Good contract lawyer?

by **youngwill100** » Fri May 04, 2012 8:28 am

Two questions really...
Is it possible to lend money here in Cambodia with the borrower offering some land (in this case a rice field) as solid security, as is commonly done in the West?

Can anyone suggest a reasonable lawyer who could draw up contracts etc for this transaction?

by **gavinmac** » Fri May 04, 2012 8:34 am

I thought foreigners couldn't own land. So I think that would make it hard for you to foreclose on the rice field. Unless you're asking on behalf of someone else.

by **vladimir** » Fri May 04, 2012 8:38 am

The banks and Chinese money lenders do this all the time, if you're Khmer as gm indicated, should be easy, by now they probably have a stock agreement format.

by **Playboy** » Fri May 04, 2012 11:00 am

Law Firm:

http://www.hbs.com.kh/

by **cambod** » Fri May 04, 2012 12:44 pm

youngwill100 wrote:Two questions really...
Is it possible to lend money here in Cambodia with the borrower offering some land (in this case a rice field) as solid security, as is commonly done in the West?

...

Ha. I hope this isn't for u. I would love to know the number of barangs who have lent money and had a pig farm/land etc offered as collateral.... I don't need to know the number of barangs that have collected, lol..

by **vladimir** » Fri May 04, 2012 1:36 pm

I'm still waiting for my bridge that I was promised when a local borrowed cash to buy a ricochet gun...

by **youngwill100** » Fri May 04, 2012 2:16 pm

cambod wrote:Ha. I hope this isn't for u. I would love to know the number of barangs who have lent money and had a pig farm/land etc offered as collateral.... I don't need to know the number of barangs that have collected, lol..

Yes this is for me. I just thought that getting some collateral from the borrower would be better than just an open loan based on trust, in the sense that it might instill a sense of obligation in the borrower. Perhaps wishful thinking!

I had already assumed that my chances of actually foreclosing on any collateral were pretty much zero, due to the expense, difficulty and length of time involved. At the end of the day it's an amount I can afford to lose, but I'd obviously rather be paid back.

As far as the issue of foreign ownership of land goes, I was probably going to do it in the name of a good Khmer friend I know I can trust.

by **ken svay** » Fri May 04, 2012 9:21 pm

Excellent khmer/kiwi lawyer,he is clever and connected and trusted by many.
Ree-012 858 695

by **johnny99** » Sun May 06, 2012 10:34 am

Scaroni but not cheap.

johnny

by **starkmonster** » Sun May 06, 2012 11:35 am

youngwill100 wrote:Two questions really...
Is it possible to lend money here in Cambodia with the borrower offering some land (in this case a rice field) as solid security, as is commonly done in the West?

Can anyone suggest a reasonable lawyer who could draw up contracts etc for this transaction?

I think it depends on how much you're lending whether or not it's worth the headache of arranging that.

By law land can only be used as collateral if the owner has a title of ownership (hard title) rather than a title of possession (soft title). A marker is then placed against the title at the General Department of Cadastre & Geography (Sorya Dai), not sure what that costs 'officially' but in reality it costs about $400 to get that done. For under $50 anyone can have an ownership title checked to see if there are any markers against it.

This only prevents the person transferring ownership of the land whilst the dept is outstanding, if the borrower defaulted you would still need to go through the courts to get the money back, possibly by forcing the borrower to sell the asset.