Can I take my AC with me when I leave my rental?

[Argus Tuft]

It is commonsense; stay on good terms with the landlord, pay bills on time, don't moan and complain, and keep the place in reasonable condition and clean it when you leave.

Works for me, so far everytime.

Words of wisdom, well said

[misterphil]

Tell your landlord to go F himself. I've been taking my AC's to the last 3 houses I've rented because none of them had AC downstairs.

The last house we were in the landlady asked my wife why we'd taken "our" AC's out when we moved out. She expected us to leave them in for her and refused to give us our deposit back. Had to get the police, a lawyer and a builder in to get our deposit back. That was a house on Central Park 4/2 Pattaya and they used to have their own property agency but I see that's closed down now. I wonder why LOL

[circusman]

I believe most landlords won't return your deposit no matter what.Many Thai's that once they have money in their hands you'll never see it again.

After 3 rentals of a year or more I got all my deposits back. All different rental people. One I had to threaten for 3 months but got it. Once I even came out ahead five thousand baht. Don't ask its a long story.

[HOAX]

If you bought the air con then obviously yes you can take it with you, unless you signed a bad contract which says you can not take it with you even if you bought it, which I doubt any law in Thailand is protecting you from.

If you don`t patch up the holes in the wall then he/she may require you to pay for the damages, which will be drawn of your deposit if you paid that when you first moved in.

The owner may ask you if he/she can buy the air con from you when you leave, which I have actually heard happened to a couple of my friends.

Yes, offer to sell it to him/her at a realistic (not new) price, but realize that patching "the hole in the wall" means full reinstatement with matching paint etc.

Of course at a discount, obviously, it`s not new. But if the AC is working well, then why sell it?

Most indoor walls in Thailand are white, and therefor matches the spackling paste you can use to fill the holes. I`ve never heard anyone having to paint anything. If you have to paint, then go get a damn white sample of paint anywhere for free.

Edited May 9, 2015 by HOAX

[augustwest]

My Thai wife insisted I use the deposit as the last month payment. She said no way would we get back deposit. Left the place clean. Was a farang owner ,bottom line no deposit returned,just likeeveryone else. Live and learn

[realenglish1]

Sounds like your landlord is anal . Hope you kept the receipt to prove its yours You could have some problems with him if you did not

[bartender100]

I believe most landlords won't return your deposit no matter what.Many Thai's that once they have money in their hands you'll never see it again.

Over 30 years renting various condo's and houses I have never had a problem getting deposit back from Thai's and Farangs, leave it as you found it and there should be no problem, so I don't know where you get your info from.

I think once you remove an A/C unit and compressor it would be hard to make the wall look like it was before you installed, holes will have been drilled right though the wall for pipes, how would you feel in a reverse situation?

[ChiangmaiRob]

For a second hand AC unit that only cost 15,000 baht new and probably worth half that now, is it worth the hassle removing it and filling in the holes? If you're on a tight budget or the landlord has been difficult during the rental period then yes go for it, otherwise just leave it ... I would.

[tingtongfarang]

One word...toothpaste!

[mikiea]

Take it with you but make sure the wall is as you left it to swerve any problems the LL says you need to make good

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

just take the whole wall install the wall in new diggs .....

[kamalabob2]

I had two Amena air conditioners installed in a two bedroom, 2000 baht a month rental I lived for two years in a small town in Buriram Province. The Thai owner owns a gold store in our town. There was no written lease and only a 2000 baht refundable deposit. When we moved to a house I had built my wife had the air condition installation team doing a few better brand installations at our new home go and remove the two Amena air conditioners. My wife and her family took off every bathroom fitting, electric cable, even the Square D circuit breaker load center we had installed. She removed the insect screen we had installed. She left the Champion brand western style toilet she had installed. She took off the VRH stainless 304 wall fittings and put back some low end bath towel and hand towel racks that the land lord had installed prior to our tenancy. Those two Amena air conditioners work fine in a guest room, we receive our princely 2000 baht deposit back in full and the original fuse box of sorts was on the wall where we had an electrician install a Square D load center. My wife had found a new tenant for the landlord and did leave the house cleaner than we found two years prior. I do not imagine that sort of strip the walls bare and patch the holes, and paint the patches, where both a/c units had been installed would pass muster in a larger town or with most landlords. The issue was not so much the rental deposit but retaining reasonable items we had installed in a basic living unit. I was shocked in 2005 that my wife had rented a house with no written contract of any sort. Our landlord did not spend a single baht in two years on the rental unit for any repairs or any improvements. We even paid for V-Con roof tiles to be replaced to stop rain from leaking into the rental unit. This landlord had verbally told my wife we could install anything, and could remove such items, but to leave the original items back installed when we left.

[r136dg]

Rented a few places in this country (referring to houses, not apts.) & never got the deposit back from Thai landlords. Even though the place was in far better shape then when I moved in. I just factor that into the deal & roll with it. Just my experience but have seen similar with friends here.

As many said, take your air conditioner (if it's a newer higher end unit & worth the hassle), & have the wall repaired. Clean the place up as if it were your own. Good luck!

[rijb]

Sell it to the landlord. Make him/her an offer they can't refuse.

