Your Two Months Rental Deposit

[JimHuaHin]

I rented a high-end condo on Sukhumvit, Bangkok for 7 months (on a monthly basis agreement) back in 1997.  I informed the management 2 months in advance that I would be checking out on date x.  Upon checkout, the management informed me that they were waiting for approval from the owner to return my 2-months deposit, and would send me a cheque.  It never arrived.

 

I rented a house in Hua Hin starting about 11 years ago; about 5 years ago the house sold.  The new owner, a farang, from a small northern European country, who wanted to move into the house with his family, drew up a new lease permitting me to stay for a few months while I searched for new accommodation.  No damage was done to the house, and I paid for house cleaning upon departure.  The new farang owner claimed there was damage to the house facilities, which he could not identify (the house was in exactly the same condition when he inspected the house prior to purchase), so he only repaid half my 2-months deposit.

[J Branche]

Just Saturday my girlfriends Thai son contacted us about moving.  Stated the landlord did not fix a badly broken bathroom door and when the Air Conditioner was not cooling informed him to pay to fix it.

 

He stated it is common on cheap rooms for a Thai tenant to Not pay the last month' rent and then move out.

The landlord keeps only 1 month's rent and tenant considers the lost month of deposit as acceptable.

 

I informed him that Section 547 of Thailand Civil and Commercial code states "The lessor is responsible for reimbursing the lessee for any essential and reasonable expenses the have accrued."

 

I consider repairing a broken AC as a reasonable expense and informed him if it happens on future rentals to message the landlord, state the Code 547 and inform the landlord you will deduct it from the rent that is owed.

 

I also advised him to be careful when signing agreement. To check any statements regarding what the tenants obligations will be if something is broken, what amount a tenant may be expected to pay for a repair and at what level the landlord would pay.