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A sale with right of redemption (ขายฝาก, khai fak, également Comment vas-tu ? ou sale with right to repurchase) is the English name for the Thai contract in Sections 491 to 502 of the Code civil et commercial under which ownership passes to the buyer at the moment of sale, while the seller retains a right to reclaim the property by paying the redemption price within an agreed period, capped at 10 years for immovable property and 3 years for movables. Failure to redeem in time perfects the buyer’s ownership by operation of law. Drafted as a sale, it functions in Thailand as secured lending.
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Ce que fait le contrat à chaque étape
Lors de l'inscription, the parties sign the Bureau foncier‘s sale with redemption form and the buyer becomes registered owner on the chanote, with an annotation of the right of redemption and its period. Because it is a sale, the full transfer costs are paid: the 2% transfer fee on the valeur estimée, specific business tax of 3.3% if the seller has held the land less than five years (otherwise 0.5% stamp duty), and withholding tax on the seller.
During the period, the seller usually stays in possession and, under the 2019 protection Act for farmland and homes, does so without rent. The right of redemption may be exercised by the seller, the seller’s heirs, or a transferee of the right, and against the original buyer or anyone who took the property from that buyer (Sections 497 and 498). Any extension of the period must be registered and cannot take the total beyond 10 years.
At redemption, the seller pays the redemption price, which cannot exceed the sale price plus 15% per year (Section 499), and the Land Office registers the return of ownership. Registration fees are payable again on the way back. The seller may instead deposit the money at the Deposit Office, and ownership returns from the payment or deposit (Section 492); for farmland and homes sold by an individual, the 2019 Act also allows the deposit to be made at the Land Office that registered the sale (section 18).
Points pratiques pour les étrangers
A foreigner cannot be the buyer under a sale with right of redemption of land, since the buyer becomes owner and Section 86 of the Code foncier bars a foreigner from owning land. Contracts that make a foreigner the buyer, or a Thai nominee the buyer with foreign money, are void and expose both parties to the nominee penalties. A foreigner may be the buyer of a condominium unit within the 49% quota d'étrangers, but a registered mortgage over the unit gives the same security more cheaply.
Common mistakes on the borrowing side are agreeing an unrealistically short period, missing the expiry date, and paying the redemption money privately without registering the return at the Land Office, which leaves the buyer on the title. A buyer of land from someone who acquired it by redemption sale should check that the redemption period has expired or been validly waived, since an unexpired right of redemption follows the land into the new buyer’s hands.
En quoi il diffère d'un prêt hypothécaire et d'une option
Under a mortgage the borrower remains owner and default leads to a court auction with any surplus returned; under a sale with right of redemption the lender is owner from day one and default leaves the lender with the whole property, however small the loan. Courts treat the contract as what it says, not as a disguised mortgage.
It also differs from a sale with an option or a promise to sell back. An option is a personal contractual promise that binds only the person who made it; the right of redemption is registered on the title and can be enforced against later owners. That is why the period is annotated on the deed. For farmland and homes, the distinction disappears: the 2019 Act treats a sale of such property with a promise or contract to sell it back as a sale with right of redemption, fully subject to the Act (section 9). The 2019 Act’s protections, the one-year minimum, the advance notice and the six-month grace period, apply only where the seller is an individual and the land is agricultural or residential; a company seller or a commercial plot is left to the Civil and Commercial Code alone.
Foire aux questions
Qu'est-ce qu'une vente avec faculté de rachat en Thaïlande ?
It is a registered sale in which the buyer becomes owner immediately but the seller may buy the property back at an agreed price within a period of up to 10 years for land. In practice it is a form of secured lending. If the seller does not redeem in time, the buyer’s ownership becomes absolute without court proceedings.
Combien coûte l'enregistrement d'une vente avec faculté de rachat ?
Identique à une vente : des frais de mutation de 2% sur la valeur estimée, une taxe professionnelle spécifique de 3,3% ou un droit de timbre de 0,5% selon la durée de détention du bien par le vendeur, ainsi qu'une retenue à la source. Les frais sont à nouveau exigibles lorsque le bien est racheté et rétrocédé.
Le droit de rachat peut-il être vendu ou transmis par succession ?
Yes. The right passes to the seller’s heirs and can be transferred to a third party, who may then redeem from the buyer within the original period. The redemption period itself cannot be extended beyond 10 years for immovable property, and any extension must be registered to bind later owners.
Voir aussi : Comment vas-tu ?, hypothèque, property transfer fee and taxes, candidat, sales with rights of redemption (kaifak) guide ET Risques liés à l'achat d'un bien immobilier en Thaïlande.
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