In my second post, dated November 5, I mentioned that Try, Bandol & I had found a new dorm for the CLEW students. Well, since then, we have been working on negotiating with the landlord. It was quite a lengthy process because there were a number of terms to work through. The leasing of residences is very loose here so the landlord wasn't prepared for all the conditions that we wanted to have included. We had run into the same problem with the previous landlady at a different place and were unable to come to an agreement with her. However, we're glad that the previous one didn't work out because this place is so much superior and costs less than the current dorm and the previous place we considered. It may not be in quite as good a location for some people but it is good for our students because it is closer to the university.
Try did an amazing job of bridging the gap between the two cultures. There is a lot of suspicion of foreign NGOs because a number have come into Cambodia then left and have not necessarily been good tenants. There is also concern with the number of students we want to have live in the dorm although this didn't seem to be an issue here because we are taking both sides of the duplex so there is lots of space. What we like about this place is that the landlord & his family live in the building next door and his mother-in-law is in the house on the other side. They have no intention of selling any time soon as this was built by them as an investment. We have signed a 5 year lease with the option to extend for 3 more years after that.
After 2 weeks of negotiating and numerous drafts back and forth from Cambodia to Canada, we came to a final agreement on Sunday November 16. The next step was to meet on Monday for the "signing" of the contract. I put signing in quotations because I never actually signed my name. I had to put my thumbprint on every page of both the Khmer version of the lease and the English version and then on 4 more copies for a total of about 100 pages. The landlord and his wife each put their thumbprints on all the pages as well.
I was talking to Bandol afterwards and she said they use thumbprints because then there is no dispute about whether it was you or not. People can claim it is not their signature but they cannot deny their thumbprint.
Try did an amazing job of bridging the gap between the two cultures. There is a lot of suspicion of foreign NGOs because a number have come into Cambodia then left and have not necessarily been good tenants. There is also concern with the number of students we want to have live in the dorm although this didn't seem to be an issue here because we are taking both sides of the duplex so there is lots of space. What we like about this place is that the landlord & his family live in the building next door and his mother-in-law is in the house on the other side. They have no intention of selling any time soon as this was built by them as an investment. We have signed a 5 year lease with the option to extend for 3 more years after that.
After 2 weeks of negotiating and numerous drafts back and forth from Cambodia to Canada, we came to a final agreement on Sunday November 16. The next step was to meet on Monday for the "signing" of the contract. I put signing in quotations because I never actually signed my name. I had to put my thumbprint on every page of both the Khmer version of the lease and the English version and then on 4 more copies for a total of about 100 pages. The landlord and his wife each put their thumbprints on all the pages as well.
I was talking to Bandol afterwards and she said they use thumbprints because then there is no dispute about whether it was you or not. People can claim it is not their signature but they cannot deny their thumbprint.
After all the documents were done, the next step was to take them to the government to have the lease registered. Before they could do that, they needed 7 passport pictures of me. I don't know why they needed these and so many because they already had 5 copies of my passport with my Cambodian visa and my thumbprint! I didn't happen to have 7 passport pictures handy so I had to go get them which delayed us another day. I delivered the pictures to them yesterday morning so that they could register the lease. I received confirmation last night that the lease has been registered.
Finally, we had to pick up the copy of the registered lease that has all 3 of our pictures attached (mine, the landlord & landlady), thumbprints on each page and government stamps. I then had to take it to the bank to deposit the remaining balance of the deposit into the landlord's bank account. All that is now done so we should be able to pick up the keys at any time and start the process of preparing for the big move!!
Finally, we had to pick up the copy of the registered lease that has all 3 of our pictures attached (mine, the landlord & landlady), thumbprints on each page and government stamps. I then had to take it to the bank to deposit the remaining balance of the deposit into the landlord's bank account. All that is now done so we should be able to pick up the keys at any time and start the process of preparing for the big move!!
WOO HOO!! A BIG THANK YOU TO TAN TRY FOR FACILITATING THIS AGREEMENT AND HELPING US TO SECURE SUCH AN AWESOME PLACE FOR THE CLEW STUDENTS TO LIVE!! CLAPS & CHEERS ALL AROUND!!!