Nominee To Purchase A House

[Langsuan Man]

Why do you continue to insist that the Penal Code applies ?

Seems to me that this is a matter covered by the Civil Code

[MikeyIdea]

You can appear in court without a lawyer even. Just bring the court summoning and go there. Well, a Thai can anyway as there is no legal problem with the language

Happens sometimes when westerners sue Thai girls for e.g. sole custody of their kids and the girl doesn't have money to defend herself. It doesn't matter, the court will help her. They will ask for the information they need and then assess if the mother is a danger for the child. If she is not, then the mother will keep her custody and joint custody rules will be ordered

Legal aid does exist. Just go down and you get to talk to a court officer and he or she will give limited advice, not as good as in high tax countries of course but decent enough. I have British friend who has been down to Juvenile court asking for information and even the farang got help

You will be able to evict her the legal way, it will take more than one year if she is stubborn. I give it a 99% that you will lose if you go for nominee

Personally, I would pay her out, then rent out the place for the rest of the lease

[jfchandler]

This is the notion I was referring to above....that leases longer than 3 years need to be registered at the Land Department in order to be deemed legal. I assume by registered, that means being listed on the chanote.

The thread below deals with usufructs....but includes some discussion about the 3 year issue for general land leases.

[thaiwanderer]

Why do you continue to insist that the Penal Code applies ?

Seems to me that this is a matter covered by the Civil Code

It's certainly covered by the penal (or 'criminal' code) and also separately by the land code.

What section/s of the civil code are of any great concern here?

[Langsuan Man]

It's certainly covered by the penal (or 'criminal' code) and also separately by the land code.

What section/s of the civil code are of any great concern here?

The usufructuary is the manager of the property and is allowed to rent out the property without the consent of the real owner (unless restricted in the usufruct contract.) The usufructuary is a real property right where the owner of a real estate property (condominium, land and/or house) grants by agreement to another person the right of possession, management and benefits the property may produce for a limited period of time. Unless restricted by the usufruct contract, the right of usufruct grants all the rights of use and management of the property to the usufructuary as per the Thai Civil and Commercial Code sections 1417 to 1428.

[Nawtier]

Bring a few ladyboys home and time to ramp up the party.......get some english soccer hooligans to move in with you and pay you rent.......

She will have to go out at some time......then change the locks.....and hope your lease is correct and water tight.

If you have no real amount of payment to her on the lease....then she can argue it is not real....if you have an amount and state it has been paid in full....can you prove it....can she disprove it ?

[thaiwanderer]

It's certainly covered by the penal (or 'criminal' code) and also separately by the land code.

What section/s of the civil code are of any great concern here?

The usufructuary is the manager of the property and is allowed to rent out the property without the consent of the real owner (unless restricted in the usufruct contract.) The usufructuary is a real property right where the owner of a real estate property (condominium, land and/or house) grants by agreement to another person the right of possession, management and benefits the property may produce for a limited period of time. Unless restricted by the usufruct contract, the right of usufruct grants all the rights of use and management of the property to the usufructuary as per the Thai Civil and Commercial Code sections 1417 to 1428.

Sorry I don't see the relevance here?

[cangetman]

It's certainly covered by the penal (or 'criminal' code) and also separately by the land code.

What section/s of the civil code are of any great concern here?

The usufructuary is the manager of the property and is allowed to rent out the property without the consent of the real owner (unless restricted in the usufruct contract.) The usufructuary is a real property right where the owner of a real estate property (condominium, land and/or house) grants by agreement to another person the right of possession, management and benefits the property may produce for a limited period of time. Unless restricted by the usufruct contract, the right of usufruct grants all the rights of use and management of the property to the usufructuary as per the Thai Civil and Commercial Code sections 1417 to 1428.

Sorry I don't see the relevance here?

Have a look at the following the final decision will be with the courts who knows what will happen.

When a nominee land ownership is put in place both parties risk being fined and jailed.

THE LAND CODE ACT prohibits foreigners from land ownership in Thailand and makes it illegal for a Thai national to act as a nominee land owner or owner of the land as an agent for a foreigner (section 96 Land Code). You could use the same section to argue that it is forbidden for Thai companies to hold the land on behalf foreign nationals, but property holding companies have a whole set of different legal problems under Thai law.

