Advice Please?

[overandover2]

can a thai landlord stop me from leaving the country for not paying rent?

[Semper]

Not if you leave quickly.

[guzzi850m2]

You will have to tell us more about your situation? Is he cheating you? Are you out of money?

How much money are we talking about? 6000 bath or 40.000 or more?

What happens in your own country if you don't pay rent? You signed a contract for the condo/house so the landlord expect you to honor it.

You can properly do a runner, but you might burn the bridge behind you or never come back to the town/city it happened in, unless you came back to pay the rent (with interest).

[veryruay]

He cannot stop you if you sneak out of Thailand during 3am.

You did not tell us more, so I assumed that you are just a "thief"

Run away from rent? Shame on you, sorry to say this unless you explain what's going on!!??

[Berkshire]

This is precisely why landlords are asking for 3, 4 months or more deposit. Why do people do this sh*t?

[thaiIand]

This is precisely why landlords are asking for 3, 4 months or more deposit. Why do people do this sh*t?

Because some landlord are douches who keep your deposits for worn out crappy furniture and some would rather leave while having not paid for a month or 2 to make back their whole deposits?

many other reasons.

[Semper]

Think the op is on a fishing expedition.

[guzzi850m2]

This is precisely why landlords are asking for 3, 4 months or more deposit. Why do people do this sh*t?

Because some landlord are douches who keep your deposits for worn out crappy furniture and some would rather leave while having not paid for a month or 2 to make back their whole deposits?

many other reasons.

Well nobody forces him to rent but he signed a contract so in my book he should honor it.

OP haven't been here since so?

[Heng]

Unless the landlord has General or Colonel before his name on his ID card, there isn't going to be a cold war type checkpoint or flag in the immigration computer looking for a runaway tenant.

At best, what we usually do is just lock up the house, condo, or property and keep you from moving your stuff out, but that only happens to slackers who are overdue by a month or more, so if you pack up and run before then, all we have is your deposit.

Edited September 26, 2011 by Heng

[transam]

You've obviously just joined the forum to see how you can cover your ass .

Tell all, you are an ominous so no problem. Are you an asshol_e in fear of capture at the airport or has your landlord stung you ?

[Forethat]

there isn't going to be a cold war type checkpoint or flag in the immigration computer looking for a runaway tenant.

Eeehhh...according to JurgenG, this is exactly what happens if you dont inform the tax authorities about your intention to leave the country.

I don't know the specific of the U.K. but my understanding based on experience in different countries, is you have to inform as soon as possible your tax office that you're leaving the country and therefore you ask to be exempt of revenue declaration ... They will then explain you what you have to do. It's also important to do the same when your expat contract ends and you're leaving your country of expatriation. Usually in both case they the tax department will ask you to pay your tax in full before leaving. If you don't do it, you may be arrested at the border next time you visit the country, even for a short stop over.

I asked JurgenG about forty-twelve times if he could tell me which country practices the rule above, but regardless of his utter failure to come up with an example I'd say it's a good chance JurgenG knows the answer to OPs question as well.

We should ask JurgenG!

[deejah]

isn't rent usually paid in advance?

[Swiss1960]

I don't know the specific of the U.K. but my understanding based on experience in different countries, is you have to inform as soon as possible your tax office that you're leaving the country and therefore you ask to be exempt of revenue declaration ... They will then explain you what you have to do. It's also important to do the same when your expat contract ends and you're leaving your country of expatriation. Usually in both case they the tax department will ask you to pay your tax in full before leaving. If you don't do it, you may be arrested at the border next time you visit the country, even for a short stop over.

I asked JurgenG about forty-twelve times if he could tell me which country practices the rule above, but regardless of his utter failure to come up with an example I'd say it's a good chance JurgenG knows the answer to OPs question as well.

We should ask JurgenG!

I can give you two examples:

Switzerland does this: If you want to emigrate, you go to the city council, they send you to the tax authority, they issue an invoice... and you don't get all your necessary emigration paperwork until you have paid the taxes in full... if you leave anyway (at the end, you have a passport) and don't pay the taxes, they will issue a warrant and on your next entry to Switzerland, the border police will very friendly take you in custody and not let you leave until you paid... taxes and fines and expenses...

France does it: I received a fine on a motorway and at that time, there were no contracts between Switzerland and France about assistance for the Swiss to collect the money for the French... on my next entry, I assume the border cameras scanned my licence, I was pulled over, my passport was checked... and I was "allowed" to enter the country once I paid the fine and the expenses...

