Condominium Owner Rights
The rights of condominium owners in Thailand is covered by the Condominium Act of 2008. This Act tells you what your rights are as an owner of a condominium unit in Thailand. The Act covers not only your property rights but also your rights before purchasing the property. This covers the developer and how the units are also marketed.
Condominium Owner Rights
The advertising of the property is important as it is covered in your purchase agreement. The size of your property and what amenities was advertised will also be in the sales agreement when you purchase the property. This is why the advertising before the property sale becomes important. This is even more important when you are buying offplan in Thailand. Also this is normally why you want to have a due diligence done on the property to ensure that what was advertised when you put down your deposit is covered in the agreement later. If the unit your bought offplan is 77 Sqm and this is what you signed for then it does not help when the unit is 75 Sqm when the remainder of your payment becomes due.
The Ministry of Interior within the law also will cover all the aspects of the sales agreement. This is done so that all aspects of the agreement is covered so that certain clauses are not added or omitted when the contract is drafted. Much like the issue above where the sizes are wrong there needs to be a legal recourse when what you bought and what you got is not the same. Every area of the development will need to be covered.
Condominium Act of 2008
This normally goes into great details tight down to the fittings and which amenities are available. These are the basic clauses which should be covered however one size does not fit all in the property market. So there are normally more details and other prescriptions are added. If it is not in the agreement then it is not going to be enforceable. This is why you have to ensure that everything discussed is included in the agreement. If you wanted clay tiles in your kitchen, then it is going to be difficult to enforce when you get standard ceramic in your kitchen. If it is not in your sales agreement then enforcing a verbal agreement is going to be costly in terms of litigation.
Your rights are further covered in the Condominium Act of 2008. These include the annual general meeting and your right to raise issues at this meeting. As an owner of a unit. The accounts have to be publicly displayed in the reception where it can be seen by everyone. The manager of the building also needs to be qualified to manage the units. This otherwise you have the right to ask for a replacement manager. Note also that services such as maintenance for the building is not carried by the unit owners for unoccupied units. The developer has to pay those and it cannot be spread over the occupied units. Any changes must be made in such a way that it does not disturb your access to your property.
Always speak to a property lawyer in Thailand for more information and assistance when buying a condo in Thailand or any other property investment.
