Land purchase
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A large number of foreigners lease land over the long term since they cannot own land in their name as a freehold. The foreign tenant does not own any interest in the land. This is generally completely acceptable with the Thai government and the foreigner can have a wide spectrum of rights to the land during the term of the lease. The Foreigner may, if the lease stipulates it, even be able to own any building structure on the land in his name.
If the Lessee is renting an undeveloped piece of land and he or she intends to build his or her own structural building (house) on the designated land, it is best to specify the ownership of the building in the original agreement. If it is not specified and the lease expires, then the building will be considered the property of the landowner.
If the tenant would like to transfer his rights to the land he will be limited to assigning those rights to the land to a third party (if allowed by the Lessor or the lease). In order to be valid, any lease longer than a three year period must be registered with the local Land Office where the land is located. Leases for up to three years may be entered into with a simple contract and do not need to be registered. Any lease longer than 3 years would be registered at the local Land Office and on the back of the title deed or Certificate of Use. Registering the lease at the local Land Office allows any potential third party purchasers of the land to know the tenant’s rights to the land during the period of the lease. If a third party buyer was to buy it, the tenant’s rights would be acquired for the remainder of the term of the lease.
Many foreigners are told by sellers or developers that they can get the initial 30-year lease plus the second term of 30 years plus an additional third term 30-year lease option. However, under the Civil Commercial Code, only the first 30 years is guaranteed valid for the tenant’s rights to the lease (once the lease is registered at the local Land Office). There are court decisions which indicate that the renewal clause is personal to the landlord and thus may not be binding on his heirs or future landlords (Lessor).
Also, a lease contract can contractually bind the lessor to agree to a second term of 30 years, but again this is only enforceable after the owner of the land goes with the tenant to the Land Office and registers a 2nd term of 30 years. If the owner of the land does not wish to register the second term of thirty years, the tenant could file a lawsuit with the civil court against the owner, the reason being a breach of a contract between two individuals.
A lease for industrial or commercial purposes can be granted for a term of up to 50 years and this may also include an option to renew for a further 50 years.
What we can do
Thinking what we can do for you? Usually, the contract is drafted in the Thai language. But we draft the contract in the English language if required. We recommend you to include family members in the contract. It is better to make young adults the co-lessees. This may be useful in case of demise of parents. The children will carry on the full term of the lease period.
Moreover, when registration is taking place, it will have your name in the title deed. The lease contract is linked to the title deed and handled at the Land Department. If you are a foreigner, you are allowed to build a house on the land. This is only possible if the lease agreement allows it. The permit of construction must be in your name and the house will be in your name.
Why Sunbelt is the Best
We offer complete legal protection services for preparation of the lease agreement. Along with this, our experts represent you in the Land Office.
The answer to why Sunbelt is the best is that we prepare and review the lease agreement. Following are some of our services:
- Giving comments on the terms of the lease agreement
- Negotiating alterations as required to protect our client’s interest
- Verify the lease agreement.
Apart from this, we offer service of registration of transfer ownership as well. They include:
- Registering on our client’s behalf
- Preparation of application and supporting documents needed for the registration of the lease.
We aim at providing top notch services for our clients. For the sellers, we can draft the contract and negotiate with the buyer. While for the buyer, we can do a title search and review the contract before they sign.
Property Law
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