Problems with committee of apartment

[Rinrat0]

This applies to airbnb in Thailand

Our apartment building  has recently put up very threatening signs about short-term stay. The sign says ‘that day/week rental are not allowed and illegal. They also report that travellers who do not report to the juristic person will be sent to the police station as a trespasser and will be prosecuted by maximum law.’ It also asks other residents to notify the juristic office if they believe people to be staying on day/week rental.

As owners, I am not really worried about the signs even though there is a police station located nearby. However I am worried about the effect on our guests.

Since the sign has been put up, the security guards seem to be more difficult and are asking many more questions. The last guests who stayed with us said that they did not feel comfortable staying in the building.

Therefore we decided to notify our short term guests and many of them feel uncomfortable staying with us. However they do not feel they should cancel as they will receive a cancellation fee.

Can you please advise what to do as we want to keep a good relationship with Airbnb? We have currently made the building unavailable to book until we receive some advice. We could cancel all the bookings, but we would be penalized financially by your website and lose our super host status. Even if we are not breaking Thai law, the building could make the experience uncomfortable for our guests.

We have a guest arriving tonight which we will allow to stay but the other guests are not happy staying with us. They have told us that they have already booked other accommodation. What do you recommend? Some of the bookings were instant book and we are currently a superhost.

Thanks for your help

Marek 

[Emma-Mah0]

Hi, I used to see the same problem in other building. The committee said they have the pressure from some co-owners. I am not good about Thai Law. But when Uber could be accepted , Airbnb could be accepted too. In my opinion, the current Thai hotel law or regulation need some changes. Wish will have "airbnb" regulation in Thailand soon. 

[Anthony50]

Yeah we are getting the same problem at my condo. Some of the committee are unhappy with having AirB&B short lets. In any event all people staying overnight should be registered with the condominium management for safety and for immigration purposes as far as I know any foreighner staying must be reported to the immigration office:

From another post:

"Notification of residence of foreigners for businesses
According to section 38 of the 1979 immigration act, "House owners, heads of household, landlords or managers of hotels who accommodate foreign nationals on a temporary basis who stay in the kingdom legally, must notify the local immigration authorities within 24 hours from the time of arrival of the foreign national." If there is no immigration office in the province or locality of the respective house or hotel, the notification is made to the local police station. In Bangkok the notification is made to the Immigration Bureau. The notification of residence of foreign nationals is made by the manager of licensed hotels according to the hotel act, owners of guesthouses, mansions, apartments and rented houses using the form TM. 30.
The notification of residence of foreign nationals within 24 hours can be made in a number of ways to make the notification as convenient as possible"
http://www.immigration.go.th/

[Mathias13]

Hi everyone,

i received a similar leter today stating that short term renatals are in conflict with the Hotel Act due to the need of a proper hotel license. Have one of you recently talked to a lawyer or an update how to deal with this issue?! 

As I see it currently, we would need to unlist our property or chang the minimum stay to 30 days.

Regards

Mathias

[Randal0]

I don't think there is one answer for everyone.    You need to find out what the laws are in your state/country.    And more than that, you need to find out what the rules are for the condo you live in.     For example, the condo that I live in (Hawaii) doesn't allow for a person to rent a unit for less than 1 year so regardless of what the state law might be, the condo rules make it clear that the units can't be rented for a short time.

If a person ignores the condo rules, there's a good chance that a lawyer for the condo will send the renter a warning and then a penalty fee for breaking the condo rules including legal fees.

[Aoi0]

Hi, everyone,

This is Aoi from Tokyo.

I have two flats, the sam problem occured to one of them.

So I have to close one list, and keep the other one only.

In Tokyo, I can find the local Japanese to rent my place although the income is much less than Airbnb , and even our building is really exculsive and beautiful. 

The hosts here in Tokyo are still fighting for the new law of Airbnb.

I do not understand why the committee is so powerful everywhere. 

Besides, there is lots of anger from the hotel owners because of the lower price of airbnb rooms, which took away lots of ex-hotel guests.

Well, to be honest, I personally think the local airbnb office need to work out something with the local hosts.

Best luck to you all. 

[Isavaret0]

Today I just faced the same problem with Miss Rinrat. Juristic office will sue me and the others who run the short term or daily rental. Eventhough I explained to the committees that it's exceptional for daily rental who runs the daily rental under 4 rooms or 20 persons. I need the fully support from Airbnb. Otherwise, I will closed my airbnb account. Let's see what is going on 

[Karn0]

We have just received the same notice, it sounds like we will have to close our place down as well. It would be nice if AirBnb could help out here and offer some advice.

[Karn0]

There is a law against almost anything in Thailand. Prostitution, driving on the wrong side of the road, driving on the pavement, driving at 180 km/hr, dumping truckloads of rubish on your doorstep, I could go on and on. The fact is that most of these laws are almost never inforced unless someone complains about it.

There is a law against renting a room for less than 30 days in a complex with more than 4 rooms, and I would say that means every single condo advertised on AirBnb is rented out against the law.As far as I know, knowone has ever been procesecuted under this law.

The law is only going to be a problem if the condo Nazi(s) in your building find out what you are doing and gets their nose out of joint and decide you need to be stopped. There are a lot of "holier than though" Thais than you might think, they breed like flies in Bangkok. It's hard to avoid these people, they are most likely to be the ones who think they are higher up on the social ladder than you are and have nothing better to do.

[Carmen114]

We've got the exact same problem. It's pretty scary...

[Noi1]

We are facing the same problem and it would be great to see the official law and regulations from official side. However, it seams to be very difficult to get clarity about the legal situation of what rules apply for renting out a property in Thailand.

[Dirk2]

Hi, 

Every day I am informed on the warning that says that short term rentals are not allowed, since yesterday also dsplayed in the condo where I rent out a studio under Airbnb. 

Main problem is what to do with all the guests who booked long time in advance (until April) and paid already? ..... And avoiding Airbnb sanctions by canceling their bookings? 

Is there anyone in this Community Forum who got any reply or advice from Airbnb Thailand on this problem ? 

I feel very frusrated indeed not finding any from them.

Please let us know what to do for the best of Airbnb, for our guests and for us (hosts)

Any Airbnb advice is expected and would be most welcome. 

Dirk, 

Bangkok

[Alpha1]

I have the same problem & Airbnb do nothing ! No guidance on next steps & no support at all....

[Dirk2]

What is Airbnb waiting for to give us any advice or help ??????????????

[Rainer19]

My question:

what is the committee of apartment?

Is it a governmental authority or a team of the building you are living in?

Rainer