HELP! Being scammed!
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HELP! Being scammed!
Hi,
When i first moved to Phnom Penh in March with my Khmer girlfriend (who was staying with me in the UK prior), I wasn't sure how long I would stay, so when we were looking for a house we made sure there was no minimum contract specified.
We found a nice place in Borey Peng Huoth, and agreed on a deal that had no minimum term (I even spoke to the landlord and he assured me they would give us our deposit back providing the house was in good condition).
1 month later we had found a new place that was more suitable and gave our 1 months notice.
When we moved into the new place I messaged the old landlord about meeting up to pay back our deposit, and we agreed a time and place.
When we got there his demon of a wife refused to pay it back to us stating we had not been there for 12 months. She then produced the original contract which she had quite clearly edited AFTER it was signed to say it was for 12 months. We have the original showing it had no minimum term. Her argument was that my wife had said we MIGHT stay for 12 months, so this was binding. After A LOT of shouting in Khmer between my girl and his wife, his wife agreed to pay us $400 of the $760 deposit owed, alongside a threat to get the police involved (her husband is a police officer) if we didn't leave there and then. By this point I was fucking raging, so just told my girlfriend to leave, and we walked with $400. I considered it a lesson learned.
Anyway, yesterday the husband calls me asking for $220 for the electricity bill, and I told him to go do one. Today they tried to call my girlfriend, but I answered the phone. She's now threatening to get the police involved again. We're pretty sure they don't know where we live, but I really don't want to go through that rigmarole.
Whats your advice people? Pay the bill and be done with them, or stand my ground and do whats right?
Cheers,
Kevin
When i first moved to Phnom Penh in March with my Khmer girlfriend (who was staying with me in the UK prior), I wasn't sure how long I would stay, so when we were looking for a house we made sure there was no minimum contract specified.
We found a nice place in Borey Peng Huoth, and agreed on a deal that had no minimum term (I even spoke to the landlord and he assured me they would give us our deposit back providing the house was in good condition).
1 month later we had found a new place that was more suitable and gave our 1 months notice.
When we moved into the new place I messaged the old landlord about meeting up to pay back our deposit, and we agreed a time and place.
When we got there his demon of a wife refused to pay it back to us stating we had not been there for 12 months. She then produced the original contract which she had quite clearly edited AFTER it was signed to say it was for 12 months. We have the original showing it had no minimum term. Her argument was that my wife had said we MIGHT stay for 12 months, so this was binding. After A LOT of shouting in Khmer between my girl and his wife, his wife agreed to pay us $400 of the $760 deposit owed, alongside a threat to get the police involved (her husband is a police officer) if we didn't leave there and then. By this point I was fucking raging, so just told my girlfriend to leave, and we walked with $400. I considered it a lesson learned.
Anyway, yesterday the husband calls me asking for $220 for the electricity bill, and I told him to go do one. Today they tried to call my girlfriend, but I answered the phone. She's now threatening to get the police involved again. We're pretty sure they don't know where we live, but I really don't want to go through that rigmarole.
Whats your advice people? Pay the bill and be done with them, or stand my ground and do whats right?
Cheers,
Kevin
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personally id stand my ground, you still have your copy of the lease, its what its for
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Yeah, thats exactly what I want to do. But with PP being known for its corruption, my only concern is getting the handcuffs slapped on over 200 bucks. Saying that though, they don't even know where we live, so I can't see it happening. Thanks for your reply, its given me a little more confidence that standing my ground was the right thing to do.
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Unless you specifically mentioned future electricity costs when you 'agreed' on the $400 then you are liable. The contract (original or doctored) will state that you are liable for electricity & water costs from when you stay there.
Did you take a meter reading before moving in and after leaving?
I think you may have been a bit naive here. Prob should pay up, if your new landlord registers the lease with the local sangkat it won't be too hard for a policeman to find out where you live.
Did you take a meter reading before moving in and after leaving?
I think you may have been a bit naive here. Prob should pay up, if your new landlord registers the lease with the local sangkat it won't be too hard for a policeman to find out where you live.
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How is this a scam? Sounds more like you are scamming them by not paying for the electricity you used.
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Can you post a copy of the lease where it's altered? Did she scribble in the 12 month term in crayon or did she re-print the lease and change that on page 1 and then attach your original signatures from unaltered page 2?
It's a good idea to initial the bottom corner of every page to deter this, not that initials can't be forged.
Taking the $400 on the spot was the right call but then you could/should have pushed for the remaining $360.
Yes, the contract requires you to pay for stuff like this, but they unilaterally deducted $360 from your deposit to cover stuff like electricity, so they still owe you $140. If they call, tell them you'll agree on them paying you $140.
It's a good idea to initial the bottom corner of every page to deter this, not that initials can't be forged.
Taking the $400 on the spot was the right call but then you could/should have pushed for the remaining $360.
