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I'm in a bit of a quandary. What would you do?


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I've rented a house for several years and have been totally happy with it and everything in general.   Circumstances have compelled me to move fairly  abruptly.    I figured no big deal.    I just make sure I give a 30 day notice  to the owner of the house and pay the rent accordingly.

 

Therein lies the problem.      I'm not able to contact the owner.     He's a good guy and  I  like him.    I've tried to connect with him at his email which is a France  (Fr.) Yahoo email address.     NO reply and checking today I find there is no more Yahoo Fr.    He leaves Thailand for several months at a time so his phone is not working.    I suspect he's out of the country but as far as I know he may not be alive.

 

I know the general area where he lives but have no idea as to which particular place it is.

 

In all the years I've lived here  I naturally took  care of all  maintainence  and dutifully  paid  the rent on time.      Over the years the  owner has shared with  his Yahoo Fr. email  address what  he finds as  especially beautiful photos which I enjoyed.     Our relationship has been conflict free and positive.

 

I'll be out of this house very soon and I wonder what I should do?    Should I leave the keys with a friend and put a note on the door with  my friends phone number?    The moban has security but they speak nary a word of English so I don't see them as much of an option.

 

What would you do?    I really  didn't need this curve ball at this juncture in my life but it is just circumstances.

 

I cringe at the thought of leaving the house unlocked and leave the keys on a table.   My next step?

 

 

Added:

Just to clarify, the site I used to check on his email address said  Yahoo Fr. is not a valid address.   Maybe there is a Yahoo Fr but sadly my landlord has not notified me if he's changed his address or phone number.

Edited by watcharacters
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Lock the place up, turn off the water and electric, pay all bills  up to date write a  note and stick on the front door but get it laminated so it  wont wash away, leave your e mail address etc so u can explain why you left.

Leave the keys with someone you know here???

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Hi, are you really sure that you have keyed in the exact email address , Like using all small letters ? Have you  tried  just replying to one of his emails to you ? I would also go with a  Thai person  to the water and electricity board to get his particulars, name , phone  Number ? If you have his full name then you can find him in France. 

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What information do you have about the guy? I assume you don't have his French Phone number? If you have any other information, like in which area in France he lives (or even his French address, is that in the contract), perhaps a Google search for his name and some other information you might have would lead to finding his French phone number or other contact details?

 

Do you know if he has a Facebook account?

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How long has it been since you last had contact with him? Even if he died in the last month or two it seems odd that his email account would be closed. 

 

Were you making monthly payments into his Thai bank account? Unlikely as a foreigner that he would have owned the house solely in his name. Did he own it through a business he ran here or with a Thai "partner?" Maybe the bank manager would have information ... although he probably wouldn't share it with a third party.

 

 

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I wouldn't worry about this too much. As someone said, once you stop with the payments he will find you quick enough. But I question if you will get back your damage deposit, so it would have been better if you could have used that for rent money, and now he would not owe you anything.

 

I am not a believer of leaving a note on an outside door advertising that nobody lives there anymore. Better to put your Notice on the kitchen table as he will have another set of keys to get in.

 

Better to keep these keys until you have a sure way to give them back. They don't cost much money to make and I am sure he will have more made. He should find your contact details on the kitchen table so you have done all you could under the circumstances. If the Landlord lives in a different country, without providing contact details to his tenants, then he is the cause of this and not you.

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I would go to the Police Dept.and explain the situation and file a report. Perhaps they can give you advice.

 

They can check if he is deceased or contact a relative.

 

If they can't help I would consult with a competent, licensed lawyer. 

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4 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

How long has it been since you last had contact with him? Even if he died in the last month or two it seems odd that his email account would be closed. 

 

Were you making monthly payments into his Thai bank account? Unlikely as a foreigner that he would have owned the house solely in his name. Did he own it through a business he ran here or with a Thai "partner?" Maybe the bank manager would have information ... although he probably wouldn't share it with a third party.

 

 

If one is paying for an ISP with the associated email address, when monthly payments to the ISP stop so does the email service.

Not much grace period in my experience, when I switched to free gmail.

Perhaps if the OP notifies the bank he makes rental payments to he is leaving, the bank MAY then notify the landlord.

