I left Cambodia last week to get away from the lockdown nonsense and came back to the US for a few months to visit family and get vaccinated.

Before I left I paid rent for June and July because I have a two year lease that runs for another 14 months with a good rental rate.

I now have reason to believe that my landlord is letting someone in his family stay in my apartment while I’m gone, which I never agreed to.

Do I have any recourse to get the rent back or break the lease without penalty if necessary?

What's your reason? You could literally just come back and not live there anymore. Your rents gone though lmao

That's trespassing but good luck with that, bet some of your stuff goes missing to

BillDoe wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 7:29 am What's your reason? You could literally just come back and not live there anymore. Your rents gone though lmao

The reason is that four days ago I got an alert on my phone that the nest cam in my living room spotted someone in my apartment. I didn’t look at the video because I figured it was the cleaning lady.

The next day I get another alert and I thought that was odd so I look at the video and recognize my landlord’s son in there even though I’ve only met him once.

I figured maybe he went in to fix something?

The camera kept alerting though because he’s in there for a while. Basically all day. Then I see him go into my bedroom and he’s in there from 10 pm to 7 am Cambodia time so I assume he’s sleeping in there in my bed. Technically my landlords bed because it’s a furnished apartment but they are my sheets.

I messaged the landlords daughter (his sister) and ask if anyone has been in my apartment and she says no.

I message again and say a neighbor told me they saw her brother go in (not true but I didn’t want to alert them to the camera it’s kind of hidden on the bookshelf). Then she says yes he went in to check for a plumbing problem because the apartment above me had a leak.

I ask if he slept there and she said she didn’t think so but maybe because he had an argument with his wife.

Today the camera alerts again and he’s back and he has a big duffel bag with him (maybe clothes). He goes in the bedroom again, I assume sleeping. I messaged the daughter again and now no response.

What can I do? Is there any way I can get rent back in this situation? I deserve the rent back for May at least if the landlord’s family is living there. I also have some personal stuff there still even though I took most with me when I left. I hear the sangkat can resolve landlord tenant problems but I don’t know.

That's no good I've been renting my PP apartment while in Australia for a year now I hope this isnt happening to me too.

Tell the son a bunch of flowers works miracles.

(or a fish if his wife is Khmer)

I wouldn't do anything for a week. If it continues then I'd drop the landlord a note saying that a neighbor/friend has told you this guy is living in the apartment. And I'd (in a nice way) simply say that you don't expect anyone to be living there while your gone - and if some emergency necessitates it that you expect your rent to be returned to you when you arrive back.

I wouldn't say anything about the camera. If it continues then I'd take it up (with the video evidence) when you return. Realistically, there is little you can do from the US and unless the guy is stealing your stuff its not worth the aggravation. Enjoy the time back home.

Contact the landlord and tell him you are aware of thieves in the house right now and ask him to go check.

If no action then call the police and get someone to pay them to investigate the break in

I don't think contacting the members of the landlords family as you have been doing will help at all in this case

My first apartment in Phnom Penh, I came home early from work one day and found my landlord's sister calmly nosing around in my bedroom.

Changed the locks that day.

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 12:16 pm Contact the landlord and tell him you are aware of thieves in the house right now and ask him to go check.

If no action then call the police and get someone to pay them to investigate the break in

I don't think contacting the members of the landlords family as you have been doing will help at all in this case

I’ve been dealing with the landlords daughter ever since I moved in because she speaks much better English and uses WhatsApp and I pay the rent and electricity to her ABA account.

Camera showed him leave a few hours ago (morning cambodia time) but left his stuff and now he just returned a half hour ago with a woman and a toddler and it sounds like she is cooking something in the kitchen while he and the kid are sitting on the sofa watching TV while he picks at his toenails.