[ghworker2010]

Most rental contracts here say you cannot remove improvments.....I have seen this a few times and if the owner notices its gone and calls the police they will side with the owner.....seen it a few times. Do it at night and quietly. Also Im not 100% certain but it might be the law and then doesnt even have to be in the lease.

police.... this is a BS comment. Op if you kept your receipt of purchase for the AC unit then you will not have any issues. This is the LOS

[marios]

What rubbish. I moved 4 times in the past 8 years and on each occasion the landlord has returned the deposit in full. In fact with my latest move the landlord suggested I shouldn't pay the last 2 months rent in lieu of returning the deposit. Don't condemn all Thais with your accusation.

For the OP I would expect that if the building is returned to its original condition then there would be no recourse to retain deposit or insist on leaving the AC unit. But the contract might say different.

I think, the behaviour of the landlord is determined mainly by the class of the apartment. An owner of a classy place in an expensive building, I would think, would act appropriately. He has more to lose if he gets a bad reputation.

I have always feared the prospect of losing my deposit should I decide to rent. I prefere serviced apartments for the six month periods I normally spend in Bangkok.

[Straight8]

Well what was the original agreement with the Landlord you made.

Surely you would have asked for permission to install the unit??

Did they say you can install your own as long as you repair the wall/s and restore them to their original condition or did you do it without their knowledge???

[Langsuan Man]

Hi folks,

Just wondering if I can take my air conditioner, which I purchased and installed, when I decide to leave the building I'm renting. I would assume I can, so long as I patch up any holes in the walls, etc. My landlord made a point of saying that I can't take it, but I don't think that's legal. Is it? Surely not.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Thanks for your responses. I guess it isn't as straight forward as I had thought.

As the air conditioner was being installed, the daughter of the landlord (landlord was out of the country at the time) came over and said, "You know, you can't take that out when you leave." My wife just said, "OK", but thought otherwise. We have 10,000 baht deposit and the AC cost 15000. We've also installed a hot water heater, which also has to stay presumably.

We have a shop downstairs, so my wife has suggested we sign another lease agreement and then 'seng raan' (sell out) and get some money back that way. Definitely an option.

Our landlord owns a number of buildings and most people we've talked to haven't had a problem getting their deposit back. But she's been pretty strict about not allowing the taking of things that are drilled into the wall, so I also considered buying and installing an old used AC in place of the new one and taking the nice new one with us. Nothing she can do about that.

Thanks for all your responses and advice.

The OP admits he was told by the landlords representative (the daughter) that he could not take the A/C unit with him when he leaves and he installed it anyway and now the pundits here at Thai Visa think that he has a pass at doing what he was told that he could not do

There is a three letter acronym that sums this up but I don't want to run afoul of the rules: WT_

[trogers]

What rubbish. I moved 4 times in the past 8 years and on each occasion the landlord has returned the deposit in full. In fact with my latest move the landlord suggested I shouldn't pay the last 2 months rent in lieu of returning the deposit. Don't condemn all Thais with your accusation.

For the OP I would expect that if the building is returned to its original condition then there would be no recourse to retain deposit or insist on leaving the AC unit. But the contract might say different.

I think, the behaviour of the landlord is determined mainly by the class of the apartment. An owner of a classy place in an expensive building, I would think, would act appropriately. He has more to lose if he gets a bad reputation.

I have always feared the prospect of losing my deposit should I decide to rent. I prefere serviced apartments for the six month periods I normally spend in Bangkok.

? I would expect a classy place to have air-conditioners installed in the first place.

[Nick167]

Common! In this time and age, air-cons are a common feature in most condos and apartments. There are tons of units for rent in thailand at the momenta nd its a renter's market so you can bargain as they are very few takers these days versus the supply of units for rent. why waste your time with a scum owner who does not even have aircon in his/her room?

[blackcab]

I work for a company that owns apartment buildings in Bangkok. The room rates are 2,500b a month no aircon and 3,000b a month with aircon. The rooms are 25 square meters including a separate shower/toilet room and a small balcony area. So pretty basic stuff.

Part of my job is authorising the return of tenant's deposits. Where a room has reasonable wear and tear and no other damage then deposits are returned promptly, in full, by bank transfer. Where there is damage to a room a portion or all of the deposit (as determined by the building manager) and authorised by me is retained. We specify 100b per screw/nail hole, or the true cost of returning the room to its original state, whichever is higher.

When a tenant moves out any additional electrical wiring or any other unauthorised additions are removed, including many, many stickers! The room is returned to a standard condition for the next tenant.

The truth is we just want to get the room back in the same way we rented it out. We don't expect perfection, but equally we don't expect the place to need more than a coat of paint.

Out of interest, the standard Thai contract that can be purchased in pads for use by apartments is quite draconian compared to what many non Thai people would be used to.

We have the same contract available in English, although the only time it has been used recently was for two people from the Philippines.

In our apartments my view on the OP's aircon problem would be that you are welcome to remove it, but I would expect the holes to be properly filled and smoothly finished, and I would expect the repaired area to be repainted to match the existing colour. We use a standard colour paint which we buy in large quantities. Come see us and we would be happy to sell you a litre for 100 baht, which should be more than enough.

The company I work for is owned by Thai people and they are extremely reasonable in the way they treat their staff and their tenants.

[Heng]

I've seen it written in a lot of standard contracts that you cannot remove anything that is affixed to the structure. That said, it's often also included that you have to get permission before doing any permanent 'improvements' and that's the point where you need to have it discussed whether something can be removed or not.