Landlord is not writing a lease, what to do?

[DGS1244]

Are you really expecting a lease? they are normally for up to 30 years and are in English and Thai, normally takes 24 hours to sign and register as they are already written and available. Sounds to me you just need a 'contract' for one- three years, again Thai and English, you will need that if you want to get a retirement visa.

[Balance]

You are month to month so, go with your gut. If you don't trust her, move, but get a lease agreement before hand. It is easy to do if you go through one of the real estate companies and it is very likely that landlords using these companies are more business people than scam artists.

[realenglish1]

Don't sweat it . I have been in a condo looking over the Chopai River without a lease for 2 years. Never hear from the landlord. Just make a deposit to her bank every month She is happy I am happy

[shirtless]

You have paid already , why would she bother writing you a lease I would be more concerned with the electricity rate your being charged, did she mention the price per kw.Cheap room high electricty

[horsewell]

If you live here long term you will need a lease (or rental contract) for things like your driver's licence. An English language lease will not be able to be used for this, it will need to be in Thai language. They have Thai form lease contracts where they only have to fill out a few items, like the price of the room, the deposit, water and power and how long the lease will be.

If you want a lease in any other language it would be best to get the Thai lease and get it translated at one of the language schools or a translation service, google translate is probably good enough, if you want to retype it. The Non-Thai language version one is just basically for you and doesn't have any legal standing in Thailand.

At only a few thousand Baht a month most locals wouldn't care about a lease. Most of the time the deposit will be forfeit for one reason or another but when it's so small then you may as well just look at it as the cost of moving in.

Edited June 9, 2014 by horsewell

[Strangebrew]

Got a thai speaking friend? have them go with you might be lost in translation.

[catweazle]

Reading your post whining about 5 or 6k perhaps lost, and not being able to accept a month-to-month handshake agreement (whereas you should be happy that you did not have to pay 12k as security deposit), my wild guess is that you will not last even 6 months in Thailand. If I were you, I'd take very good care of that return flight ticket of yours...

Good luck!

Edited June 9, 2014 by catweazle

[davejones23]

I rented a 25,000 baht condo for 6 months and got a rental agreement. At the end of the 6 months I decided to extend, but the landlord lived far away so didn't give me a new lease. But we had a verbal agreement and that was good enough for me. Got my deposit back the day before I left, except for a small amount held back for final bills. He transferred the remained to my bank account a couple of weeks later. I've found most people here to be honest. At your 5,500 a mont I wouldn't even bother asking for a rental agreement.

[davidst01]

only a fool parts with his money... you give 5000 without a contract. A bit stupid as Im sure you will learn from this lesson

[davidst01]

only a fool parts with his money... you give 5000 without a contract. A bit stupid as Im sure you will learn from this lesson

[RubberBroke]

Offer to get the lease/contract documents for her in English and Thai by following the link in Post No.17

If she is honest she will be happy that you have saved her a few Baht.

If she is reluctant to sign the documents consider the payment made to be for 1 month and have a backup plan ready.

I personally think that she has no clue how to go about getting an English lease for you or just couldn't be bothered to go the extra mile for it.

[Hal65]

Offer to get the lease/contract documents for her in English and Thai by following the link in Post No.17

If she is honest she will be happy that you have saved her a few Baht.

If she is reluctant to sign the documents consider the payment made to be for 1 month and have a backup plan ready.

I personally think that she has no clue how to go about getting an English lease for you or just couldn't be bothered to go the extra mile for it.

it seems you are correct, she asked me to help her find an English lease today.

[Arkady]

Some one renting out rooms at 5,000 a month is unlikely to have lease agreements available in English. To get a translation made could easily cost her the better part of a month's rent and would probably be incomprehensible anyway. Ask for the Thai lease, if she has one, in soft copy. Google translate it or translate it word for word in Thai2English. If you are happy with it, sign the Thai version. If you are not happy with or she can't even give you a Thai lease, just stay there anyway, if you are still satisfied with the room and the price.

You basically renting a hotel room at B167 a day and she hasn't even asked you for a deposit. Don't get paranoid about it.