Rental Scam in Cha Am, Beware!!!

[JAFO]

I pondered whether or not I wanted to post this but I felt(as did my GF) that it was important and the right thing to do to help others avoid being scammed by this couple. While I am angry about how they scammed me it is more important that this info be out there so others will not get caught by them.

I will try and keep it objective but I may drift..I apologize in advance

The house in question is located almost exactly half way between Cha am and Hua Hin on the beach side. The address is 918/3 Chaiyoen rd, Phetburi 76120. Here is the picture of the property





Oct 2011: When we rented the place we did a walk through and listed things we saw wrong with the place before renting it. The owner said "No problem, we will fix them before you move in". We paid them their cleaning deposit 30K baht to secure it and agreed on a 1 year rental agreement and said we would move in a few weeks. So we rented a truck and 3 weeks later called and said we were on our way. When we arrived he had not fixed anything. My GF asked why, His sneaky wife said "Oh we will do it now". So we went on their word and weeks past and nothing. We reminded them of the rental agreement and that they said they would fix it. Never happened.

Nov 2011. The place has a pool and he had complained the previous Farang renter let it go green and it was a mess to clean. Being I had 2 houses with pools in the US keeping up a pool is an easy deal. So he filled the pool and off we went. He had a chlorinator and timer and all seemed in order. Well after about a month I was struggling to keep the pool from turning green. I was analyzing the water and there was no chlorine. I called the owner and asked him to show me the system. He sent his son who is a clueless clown. He could not answer any of my questions. So out of boredom I spent a few hours and followed the plumbing. It is all wrong. The water skims the top but does not pull water from the bottom so the chlorinator only generates enough chlorine to keep the first 3” of water proper while the other 7 feet is just sitting stagnate. The only way to keep the pool suitable is "shocking" the pool. Its is plumbed completely wrong and if it was right, the chlorinator is inadequate and you would have to run the pump 10 hrs a day to keep it stable.

Dec 2011, We kept noticing a sewer smell in both bathrooms. I did some digging around and found he added a bathroom to the house and the drains sit lower then the sewer out to the street thus it backs up and sit, only way is flush the toilet about 5 times to get it cleared.

Jan 2012 About 3 months into the rental he started calling us and asking if we wanted to buy the place. His price 3.5mil bht. I told him I was not interested in buying anything at this time. He offered he would finance us. I declined (there are simply way to many things wrong with the house). The the sneaky bastard sent a lady over to ask if the house was for sale as she pretended to have an interested party. I said "Call the owners". She asked if I was going to buy. I said "No, I am a renter". I never heard from the owner then I put it all together. The dickhead was scamming us to buy it by trying to fear us of losing his little dream castle.

Feb 2012 An AC unit head was not blowing cold air. I called the owner and he said I need to fix it because I am using it. We argued a bit and I succumbed to it as it was warm. Also about this time the guy behind us decided to take up chicken farming and the shit smell was horrific when the wind turned. I also mentioned we had critters living in the roof(I suspect rats as slowly each light was burning out and they must have been eating the wiring)

March 2012: By now the pool is an all out chore to sustain. I called the owner over and over and he would not come out. I had my GF call to tell them they are not holding up their end of the rental agreement. They would not return calls. Near the end of March we called them and said we wanted to meet with them about the house. I left it opened ended figuring they would be stupid enough to come thinking I wanted to buy it. They both came. I sat them down with my GF and said I want out of the agreement. I cited the house is not what they said it was, they have done nothing to fix the problems they agreed too and it appears they are actively trying to sell it and I do not want to be hit with a 30 day move out deal. I also cited that while out of his control the chicken farm is not what I signed up for. They were pissed but said OK. We said we would be out by April 30th.

At this time I decided that I wanted to move back to the US and the plan was not only to move out but pack to return(They did not know this). We called the owners and told them to please come by on April 23rd. I said we will have the place cleaned and ready. He said OK. My GF called to confirm on the 17th and she said that her husband was out of town and would not be back until Apr 24(Convenient huh?) So my GF said well she could come by, The lady said "Oh its my husbands dealing not mine and I cannot"(convenient again). My GF called again on Friday and no answer, she kept calling and calling. So I am livid now as I know the game they are playing. I know the entire time they were not going to give me my deposit back. On the day I was moving a neighbor farang came by and saw we were moving. He asked if we got screwed by the owners. I laughed and said "Yeah". He said "you are not the only one, they did it my friend who was here before you" So this is why I think it is important to warn others. In the end we did not clean the place at all, in fact we stopped watering the bushes and they all started to die. The pool was a green algae bath, and both bathrooms had backed up with shit and smelled horrifically. We also took all the keys because they had the goddamn gall to text my GF and ask us to leave the keys in the mail box.

