speedtripler Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 got a call from my old landlord saying i owe him 7,000 as one of the bills arived unpaid and one of the furrniture is damaged etc and he didnt seee it when he inspected the house initially and returned the deposit if the money is not delivered in a week or less ,he will take this matter to the police ......... does he have any grounds to go to the police at this stage and even after he already subtracted money for bills and inspected the house for damage and was happy with it ? whats the outcome if we go to the police station since i moved out a month ago and the damage maybe "new " etc or he maybe pulling a fast one ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieH Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) Depends who he knows, its unlikely to hold water as he already agreed etc and inspected and returned the deposit. So, nothing there in a reasonable world. BUT this is Thailand, its a roll of the dice sometimes, my advice would be to let it play out first, see where it goes, if he does go to the Police and makes a formal complaint, you will get chance to put your point if you have someone Thai to speak for you. Just let it play out and dont panic. Edited April 28, 2014 by CharlieH 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pralaad Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) He can go, but will not achieve anything, unless he "rewards" some cop. Do not pay anything and see, worst case scenario involve a lawyer, would not cost you more than 3000-5000 baht. The only thing is a bill, if you did indeed "make" that bill, i would pay that, but landlord seems to be an ass, so may be not Edited April 28, 2014 by Pralaad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BKK Blues Brother Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 There was a case in the media last year that was resolved after 3 year's. In that time the tenant was unable to leave Thailand.Maybe someone can post a link as i'm on my phone at the moment. My advice is pay the paltry sum and move on. BBB 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neeranam Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) If he doesn't know where you live, block his number. He takes you for a mug. Alternatively, say you don't have it right now but will pay when you can afford it but don't ever pay. Edited April 28, 2014 by Neeranam 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedghog Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Tell the landlord to whistle. He has already squared away the property by returning your deposit. He is trying it on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soutpeel Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) Legally speaking the contract was concluded the minute you got the deposit back, not your problem anymore, of course this being Thailand the landlord ain't going to see it that way Edited April 28, 2014 by Soutpeel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wooloomooloo Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 (edited) What was the bill for and for how much? Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand Edited April 28, 2014 by wooloomooloo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhythmworx Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 Here's a story of a man who got accused of damaging property and stealing furniture that he had purchased himself to use in his rented property. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-21917654 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post somchaismith Posted April 28, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted April 28, 2014 Why don't you ask in the Thaivisa lawyer's free advice forum . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pralaad Posted April 28, 2014 Share Posted April 28, 2014 There was a case in the media last year that was resolved after 3 year's. In that time the tenant was unable to leave Thailand.Maybe someone can post a link as i'm on my phone at the moment. My advice is pay the paltry sum and move on. BBB This was different. Landlord filed the case before tenant checked out. In this case, OP was cleared by the landlord and deposit refunded. There is no way to prove damage to the furniture was done in the month OP already moved out. Regarding the bill, it depends what the bill is for, but bills come monthly and landlord can not expect for ex tenant to pay for some bills over a month after tenant moved out. Of course if the bill is real and OP did use up whatever, it would be fair for OP to pay, but again, landlord checked out the place and released OP.from all obligations 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post alfalfa19 Posted April 29, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted April 29, 2014 I would pay the bill, if it is legitimate, after all, that is the honorable thing to do, if you had a utility bill or something like that. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post chiang mai Posted April 29, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted April 29, 2014 I would pay the bill, if it is legitimate, after all, that is the honorable thing to do, if you had a utility bill or something like that. Agreed, ditto the damage if you caused it, only you will know the answers to these things. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
negreanu Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Always inspect the property with the landlord. Get him to sign that no damage on furniture or list damaged furniture and photograph it. He has no right to claim on the post inspection damage. Outstanding bill is another matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacko45k Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 If you are responsible for the bill, and for the damage to the furniture, you should pay up. He seems to be an unusually decent landlord if you got your deposit back... not retaining anything for 'unpaid bills'. I doubt he can get the police interested, unless he can bring them round to your new place and split the 7000 with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezzra Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Don't pay and tell to go and tend his buffalos, this is small money he will not go to the cops or sue you, it will cost him more than that.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamuiRes Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 I had exactly this situation a couple of years ago. Three months after we moved out of our old office the Landlord called me screaming and shouting that we had removed some a/c units - which we had not. He would not listen so I just ignored him. Three months later he filed a Criminal Damage charge with the Police. My lawyer said we had a 95% chance that the Courts would throw this out. However, the case would first have to go to the District Prosecutor and my Passport would be taken from me and I would be unable to leave the country until the case was resolved. This could take 3 years and longer if we succeeded and he appealed. For family reasons in the UK I could not afford to be restricted in my ability to travel, so the advice was to pay up and move on, which we did. The Police as you would expect were totally useless and made no attempt to investigate. Advice to the OP - right or wrong - you have two options. Ignore this and it may go away but if he does file with the Police you may have to pay up but make sure you go with a lawyer and with documentation stating that you are paying as an ex gratia payment without admitting liability simply to resolve the issue. