Foreign Ownership of Condo in Question

[SirPaul]

A friend of mine is selling his condo. He owns it - he bought it in Foreign Ownership. Now he is selling it he is being told that things have tightened up and too many condos where he lives have been sold as Foreign Ownership so when he sells it, the new owner can only have it as Thai Ownership.

Is this normal, or just some foul play where he lives. Can anyone be told that although they own it as a foreigner, the next owner cannot have the foreign ownership?

I myself own my condo, and if this is the general case then that would devalue the condo as the market to sell the condo would be smaller.

[manarak]

smells like bullshit.

if at the time he acquired the condo the land office inscribed his name on the chanote as the owner while he wann't in possession of Thai nationality, then I don't see how they could renege on that.

if in doubt, your friend should consult a lawyer.

[BruceMangosteen]

It is possible when the building has exceeded it's percentage. This may be due to fraud by others but still impacts current owners. The cost to remedy it can of course exceed the loss of value incurred. At the end of the day, the Thai's got ya. You can't do shit about it. You lost your money. Take it like a man. You were outsmarted because you aren't Thai and/or trusted a farang "real estate consultant". Tell him/her to buy in a western country next time where such fraud's aren't tolerated and result in actual criminal prosecution and jail time.

[LennyW]

Tell your friend to take his chanote to the land office and ask their advice, at the end of the day only the land office can decide.

[moonseeker]

Good morning Sir Paul

If you search the subject carefully, you will find several posts about this subject. Chateau Dale comes to mind. People are always fast screaming fraud, in this case there might be a very simple explanation. During several years of the Asian crisis the quota-system was "put on hold" and this enabled foreigners to buy units in their foreign name. This brought up the quota above 49% in several big condo buildings in town. Obviously there were MUCH fewer back then. They are well known, the ones that are of age now and struggle to convince the "cheaper" owners that funds are needed to upkeep the 20+ year old buildings and systems.

So, several of these condos have been over quota for many years, but about 6-8 months ago the local LO under pressure from BKK started "refusing" to transfer units in foreign name to foreigners, as they had orders to get the quota back to below 49% foreign ownership. BUT, as you might find in other posts, there is always ways to "resolve" this. I am aware of at least 8 transfers that were done successfully, anyway.

Any good lawyer will be able to tell you in advance how the procedure will and can be handled, after having had a talk at the LO.

BTW, cost of transfer have been reduced for a limited time, I believe it is still discounted right now. I am talking about the official fees, taxes etc.

So best, let a competent lawyer handle this and refrain from listening too much to the Pattaya ""screamers & rumor-mongers".

I doubt the value of your unit drops due to this, it might drop if your condo is not well maintained, as there are many modern & brand new alternatives now. I suspect, this whole issue will go away quietly one day, as most issues in the LOS and unless you want to sell now, I would not worry too much. Hopefully one of the TV-lawyers will have a say here to add some facts. BTW Your condo's JP keeps track of the quota, as it was outlined and registered at the time of original registration of the project at the LO, so you can get some info in your condo administration, too. A last point, I was told there seems to be more leniency towards owners, who had NOT bought during the Asian crisis, meaning owners who were within quota originally. But again, let a lawyer handle this, well worth the peace of mind.

Nice day. MS>

Edited January 28, 2016 by moonseeker

[thaitero]

I would like to know when was this exact time in Thailand when "the quota-system was put on hold"?

[Langsuan Man]

I would like to know when was this exact time in Thailand when "the quota-system was put on hold"?

During the Asian Economic crisis of 1997 specifically. If you want the month and day I would suggest that you Google it

It was a double benefit for farangs, not only was the 49/51% ratio suspended but the Baht dropped to a record low of 56 THB to the US dollar in January of 1998

Thailand's booming economy came to a halt amid massive layoffs in finance, real estate, and construction that resulted in huge numbers of workers returning to their villages in the countryside and 600,000 foreign workers being sent back to their home countries.^[30] The baht devalued swiftly and lost more than half of its value. The baht reached its lowest point of 56 units to the U.S. dollar in January 1998. The Thai stock market dropped 75%. Finance One, the largest Thai finance company until then, collapsed.^[31]\

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1997_Asian_financial_crisis

[thaitero]

O.k thanks,,Never heard this one before.

[SheungWan]

Centre Condo is one of those places where foreign ownership exceeds 49%

[moonseeker]

Centre Condo is one of those places where foreign ownership exceeds 49%

Yeah, and there are others. This "quota-hold" was in place for quite a while (several years) and I remember, after if finally caught on, quite a few people switched from company to private ownership or hurried to buy, I was one of them :-)

Now people who not even want to sell get all exited about "their huge investments" in a 30-K Euro studios loosing value, while they on the other side plan to stay in paradise until their demise.

Storm in a teacup IMO. Most problems can be resolved with a connected lawyer in no time, case by case. There was an article about this in one of the big E papers a few months back, trying to find it....MS>

Update... I believe we are not allowed to post BKK Post links?

Google: "Foreign Quota Condo Problems Unable to Sell Jomtien" >>> The first link gives some more details.......

Edited January 28, 2016 by moonseeker