them. If you leave early the landlord has absolutely zero obligation to find a new tenant or lease the property to anyone else. You contract with the landlord and what they choose to do with the unit if you leave are completely separate matters.

 

Perhaps in some cases the landlord could get double rent if someone breached nearer the start of a year agreement, but they would still have the time, cost of releasing the property. Depends on the property market and demand for the property. Whether they manage to do it and get 'double rent' is completely immaterial to whether you are still contractually obligated to pay the rent for the remainder of the term.