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post i claudius Posted April 29, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted April 29, 2014 Reading stuff like this makes you so glad that your landlady is so good ,we have rented the same house for 8 years ,considering its a large detached house and the rent compared to others is really quiet good, if ever anything is wrong she just says get it fixed ,never wants to see a bill ,just says knock it off the rent ,the other day she said ,i think the house needs painting ,do you want to arrange it ,whatever it costs ,knock it off the rent , not all Thais are bad. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bkungbank Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 I rented an apartment last time the shower room window gets rust due to splashing water, I think it's normal for bathroom gets wet as the shower cap near to the window frame. it's design faulty not mine the owner insist I who did it and deducted my deposit for that. In THAILAND SOMETIMES they are the right one and farang most are fall to victims but in Japan if they are wrong there are dare to admit their mistake and apologize . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneday Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 If it was me, I'd just call his bluff. The worst thing that can happen is you are forced to pay the 7000. Why waste money on a lawyer for that amount of money and a lawyer will not guarantee a good outcome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geronimo Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Depends who he knows, its unlikely to hold water as he already agreed etc and inspected and returned the deposit. So, nothing there in a reasonable world. BUT this is Thailand, its a roll of the dice sometimes, my advice would be to let it play out first, see where it goes, if he does go to the Police and makes a formal complaint, you will get chance to put your point if you have someone Thai to speak for you. Just let it play out and dont panic. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YipYipYa123 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 ive been screwed over by so many thai landlords on deposits i would keep it as compensation (worst case scenario you have to pay up in the event of the police catching you which is probably -10% ) theres no way the police are going to start a manhunt over 7k so that part is just laughable .......they wouldnt even bother looking for my scooter which was worth maybe 40k when it got stolen i assume the bills are in his name rather than yours ? bcause if theyre in your name then your going to have to pay them anyway at any address in thailand if he took money for the future bills and they were higher than he expected ,thats a mistake hes going to have to learn from if he wants to be a sucessful landlord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericthai Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 You didn't say what bill came in after you moved out. I suspect the Elec, which if you owe that pay it. The damage if you did not damage it then don't pay. Once he inspected the place and returned your deposit the rental agreement was no longer enforce. If he pushes that police cant do anything this is a civil matter and it will go to court. You wont need a lawyer for this amount. If you don't speak Thai get a friend to assist you if it goes that far. I suspect he will drop it if he is trying to pull a fast one. If real then he will most likely follow things through. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirchai Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 (edited) Just don't pay. Tell him/her that you'll file a complain against him, called fraud. Cops do solve those issues. He'd have to pay a few thousand to have a copper on his side. Be faster and report his excellent behavior and see how he reacts. A good example might be a cop from Rayong who'd driven on my Pick Up's bumper thought that I'd have to pay for his damage. When I took out my phone and called the Ubon cops, telling him that it's time to see his colleagues, he suddenly changed his mind, said sorry and was so nice to me. The color of his face changed when he heard me speaking in his language on the phone. But only because he figured out that he would have lost a lot of face and money.. Edited April 29, 2014 by sirchai Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmh8 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 if landlord knows not where you live then problem this is not 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedtripler Posted April 29, 2014 Author Share Posted April 29, 2014 thx for all the replies so far i didnt speak to him directly ,he doesnt have my number or new address (he called the x-gf i rented the place with 2 yrs ago and she contacted me on skype because she doesnt have my number either ) i doubt theres much in it for the police to skim off a 7k bill so i think they would write up a report to keep him happy and forget about it 5 min after he leaves the station btw the damage he claims is a coffee mug ring stain on one of the matresses ( i think i did that for the record while using laptop a couple of years ago ) (4000 hes charging to buy a new bed although double beds arent that cheap ,are they ? ) and he took says the utility bill is nearly 3k so hes rounded it off at 7k he took 1000 for bills since the last monthly avaerage was 700b and dedcuted a further 1000 for cleaning even though the place was cleaner when i gave it back to him then when i moved in but i wasnt in the mood to argue over 1k so i let him keep it hes owns loads of large houses in bkk (showed me his portfolio one day of houses he owns for that are available to rent ) and drives a new mercedes so hes not exactly "strapped for cash " but im sure he knows some police as hes in his 60s and native to bkk but whether or not they would be interested is another matter entirely 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgma Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 I take pictures and vdo's of ALL the 'unfortunate mishap that CAN happen to me and my (foreign) family. That includes rentals and buy's. Does that guarentee anything? Well lets put it this way......suppose you had taken pictures and vidz as proof in case like this....and you let the landlord know that his story is fraud and you can proof it.....he/she will think twice before letting it go to court! just a hint! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorecard Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 Do you have a lease? Do you have any documents to summarize the final settlement? Is there an unpaid electric bill or similar, and do the dates cover the period you were in occupancy? Has the landlord provided full details of the damage to the furniture, perhaps photos? Do you have photos of the furniture etc., when you moved in? (I was a landlord for several years, I learned from bitter experience to walk through the house and take photos of absolutely everything, and I supplied a soft file of the photos to the tenants. A nuisance but can be valuable to both landlord and to tenant). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kannot Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 ask the landlord if he paid tax on the income? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YipYipYa123 Posted April 29, 2014 Share Posted April 29, 2014 ask him for receipts for every baht of rent he collected in the last 2 years and a copy of his thai id card (tell him your boss needs to check them for accounting because your rent is paid or subsidised by work ) my guess is he will stop calling and never bother you again because even if he is declaring the property as a rental hes probably put down a lower value to pay almost no tax ,,,,,,,,,,TIT he m\y not even be declaring it as a rental property if the bills are still in his name he might be pretending he lives there and paying zero tax in which case your problems will likley disappear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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