Landlord Entering Premises. What are the rules?

[rcox81]

I have lived in a house in Bangkok for about 4 months now. A few times in the first month, the landlord entered the property without even telling me. I was not happy about this and told them they need to talk to me before they enter the property.

Today, I got an email telling me the landlord will be coming tomorrow to "inspect the house" and do some yardwork.

What I do not like about this is the fact that it appears they can come onto the property anytime they want and there is nothing I can say about it. There is no reason for them to "inspect the house" and I don't like being bothered.

Do I have any options here? Can I simply tell them "no" and that they should stop bothering me?

[nonthaburial]

Best to check your rental agreement and see what that stipulates. However saying that, I believe a landlord can enter the premises to carry out exactly he said to you about a house inspection, but it has to be a time convenient to you and you should be there to let him in.

If this doesn't work and he still insists on entering without permission suggest you change the locks telling him you lost the original keys. I think he would get the message

[robblok]

Sound a lot like the topic of an other member. If I were you id google for it.

[rcox81]

Best to check your rental agreement and see what that stipulates. However saying that, I believe a landlord can enter the premises to carry out exactly he said to you about a house inspection, but it has to be a time convenient to you and you should be there to let him in.

If this doesn't work and he still insists on entering without permission suggest you change the locks telling him you lost the original keys. I think he would get the message

The language in the lease is something along the lines of "you must allow the landlord to enter the premises at all reasonable times."

Its pretty vague, and I really think they are just being nosy. They already know I am not happy about having to deal with them.

[nonthaburial]

Best to check your rental agreement and see what that stipulates. However saying that, I believe a landlord can enter the premises to carry out exactly he said to you about a house inspection, but it has to be a time convenient to you and you should be there to let him in.

If this doesn't work and he still insists on entering without permission suggest you change the locks telling him you lost the original keys. I think he would get the message

The language in the lease is something along the lines of "you must allow the landlord to enter the premises at all reasonable times."

Its pretty vague, and I really think they are just being nosy. They already know I am not happy about having to deal with them.

Very simple then use the wording "reasonable" to your advantage, sorry tomorrow at 9am is not reasonable as I am at work, however I will be available at 5pm for an hour etc etc. Reasonable works two ways not just reasonable to the landlord. I would still change the locks.

[rcox81]

Best to check your rental agreement and see what that stipulates. However saying that, I believe a landlord can enter the premises to carry out exactly he said to you about a house inspection, but it has to be a time convenient to you and you should be there to let him in.

If this doesn't work and he still insists on entering without permission suggest you change the locks telling him you lost the original keys. I think he would get the message

The language in the lease is something along the lines of "you must allow the landlord to enter the premises at all reasonable times."

Its pretty vague, and I really think they are just being nosy. They already know I am not happy about having to deal with them.

Very simple then use the wording "reasonable" to your advantage, sorry tomorrow at 9am is not reasonable as I am at work, however I will be available at 5pm for an hour etc etc. Reasonable works two ways not just reasonable to the landlord. I would still change the locks.

Would you let them into the house to look around? I'm curious what other people do in this type of situation.

[robblok]

Of course you let him on the premises its his property, just make sure its not too often. But if he is responsible for the garden you have a problem because that is something that needs a lot of attention.

[nonthaburial]

Best to check your rental agreement and see what that stipulates. However saying that, I believe a landlord can enter the premises to carry out exactly he said to you about a house inspection, but it has to be a time convenient to you and you should be there to let him in.

If this doesn't work and he still insists on entering without permission suggest you change the locks telling him you lost the original keys. I think he would get the message

The language in the lease is something along the lines of "you must allow the landlord to enter the premises at all reasonable times."

Its pretty vague, and I really think they are just being nosy. They already know I am not happy about having to deal with them.

Very simple then use the wording "reasonable" to your advantage, sorry tomorrow at 9am is not reasonable as I am at work, however I will be available at 5pm for an hour etc etc. Reasonable works two ways not just reasonable to the landlord. I would still change the locks.

Would you let them into the house to look around? I'm curious what other people do in this type of situation.

As previously stated, you do not own the property, he does. He has every legal right to inspect to ensure that you as the renter are keeping his property in the manner he would expect. Put yourself in his position !

