Several of the residences in my housing complex (Jomtien) have received billings from Pattaya city hall for "water treatment".

These charges are retroactive for the past 6-8 years and total in the range of 6000 to 15000 baht dependent on the amount of water used in that period.

In addition there is notification that there will be monthly charges for this service going forward.

Suspicious??  Have other Pattaya area residents received similar billings?

Interesting. I heard that some condos are now charging for 'removal' of water, i.e. sewerage, based on people's usage and that it effectively doubles their water bills. I've not heard of it being back-dated though, in fact I don't  really see how they can do that. What if the property has changed hands in the period? And what water 'treatment' are they talking about anyway? I know there's a water treatment plant on Soi Wat Bun but what condos/villages exactly are connected to it? Does it treat all the water dumped into all the drains in Jomtien?

can you post a copy of the bill ?    obviously remove any thing that can identify the  house owner or housing complex

 

I think they can claim retroactively  if the clause was in the contract between home owners and the housing complex but people have refused to pay...it could be that the developer should have been paid Pattaya City but didn't and now wants to pass the buck.

 

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

I know there's a water treatment plant on Soi Wat Bun but what condos/villages exactly are connected to it? Does it treat all the water dumped into all the drains in Jomtien?

 

I very much doubt it !!!   there seems to be no separation of grey water from sewage water..maybe some of those big new  hi rise towers have an on site sewage treatment "pit" before discharging to  where ????

 

There are often  aerial photos of the Pattaya /Jomtien bays  showing " algae blooms"

Is you housing complex View Talay Villas, I heard several years ago there were problems with the water there.

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

Interesting. I heard that some condos are now charging for 'removal' of water, i.e. sewerage, based on people's usage and that it effectively doubles their water bills. I've not heard of it being back-dated though, in fact I don't  really see how they can do that. What if the property has changed hands in the period? And what water 'treatment' are they talking about anyway? I know there's a water treatment plant on Soi Wat Bun but what condos/villages exactly are connected to it? Does it treat all the water dumped into all the drains in Jomtien?

In general, when one buys real property, one also inherits any liabilities (unpaid taxes and such) or encumbrances that run with the property as well. It's the same when buying a business, unless they are specifically excluded in the purchase contract.

2 minutes ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

In general, when one buys real property, one also inherits any liabilities (unpaid taxes and such) or encumbrances that run with the property as well. It's the same when buying a business, unless they are specifically excluded in the purchase contract.

My condo was hit with this charge 5 years ago, the bill was something like 500,000 baht, we were allowed to pay it off slowly over a number of years, we had been charging owners through a special assesment fee but this is now being paid by residents virtully doubling everyones water bill

How this should work for a private house I don't know, Im sure many people use water in the garden and never makes it back to the drain

I would like to know if Thai owned houses have the charge or just company owned houses, the condo pays a lot more for water in and out because its classed as a business

2 hours ago, wobblyjohn said:

My condo was hit with this charge 5 years ago, the bill was something like 500,000 baht, we were allowed to pay it off slowly over a number of years, we had been charging owners through a special assesment fee but this is now being paid by residents virtully doubling everyones water bill

 

My building also got a back-dated bill a few years ago and we have been paying it off since. But the additional charge for waste water disposal that was imposed on co-owners only amounts to about 10% of the water bill (ie if the monthly water bill for your unit is 100B there will be an additional fee of about 10B for a total of about 110B).

 

All that said, our management has zero knowledge of maths and I doubt that they have ever calculated what the actual cost to the building is per cubic metre of water re-billed and it could be that this 10% extra charge is way too little or indeed way too much.

On 05/09/2016 at 11:48 AM, wobblyjohn said:

My condo was hit with this charge 5 years ago, the bill was something like 500,000 baht, we were allowed to pay it off slowly over a number of years, we had been charging owners through a special assesment fee but this is now being paid by residents virtully doubling everyones water bill

How this should work for a private house I don't know, Im sure many people use water in the garden and never makes it back to the drain

I would like to know if Thai owned houses have the charge or just company owned houses, the condo pays a lot more for water in and out because its classed as a business

Holy shit!! 500k baht. Another reason why never ever to buy a property in Thailand. Guaranteed to lose money in many ways.

^^ That bill was for the entire building, not per unit.

Retroactive for years eh?  Bring the lawyers on that one, although in general a falang will lose an dispute.  If they think the money is owed, you will be in the news as they harass your, lock you out of the condo, etc.

My rental home is NOT connected to the city-water-supply, so they can't use the watermeter-data (isn't there) to estimate my use of the serwer system.

 

As for the back-dated bills.......they can't become a liability for new owners, because the bill wasn't issued at the time the property changed hands. I guess.

14 hours ago, bbi1 said:

Holy shit!! 500k baht. Another reason why never ever to buy a property in Thailand. Guaranteed to lose money in many ways.

I bought a condo here 11 years ago,just sold it, Probably made the equivalent of bank interest on it. But, have lived rent free for 11 years. All the people I talk to who say they would never buy a condo here, couldnt afford one anyway. Maby thats the true reason they would never buy a condo here.

7 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Retroactive for years eh?  Bring the lawyers on that one, although in general a falang will lose an dispute.  If they think the money is owed, you will be in the news as they harass your, lock you out of the condo, etc.

 

Generally in condo buildings the water is supplied and billed to the condo by the water company and the building then charges individual co-owners according to usage. And of course the building itself will also use a lot of water (watering gardens, cleaning, filling the pool, pool showers/toilets etc etc). This is not billed to co-owners directly but is a common expense, like corridor lighting or powering the elevators.

 

So when a retroactive bill is submitted to the building it pays the bill out of cash-flow and bank savings (assuming it has either,  ) and then it can either claw the money back from future co-owner bills by charging a little over cost price or just accept the shortfall as a common expense.

Certainly anyone refusing to pay his water bill, or any other building bill, may find himself without water and without access to common areas and services. So locking non-payers out of their condo is not an option, though technically they could be prevented from using the corridors and elevators (good luck trying to implement that). Most people find that living without water for a few days is enough of a PITA to make them pay up. I certainly would. Though I do know of one prat principled individual who has been without water in his unit for years. He doesnt live in it though.