Possible Scam In My Rental Contract..

[Harri44]

Hello,

I rented a house in Chiang Mai for 12 months now, and my leese agreement finish on 7th June. However, I already found a new house to live and decided to make the chck out on 17th May.

I and my friend kept the house in good condition, however, my dog who stay in the garden, ate the grass and flowers. (garden was small, around 15 square meters, and my dog very big lol).

Moreover, a crack has apppeared inside the house, alone, I obviously didnt make it myself...

Now, the owner ask me:

- 15.000 baths for house cleaning (house is around 170 square meters)

- 27.000 baths for make the garden

+ many small things

I am shocked to hear the price of the garden building, I obviously refused to pay this price and told her I will go to look for someone to make everything same as before (as its write in the lease agreement), she told me if the house or garden would be slightly different I would need to pay more, the price she would want. She threatened me to call the police.

About the crack in the house, I am scared she ask me a stupid and I would need to pay it (even if normally the owner of the house need to make reparation for this kind of things right??)

What can I do? What are my rights? I hope to find some help ..

Cheers

[dmax]

i would tell her to go ahead and call the police , ive been threatened before with thais over motorbike rentals and other things i just call their bluff and ask them to call the police, if you are in the right then no need to worry.

[Forkinhades]

Looks like you have lost your deposit, just walk away

[Harri44]

Looks like you have lost your deposit, just walk away

Yes, I am sure I will lose it (I never thought I would have it back lol), I am worry about she can take a lawyer and ask for more than the 2 months deposit (60.000 baths), for make unbelievely expensive reparation, is that possible?

[JusMe]

Looks like you have lost your deposit, just walk away

Yes, I am sure I will lose it (I never thought I would have it back lol), I am worry about she can take a lawyer and ask for more than the 2 months deposit (60.000 baths), for make unbelievely expensive reparation, is that possible?

Pretty sure you're without your deposit. Many renters lose that no matter what the circumstances.

If she has threatened to call the police, maybe up her one and say the same - that you're going to call the police because she's been threatening you and trying to extort money!

[Tanaka]

Looks like you have lost your deposit, just walk away

Yes, I am sure I will lose it (I never thought I would have it back lol), I am worry about she can take a lawyer and ask for more than the 2 months deposit (60.000 baths), for make unbelievely expensive reparation, is that possible?

Pretty sure you're without your deposit. Many renters lose that no matter what the circumstances.

If she has threatened to call the police, maybe up her one and say the same - that you're going to call the police because she's been threatening you and trying to extort money!

Good advice that. And don't mention the crack, it is not your problem.

[MikeyIdea]

This is civil law, police has no mandate to do anything. If you have expected to lose the deposit all the time, then just move out. I would certainly encourage her to get the police, Yes, absolutely, do that. I will be here in one hours time, do go and get the police. They will not come because they know that have no right to do anything

Take video of the whole house and the garden as evidence that it looks just fine (a bit longer distance for things that don't look so nice), and tell her when you leave that you have done it. Ask why the police didn't come and wish her a pleasant evening

[hagler]

You sound like a right tosser of a tenant. You let your mutt ruin the owners garden, have a good old laugh about it and now you dont want to pay up to have it fixed. Hope she sticks it right up you. I know I would if it was one of my properties.

[aussiebebe]

I don't think the situation described by the OP constitutes a 'scam in my Rental contract'. The OP clearly states that the big dog did cause damage to the garden and the landlord has every right to charge the appropriate sum. On the other hand, the landlord clearly doesn't want to hand the deposit back, - she's probably already spent it.

I'm reading this post and I want to know, can landlord ever ask for more than the deposit or is the deposit the largest possible amount the landlord can claim? Anyone's experience is appreciated?

[millionair]

just go to consumer court,this goes very fast in thailand,within a week you will here from the court.

[dave111223]

27,000 for a garden doesn't sound that crazy if it's trashed.

My mother in law had her garden re-done (at similar cost to this) all new tree and plants a fountain etc.., but she has several dogs that she's doesn't control and they totally trashed it in a few weeks. Trees and plants all total broken or ripped up etc... unrecognizable as a "garden".

So i've seen the damage a dog can do to a garden.

As for the 15K for "cleaning", this seem quite high unless there is repainting etc.. required?

It doesn't really seem like a scam...seems more like a tenant that keeps a "dog very big lol" in a small space getting the bill for all the damage the "dog very big lol" did...

