House lease deposit

[Whistler]

I am moving next week. My current landlord is refusing to arrange a move out inspection or agree to refunding a 15,000 baht deposit.

Any advice from forum members would be appreciated with taking it to a lawyer an obvious option.

[deankham]

Hi,

Do you have a signed contract with the renter? Did you sign this direct or using a 3rd party agent?

When we used to rent out a house we used the 'standard' thai rental agreement (wife downloaded it from a government website). It made it clear (if you could read thai!) what the deposit amount was.

It was then normally a negotiation at the end of the lease as to what was a reasonable amount to withhold.

Are you leaving at the end of the lease agreement or are you braking the lease?

Just in case not already done I'd make my own final inspection report taking images of all the rooms but also being reasonable with any damage that you might have caused and estimating the value of this damage. This can then be used as evidence when trying to claim back your deposit.

Good luck!

[Whistler]

Thanks Mr. D.

I have a signed lease agreement, I am not breaking the lease. Have taken.photos and the house is much cleaner than when I moved in, zero damage, in fact the horrid mildewed front fence was thouroghly cleaned and painted. The owner simply refuses to respond to any messages.

[DuiDui49]

Thanks Mr. D.

I have a signed lease agreement, I am not breaking the lease. Have taken.photos and the house is much cleaner than when I moved in, zero damage, in fact the horrid mildewed front fence was thouroghly cleaned and painted. The owner simply refuses to respond to any messages.

A friend of mine was renting a house 4-5 years ago near Nongsam Rong Road.1 rent upfront plus 2 month deposit.Lady that own the property live in BKK so it was a relative that rented the house out..1-2 years later the family moved out go ZERO deposit back..he and his Thai wife tryed everything..still no deposit back..So NOT recommened but he simply took down a couple year old A/C plus the waterpump..moved out and nothing was heard from the BKK lady..Most of the time is not worth the money and trouble to peruse to get lawyer involved..but up to you Whistler.Never expect to get refund back..at least with out a verbal fight.

Goodluck Whistler..//Alfie out

[Whistler]

Thanks Alfie, my expectation too but for 15k I think a lawyer is worth taking this one on. Their are two air con units I could take, but that is theft and I am not keen on that approach

[deankham]

I think with a signed lease you have a half decent chance of getting something back.

Have you paid your final month(s) rent? That is another option I used with one guy who rented. He asked to use 1 months worht of deposit to offset his final months rent, then we returned the remainder to him as cash.

I also agree with you, I'd not risk 'stealing' any property.

There is a Consumer protection board you can complain to. Was searching for the details and came across the following article from 2018. Might give some insights.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured ... hat-to-do/

[Whistler]

Ta, much appreciated. Enforcement of the law is always an issue, but on the face of it, the 2018 law is quite powerful.

[Whistler]

I had a one year lease I paid 6 months in advance on two occasions

[noosard]

Stay another month or so without paying the rent

[glalt]

Being a landlord is usually worse than being a renter. Theft and damage is common.

[samster]

I got guidance from these guys when I thought I may have a similar issue.

https://www.facebook.com/lawfirmforexpa ... tid=ZbWKwL

[Whistler]

Stay another month or so without paying the rent

So pay rent on two places?

[Whistler]

Being a landlord is usually worse than being a renter. Theft and damage is common.

So landlords stealing from good tenants is ok?

[glalt]

I have had good renters and bad renters. I always tried to rent to people I know or at least a friend of a friend. I have never asked for a deposit. Even at that, circumstances can change. I had a really good renter for a number of years. He then fell in love and moved a lady in who had a child. They got serious and she talked him into moving upcountry. When I went to take a look at the condo, there were crayon writing on the walls and the child had locked the bathroom door on the way out. The grill at the bottom of the door was knocked out and broken. Since he had been a long term good renter, I said nothing. Another friend of a friend rented and soon moved out. I went and found that the living room ceiling was dripping from the ceiling from a water leak upstairs. He never notified the condo office or gave me a call. A lot of damage could have been avoided if he had told someone. My condo has been empty for several years. It is there when I want to use it and the maintenance is 600 baht per month. I can afford to leave it empty.

Where did I hint that stealing from tenants is OK?

[Whistler]

The thread was about legal rights of tenants to recover security deposit, not an open grievance whiteboard.

Thankfully I had a couple of posters who gave very good advice, hopefully the thread will be of value to others as this forum is very handy for such situations. Galt, your post is not really on topic although I understand your frustration from bad tenants, but if you wish to air that, it should really be on another thread sharing info on how to handle bad tenants.

[deankham]

Quick follow up regarding the 'Office of the Consumer Protection Board' They have a website (and think and App) where you can submit a grievance.

https://www.ocpb.go.th/index.php?filename=index

I have a friend who had success with them last year regarding an issue with a motorcy purchase. Different subject of course, but he was very positive about their involvement and help.

[ClintBarrett]

If your current landlord refuses to arrange a check-out inspection or only offers to refund part of the deposit, you may need legal assistance. In Thailand, the body responsible for resolving disputes between tenants and landlords is the Committee for Resolution of Disputes between Tenants and Landlords. You can go to this body to resolve your problem. You can also write a formal letter to your landlord asking for an inspection when you move out and for a full refund of your deposit, as required by law. It is important to keep a copy of the letter and get confirmation of its delivery. If your landlord refuses to cooperate, you can contact a lawyer for further assistance.

[Whistler]

Update.

After getting good advice on here, I explained to the landlady the serious repercussions on collecting an excessive security deposit and being uncooperative about move out, she became very aware that I would pursue this and caved in. She does not have the deposit to repay so I have an agreement in writing to pay in a few instalments.

No doubt some cultural differences in dispute handling, but while firm I let her save face