Yes, the contract requires you to pay for stuff like this, but they unilaterally deducted $360 from your deposit to cover stuff like electricity, so they still owe you $140. If they call, tell them you'll agree on them paying you $140.
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$220 is a ludicrous electricity bill- I can't get mine over $170 during the hottest month in a 5-bed house. Either you're one of those aircon 24x7 folks, or that bill is surely questionable also?
(Edit: if the bill is fake/inflated, pay the actual EDC bill amount as reconciliatory amount & they should accept/move on)
(Edit: if the bill is fake/inflated, pay the actual EDC bill amount as reconciliatory amount & they should accept/move on)
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ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
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ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
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It is high, but this bill was from March/April according to the OP. I've run up electric bills of $200 in short term rental places, that might have been at 1200 or 1500 riel/kw, I can't remember. If his rent was $760 a month the place might have been big or had multiple air con units.Spigzy wrote:$220 is a ludicrous electricity bill- I can't get mine over $170 during the hottest month in a 5-bed house. Either you're one of those aircon 24x7 folks, or that bill is surely questionable also?
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Some points to make:
Rent was $380 p/m
The "edit" to the contract was made in biro after the from date they added a To date.
The electricity was for 1 month (I had family staying so 2 aircons were on quite a lot of the time)
I'm certainly NOT ripping them off. They gave me no option but to walk with the $400. I could have refused the $400, yes, but then I'd be $400 even worse off from this clusterfuck of a situation. If you steal somebody's phone, you can't call them and request they pay the bill so the phone keeps working. The same as if you rip somebody off for their deposit they can't really expect me to give them anymore money. They already have the money for the electricity in the amount they ripped me off for. Saying I'm ripping them off is ludicrous at best.
I have a copy of the lease here at the house, but forget how to post an image on a BB board. I'll figure it out and post in a bit.
It was only a 1 page contract, witnessed by my partners Mother, and signed by thumbprint. There are 2 copies, hers and theirs.
I'm not suggesting we haven't been naive, but I'm not quite sure how? We had a contract that didn't specify a minimum term, and they've now edited their copy to try and rob us of our deposit money. So they already have the money to pay for the bill with the money they stole from us. I'm not sure that's naive when there's not much I could have done to avoid it (I.e. contract in place covering specific terms requested). But if I've missed something, I'd love to hear it so I don't make the same mistake again.
Worth noting regarding the electricity, former landlord also argued until blue in the face that we owed him for the electricity consumed before we moved in, i.e. Jan-march!
Rent was $380 p/m
The "edit" to the contract was made in biro after the from date they added a To date.
The electricity was for 1 month (I had family staying so 2 aircons were on quite a lot of the time)
I'm certainly NOT ripping them off. They gave me no option but to walk with the $400. I could have refused the $400, yes, but then I'd be $400 even worse off from this clusterfuck of a situation. If you steal somebody's phone, you can't call them and request they pay the bill so the phone keeps working. The same as if you rip somebody off for their deposit they can't really expect me to give them anymore money. They already have the money for the electricity in the amount they ripped me off for. Saying I'm ripping them off is ludicrous at best.
I have a copy of the lease here at the house, but forget how to post an image on a BB board. I'll figure it out and post in a bit.
It was only a 1 page contract, witnessed by my partners Mother, and signed by thumbprint. There are 2 copies, hers and theirs.
I'm not suggesting we haven't been naive, but I'm not quite sure how? We had a contract that didn't specify a minimum term, and they've now edited their copy to try and rob us of our deposit money. So they already have the money to pay for the bill with the money they stole from us. I'm not sure that's naive when there's not much I could have done to avoid it (I.e. contract in place covering specific terms requested). But if I've missed something, I'd love to hear it so I don't make the same mistake again.
Worth noting regarding the electricity, former landlord also argued until blue in the face that we owed him for the electricity consumed before we moved in, i.e. Jan-march!
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Take photo, upload it to imgur, click share links and BB code.Brainstormcs wrote: I have a copy of the lease here at the house, but forget how to post an image on a BB board. I'll figure it out and post in a bit.
Or upload it anywhere online and post here by typing:
[img]<insert%20link>[/img]
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So they claim that was written in before you signed it and you have doctored your contract to remove it?Brainstormcs wrote:
The "edit" to the contract was made in biro after the from date they added a To date.
Or do they claim they were entitled to make unilateral handwritten changes to the lease after it was signed because the signed lease didn't reflect the true agreement?
Out of curiosity do they say when they made the handwritten change? An hour after you signed it or a month later when you told them you were moving?
The only naive lesson that I can think of here might be that you should never pay a deposit of two months in addition to the first months' rent. It's sort of atypical and puts you behind the 8 ball if the landlord wants to be a dick. Offer them cash in hand of first months rent and one months deposit and tell them they can take it or leave it. This is especially true if you are doing a month to month lease.
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