Cam Nivag wrote:I'm enjoying this thread. Here's my question. Can your "removalist" really remove everything and put the place back in the same condition is was in when you rented it, without leaving a lot of holes in the wall and whatnot?

Was there other non-professional cable installed that you ripped out and disposed of?

I'm not taking the landlord's side, I'm just saying that your position will be stronger if you can put the premises back in the same condition and not leave it looking like a bank foreclosed Las Vegas home that the homeowner stripped everything out of before departing.

I'm glad you're enjoying the thread - no doubt you'll enjoy another good chuckle over OTOF.

The removalist (quotes not required, that's his registered profession) will "bump" (see, quotes required) us in a day, especially as we're boxing our stuff before he gets here. It's not his job to bog the holes (screw holes, a/c plumbing holes, etc.) - I'll do that myself and gt a tradie in to do the stuff I can't reach. No, there was no existing cable to be replaced. New cable TV, new internet connection, new LAN.

Fortunately I can start dismantling the guest room and all it's improvements in private, and get a head start on the job.

juansweetpotato wrote:Are you Khmer?

Yes, right down to my long red (well, graying) beard and body hair.

ExPenhMan wrote:As per the video mentioned above, I've taken to doing a video of conditions when I move into a place. Nothing has gone wrong in the past but should I make improvements, I want proof of the past condition. You might do this in your new place, Stroppy.

Good advice - and what I'll be saying to any friends who are thinking about leasing a place and then improving it.

I guess the warning should have been the landlord saying "you can make any improvement you want as long as you pay for it" before we moved in - I've never expected him to repay any of the improvements, but to shit all over the work we've done and are making a point of gifting to him, and then offer less than 50% of the installed price of a/c's is beyond it.

only just taken the time to read this,
i remember i had problems when i moved out my apartment before coming back to England a few months ago,

When i first moved into my apartment the original agreement was it was a month by month payment and that they would use my deposit as my last months rent, My rent was due on the 10th of every month, i told them about 4 weeks in advance that id be leaving on the 7th, they told me i had to pay for my last months rent, i told them about the original agreement about the deposit to which they acted like it never happened, and said id get my deposit when i left, so i agreed to pay for the final month to let them save face, it wasnt too much of an issue really,
when the 6th came around (the day before i was due to leave) we met up to sort out my bills for the final month, they took the (higher than normal) bill out my deposit and gave me the remainder...
i ended up going out and having a lot of farewell drinks with all my friends, ended up getting royally drunk, ended up waking up in my room 3 hours late for my bus, so i ended up having to stay an extra night, they obviously came knocking on my door and were asking why i was still here, i told them i missed my bus and that id be staying another night, they started muttering some stuff about staying (i think they were trying to imply i should pay to stay the extra night) to which i told them id already paid up until the 10th so i quite entitled to stay an extra day, to which they agreed then they started talking about my bills for staying an extra day, which is fair enough, but they demanded a $10 deposit for the electric, i tried to be reasonable and explain to them that my bus was very early in the morning and i had to drop my moto off and stuff as well and wouldnt have time to mess around in the morning, i think my average electric bill was around $30pm (iirc) i offered to pay $3 up front and they could keep the change, and they said but what if your bill is $5? i was like there is no way in hell id use $5 electric in one evening, i reluctantly paid the $10 deposit as i wasnt getting anywhere other than annoyed, and told them to make sure some one was ready to sort my bill at 7am,
come the morning no one was around to sort my bill (which i expected) i had to get one of their family members to call him to get him down to which i had to waid 20-30minutes, he then spent 10mins re insepecting the room, another 10mins to check the meter (i was like 15mins away from my bus leaving now and i still had to drop my bike off) finally gives me my recipt for my half day electric, low and behold it was $5, i didnt even have time to argue, but i made it very clear i wasnt happy, the money is not really the issue its the principle,
it was surprising really as like you everything was fine up until the point i had to leave, never had any problems and was always friendly, but when i left the mood/atmosphere had definitely changed

glad i didnt have to go through what you did though haha, mine only seemed like a big deal at the time as i was pretty skint and was watching my pennies lol

Jamie_Lambo wrote:i remember i had problems when i moved out my apartment before coming back to England a few months ago...

I really hate race-based generalisations as they are usually just racism - but many good people have told me now that you never know the true colours of a Khmer landlord until they know you're leaving - at which point greed kicks in. I hate it.

StroppyChops wrote:

Jamie_Lambo wrote:i remember i had problems when i moved out my apartment before coming back to England a few months ago...

I really hate race-based generalisations as they are usually just racism - but many good people have told me now that you never know the true colours of a Khmer landlord until they know you're leaving - at which point greed kicks in. I hate it.

they was always really good, my toilet broke, they fixed it no problem, there was the odd occasion when i didnt pay my rent on time (drove out to Kampot for a little holiday and forgot to mention it) they just kindly reminded me when i returned and everything was fine, but it was very noticeable how their attitude changed when i was due to leave
shame really as i did enjoy staying there but i certainly wouldnt go back again

Two things-
1/ First time I had trouble with a landlord ( landlady actually) was in 1989 in Petrie, Brisbane. Rented a lovely A frame house on a 12 month lease. One of the bedrooms had obviously been her young daughters. There were Blue Tac marks all over the walls and I mean, ALL over the walls. There were stick on stars on the ceiling and obvious marks where they had tried to remove them. My mate who helped me move was a JP and suggested we take photo's and he would notarise them. 13 months later in the Brisbane small claims court,after we moved out and not just did she refuse to give us our deposit back, but tried to hit us with $4000 repair bill, the bitch got her comeuppance. Take photo's. Point being - it doesn't just happen here.
2/ I have never and will never pay a deposit here in Cambodia. 1 month rent in advance is all they get. No, I don't live in luxury apartments/houses, but I also don't live in $40 a month dives. 1 month rent in advance is all I pay. The fact that I have good references from previous landlords here, does help to be fair.

Hotdigr wrote:Two things-
1/ First time I had trouble with a landlord ( landlady actually) was in 1989 in Petrie, Brisbane. Rented a lovely A frame house on a 12 month lease. One of the bedrooms had obviously been her young daughters. There were Blue Tac marks all over the walls and I mean, ALL over the walls. There were stick on stars on the ceiling and obvious marks where they had tried to remove them. My mate who helped me move was a JP and suggested we take photo's and he would notarise them. 13 months later in the Brisbane small claims court,after we moved out and not just did she refuse to give us our deposit back, but tried to hit us with $4000 repair bill, the bitch got her comeuppance. Take photo's. Point being - it doesn't just happen here.
2/ I have never and will never pay a deposit here in Cambodia. 1 month rent in advance is all they get. No, I don't live in luxury apartments/houses, but I also don't live in $40 a month dives. 1 month rent in advance is all I pay. The fact that I have good references from previous landlords here, does help to be fair.

defo good advice about taking pictures, will be something i take note of when moving in my next pad!

It looks like "removalist" is a real word -- in Australia.

In America we would just say "the moving guy."

I would say moving guy too. "Removalist" sounds a little hitman ish.