Legal Problems Relating to Housing Business Affecting Consumers

Abstract

This thesis aims to research the legal problems for consumer protection in residential sector, in the case of housing projects. Since nowadays the estate development has expanded rapidly, the housing construction problems and the violation of the consumer protection law relating to house purchase have still occurred frequently, for example, the problem of house which is not built as per the advertised plan, the construction which doesnot follow the indicated timeline, and the malfunctions of utility in the housing estate. Therefore, when a consumer decides to purchase a house, one might face a lot of difficulties, despite the existence of several related consumer-protection laws such as the Land Development Act, B.E. 2543 (2000) and its amendment B.E. 2558 (2015), the Consumer Protection Act, B.E. 2522 (1979) and its amendment B.E. 2541 (1998). Each Act has the same objective, which is to protect consumers, and although there are amendments to catch up with the current situation, these acts still have gaps that cause injustice to consumers, in which event it is the reason of the study and consequently making this thesis. According to the study, it reveals that the crucial factors causing problems to the housing consumers arise from non conformity of each law in contents, means of the enforcement, and also the agency responsible for the regulations. Moreover, there exists a gap in the law which is incapable of effective enforcement, caused by incompetent officials from state agency, irresponsible entrepreneurs, or even the consumers themselves who do not possess knowledge nor truly understand the related laws. This thesis suggests that there should be an improvement of the Land Development B.E. 2543 (2000) and the Land Development Act (No. 2), B.E. 2558 in the advertising area by establishing ad hoc committee to regulate and monitor the housing advertisement, in order to be in line with the Consumer Protection Act, B.E. 2522 (1979) and the Consumer Protection Act (No. 2), B.E. 2541 (1998). In addition, the punishment level should be raised by adding the punishing measures of the criminal case, in order to make the entrepreneurs be more cautious. In the case of contract-enforcing standard and contract termination, the penalty should be increased if the developers violate the rules, not using the standard contracts set by the Land Development Committee which leads to the consumer disadvantages. Furthermore, the standard contract should be adjusted by adding contents indicating the responsibility and accountability of the entrepreneur in case of inability to finish the project, and also notify the consumer of the debt non-payment by including the following statement: “Any notification relating to this contracts must be made in writing and sent to the counterparty in the address indicated above, or the address that each party in the contract has informed the other. If the letter is delivered by post, it is required to be registered and deems that the counterparty acknowledges the contents on the date of receiving the letter.”