anyone ever get their deposit back when renting ?

I have rented twice in phuket and on both occasions did not get back my deposit.

how is it possible to get minimize risk in getting back deposit ?

Yes! It depends (I suppose) on how well you know the landlord.

I rented a condo in Jomtien in 2012/2013 for 6 months. When i moved out the landlord took the final water and electric meter readings, paid the bills and repaid the balance of my deposit to my bank account.

This was all agreed in the initial contract, signed by all parties.

I am British, the British landlord and his Thai wife own a company renting properties on just such a basis.They have at least 6 such properties.

To be fair, i was introduced to them by a mutual British friend, but this couple used their standard rental agreement paperwork.

After twice falling for this scam, I bought my own house in a company name. 1st landlord (from Manchester) said it was for 'wear and tear on furnishings'. 2nd (Dutch) said it was 'to have the house professionally cleaned.'

Rented many times, always left the place clean and handed over the keys when I got my full deposit back. I do hear that Thais don't like to give deposits back. I've been lucky

You should just retain the last two rent payments. The landlord gets angry but he has no option at all. Since he typically pays no taxes, he could not even go to court. Problem solved.

You should just retain the last two rent payments. The landlord gets angry but he has no option at all. Since he typically pays no taxes, he could not even go to court. Problem solved.

So your answer to something that might hypothetically happen in the future is to breach your contract in advance.....

Does not sound particulalry sound advice. I also did not realize that courts revolving disputes checked tax returns when making a ruling.

I presume in some contracts the landlord would have right of re-entry if you failed to pay your rent after a certain amount of time, so they would probably just re-enter and remove all your belongings.

You would be booted out the property before it even got to the 2 month stage, would lose your deposit and potentially some of your belongings to settle unpaid amounts. And that is before potentially having an angry Thai landlord after you.

The only time we did not return the deposit,was when a Thai tenant,left

with all the curtains,3 teak doors, 100's of plugs drilled into the walls,and

2 way tape stuck to walls,and everything left in a disgusting state,very

lucky for us it was let,unfurnished,so no more Thai's for us,instead of

saying no to them,we say we need 6 months deposit,that puts them off.

If you leave the premises clean and in good order,the landlord should

have no excuse not to return your deposit,less utility charges,problem

is a lot of Thai landlords will have already spent your deposit !

regards worgeordie

Got all my deposit back from a condo I rented for 5 years here in Bangkok. Was returned to me about a month after I gave the keys to the owner.

Got all my deposit back from a condo I rented for 5 years here in Bangkok. Was returned to me about a month after I gave the keys to the owner.

Giving the owner time to check it over, and pay any outstanding utility bills - just as it should be and my experience too - see post #2.

Most people do get back their deposits, Wife deals in this all day literally hundreds and hundreds of returned deposits however there are times when disagreements occur some owners wont accept the tiniest of problems ie scuff mark on the wall or a single hole in the wall from a pin some dont even accept wear and tear, having said that some tenants live like absolute pigs and to clear up a room after them is really NOT a pleasant task.