Is there any law regulating condo rentals?

[WorkingTourist]

Our condominium is considering disallowing short-term renting (i.e. AirBnB and the likes).

As I have previously heard that short-term renting is in fact not allowed by Thai law, I was wondering if anyone can reference which law states this?

The best I have been able to find is the hotel act which requires you to obtain a license if you have more than 4 rooms, but it seems a single person renting out a single condo would not be subject to that.

[Maestro]

I am unaware of any law that forbids the co-owner of a condominium building to hire out his property for any length of time.

If a General Assembly approved a change of the rules, this would be a severe restriction of the owner's use of his property, tantamount to a partial expropriation, and it should not be difficult for a co-owner to find applicable legal clauses to challenge it successfully in court, if the Land Office itself did not already refuse to register such amended rules.

[WorkingTourist]

The condominium is new so it will (hopefully) be the rules that we are going to put in place from day one, rather than a change of existing rules.

If someone is renting out their condo short-term via AirBnB then they are using residential property for commercial activity and indirectly selling access to common areas paid for by the other residents, so I fail to see how disallowing such behavior is partial expropriation.

[KittenKong]

As far as I know anyone doing short term rentals has to either get a hotel licence (for more than x rooms) or at least register as a hotel (for less than x rooms). This is stipulated by the hotel act.

The condo act and all building regs I have ever seen prohibit commercial activity outside of specific areas.

This is the extract from the condo act:

Section 17/1 In the case where a space in the condominium is set aside as a place to carry out the business, the system on entering and exiting such area shall be specifically set up in order to prevent the disturbance on the peaceful enjoyment of the joint owners.

No person shall be permitted to engage in any trade transactions in the condominium except it is a trade transaction in the area of the condominium designated in accordance with paragraph one.

I think the condo act should be much more specific about rentals and that all rentals of less than perhaps 6 or 12 months should be totally banned in residential condos. They are a menace.

[ezzra]

Every condo has it's own by laws and regulations, and most, you will find will not permit

such arrangement owing to hassle of keeping tabs on all the going and coming with the

short terms....

[BrainLife]

So you invested and now you want to consider the law?

Go and get yourself an expensive Thai lawyer (again (and loose again)) and stop bother the common people here on TVF.

[BookMan]

So you invested and now you want to consider the law?

Go and get yourself an expensive Thai lawyer (again (and loose again)) and stop bother the common people here on TVF.

[huawei]

So long term rentals will be ok. I think this is impractical, although it will need to be included in the rules and regulations..but the co- owner who rents out is contributing to the common area and those who don't use it at all are contributing to the common area. What about parking should they just be exclusive to co- owners and not long term renters.

This isn't manageable..people rent or cannot rent.

A retired couple come for the weekend is more desirable than a family with kids for a month ( long renter )..of course it is.

Extra work for the committee , for the office, for security..

[Suradit69]

I am unaware of any law that forbids the co-owner of a condominium building to hire out his property for any length of time.

If a General Assembly approved a change of the rules, this would be a severe restriction of the owner's use of his property, tantamount to a partial expropriation, and it should not be difficult for a co-owner to find applicable legal clauses to challenge it successfully in court, if the Land Office itself did not already refuse to register such amended rules.

"this would be a severe restriction of the owner's use of his property, tantamount to a partial expropriation"

Not sure about the O/P's question, but your response sounds a bit over the top, especially the reference to "expropriation.". Some restrictions on commercial use of residential property almost certainly exist and, as someone else has said, in this case it would amount to running a hotel from a facility that might not be licensed for that purpose.

A man's home may be his castle. but zoning & business regulations (presumably) exist that restrict its use even if they may or may not be fully enforced at all times. What if they decided to start offering short-term rentals by the hour to patrons at a nearby gogo bar or someone decided to use his unit to run a small grocery?

Edited January 9, 2016 by Suradit69

[Langsuan Man]

Why do so many Thai Visa members constantly ask if this or that is against the law ?

Even if it is against the law, exactly what are you going to do about it ?

The police won't enforce the law, the lawyers won't work on contingency so you have to pay up front to have them do nothing, the courts are set up to serve only one segment of the society and that isn't you, and the rich, politicians. and the military are all above the law

So accept the fact that you live in a lawless society and make your life decision based upon those facts

[jippytum]

The management committee as instructed by the majority of owners can restrict short term rentals and include this in the condo regulations .

Short term rentals on a large scale require changing the condo to condotel status.

[KittenKong]

Why do so many Thai Visa members constantly ask if this or that is against the law ?

Even if it is against the law, exactly what are you going to do about it ?

The police won't enforce the law, the lawyers won't work on contingency so you have to pay up front to have them do nothing, the courts are set up to serve only one segment of the society and that isn't you, and the rich, politicians. and the military are all above the law

So accept the fact that you live in a lawless society and make your life decision based upon those facts

Some committee members and co-owners here like to obey the law, and to live in a building where the rules are respected, and they like to be sure that the law is on their side before introducing or enforcing rules in their building.