Unusual situation. I have an absentee landlord; however, his agent turns up every time a rent payment is due.

Edited by bazza73
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22 hours ago, trogers said:

When you stop paying the rent, he would come knocking pretty fast, if he is still around...

 

I didn't pay rent on my condo for 3 months.   My landlady didn't notice.

I've lived in this unit for almost 5 years, only seen her twice.  Once when I rented it and once a few month later when I asked if I could pay annually instead of monthly.  

She said yes and offered me a 1 month discount for annual payment, but I chose to stick to monthly.

I'm currently one month behind because I missed the payment in December.   She hasn't said anything this time either.

 

Oh and my contract was one year, hasn't been renewed and rent hasn't changed.

I have the best Landlady I know :smile:

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There is a very nice home near me...well, it's no longer nice after the years...the owner was from Germany I've been told...he died and was returned to him homeland...no one in his family was notified about his ownership of the home, through a company...I was told that the fellow died about a decade ago...no info about his next of kin available...no meaningful relationships in Thailand...so the property has been abandoned for many years...what happens to such properties, because I'm sure there are very expensive properties "out there" in limbo...

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13 minutes ago, hdkane said:

There is a very nice home near me...well, it's no longer nice after the years...the owner was from Germany I've been told...he died and was returned to him homeland...no one in his family was notified about his ownership of the home, through a company...I was told that the fellow died about a decade ago...no info about his next of kin available...no meaningful relationships in Thailand...so the property has been abandoned for many years...what happens to such properties, because I'm sure there are very expensive properties "out there" in limbo...

When property tax becomes in effect, such properties would be identified and returned to nearest next of kin, failing that, would fall to the State.

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Thanks one and all for the thoughts and  suggestions.     I can't address the cause of the matter but   can say it appeared to be basically a comedy of errors.    Neither his nor his wife's phone was working and  I didn't receive a reply he said he sent.   Yes I checked junk mail as well.

 

He called me  from in front of  the house and I invited him in.       He really is a great guy and I believe he's fully  sincere in his friendship attitude.     He was completely  understanding and cooperative regarding  my situation.

 

There is a severe language problem between us in that while he speaks according to the Missus outstanding Thai,   his English is not quite up to par.    Consequently, I really don't know exactly what happened.

 

I'm leaving a pretty decent Sony TV and a larger refrigerator along with a dozen or so pieces of  assorted furniture.     I'll also have no need for the 5K THB  pressure washer I've only used a few times.     But to his disadvantage, the washing machine has essentially given up the ghost.     And while the microwave works fine, the interior is starting to deteriorate.

 

I told him he can keep the security deposit ( a month and a half rent) to replace whatever he needs to replace.

 

All's well that ends well and I'm satisfied with the direction things are taking now.

 

P.S.    If things  had come to it, I would have opted for what's behind door #3 which was to leave a note on the door with the phone number of a friend  with whom I would have left the  keys.     I would never just skip out.   Skipping out  would be akin to the American ( fellow countryman) bastard I knew of  who upon finding an iPhone a few years ago was exploding with glee and said he'd never  even consider trying to find the owner and return it.

Edited by watcharacters
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8 hours ago, hdkane said:

There is a very nice home near me...well, it's no longer nice after the years...the owner was from Germany I've been told...he died and was returned to him homeland...no one in his family was notified about his ownership of the home, through a company...I was told that the fellow died about a decade ago...no info about his next of kin available...no meaningful relationships in Thailand...so the property has been abandoned for many years...what happens to such properties, because I'm sure there are very expensive properties "out there" in limbo...

 

I wonder what squatters rights there are here?

 

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19 minutes ago, seancbk said:

 

I wonder what squatters rights there are here?

 

Adverse possession is covered by Section 1382 of the Civil and Commercial Code.

 

You need to occupy the land for a minimum of 10 years, which is why you see some illegal encampments moved on at the 8-9 year mark.

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Just now, blackcab said:

Adverse possession is covered by Section 1382 of the Civil and Commercial Code.

 

You need to occupy the land for a minimum of 10 years, which is why you see some illegal encampments moved on at the 8-9 year mark.

 

Thanks.  That precludes going and trying to take over an McMansions laying empty around Thailadn then ;-)

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  • 1 year later...

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