Edited May 22, 2010 by dave111223

[tom21]

i notice when thais rent a place and are leaving ,they do not pay rent for the last month as they do not expect to get the deposit back ( 1 month deposit)

[thaibkk]

also had a thief landlord when we left previous house... one tree was already in bad condition when we moved in...

dared to ask 10k baht for it... if you see the gardening people are paid 160-200 baht per day...

dam_n things that people make hate thais

[Milo]

Our landlord has had an offer on the house we rent off him so wanted us out by the end of this month. Told us we wouldn't be getting our 2month in advance deposit back because I installed a 40,000b kitchen, even though it had his approval at the time! The missus knows a little about the law, told him where to stick it, and we'll be staying the full 90days until we've used up that deposit term. I believe they're not allowed to charge any more than your deposit in any case?

[shepsel]

Rental contracts state that the premises must be returned in the same condition that it was rented in less normal wear and tear. This includes the outside landscaping as well. If your dog has ruined the garden, it is your responsibility to return the garden to the same condition that you received it in. If your lease is up at the end of the month, and you have no plans to remain in the house, you have no cause to stay in the premises as an overstay, and if you do, you are liable for additional rent.

Unfortunately for the tenant there really aren't any landlord-tenant laws that I am aware of. There are no municipal offices to make complaints. There are no ombudsmen services available. If you feel that you are unjustly being "screwed" by your landlord you should ask a lawyer what to do, but I wouldn't suggest that you add oil to the fire so to speak by refusing to move out because of some damages. And, if you do have a lease, it is probably ambiguous and is totally in the landlords favour, but you initially signed it, and are bound by the contract.

[kikoman]

I rented an apartment and my brother rented an apartment next to mine. on a one year lease, the lease agreement which was in Thai, we put in iron screen and door safety protection, after getting the owners approval and promise we could take them with us after the lease had expired.

Our neighbors had warned us that the owner was not a man of his word and that it would be wise to have the lease agreement translated to English,as he had been very vocal in trying to get us to put in air conditioning, with the proviso we could take it with us when we left.

After translation of the agreement in English, it stated that any modification that was permanently attached to the apartment was property of the owner, we did not put in any air, my brother moved out of the apartment after paying for the last month of rent in advance.

During he night I removed all the iron screen and door protectors, and moved them to my other brothers house. I went over the complete apartment with Spackle cement and filled in all the holes that were resulted by putting up the protectors, I also used wood putty to cover all holes in the window frame.

I also painted the part of the apartment wall that the protectors were attached to.

The Owner was furious, as he had thought that he was going to get the 20,000 baht my brother paid for the protectors, I ask him to inspect the apartment and show me where it was not in the condition of which it was rented. He could not fine any.

two months later when my lease expired, I had a written amendment to the lease, that I would not pay for the last 2 months of rent or the water and electric light bill as payment for the iron door and window protectors on the front of my apartment. My house in the country now has in use the door and window protectors from my brother's old apartment.

The moral of the story is do not sign a lease agreement without having it translated to a language you understand before signing it.

Cheers

Edited June 2, 2010 by kikoman

[Pib]

15,000 for a house cleaning! That's one to two months salary for a housegirl. The landlord will probably send in a couple people for one day, maybe two, and probably pay them around 1,000 to 2,000 unless the housing cleaning also includes painting...that is, during much more than just basic cleaning.

Edited June 2, 2010 by Pib

[humbug]

15k for cleaning the house is a scam, the garden well everyones just guessing to the damage done, because we havnt seen the garden, but unless your dog has become a garden buldozer vehicle and has somehow destroyed paving stovens, removed all known grass and plants and hedges then i think 27k seems to be extreem/borderline scam

seems your landlady never had any intention of repaying your deposit, shes just making up numbers to come close to the 60k deposit you have with her, its also why most thais when they rent pay a depsoit upfront under the priviso that they dont pay the last reamaining 2 months of the contract, but during the contract signing they decide how much electricity and water will be owed on the final month and agree a rough amount and pay that bill at the start of the contract, therefore when the contracts up they move out without any future bills to pay, its also the reason when thais move out that they dont care for the mess they leave behindthe filth they leave behind

we foreigners are way to polite and too fair, and the thais know this, especially with rented property in the 15k-30k and beyond mark

[MikeyIdea]

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we foreigners are way to polite and too fair, and the thais know this, especially with rented property in the 15k-30k and beyond mark

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This is not only happening to westerners it's happening to Thais too.