Land laws

• Section 96 Land Code Act: 'When it appears that any person (including a juristic person) has acquired land as the owner in place of an alien or juristic person under the provisions of Section 97 and 98, the Director-General shall have the authority to dispose of such land and the provisions of Section 94 shall apply mutatis mutandis'.
• Section 113 Land Code Act: 'Any person who acquires land as an agent of an alien or juristic person under the provisions of Section 97 or 98 shall be punished with a fine not exceeding twenty thousand baht or an imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both'.

Financial loan to a Thai national to buy land and lease back structureA structure that sometimes is put in place is that a foreigner loans money to Thai to buy land, and in consideration for the financial loan the Thai national rents the land back to the foreigner under a 30 year land lease agreement whereby rent is set-off against payment of interest on the loan. The legal restriction in this setup is that the Thai may not be deemed the agent of or nominee owner on behalf of the foreigner. When the Thai national can't be seen as the freehold owner this structure becomes illegal.

.Section 74 Land Code Act

If there is reason to believe that a Thai national is purchasing land on behalf of an alien the land office must interrogate the parties and could refuse transfer of land to the Thai national (section 74 Land Code Act). For this reason, if a nominee structure is put in place, transferring land to the Thai national and at the same time registering rights for the benefit of a foreigner (a real estate lease or usufruct) is usually not done on the same day.

Section 74: '.... ..... if there is reason to believe the recording of such rights and legal acts is in evasion of the law or there is reason to believe the purchaser is purchasing on behalf of an alien, instructions shall be asked of the Minister whose word shall be final'

there is a practical example of my situation which has happend

Land registration in a Thai girlfriend's nameA FOREIGNER bought land and had title deed issued in Thai girlfriend's name. Later, the girlfriend applied for a mortgage and tried to use the land as collateral, but the Land office refused to allow this because she did not submit the original title deed with her application.

The Thai girlfriend claimed that the foreigner had the possession of the land title deed and applied for a replacement land title deed to be issued to replace the original deed. The foreigner requested the Land Office not to issue a replacement title deed.

The Land Department considered both applications and delivered the following response; The foreigner's application for the Land Office to deny issue to Thai girlfriend of a replacement title deed is believed to express his intention to prevent her from distributing, selling or transferring the land, or using it to borrow money or as collateral for debt repayment. In this case it must be deemed that the Thai girlfriend has acquired the land under section 96 of the Land Code, but as the owner in place of an alien, which contravenes section 113 of the Code.

In doing so she has provided false information to government officers, which contravenes section 137 of the Penal Code, making her liable, if found guilty, to a term of up to six months in jail or a fine of 1,000 baht, or both. She has also contravened section 267 of the Penal Code, which carries a penalty of up to three years in jail and/or a fine of 6,000 baht. (read Penal Code).

The foreigner has acquired land by means that contravene section 86 of the Land Code, and so has committed an offense aiding and abetting the commission of an offense under section 111 of the Land Code, which carries a penalty of two-thirds of that of the offense itself.

The Land Department ordered the local Land Office to file a complaint with the Inquiry Officer (the relevant legal authority) and take legal steps against both the foreigner and the Thai girlfriend.

The Land Office was also ordered to inform the foreigner that he must dispose of the land within one year of receiving official notice to do so. If the foreigner fails to dispose of the land within the time given, the Director-General of the Land Department is authorized to dispose of the land and retain a fee of 5% of the sale price before any deductions or taxes.

The Land Office must inform the foreigner and the Thai girlfriend of the following;

1. The person who is to be registered as the new owner of the land - including an person the foreigner consents to selling the land to – must be a person who can lawfully possess the land;
2. The sale price of the land must be fixed by the foreigner, and the foreigner must be the recipient of the money;
3. As the person in whose name the land is registered, the Thai girlfriend's duty will be to manage the disposal of the land. But she will not be involved in selecting the recipient.

Edited May 11, 2011 by cangetman

[jfchandler]

What's the source/author of what you're quoting from above?