My condo has many maintenance workers but the common areas are sh**! Nothing ever gets repaired.

 

When pressing the condo about why the workers aren’t working in the common areas, the committee says bc they get calls every day to fix things in peoples room. And apparently they are fixing things for free. I never thought about this because I never called for maintenance.

 

Now the condo is increasing the CAM fee because they need more maintenance and are specifically citing work in private units. I can’t even believe the put it in writing

 

This seems like a violation of the condominium act as it specifically states that CAM fees are to be used to maintenance of common areas, staff salaries, regular expenses etc. Nothing about fixing stuff in ppls rooms for free. So my fees are subsidizing ppls rooms.

 

And to top it off, we have millions in the sinking fund, yet they are funneling some of the cam fees into the sinking fund without co-owner approval. So basically are cam fees are being squandered on free room maintence and locked into the sinking fund.

To top it off, they refuse to use the sinking fund when there are major repairs and then blow whatever CAM fee is accumulated on major emergency maintenance.

 

Am I right to cite this as multiple violations of the Condominium Act? I think the CAM fees should be using for common area maintence, the sinking fund should be used when there’s a major repair, and no free maintenance should be done in peoples rooms. Also the commitee should be getting approval from co-owners b4 dumping money into sinking fund, which they don’t. I mean unless I’m reading the condo act wrong ..

 

Im tempted to complain about this to the land department bc we never have money or workers for repairs in common areas and it’s driving me insane. Feels like total abuse and mismanagement 

Depends what things they are fixing in the rooms, if it's pipes that may be under common fees. They should be charging for fixing, installing etc, mine does

The maintenance guys should only be working on common property, or as scuba says, common property that may be within a condo like pipes in ceiling.

It may be that the condo office is using the maintenance staff to run their own little handy man business, and  pocketing the funds. It can also be that the committee are part of the little enterprise.

Otherwise, its something that the committee should be sorting out.

Take advantage of the free service when you require it 👍 

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

Take advantage of the free service when you require it 👍 

My room is property maintained, so I don’t require it. It just means I am paying for other co-owners personal repairs who do not property maintain their homew

5 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

The maintenance guys should only be working on common property, or as scuba says, common property that may be within a condo like pipes in ceiling.

It may be that the condo office is using the maintenance staff to run their own little handy man business, and  pocketing the funds. It can also be that the committee are part of the little enterprise.

Otherwise, its something that the committee should be sorting out.

Also look for landlords who are encouraging & happy about getting free Maintenace for their business ventures.

Such landlords would also encourage use of common fees in ways which will enhance condo appeal & therefore easier rental for them - it can be way overdone, depending on the needs & lifestyle of the non-landlord owners.

On 7/8/2025 at 9:28 AM, dia1 said:

My room is property maintained, so I don’t require it. It just means I am paying for other co-owners personal repairs who do not property maintain their homew

Never buy in Thailnd - the golden rule.

Another problem will be with Thai owners of condos in your building - if their condo is not rented out, they generally refuse to pay the monthly CAM, and the condos funds can end up going to zero very quickly!

Have you ever brought it up at the annual owners meeting?

On 7/8/2025 at 6:49 AM, Peterw42 said:

The maintenance guys should only be working on common property, or as scuba says, common property that may be within a condo like pipes in ceiling.

It may be that the condo office is using the maintenance staff to run their own little handy man business, and  pocketing the funds. It can also be that the committee are part of the little enterprise.

Otherwise, its something that the committee should be sorting out.

 

Doyou know hae condo meetings

 

Also next time you want something done avail yourself of the staff and see if it is free or if someone is pocketing money.  

 

One question though is the condo(you )PAYING THESE CHARACTERS

I've had a number of things fixed in my rented room by the condominium engineer for free. I think this stems from most of the fittings and workmanship being of very poor quality initially and it needs to be replaced at some point. I've noticed in a lot of different condominiums that they have problems with water leaking into cracks in the walls particularly. 

It definitely sounds like a valid complaint though.

On 7/8/2025 at 2:16 AM, dia1 said:

My condo has many maintenance workers but the common areas are sh**! Nothing ever gets repaired.

 

When pressing the condo about why the workers aren’t working in the common areas, the committee says bc they get calls every day to fix things in peoples room. And apparently they are fixing things for free. I never thought about this because I never called for maintenance.

 

Now the condo is increasing the CAM fee because they need more maintenance and are specifically citing work in private units. I can’t even believe the put it in writing

 

This seems like a violation of the condominium act as it specifically states that CAM fees are to be used to maintenance of common areas, staff salaries, regular expenses etc. Nothing about fixing stuff in ppls rooms for free. So my fees are subsidizing ppls rooms.

 

And to top it off, we have millions in the sinking fund, yet they are funneling some of the cam fees into the sinking fund without co-owner approval. So basically are cam fees are being squandered on free room maintence and locked into the sinking fund.

To top it off, they refuse to use the sinking fund when there are major repairs and then blow whatever CAM fee is accumulated on major emergency maintenance.

 

Am I right to cite this as multiple violations of the Condominium Act? I think the CAM fees should be using for common area maintence, the sinking fund should be used when there’s a major repair, and no free maintenance should be done in peoples rooms. Also the commitee should be getting approval from co-owners b4 dumping money into sinking fund, which they don’t. I mean unless I’m reading the condo act wrong ..

 

Im tempted to complain about this to the land department bc we never have money or workers for repairs in common areas and it’s driving me insane. Feels like total abuse and mismanagement 

Nothing is as it seems. A distinct use listening to any excuses, even receipts can be fake. You can put your bottom dollar on its favours for friends that return favours, or something like that, guaranteed. Were they getting tips in the pocket? and no time for you, etc, etc. It's all about maximising profits in the pocket one way or another.