Outside the scamming practices of the owners here is a list of everything wrong with the property.

1) There are large cracks in every wall in every room and all along the roof lines
2) The roof leaks in the kitchen and back rooms
3) Both Ac units are old and need to be replaced.
4) All the screens are ripped and worn out
5) The pool is plumbed all wrong and needs to be torn up and fixed and the Jacuzzi does not work
6) The water pump by the 2 side tanks does not operate automatically, it needs to be manually run
7) Routinely the city shuts off the water for hours so you are manually running the pump
There are rats in the roof living
9) The neighbors behind is raising chickens and it smells bad
10) The MB bathroom is plumbed below the sewer line thus backing up
11) All the outlets in the house all need to be replaced as when you plug anything in the push into from the fascia mount.
12) The paint is peeling off all the walls and pillars by the front door.

He will promise to fix all of these things, and will not. Do not trust these people. My lesson cost me 30K baht. Do not let it be a 3.5million baht mistake.

[kendo]

Thank you for a very good detailed heads up, on your experience, i am sorry for you that it turned sour, but hay fella it's a rental.

Now a new chicken farm next door will bring rats from a large radius and also snakes, i know from up in my village up north snakes will wait until most villagers go and cut the rice and the cunning little sods go and feast on the chicks running around and will also go for the big one's if hungry enough and not disturbed ,the snakes will also come in after the rats.

Thai plumbing is always poor maybe you should think lucky escape on this one and walk away buddy.

Kendo. i wish you guys well, chok dee.

[JAFO]

Kendo,
Yes...really its no problem, I was angry about being lied too but the 30K baht is not sending me to the poor house. I wrote the money off the day I handed it over.

I felt it my obligation to help other farangs avoid the scam. I am not the first but if we do not post these things then others will never know. As we all know in Thailand there are no full disclosures so they will never say anything to an unsuspecting renter and buyer. This could be a 3.5Mil Baht nightmare for the unsuspecting buyer.

I did my part to make it known.

[advocate]

Keeping the rental deposit is a common scam here, most Thais have no intention of returning it, and the money is often already spent.

Last house we rented we left in better condition thean when we moved in. They kept stalling for 2 months regarding returning the deposit.

My wife finally told them unless they returned the deposit, that she was going to calll her high ranking policeman uncle to sort it out. We got the money right away.

[aragon]

What a nightmare, with the condition of that slum you could have been seriously injured, so I guess the only good thing to come out of it was that you weren't, fortunately. Have a safe journey back to the States, a little older and a lot wiser.

[advocate]

A modest house like this, in this location far from city center, usually rents for 8,000-10,000 Bt, maybe 12,000 bt max since it has a pool. Most Thais ask for 2 months deposit but will often accept 1 month. If you are asked for more than 2 months deposit, there is a good possibility that the landlord views the deposit as key money and has no intention of returning it.

Good idea to add a clause in the contract saying the deposit will be returned within 7 days of vacating the property. Without a timeline it is difficult to argue that the owner is in breach of contract by illegally witholding payment. They can simply say they intend to pay in the future.

Always try and make sure you are dealing directly with the owner, and that you pay the deposit at the same time you receive the keys and make sure they work, not before. Friends of the owner acting as "agent" have been known to piss the deposit away on booze or gambling, and if the actual owner does not receive the deposit, they won't want to give you the keys.

It's also a good idea to wait until all repairs and cleaning have been completed before paying anything. Just tell them you are interested in renting it, but that you won't/can't live in it as is, and won't sign a contract to rent any house that is not ready to move in. There are a lot of empty rentals right now to choose from.

[Pleng]

Keeping the rental deposit is a common scam here, most Thais have no intention of returning it, and the money is often already spent.

It's reasonably common in England, too, to be fair.

In England we often get around it by simply not paying the last month's rent. Is that a good idea here? Or does one risk an uncomfortable confrontation by playing that card?

[advocate]

Thai people commonly with not pay the last months rent and tell the landlord to keep the deposit money instead. Some landlords will not agree to this and this is often an indication they intend to keep the deposit.

However, the deposit exists for a reason, to protect the owners property. Landlords can also be ripped off if the property is left a mess.

[dtaai-maai]

Keeping the rental deposit is a common scam here, most Thais have no intention of returning it, and the money is often already spent.

