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Landlord/tenant dispute


dean
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I’d like to get your opinion on a dispute I am having with a tenant at my house in Chiangmai.  His lease started last May 22 and he has asked several times if he could extend it by 2-3 years.  I got a message from him 3 weeks ago that, because of the coronavirus in England, some of his tenants there were requesting rent reductions because of the virus, as they are allowed to under English law.  I told him to let me know how that turns out and I would try to work out something with him. Today, I got a message that there was a rat in my attic and one set of lights were fluttering, insinuating that the rat was eating the wiring (which may or may not be true).  He has been kind of a pain with his problems with the house, mainly electrical which required replacing the switch, not electrical wire eaten.  I have a teak sliding front gate that his dogs were forcing the wood apart far enough to get out, so I hired someone to put thick wire mesh over the slats but should have told him that it was his problem because of the dogs.  
anyway, I offer to have someone over to set traps for rat and fix lights.  He says he is in quarantine for coronavirus (he’s not infected but doesn’t want to catch it).  He will not let anyone in house.  He wants to move immediately and wants his 40,000 baby back.  As he is 30,000 baht in arrears on rent, I offer to pay him 10,000 baht.  As he will not be staying for the final month, he wants that month’s rent back, 20,000 baht.  I refuse, we go back and forth descending to not nice comments.  After 3 hours of almost constant messaging, he agrees to the 10,000 baht and will move out this Wednesday but leave his belongs there until May 22nd. 
Am I being a prick with him.  He kept repeating that living there was a health hazard.  Would THAI law back that up.  Any comments would be welcome.

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He is taking the piss, UK laws are only applicable in the UK unless specified in the tenancy contract.

Imagine if the boot was on the other foot and you tried t claim Thai Law in the UK, you would get totally laughed at

Thai Law section 537 thru Section 574 is all about contracts and duties of both parties

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That sounds like good advise.  I woke up at 8 and our last messenger comments were made at noon.  At one point, we threw some insults around and he came back with” you don’t know me or what I’m doing, son.”  I took that as meaning what he is doing at my house and to my house.  I told him if he either damaged my house or grounds, I would be visiting Thailand soon and visiting him and his girlfriend.  It really didn’t go very well after that.  He claimed that that statement referred to knowing what his job was.  I said I apologized if he meant it that way, instead of the more logical meaning.  As of now, he will move out on Wednesday but pick up his belongings by May 22.  I’ll see if he actually moves out on Wednesday.  If he doesn’t, it’s going to be very hard to evict him without a confrontation, as he and his girlfriend are in self quarantine, never leaving the house.  Fortunately, my Thai friend, who manages my house, is married to a policeman.

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Watch out! You do not want to be responsible for his stuff in your house. Make him sign a waiver if he is storing things in your house and that you can throw all that out on say May 25. Do not give any money back until all his things are off your property and the property is inspected. Change the locks!

 

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  • I I got a picture from my tenant this morning, saying this bird, which is crawling on an outside wall, is a health hazard.  He wants 20,000 baht to leave.   I offered him 10,000 baht in return, the difference between the 40,000 baht deposit and the 30,000 owed to finish lease on May 12.  Maybe, I should just pay him the extra 10,000 baht to get rid of him but  I don’t take very kindly to being called names and subtle threats.  I asked my manage friend to try to talk some sense into him.    I think eviction is a real possibility.

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