Sure, you will find similar situations in every country....

[Kwasaki]

isn't rent usually paid in advance?

Exactly !!! I think he is just someone trying to find out if he can stiff a Thai landlord.

[travelmann]

scummy tenants are now on the increase ( Farangs mainly) I have noticed in all the condos my wife runs many are now late paying and have been evicted, the howls of indignation are quite hilarious...............what do they think, its a frekin charity or what??

[ukrules]

scummy tenants are now on the increase ( Farangs mainly) I have noticed in all the condos my wife runs many are now late paying and have been evicted, the howls of indignation are quite hilarious...............what do they think, its a frekin charity or what??

This is interesting, are these medium to high end apartments renting for lets say 30,000-100,000 Baht per month or are they at the real lower end of the scale ?

I've found that at the very low end of the scale you often get the worst type of people. My brother in law had a bad experience with a small house he rents out in the UK, when the guy renting the house eventually left with eviction orders secured through the courts (took nearly a year to get him out with no rent coming in), etc they removed the hot water boiler and all the plumbing/radiators from the small lower end of the scale house he was renting to them. It also cost thousands to get them out legally as these people have every protected right enshrined in law against eviction that you could ever imagine and some that you would never imagine could exist.

If he physically threw them out they would be forcibly moved back in by the police / courts and paid thousands in compensation. I've heard of this happening to various people.

This guys card has been marked and he won't get away with this in the long term.

[Darrel]

scummy tenants are now on the increase ......

Probably due to the amount of scummy property being rented out by scummy landlords.

Like attracts like, and when I see the abysmally low quality of most rental units in Thailand (much of it far and away the worst value for money I have seen anywhere on the planet) I'm surprised that anyone rents them at all. To do so at or near the very high asking prices one would have to be absolutely desperate and, of course, that is precisely what happens.

[Swiss1960]

scummy tenants are now on the increase ( Farangs mainly) I have noticed in all the condos my wife runs many are now late paying and have been evicted, the howls of indignation are quite hilarious...............what do they think, its a frekin charity or what??

Can't directly comment on the situation of your wife's condos, but of course, when the exchange rate (i.e. for the Euro) drops 10-15% over the last months, then some of the farang with small money might get into trouble...

Edited September 29, 2011 by Swiss1960

[F1fanatic]

Have to admit this is the first time I've heard this one! Normally its the renter griping that the landlord refused to give their deposit back for various ridiculous reasons .

My experience is that the deposit will never be given back and needs to be accepted this way. The 'clever' few will find a way to just not pay the rent for the last month(s) to cover the deposit that will never be paid back.

[lazygourmet]

I've found that at the very low end of the scale you often get the worst type of people. My brother in law had a bad experience with a small house he rents out in the UK, when the guy renting the house eventually left with eviction orders secured through the courts (took nearly a year to get him out with no rent coming in), etc they removed the hot water boiler and all the plumbing/radiators from the small lower end of the scale house he was renting to them. It also cost thousands to get them out legally as these people have every protected right enshrined in law against eviction that you could ever imagine and some that you would never imagine could exist.

But not always...

Several years ago, I leased my flat, in Brussels, to an E.C. official -coming from a mediterranean country which is nowadays badly indebted!- the rent was a quarter of his ten thousand euros monthly salary... Except the three months deposit and the first month rental, he never paid anything... It took me nearly three years -living oversea was not at my advantage- to evict him... Then after, I had to refurbish the whole unit.

[scorecard]

I built a luxury house just off Jomtien Beach. First tenant was a high profile British guy who works near Pattaya. Didn't tell me it was for his minor wife. Lease for one year.

Agent called me after three months and said rent was overdue and British guy was refusing to pay because the minor wife had dumped him and disappeared with her new man.

Went to the house and almost cried, it was so filthy, lots of bedding soiled with piss and blood, all left dumped in the middle of the living room floor, mattresses for 3 bedrooms thrown away, curtains had to be replaced on every window, one single sofa chair (mid price range) totally destroyed, refrigerator door kicked in, washing machine had ben taken apart and some parts gone, most of the plates and cooking utensils filthy dirty, many dirty plates had been pushed under the beds in two bedrooms and left there, swimming pool filter had been turned off and pool needed professional cleaning and many bags of kitchen rubbish had been thrown in the pool, and more.