As for gardening, well he should not need access to the internal property for that. You asked for advice, you have got it, accept it or move on and pay legal advice. Sorry but you seem to want to find other people to back you up, but have you noticed you haven't had many answers. Accept the facts

[MJCM]

He also asked the same question in the "ask the lawyer" section

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/720381-landlord-entering-premises-what-are-the-rules/

And the lawyer answered with

Regarding when the landlord can enter the property and the amount of notice needed to be given should be stipulated in your lease agreement and if your landlord seems to be acting in excess of the arrangement that was agreed upon then you can point out the agreement to them.

[rcox81]

He also asked the same question in the "ask the lawyer" section

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/720381-landlord-entering-premises-what-are-the-rules/

And the lawyer answered with

Regarding when the landlord can enter the property and the amount of notice needed to be given should be stipulated in your lease agreement and if your landlord seems to be acting in excess of the arrangement that was agreed upon then you can point out the agreement to them.

Thanks, it looked like the question wasn't going to be posted in that section.

But these people don't seem to think I have any say in it at all, I don't think telling them to read the lease is going to change anything.

Edited April 21, 2014 by rcox81

[rcox81]

Of course you let him on the premises its his property, just make sure its not too often.

Right but this is the real problem because I feel like I have already had to deal with these people way too many times. The yardwork is one thing but I don't want these people snooping around my living space whenever they want.

[nonthaburial]

He also asked the same question in the "ask the lawyer" section

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/720381-landlord-entering-premises-what-are-the-rules/

And the lawyer answered with

Regarding when the landlord can enter the property and the amount of notice needed to be given should be stipulated in your lease agreement and if your landlord seems to be acting in excess of the arrangement that was agreed upon then you can point out the agreement to them.

Yes noted MJCM, so this is either a troll or a very spoilt white behind the Knees spoilt great breast fed little brat, suggest this whole thread and content is deleted. The OP will not be happy until he gets a response he likes.

Message to OP, you have had a pitiful number of responses to your two posts. Accept what you have been told and take it all in and understand. You are becoming boring and not worth responding to any more.

[happynthailand]

when I(we) used to rent,had a landlord,use to come around a lot

I stoped that by,asking him did he see some money laying on the table by the door,it seems to be missing

said the wife thought she saw the money on the table,before he came in to look around the house

he never came back to look after that

ps, there never was any money on the table by the door

Edited April 21, 2014 by happynthailand

[isawasnake]

Contrary to others, I don't think this is acceptable at all. A clause like that in a contract is clearly meant to protect the owner if say for instance the owner can smell them cooking meth in there, or some other ungodly thing. A clause like that isn't meant to let the owner just saunter on in during any "reasonable" time. That is ridiculous. You can't have cake and eat it too, you just can't, no discussion. The owner wants rent payments every month, that means he loses the right to his property as he is getting those payments. That is the deal, period. It does not matter that he owns it, any more than it would matter that a rental car agency owns its cars..... they can't just enter them or inspect them when you rent them, it is yours during that time, as you are paying for it.

I would quickly move, as I am sure trying to stop him from entering will just cause more problems.

Edited April 21, 2014 by isawasnake

[khunron13]

I'll just add one further comment, since you should already realize from the other responses that the landlord has every right to enter the property. What is a "reasonable time" is now up to you to negotiate with the landlord. The one drawback to pushing this issue and potentially pissing off the landlord is, what type of response will you get when you need them to actually come fix something? I'm guessing, having dealt with many immature Thai landlords, that they're not going to be in a hurry to rush over. I believe there is a saying that says something about cutting off your nose to spite your face????

[rcox81]

Contrary to others, I don't think this is acceptable at all. A clause like that in a contract is clearly meant to protect the owner if say for instance the owner can smell them cooking meth in there, or some other ungodly thing. A clause like that isn't meant to let the owner just saunter on in during any "reasonable" time. That is ridiculous. You can't have cake and eat it too, you just can't, no discussion. The owner wants rent payments every month, that means he loses the right to his property as he is getting those payments.