It's reasonably common in England, too, to be fair.

In England we often get around it by simply not paying the last month's rent.

Is this correct?
I rented formally through an agent for a year or so in the UK.
I obviously had no way of knowing how much of my deposit would be returned, but I'm pretty sure that if I'd refused to pay my rent, I would have been taken to court.
I'm no expert, but I thought the whole renting system was quite rigorously regulated on both sides.

[Pleng]

Thai people commonly with not pay the last months rent and tell the landlord to keep the deposit money instead. Some landlords will not agree to this and this is often an indication they intend to keep the deposit.

Yes but I'm talking about situations where you don't agree it with the landlord in advance. You just don't pay in the first place. Is that likely to end in tears here..?

Keeping the rental deposit is a common scam here, most Thais have no intention of returning it, and the money is often already spent.

It's reasonably common in England, too, to be fair.

In England we often get around it by simply not paying the last month's rent.

Is this correct?
I rented formally through an agent for a year or so in the UK.
I obviously had no way of knowing how much of my deposit would be returned, but I'm pretty sure that if I'd refused to pay my rent, I would have been taken to court.
I'm no expert, but I thought the whole renting system was quite rigorously regulated on both sides.

The thing is; if you don't pay the last month's rent, and they can't prove there's any damage to the property, what can they do? Take you to court for money they already have in the form of the deposit?

I'll admit if you've smashed the **** out of the place, and THEN don't pay the last month's rent you're likely to get taken to court. But if you leave the place in as good a condition as you found it in, then they'd have very little grounds to sue you on.

[dtaai-maai]

This was more than 10 years ago, but if I remember correctly, the rent was about 700 UKP and the deposit 1400. I don't remember how much of the deposit I got back, but if it wasn't all, it wasn't far short. I'd have lost a lot of money doing it your way.

What I really meant was (and I'm not trying to be difficult ), are you sure this is common practise or are you just saying that's what you would do?

[advocate]

Th UK, as with most western countries, is heavily regulated regarding rental contracts.
They often even have separate courts just for rental disputes. Not so here.

Thais don't use clauses allowing the use of the deposit in lieu of paying last month's rent. But it is commonly done and I think a lot of landlords here expect this. If the property has been kept nicely and even improved, they are less likely to complain.

In cases where the property is a mess/damaged, I expect they would take steps to see you out of the house asap, by any means necessary. I would.

[richard]

How many Thais are paying tax on rental income?

Seem to remember a former landlady backing off when I asked for my rental details to disclose to immigration and police for my visa requirements

Keep the place up to scratch or even better if you improve (with approval of course) and any dispute about rental merely means you do not pay rent for your last 1, 2 or 3 months you are there. Doubt whether they'd take you to court providing you do have a proper contract as too expensive and you'd flee before the hearing no doubt. Only worry would be family and friends of the landlord appearing with guns, knives, staves etc

[BingoBango]

In the UK when we rent out our properties the bond/deposit is paid into a government backed deposit scheme, this was introduced after landlords were spending/holding deposits even though nothing was damaged in the property, the landlord and tenant both get a password and both enter their details and satisfaction at the end of contract.

http://www.depositprotection.com/

It has only just become the norm in England so I would think 0 or 40 years in Hua Hin.

This way the Landlord never gets hold of the deposit unless there is damage.

If the rent is 600 per month the bond would be around 700, you would pay 600 to the landlord and 700 by way of cheque/bank transfer to the deposit protection scheme.

This only applies if it is an office rent and not a back hander to a private landlord, but tenants then run the risk of having trouble with the house been gas and electric safe.

I know things in Thailand are very different but its an idea to try to uphold these when renting property both ways.

I could just imagine the look on 99% of thai property owners faces when it was suggested to them that the deposit was held by a non profit making third party

[STEVE G]

Thai people commonly with not pay the last months rent and tell the landlord to keep the deposit money instead. Some landlords will not agree to this and this is often an indication they intend to keep the deposit.

Yes, we moved out of a rented house earlier this year and the landlady actually suggested this herself when we gave her notice that we were leaving. I know from the stories of others that renting can be problematic at times but I had a rented house in Hua Hin for eight years and was very pleased with the experience. For one thing the rent stayed at the same rate for the whole period when property prices in the area have perhaps doubled, which I thought was a pretty good deal.
The landlady was a rather pleasent elderly Chinese-Thai lady and everything was always dealt with in a very polite and friendly fashion. I never payed the rent without coming back with a small gift of a cake or some other snack.