After that I insisted that the agent do an inspection every 30 days.

[F1fanatic]

I've found that at the very low end of the scale you often get the worst type of people. My brother in law had a bad experience with a small house he rents out in the UK, when the guy renting the house eventually left with eviction orders secured through the courts (took nearly a year to get him out with no rent coming in), etc they removed the hot water boiler and all the plumbing/radiators from the small lower end of the scale house he was renting to them. It also cost thousands to get them out legally as these people have every protected right enshrined in law against eviction that you could ever imagine and some that you would never imagine could exist.

But not always...

Several years ago, I leased my flat, in Brussels, to an E.C. official -coming from a mediterranean country which is nowadays badly indebted!- the rent was a quarter of his ten thousand euros monthly salary... Except the three months deposit and the first month rental, he never paid anything... It took me nearly three years -living oversea was not at my advantage- to evict him... Then after, I had to refurbish the whole unit.

Know the feeling as I had a similar problem in the UK with tenants .

I've never (and still don't) understand it - my rent (now)/mortgage (previously) was always the FIRST thing on my list to pay!

But, its the way the world is now - most people are trying to 'make a buck' out of each other .

[Darrel]

But, its the way the world is now - most people are trying to 'make a buck' out of each other .

That certainly applies in spades here.

There are some places on the planet where people still behave decently, though the UK isn't one of them either any more.

I am so glad I got to see a lot of the world when most of it was still a nice place.

[Heng]

5 days after rent is due, we start the collection calls. If you turn off your phone or don't return a call, we lock your property down. 2,000 to 10,000 Baht to unlock the property. All agreed upon beforehand in the lease.

[Darrel]

5 days after rent is due, we start the collection calls. If you turn off your phone or don't return a call, we lock your property down. 2,000 to 10,000 Baht to unlock the property. All agreed upon beforehand in the lease.

You sound like a nice chap. One day someone will probably knife you.

Q) How much does a good landlord weigh?

A) About 2 kilos, including the urn.

[lazygourmet]

I am so glad I got to see a lot of the world when most of it was still a nice place.

[robblok]

5 days after rent is due, we start the collection calls. If you turn off your phone or don't return a call, we lock your property down. 2,000 to 10,000 Baht to unlock the property. All agreed upon beforehand in the lease.

You sound like a nice chap. One day someone will probably knife you.

Q) How much does a good landlord weigh?

A) About 2 kilos, including the urn.

I don't really see the problem, pay on time or explain why you cant. If don't pay and avoid contact you can expect consequences.

[ukrules]

5 days after rent is due, we start the collection calls. If you turn off your phone or don't return a call, we lock your property down. 2,000 to 10,000 Baht to unlock the property. All agreed upon beforehand in the lease.

I read every contract before I sign it and I've never seen such a penalty clause built into a standard lease.

I wonder if you also have such penalty clauses built into the contract in case something goes wrong and you don't fix it immediately or is it entirely one sided ?

[Heng]

5 days after rent is due, we start the collection calls. If you turn off your phone or don't return a call, we lock your property down. 2,000 to 10,000 Baht to unlock the property. All agreed upon beforehand in the lease.

I read every contract before I sign it and I've never seen such a penalty clause built into a standard lease.

I wonder if you also have such penalty clauses built into the contract in case something goes wrong and you don't fix it immediately or is it entirely one sided ?

It's not in the standard lease. It's in our own custom lease and we most definitely point it out. We want you to pay your rent on time and not play games (and we've heard it all... it's amazing how many people have been arrested, in car accidents, at their nth funeral this year, and for whatever reason have to be out of contact for several days right when rent is due), the last thing I want to do is send someone to lock down a property... even more burdensome if I happen to have to do it myself. The difference in penalty typically depends on how far one has to travel to the property, which in some cases is Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Phuket from Bangkok... in other words, we generally don't profit from penalties; although yeah, we do in some cases but that's not the reasoning behind the practice... the main benefit is that we are able to weed out or get the slackers to shape up a bit.

Edited September 30, 2011 by Heng

[Heng]

5 days after rent is due, we start the collection calls. If you turn off your phone or don't return a call, we lock your property down. 2,000 to 10,000 Baht to unlock the property. All agreed upon beforehand in the lease.

You sound like a nice chap. One day someone will probably knife you.

Q) How much does a good landlord weigh?

A) About 2 kilos, including the urn.

LOL. Rent due around now, eh?