This is quite different to the common Thai procedure of "I'll just do what I want and nuts to everyone else". Lawlessness is just selfishness and disregard for others.

Over the last 4 decades I've seen the application of law improve quite a lot in Thailand. It still has a very long way to go but one day they may get there. I'll do what I can to hasten that.

[Familyaffairs]

Yes, and the condo management/CJP, committee are not law enforcers, althugh they'd like to think they are. I don't think even an AGM with 50% of owners voting in favour of banning rentals can actually enforce that either. Owners going to complain at the land dept will be wasting their time, they are simply not interested in that. Yes, 30 days is the minimum rental for condos to prevent competition with hotels, but you would be hard pressed to find a one room hotel......so, that does not apply to individual owners, more like those in a rental pool and combined marketing on OTAs and other rental sites.

[camble]

My understanding is the minimum rental period for a condo under the condominium act is 30 days. The condo I lease encourages reporting violators to the Juristic so they can shut off their water.

[KittenKong]

Yes, and the condo management/CJP, committee are not law enforcers, althugh they'd like to think they are.

Actually they are the enforcers of their building's rules and those rules, in conjunction with the condo act, are law. They can (and should) impose fines on anyone who does not obey the building rules.

The power of committees and management should be strengthened in this respect.

[KittenKong]

My understanding is the minimum rental period for a condo under the condominium act is 30 days. The condo I lease encourages reporting violators to the Juristic so they can shut off their water.

Sounds like a properly-run building to me. You are lucky.

But the condo act does not specify anything about rental durations. The hotel act does though.

[trogers]

So long term rentals will be ok. I think this is impractical, although it will need to be included in the rules and regulations..but the co- owner who rents out is contributing to the common area and those who don't use it at all are contributing to the common area. What about parking should they just be exclusive to co- owners and not long term renters.

This isn't manageable..people rent or cannot rent.

A retired couple come for the weekend is more desirable than a family with kids for a month ( long renter )..of course it is.

Extra work for the committee , for the office, for security..

The wear and tear to the common areas would be much more by short term visiting guests, not counting the disturbance created by them to the residents of the building.

That's the difference between a place of residence and a hotel.

A couple of decades ago, the complaint was against a house in a walled community being used as a restaurant. Now it is about condo units being occupied as a hotel.

Edited January 9, 2016 by trogers

[bazza40]

There are similarities between condo law and Wild West law. I don't know what anyone can do about it because any action would mostly be taking place after the fact.

In my condo, landlords are so desperate to generate revenue they would rent short-term to Dracula, provided he was wearing a clean shirt. While I believe the condo regulations state 3 months minimum rental, that's more honoured in the breach than the observance during high season.

As a long-term renter, some of the short-termers are nice people, and some are pond life. I just avoid the latter. To me, the advantages of my condo outweigh the disadvantages. When that changes, I'll move.

[huawei]

As far as I know anyone doing short term rentals has to either get a hotel licence (for more than x rooms) or at least register as a hotel (for less than x rooms). This is stipulated by the hotel act.

The condo act and all building regs I have ever seen prohibit commercial activity outside of specific areas.

This is the extract from the condo act:

Section 17/1 In the case where a space in the condominium is set aside as a place to carry out the business, the system on entering and exiting such area shall be specifically set up in order to prevent the disturbance on the peaceful enjoyment of the joint owners.

No person shall be permitted to engage in any trade transactions in the condominium except it is a trade transaction in the area of the condominium designated in accordance with paragraph one.

I think the condo act should be much more specific about rentals and that all rentals of less than perhaps 6 or 12 months should be totally banned in residential condos. They are a menace.

Not if you buy into a condo that is primarily for holidays and vacations and has only a few residents , there are quite a few of these. Leave it up to the committee and co- owners to decide.

If it is residential Bangkok of course short term rentals are a no no. If the condo is by the beach almost unoccupied for great parts of the year...why not..

[Globalist]

My understanding is the minimum rental period for a condo under the condominium act is 30 days. The condo I lease encourages reporting violators to the Juristic so they can shut off their water.

Your understanding is wrong.

There is no stipulation whatsoever about tenancy term in the Thai Condominimum Act.

[Globalist]

Unfortunately, a number of CJPs in BKK have started to spread incorrect information about "Thai law" and rental duration.

Thai law, including the Thai Condominium Act, does not regulate the duration of rental agreements between co-owners of condos and their tenants.

In fact, it doesn't even mention rental at all.

However, a CJP may regulate rental duration in the CJP's bylaws, which is an entirely different matter.

Changes to CJP bylaws require a majority or perhaps even a qualified majority vote.

[Fairynuff]

So you invested and now you want to consider the law?

Go and get yourself an expensive Thai lawyer (again (and loose again)) and stop bother the common people here on TVF.

