Things to beware of when renting a property in Thailand

Whether you wish to rent a property for commercial use, private occupancy or just for your holidays, there are certain precautions you should take, but that, at times, may not be so easy. Here are a few tips how you can avoid problems.

Try to establish who the true owner of your selected rental property is.

Is your contact person the owner or at least someone who is authorized to act on behalf of the owner? Ownership of a property can in Thailand only be proven if the proper ownership document (Chanod) is being presented. Ideally this should be an original (as copies can be outdated). This paper is however written in the Thai language and is not always at hand.

The presentation of a purchasing contract for the house, condo or plot of land can, however, be regarded as proof of ownership.

When dealing with an established estate agent one can assume that he is authorized to let the property in question.

So that you can really enjoy your holiday accommodation in Thailand.

Holiday properties: Transfer of rental deposits - Caution

It is understandable that the lessor of a holiday property would like to have a deposit before the lessee moves into the property. Unfortunately this practice is open to all sorts of fraud. Think carefully who you want to transfer money to. If in doubt, friends of your already living here could meet the person in question and make some inquiries about him or her. You could also transfer money to a lawyer using him as a trustee. If the lessor does not provide you with concrete data such as a company name, an address, a website, names and phone numbers, photos etc. and there are no specific recommendations, you should refrain from transferring any money.

Thailand-Property-Gate only offers a communications forum. Once the interested person has made contact with the party offering a property or a service, the two parties are solely responsible for any future dealings.

Here are some tips so that renting in Thailand will not become a problem.

Thai law forbids the subletting of properties.

This law applies when there has nothing been mentioned in the rental contract about this point, but other arrangements can be agreed upon between the two parties. Especially in the case of commercial and expensive objects one should take extreme care. In high class locations it is quite common that the list af sub lessees is extremely long. Whether you want to believe any "no problem" reassurances is entirely up to you.

Rental contracts of more than three years

By law, all rental contracts with a duration of more than three years have to be recorded into the title deed (Chanod) of the property, of which one copy is held by the local land office, the other by the owner. This has to be done at the land office. The very common rental contracts of three years have only one purpose, to avoid paying taxes.

Option for the extension of a rental or lease contract in Thailand

The options for the extension or continuation of a rental or lease contract cannot be enforced by law. This is a complex matter that only a lawyer could explain to you in detail. See here a list of established local legal and law offices.