Buying House From A Westerners Company

[mallmagician]

Hi there.

I'm interested in buying a house from a friend of mine. He has a company set up and that company owns the house.

What do I need to watch out for when buying just the house? It will be my wife buying it to be precise, and I have no interest in buying the company.

I just want the house bought from the company.

House has chanote and book.

I'm in Chiang Mai so any good property lawyers around?

I want to ensure the chanotr is sound, no outstanding debts, the house legally built etc.

Any advice appreciated.

Ps. House will be in trusted wifes name, and lease agreement for me for some basic sort of protection.

Advice?

Thanks

[thaiwanderer]

Lease from your wife offers no protection really - Civil and Commercial Code section 1469 - it may be avoided at any time during marriage or within one year from the dissolution of the marriage....provided that the right of third persons acting in good faith is not affected thereby.

Decent due dilligence should involve ascertaining chanote correct, checking for encumberances, researching its passage and history from first record at land office, site visit for boundaries and checking against building permit, checking building permit genuine and in any event that the building doesn't offend any planning laws, also consideration of planning restrictions (or lack thereof) of surrounding area, public road and utilites access, local disputes etc

[mallmagician]

Would usufruct be the correct term?

What's the best way to protect myself? I don't want to do the company thing, but want to ensure we are both protected really.

I will search out decent due diligence, thanks for that.

[thaiwanderer]

CCC1469 relates to any agreement - so same problem whether lease, usufruct, superficies or right of habitation.

If adamant wife to be the owner and don't want to go the (Thai nominee) company route can perhaps rely on the third party bit - your sibling or friend perhaps as co-lesse with you.

Or - structure it so lease granted to you before sale to her.

Or - wife buys and grants lease to an offshore company controlled by you.

There's no one size fits all.

[Naam]

CCC1469 relates to any agreement - so same problem whether lease, usufruct, superficies or right of habitation.

If adamant wife to be the owner and don't want to go the (Thai nominee) company route can perhaps rely on the third party bit - your sibling or friend perhaps as co-lesse with you.

Or - structure it so lease granted to you before sale to her.

Or - wife buys and grants lease to an offshore company controlled by you.

There's no one size fits all.

not possible!

[thaiwanderer]

an outstretched hand official aside (as with anything), entirely possible, done and continued to be done many times

- an offshore company is merely a corporate foreigner

the difficulty the OP faces is wanting wife as land owner/ lessor (and not thai company) and wanting some protection for himself - avoiding thai company as land owner can here make the nominee ownership more transparent (since he and she will be living there and he wants some protection for himself - the paperwork and reality will point to what's going on, should anyone be that interested)

[ludditeman]

Any agreement involving your wife will be viewed (at divorce) as an attempt to bypass her rights as a wife, so don't do it.

Her mother or sister, etc gives you better protection, but her less chance of ever owning the land.

Your child is the best bet as owner IMHO, but don't ever expect the court to allow you to sell before aged 20, if you don't have one, start trying now.

Edited January 12, 2012 by ludditeman

[beachyman]

One thing to keep in mind is that Thailand does not have very conclusive lists of LOANS to companies... thus even if you hire an attorney, if the former friend borrowed towards his company it might not be completely evident.

Honestly, I would recommend you set up your OWN company, own it 49% and if you must put the rest of the ownership shares in some Thai friends or whatnot. I did not buy the old company when I got involved in a house purchase and it payed off as the former Thai owner had some significant loans. You can also do a separate sale of the house with a usufruct or 30 year land lease as well for added protection.

[Thighlander]

Will your wife have to prove where she got the money?

[patongster]

CCC1469 relates to any agreement - so same problem whether lease, usufruct, superficies or right of habitation.

If adamant wife to be the owner and don't want to go the (Thai nominee) company route can perhaps rely on the third party bit - your sibling or friend perhaps as co-lesse with you.

Or - structure it so lease granted to you before sale to her.

Or - wife buys and grants lease to an offshore company controlled by you.

There's no one size fits all.

Interesting. How does one go about circumventing the requirement of fair payment to the lessor for leasing their land for 30 years? And secondly if the original lessor were to pass away, what then? The lease agreement is null and void?

[thaiwanderer]

CCC1469 relates to any agreement - so same problem whether lease, usufruct, superficies or right of habitation.

If adamant wife to be the owner and don't want to go the (Thai nominee) company route can perhaps rely on the third party bit - your sibling or friend perhaps as co-lesse with you.

Or - structure it so lease granted to you before sale to her.

Or - wife buys and grants lease to an offshore company controlled by you.

There's no one size fits all.

Interesting. How does one go about circumventing the requirement of fair payment to the lessor for leasing their land for 30 years? And secondly if the original lessor were to pass away, what then? The lease agreement is null and void?

The lessor/landowner will need paying one way or the other - mere deal structure - all comes out in the wash.

The lease survives their death.