This is a forum for people to discuss any issue they choose. If YOU don't like that then YOU can choose another forum to discuss the topics you want to discuss. In the meantime please allow this guy his right to discuss his topic

[Fairynuff]

I have lived in a number of condos as an owner. Every one of them has had rules against short term rentals. None of them have ever been enforced. The biggest culprits in terms of renting out apartments have always been the juristic office....the very people who are supposed to enforce the rules. Basically, whatever rules you make will never work and you will always have short term renters.

[George FmplesdaCosteedback]

Since there doesn't seem to be any law prohibiting the letting, my advice would be to also check the T&C on the Condominium as there could be a clause in that which doesn't allow short term letting, although it seems to be common enough practice.

[KittenKong]

As far as I know anyone doing short term rentals has to either get a hotel licence (for more than x rooms) or at least register as a hotel (for less than x rooms). This is stipulated by the hotel act.

The condo act and all building regs I have ever seen prohibit commercial activity outside of specific areas.

This is the extract from the condo act:

Section 17/1 In the case where a space in the condominium is set aside as a place to carry out the business, the system on entering and exiting such area shall be specifically set up in order to prevent the disturbance on the peaceful enjoyment of the joint owners.

No person shall be permitted to engage in any trade transactions in the condominium except it is a trade transaction in the area of the condominium designated in accordance with paragraph one.

I think the condo act should be much more specific about rentals and that all rentals of less than perhaps 6 or 12 months should be totally banned in residential condos. They are a menace.

Not if you buy into a condo that is primarily for holidays and vacations and has only a few residents , there are quite a few of these. Leave it up to the committee and co- owners to decide.

If it is residential Bangkok of course short term rentals are a no no. If the condo is by the beach almost unoccupied for great parts of the year...why not..

There are several specific options for those looking for short-term accommodation: hotels, serviced apartments, guest houses, B&Bs. Condos really have nothing to do with this market as far as I can see.

[KittenKong]

Unfortunately, a number of CJPs in BKK have started to spread incorrect information about "Thai law" and rental duration.

Thai law, including the Thai Condominium Act, does not regulate the duration of rental agreements between co-owners of condos and their tenants.

In fact, it doesn't even mention rental at all.

It doesn't, but the hotel act seems to. And the condo act is quite clear about businesses only being allowed in areas of the building that are specifically designated for this, and also about co-owners being able to enjoy their property in peace and without disturbance.

It seems to me that short-term rentals by their very nature are indeed both a business and a nuisance. As such they should not take place in condo buildings.

[trogers]

As far as I know anyone doing short term rentals has to either get a hotel licence (for more than x rooms) or at least register as a hotel (for less than x rooms). This is stipulated by the hotel act.

The condo act and all building regs I have ever seen prohibit commercial activity outside of specific areas.

This is the extract from the condo act:

Section 17/1 In the case where a space in the condominium is set aside as a place to carry out the business, the system on entering and exiting such area shall be specifically set up in order to prevent the disturbance on the peaceful enjoyment of the joint owners.

No person shall be permitted to engage in any trade transactions in the condominium except it is a trade transaction in the area of the condominium designated in accordance with paragraph one.

I think the condo act should be much more specific about rentals and that all rentals of less than perhaps 6 or 12 months should be totally banned in residential condos. They are a menace.

Not if you buy into a condo that is primarily for holidays and vacations and has only a few residents , there are quite a few of these. Leave it up to the committee and co- owners to decide.

If it is residential Bangkok of course short term rentals are a no no. If the condo is by the beach almost unoccupied for great parts of the year...why not..

There are several specific options for those looking for short-term accommodation: hotels, serviced apartments, guest houses, B&Bs. Condos really have nothing to do with this market as far as I can see.

The next issue would likely be condo units being let out like sex motels, at 3-hour price rates...and someone who ask, is it legal?

[KittenKong]

The next issue would likely be condo units being let out like sex motels, at 3-hour price rates...and someone who ask, is it legal?

Indeed. As far as I can see this would be every bit as annoying and illegal as a daily let or a weekly one.

[Inquisitorial]

Not sure the rules are enforced you just need to check out all the short term Holiday condo rentals on Trip Advisor many of them appear to be private owners and there are many more on other sites....

Condos available for short term rent on TA in

Bangkok 530

Pattaya 639

Hua Hin 349

Chang Mai 219

Some even available by the night.

[bazza40]

The next issue would likely be condo units being let out like sex motels, at 3-hour price rates...and someone who ask, is it legal?

Indeed. As far as I can see this would be every bit as annoying and illegal as a daily let or a weekly one.

I think the logistics of such a use would be highly problematic. As far as I can tell, most of the short-term lets I see in my condo are 2 -4 weeks, usually in the high season.

If a person was so inclined, why would they go to all that bother when they can check into any 500 baht/night hotel or guesthouse? Think you guys are stretching logic a bit far.

As I've seen before on TV, there are some long-term renters who can be more of a nuisance than short-termers. At least you know the problem short-term ###holes will be gone quickly. Storm in a teacup springs to mind.