Thank you, that is the real point of contention. Most of us can't buy a place here unless we marry in (I have the means: http://seekingalpha.com/author/richard-cox).

Landlord behavior is the real issue, lets stick to the topic.

Edited April 21, 2014 by rcox81

[rcox81]

I'll just add one further comment, since you should already realize from the other responses that the landlord has every right to enter the property. What is a "reasonable time" is now up to you to negotiate with the landlord.

This is the email I received today:

"Tomorrow at 9.00 o'clock I will go to see the house and cut decorate the tree."

[rcox81]

He also asked the same question in the "ask the lawyer" section

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/720381-landlord-entering-premises-what-are-the-rules/

And the lawyer answered with

Regarding when the landlord can enter the property and the amount of notice needed to be given should be stipulated in your lease agreement and if your landlord seems to be acting in excess of the arrangement that was agreed upon then you can point out the agreement to them.

Yes noted MJCM, so this is either a troll or a very spoilt white behind the Knees spoilt great breast fed little brat, suggest this whole thread and content is deleted. The OP will not be happy until he gets a response he likes.

Message to OP, you have had a pitiful number of responses to your two posts. Accept what you have been told and take it all in and understand. You are becoming boring and not worth responding to any more.

I am what?

[robblok]

I'll just add one further comment, since you should already realize from the other responses that the landlord has every right to enter the property. What is a "reasonable time" is now up to you to negotiate with the landlord.

This is the email I received today:

"Tomorrow at 9.00 o'clock I will go to see the house and cut decorate the tree."

Go to court or move out, its a grey area you wont win but you will go crazy.

[Morch]

We had a somewhat similar issues, some years back.

Landlady would pop in unexpected, although never went it without one of us around. This is sort of stopped by itself after month or two, guess needed to get used to new tenants. Mind, she wasn't inspecting anything for real, more like having a wee chat and a look.

Maintenance work was an a problem though, as she wouldn't give any warning. This wasn't just about entering the premises, but even carrying out work on the shared areas of the building. Never mind drilling and hammering on weekend mornings and such, we also had a couple of guys hanging from ropes out the bedroom window painting the walls. After that, wrote her a polite letter (in English) explaining how better it would be if we were to be notified ahead. Surprisingly, the situation improved, with a few days heads up given for most cases. There were still annoying incidents, but not as bad as before.

Edit: Changing the locks without notice isn't acceptable to most landlords. However, adding a padlock seems to be sort of normal practice, and works just as well. Getting a notice for tomorrow morning is not considered "reasonable", explaining politely that you work/got other engagements is ok.

Edited April 22, 2014 by Morch

[saroq]

You may find that this is initial nervousness on the part of the landlord and it may drop once once he/she is confident that you will not destroy the property. I know mine was until she realized she got the best tenant in Thailand now I never see her. If the problem persists negotiate a defined time frame e.g. once every 6 months for inspections.

[nedkellylives]

The landlord and tenant both have rights,The landlord can inspect the property at a time

suitable to the tenant, not just when he wants to

Usually every 3 or 6 months at a suiteable time for the tenant

If not happy the tenant should change the locks or shift, problem fixed

[isawasnake]

There is a poster here on Thaivisa experienced in Thai real estate, and he is always advocating the changing of locks, as a stipulation before moving in I believe. I think that is great advice. Who knows who could have the keys anyway. It is usually only one lock anyway.

I would not have any problem telling owners to bug off. Maybe I am out of town for 2 weeks, maybe I am outta town for a year. Maybe I am tired. I would just keep saying I will be busy or gone for 2 weeks until he stopped calling. Whatever the case, the fact remains I am paying rent so I don't have to worry about crap like this. The other fact is that if an owner has neurotic issues like this, he should not have gotten into this racket in the first place. Use the rent money to go get some therapy.

[speedtripler]

i had a landlord from hell once ,used to go in whenever he felt like it

i chained up the gates and he said he needs access to the garden and grouds etc so the chain has to come off

even went in to inspect and phoned after his inspection to say he was "checking the electric or water " or something ridiculous

workers arrived unanounced to build a new porch and roof etc

i would ask for the deposit back and move ,he thought he could have the property and the rent ad your guy sounds about the same

quality of thai landlord ......