I suspect your are being lied to!  I find it tough the way things operate here they are fixing for free or repairs are condo related if so, you would be calling yourself!  Logic you must have the only unit is was built right! 🤣 in fact with so many workers all wanting to get a piece of it are doing repairs for the unit owners and charging them.  To test make a call yourself for repairs!  

 

Why I don't buy into condos especially here if they don't provide a monthly expense sheet when I'm interested in buying. You might look also at the so call 51% Thai owners who refuse to pay month and nothing is done!  From my experience nothing is done!

Yet another reason to rent only. Never, ever buy!

7 minutes ago, Nemises said:

Yet another reason to rent only. Never, ever buy!

 

Rent is money down the drain, why help pay off somebody else's mortgage?

What does the Committee say? their first duty is to maintain the common areas of the condo (which may i suppose include leaking pipes in condos). But with an established condo i don't there should be many of those. If owners want other changes they have to pay for them. Certainly changes to the Sinking Fund need to go the the AGM. 

Rent is freedom, flexibility and much less hassle.  Buying here has been dead money in most cases many are clueless.  Investing the money in other ways is the smart option.

13 hours ago, thailand49 said:

I suspect your are being lied to!  I find it tough the way things operate here they are fixing for free or repairs are condo related if so, you would be calling yourself!  Logic you must have the only unit is was built right! 🤣 in fact with so many workers all wanting to get a piece of it are doing repairs for the unit owners and charging them.  To test make a call yourself for repairs!  

 

Why I don't buy into condos especially here if they don't provide a monthly expense sheet when I'm interested in buying. You might look also at the so call 51% Thai owners who refuse to pay month and nothing is done!  From my experience nothing is done!

 

In my condo ALL owners who don't pay their common fees are taken to Court, including the fees for the empty unsold condos owned by the developer. Although it can take time we have been successful in getting all fees paid, together with interest and fines. It is easy to do. Your Committee is lazy if they let it slide.

4 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

 

In my condo ALL owners who don't pay their common fees are taken to Court, including the fees for the empty unsold condos owned by the developer. Although it can take time we have been successful in getting all fees paid, together with interest and fines. It is easy to do. Your Committee is lazy if they let it slide.

Then consider yourself lucky because many don't as ops is writing he can't even get them to respond to cleaning common areas. 

5 hours ago, Nemises said:

Yet another reason to rent only. Never, ever buy!

 

I bought a condo to use as a holiday base in a different part of Thailand that I would often holiday in.

 

Didn't use it as planned as my work situation changed, a local agent kept it rented out at 8% ROI for the next 7 years. I then sold it to a Malaysian for 20% profit as I wanted an injection of capital for an other venture. Buying it was a great side venture. It didn't perform as well as my bitcoin or other investments, but was definitely worth buying. 🙂 

5 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

In my condo ALL owners who don't pay their common fees are taken to Court, including the fees for the empty unsold condos owned by the developer.

 

Yes, of course.

 

The other poster heard the opposite whilst propping up a bar and chatting with a member of Delta Force Seal Team 6. 🙂

5 hours ago, Nemises said:

Yet another reason to rent only. Never, ever buy!

100%

5 hours ago, proton said:

 

Rent is money down the drain, why help pay off somebody else's mortgage?

 

we only paid .1.7 million for our house, 13 years later we would have paid more than that in rent and owned nothing, well she would have 😁 

1 hour ago, proton said:

we only paid .1.7 million for our house, 13 years later we would have paid more than that in rent and owned nothing, well she would have 😁 

If you/she had invested that 1.7 million at 5% annual compound interest for 13 years, it would now be worth approximately $3.2 million. See above comparison photo above to work out how much you’ve/she has lost by not investing that cash and renting instead. 

1 hour ago, Nemises said:

If you/she had invested that 1.7 million at 5% annual compound interest for 13 years, it would now be worth approximately $3.2 million. See above comparison photo above to work out how much you’ve/she has lost by not investing that cash and renting instead. 

 

where can we invest at 5% in Thailand? 

2 hours ago, proton said:

 

where can we invest at 5% in Thailand? 

I don’t and won’t invest in Thailand so not sure. I’ve actually averaged over 10%pa! - for the past 10 years…but not in Thailand…on the S&P 500. 
 

 

If you invested that 1.7 million at 10% compound interest for those 13 years, it would now be worth approximately 5.7 million. 

17 hours ago, Nemises said:

If you/she had invested that 1.7 million at 5% annual compound interest for 13 years, it would now be worth approximately $3.2 million. See above comparison photo above to work out how much you’ve/she has lost by not investing that cash and renting instead. 

 

Yes easy while the stock market is going up, as it has recently. What if is goes down you might lose 1 million.

14 hours ago, Nemises said:

I don’t and won’t invest in Thailand so not sure. I’ve actually averaged over 10%pa! - for the past 10 years…but not in Thailand…on the S&P 500. 
 

 

If you invested that 1.7 million at 10% compound interest for those 13 years, it would now be worth approximately 5.7 million. 

       Yes, the stock market has been good.  Schwab tells me my annual rate of return for my stock portfolio since I started my account in 2020 has been 10.19%.  But, real estate has also been good, both here and in the US.  You are allowed to do both--it doesn't have to be either/or.  I invest in the stock market but I also own real estate for the roof over my head, because I prefer owning the space I live in, to do with what I want to, rather than renting someone else's space and taste.  

1 hour ago, newnative said:

prefer owning the space I live in, to do with what I want to

In my home country, agree. But as a foreigner in a “3rd world” country with no guarantee of being able to stay here forever, and with constant complaints (as detailed in this thread’s OP)……and …where rent is ridiculously cheap!? No thanks.