New laws provide greater protection for people who rent property in Thailand

[Media1]

Owning 5 properties for this law to operate ? What type of Thai stupidity is that. LOL

Waste of time 

[Media1]

3 hours ago, kcpattaya said:

Not very thoughtful.
Yet another one "brilliant idea" that completely misses the point... 

stupidity you must own 5 properties to follow the law. if not you can still rob lol

[mogandave]

And the landlord can give you 30 day notice and return SD?

 

Sure, but last month is free

[worgeordie]

1 hour ago, tomster said:

One month is the standard deposit in the UK for example, the 2 months deposit normally done here is unreasonable. It seems to exists so agents can charge a full month commision which on properties worth more than 10k is quite frankly ridiculous.

 

One month deposit and an agency fee is much more realistic, anything that moves the market towards this is a positive move.

Do you realise how much damage a bad tenant can cause,plus if they do a

runner and leave you with utility bills outstanding, one months security deposit

is not going to cover it,we have only withheld the deposit of one tenant (Thai)

in many years,they cause so much damage,stole all the curtains,3  teak doors !

all the remotes for A/c,Auto gate,and left 2 months utility bills,and left the house

like a shit hole.

regards worgeordie

[car720]

Must return bond money within 7 days.

A Thai return money? 

[Jimbo in Thailand]

This is fantastic news!  A Norwegian buddy has been paying between 3000-5000 baht/month for electricity only in a teeny tiny 1 bedroom 'micro' rental house, for a couple of years.  He also pays 400-500 baht/month for water.  He mostly lives alone so he's barely using any electricity or water.  When he complained to the Thai landlord shortly after moving in, she simply said, "If you don't like it, move out."  This past week PEA has been installing individual new electric meters at all of the houses in that rental complex.  Now I know why.  It will be interesting to see if the <expletive deleted> b1tch raises his, and the other tenants', rent (which wasn't cheap to begin with).       

[jerry921]

Personally, I think 2 month's security deposit is reasonable for a furnished apartment, especially a high-end one. But two months is unreasonable for an unfurnished place.

 

It does look to me like owners will be forced to charge the per-month rate regardless of lease term and stop giving discounts to people who rent for a year. That's unfortunate.

 

But I see a way around the law - simply create a company to hold 4 properties. Then create another company to hold 4 more... etc. It should be possible to tangle and obfuscate ownership to the point where the renter has no effective chance to prove that the new law should be followed.

[YoungBrit]

53 minutes ago, mogandave said:

I think the 30 day's notice is reasonable, assuming the tenant forfeits the security deposit. 

I believe it's stating 30days notice and the landlord needs to return the deposit.

 

 

[smutcakes]

27 minutes ago, mogandave said:

 

Sure, but last month is free

Why free?

[RichardColeman]

With the turnover of non paying thai tenants near me, I think the problem is with people wanting something for free that they can walk away from. Had three landlords since being here, all ok, fixed the roof when tiles off, all repairs done in a week, hell, they even changed the light bulbs for us.

[Thailand]

Nothing to get excited about easy to get around so no real change.

 

The 5 properties requirement nullifies most situations. 

[OldSiamHand]

1 hour ago, mogandave said:

I think the 30 day's notice is reasonable, assuming the tenant forfeits the security deposit. 

Although I'm neither a lessor or lessee in Thailand, I agree that this would be reasonable.  I'm not sure if this new law is clear on that point, however.

[srowndedbyh2o]

Quote

Additionally, a tenant now has the right to terminate their contract at any time, providing they give 30 days written notice to the landlord.

Doesn’t seem fair to the landlord. I could see some “Cheap Charlie” that has no intention of a long-term stay, sign a one year contract to get a cheaper monthly rate, then just bailing out after two months (giving notice after first 30 days). The landlord should have the right to higher monthly rents on the shorter term stays.

[gunderhill]

50 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

Do you realise how much damage a bad tenant can cause,plus if they do a

runner and leave you with utility bills outstanding, one months security deposit

is not going to cover it,we have only withheld the deposit of one tenant (Thai)

in many years,they cause so much damage,stole all the curtains,3  teak doors !

all the remotes for A/c,Auto gate,and left 2 months utility bills,and left the house

like a shit hole.

regards worgeordie

Not our room but I remember a  man who cut short his  stay by about 7  months out of a contract and then when told the security deposit  would be forfeited he proceed to  cut the air  con pipes, washing machine pipes  and damage as much as he could, scratching all kitchen cupboard  doors, furniture breaking the bed etc etc

These  new rules are OBSCENE.

Many tenants are quite dirty/careless in fact Id say the majority, many move in and out without ever  cleaning.

[mogandave]

Why free?

If the landlord wants to kick me out, he can eat the last month’s rent.

If I want out of the lease early, he keeps the security.

Seems fair to me.

Otherwise, as soon as he finds someone else he wants to move in, he can kick me out and suffered no penalty.

Whoever breaks the lease should suffer some penalty.

