Selling A Restaurant Business

[trompelemonde82]

My TGF split from her no-good Thai guy ex-husband a while before meeting me. When they were still together they went to the bank and took out a loan of 100,000 baht (in her name, as his credit is non-existent) and used the cash to buy a restaurant. Since they split a few months back he has (not surprisingly) failed to pay the rent [500 baht per month] and supposedly someone has since moved into the apartment that is on the premises. He has absconded and obviously has no intention of providing any further financial assistance.

Admittedly, I don't fully understand the ins and outs of the whole situation - my girlfriend's English is of a pretty good standard, but it's not so easy for her to explain the legalities of more complex issues like this - but it seems to me the practical solution would be to pay off the rent outstanding then go about selling the business.

Apparently the restaurant is not in a 'hot spot' area and didn't do that great for business when they were open. There are other restaurants nearby that I have previously noticed to be pretty busy. Regardless of that, I would have thought it wouldn't be that hard to sell the business off to be used for some other purpose other than a restaurant.

I should add that she was not legally wed to her ex - only married through Buddhist ceremony, and I have not been asked or hinted at to make any kind of payments towards this so I would highly doubt (as some might say) that this is any kind of money making scam.

Can anyone offer advice on what she can do in this situation?

Thanks in advance,

[jalansanitwong]

I am currently looking for a position to open a restaurant. Where is it ? 500 baht rent a month doesnt sound right though.

[givenall]

Never get involve between squeals between Thais. They alwaysend up taking Thais side at the end and screw Frangs. Tell her to take care of herself

[ESB7]

If the loan is in her name she will have to pay it back.......was there a gauranture? as if she defaults they will be liable. If she is the leaseholder of the restaurant and premises, any rent a new propritor is paying should go to her and no one else....was a deposit paid, how long is the lease, was any equipment purchased, she could always try and get the deposit back and sell any equipment to at least get something back...how long did they have the restaurant, how much was actually paid off the loan?...if other restaurants there are busy, why wasnt hers, ask yourself that?

[kuffki]

I am little confused about the whole scenario, but when they rented out premises, they also paid deposit.

If she stops to pay rent-move out, the owner will simply keep the deposit and matter is over and done with.

Loan is her sole responsibility because she took it out in her name alone.

Other alternative(an i am not sure why you have not taken it up already) is for you and her to simply keep running the place and either build the business to sell or build and keep it as a business.

I doubt she and her ex opened a company to have the business, so it would not be a problem to keep running it and NOT have to pay the ex any money, since even the loan is not in his name

[trompelemonde82]

I am little confused about the whole scenario, but when they rented out premises, they also paid deposit.

If she stops to pay rent-move out, the owner will simply keep the deposit and matter is over and done with.

Loan is her sole responsibility because she took it out in her name alone.

Other alternative(an i am not sure why you have not taken it up already) is for you and her to simply keep running the place and either build the business to sell or build and keep it as a business.

I doubt she and her ex opened a company to have the business, so it would not be a problem to keep running it and NOT have to pay the ex any money, since even the loan is not in his name

She is not staying on the premises any longer, hasn't been for some time. It's not an option to keep running the place as I don't have the cash to do so and she has no intention of keeping it going.

It transpires that the loan was taken out with the bank in her name but the ex is the owner. Apparently it's not an option at all to sell it and she's asked me not to raise the suggestion again, insisting that she must pay the bank off in monthly instalments for the next 5 years to the tune of 130k baht.

Is there anyone out there with experience in the restaurant business in Thailand that knows if this is a likely story or not - that the loan would be in her name but the ex would be the owner?

[kuffki]

I am little confused about the whole scenario, but when they rented out premises, they also paid deposit.

If she stops to pay rent-move out, the owner will simply keep the deposit and matter is over and done with.

Loan is her sole responsibility because she took it out in her name alone.

Other alternative(an i am not sure why you have not taken it up already) is for you and her to simply keep running the place and either build the business to sell or build and keep it as a business.

I doubt she and her ex opened a company to have the business, so it would not be a problem to keep running it and NOT have to pay the ex any money, since even the loan is not in his name

She is not staying on the premises any longer, hasn't been for some time. It's not an option to keep running the place as I don't have the cash to do so and she has no intention of keeping it going.

It transpires that the loan was taken out with the bank in her name but the ex is the owner. Apparently it's not an option at all to sell it and she's asked me not to raise the suggestion again, insisting that she must pay the bank off in monthly instalments for the next 5 years to the tune of 130k baht.

Is there anyone out there with experience in the restaurant business in Thailand that knows if this is a likely story or not - that the loan would be in her name but the ex would be the owner?

I do not want to jump the gun and say you are being played, but its looking that way more and more, unless she is not explaining it well.

1. The ex is a co owner of what? the loan?-impossible. He may possibly be an authorized person to use the account, little like supplementary card holder, can withdraw the money but is not liable for repayments.

2. He can only be co owner(officially) in the company, but they did not open a company

3. His name may possibly be on the lease agreement, but that does not automatically make him a coowner but does make him responsible for the rent

4. They may have verbal agreement of the ownership, but in Thailand even written ones do not mean much at times, let alone verbal

why is selling not an option, you have to ask yourself, what logic is in that?

130K, the amount itself is actually pretty small on the business scale, but pretty decent on scam scale.

130K, will barely rent the place and furnish it, just the drinks fridge is around 30 000 baht