[SunsetT]

1 hour ago, alex8912 said:

. A first month rent a last month rent AND a one month security deposit are fair to charge. I actually doubt just one month is normal in the UK

Im a small scale landlord in the UK, not in London,  and, some years ago after renting myself for 1 yr in the US where this is the norm, I tried doing the same for my UK apartments. But most people simply couldnt afford to pay so much money up front so I was forced to return to asking for one month's rent and apprx. one month's rent rounded up to the nearest £50 as a deposit. This IS the norn in the UK. Tenants, having been ripped off by previous landlords, often do withold their last month's rent to ensure they get their deposit back, and this doesnt leave enough to cover any cleaning, repairs and replacements over and above average wear and tear. I also believe that this year legislation is being introduced in the UK making it illegal  for landlords to take more than one month's rent as a deposit. When I lived in the US I was shocked at the numbers of homeless living on the streets and I later came to realise that 3mths rent up front contributes to homelessness because it makes it so difficult to get back into rented accommodation after falling onto hard times and becoming homeless. I believe homelessness is skyrocketing in the UK and is why the law on deposits is being changed this year.

 

[swoods58]

I live in a condo complex in Hua Hin with maybe 20 rooms rented on longer term contracts to Farangs and many others on hotel like arrangements. Is the owner of the building considered to own more than 5 properties as he has more than 5 leases or is the building one property? I too pay about 50% higher than the PEA rate for electricity and would like it to be reduced.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

[halloween]

30 minutes ago, gunderhill said:

Not our room but I remember a  man who cut short his  stay by about 7  months out of a contract and then when told the security deposit  would be forfeited he proceed to  cut the air  con pipes, washing machine pipes  and damage as much as he could, scratching all kitchen cupboard  doors, furniture breaking the bed etc etc

These  new rules are OBSCENE.

Many tenants are quite dirty/careless in fact Id say the majority, many move in and out without ever  cleaning.

May be a cultural difference there. I asked the g/f about arranging cleaning after a long term rental, and she said not our responsibility.

 

BTW that landlord will be affected, as he was adding around 50% to electricity and charging a B1000 annual lease renewal fee.  

[Zack61]

3 hours ago, Autonuaq said:

Poor landlord?

You have to take care and do maintenance of the property.

And for that you collect rent and a part is for the maintenance.

There is no poor landlord. Only people who not take care.

 

And this new law address some of the problems.

Pretty sure poor was meant to reflect quality not wealth. 

[Grumpy Duck]

So, if a landlord owns more than 4 condos or a mansion has 100 units they are subject to new laws?

 

Also, are people who made a 3 month rent deposit entitled to a refund of the excess?

[DrTuner]

Right, so make a new company for each 4 flats and on it goes.

[riclag]

So the MRS laughed and said, The law only paper

[SunsetT]

1 hour ago, swoods58 said:

I live in a condo complex in Hua Hin with maybe 20 rooms rented on longer term contracts to Farangs and many others on hotel like arrangements. Is the owner of the building considered to own more than 5 properties as he has more than 5 leases or is the building one property? I too pay about 50% higher than the PEA rate for electricity and would like it to be reduced.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 

Yes I was wondering the same; will it be more than 5 apartments or 5 apartment blocks? And yes it will be great if the rip off 8thb to 10thb per unit apartment rates are reduced to the rate that people pay when billed direct from the electricity company.

[newnative]

Nice it has that 5 unit clause.   If you have less than 5 units it looks like you are still in the driver's seat.

[mogandave]

3 hours ago, alex8912 said:

I hope you mean they pay their  last month rent ( after giving the 30 day notice) and the security deposit of one month rent is used as a early termination/ lease break fee. If that’s not what you mean then I call BS! 

That is what I meant. 

[OldSiamHand]

1 hour ago, Grumpy Duck said:

So, if a landlord owns more than 4 condos or a mansion has 100 units they are subject to new laws?

No

 

1 hour ago, Grumpy Duck said:

Also, are people who made a 3 month rent deposit entitled to a refund of the excess?

 

Yes

[NotThatGuy]

Well this is stupid.

 

1. Had tennants not pay last months rent and damage the room. 1 month deposit is worthless if they destroyed the room.

 

2. Can’t lock them out? So they don’t pay rent and get all their shit out and bounce? Great.

 

3. Cut the contract? So if the tenant asked for a discount based on a long term contract they get to bounce 3 months into it and i paid the agency? Great!

 

wow someone doesn’t get the market.

[mogandave]

4 minutes ago, NotThatGuy said:

Well this is stupid.

 

1. Had tennants not pay last months rent and damage the room. 1 month deposit is worthless if they destroyed the room.

 

2. Can’t lock them out? So they don’t pay rent and get all their shit out and bounce? Great.

 

3. Cut the contract? So if the tenant asked for a discount based on a long term contract they get to bounce 3 months into it and i paid the agency? Great!

 

wow someone doesn’t get the market.

Be thankful you're not in California...

[kolkolkol]

The gist of the question is who will enforce this and how much is the tea money.

[newnative]

  The interesting thing to me is that if you are leasing 5 or more properties you are deemed to be operating a 'residential property leasing business'.  Which means that if you are a farang you will likely need a work permit--or risk being turned in by an unhappy tenant.