How smart to rent an apartment: 9 simple steps
RENT APARTMENT LONGER BECAME A FAMILIARY BUSINESSbut still raises a lot of questions. Do I need a contract? What happens if you leave sharply without warning the owner? Can I get a deposit back if the landlord does not want to give it back?
In practice, everything is not so bad - or, at least, it can be solved. There are three main stages in renting an apartment: rent a room, live a required period in it and leave it. With the help of a lawyer, Yulia Sakunova, we understand how to avoid getting into trouble on each of them.
Insist on a contract
Imagine that you have found a wonderful option: an inexpensive, comfortable apartment with a convenient location, and a friendly hostess rents it. You know that you need to conclude a contract for renting, but she says to you: "Yes, what a contract! Live just like that, and pay me money - that's all."
Perhaps everything will be so - or maybe one day the son of the hostess will return from a business trip and make you move out. If you're lucky, in such a situation you will be allowed to pack up and leave quietly, and if not, you can stumble upon replaced locks, and take things out with the police, who also have to prove that they are yours (this is by no means obvious - there are reasons to fold things in this apartment you do not have). If you paid in advance, you may not see this money either. If the person with whom you want to rent an apartment, categorically does not want to sign a lease agreement, it is better to look for another property. Otherwise there is a risk that you will have to say goodbye to your favorite things.
Check who owns the apartment
Suppose the hostess agrees to enter into a contract. Do not rush to get a pen: first make sure whether it has the right to rent you an apartment. To do this, you need to look at the certificate of ownership - and the person with whom you are going to enter into an agreement must be the owner of the entire apartment, and not a share in it. “Do not worry,” a legally savvy owner can say. “I own only ½ apartments, but the court uses me to use the apartment, and there is a solution.” Alas, for you it does not matter: the court secured the right to use the apartment precisely for those who want to rent it to you, and not for you or anyone else. So the second owner can easily force you to move out and even change the locks.
In this case, you must ask for the consent of the second owner (or other owners, if there are several), and in written form - an oral agreement will not work. The owner or hostess can sigh, go into the next room and after five minutes bring a piece of paper on which it is written that the second owner does not object to renting the apartment. You may have reason to doubt that it was the person whose name it was signed to write, but this document is quite enough for you: if anything, the owners will figure it out among themselves and through the court - and you will have time to quietly leave the apartment. Notarizing permission is not required.
If for some reason you doubt that the certificate of ownership or its copy is real, you can check it - you can do it in any MFC. If the property was registered after 1998, you need to order a certificate of apartment owners (this can be done at its address). If the registration was earlier than 1998, request a certificate of previously issued rights to this apartment. You can request both inquiries - then you will be sure that the one who became the master before 1998 remained so. Please note that responses to requests will have to wait a week.
And one more thing: if the person with whom you have entered into an agreement, the court finds incompetent, the person who would like to evict you from the apartment will have to challenge this agreement through the court - and this will give you time to calmly pack up and leave.
Make sure you have the right data in the contract.
Finally, you can enter into an agreement - in this case, you will become the tenant and landlord with the landlord or landlady, respectively. If the owner did not have a sample contract, it can be downloaded from the Internet. True, it is too early to relax: you must carefully follow what is written in the document.
Be sure to have the date of conclusion of the contract and details of the parties: surnames, names, patronymic names and addresses. You can also provide passport information, but this is not a strict requirement. The rental object (apartment or room) must be marked, and there must be a link to the certificate of ownership. Optimally, if you are given a copy of this certificate. The lease term must be clearly marked - otherwise, by default it will be assumed that you rented an apartment for five years. According to article 683 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the maximum term for a tenancy agreement is five years, which is considered basic.
The amount of rent specified in the contract covers the entire lease term, unless otherwise indicated. By mutual agreement with the landlord, you can change the amount at any time - for this you need to sign the appropriate annex to the contract. Make sure that there is also indicated the order of payment of bills: for example, you are responsible for the telephone, electricity and water, and the owners of the apartment - for everything else.
Think about the termination of the contract
If you do not want the apartment owners to check you every day, make sure that the contract says how often the landlord should check the condition of the apartment - for example, once a month. It is also useful to indicate in the document how long before its expiration the lessor must notify you whether he wants to renew the contract and on what conditions. At the same time it is better to indicate how much in advance he must warn you that you must leave if he wants to sell the apartment.
Keep in mind that the apartment rental contract is not automatically renewed. Upon expiration of the lease, it must be re-entered if you reach an agreement with the landlord. If you forget to take care of the renewal of the contract, again you risk facing the closed doors and losing some of the things.
Learn the rights and obligations - their own and the owner of the apartment
Study the section “Duties and Rights of the Landlord”. It should indicate that the landlord is obliged to return your security deposit if he does not have any material claims to you. A security deposit is the amount that you give to the landlord along with the down payment for rent in exchange for the keys. It is needed to ensure the safety of the apartment itself and the property of the landlord. That is, if you, for example, broke the furniture, then at the time of departure from this deposit will keep the cost of the damage caused by you. From it will keep debts for utility or rental payments assigned to you. If you have not broken or spoiled anything, the landlord must return your deposit.
In the same section it should be stated that it is the owner’s responsibility to eliminate the consequences of what happened through no employer’s fault. That is, if the apartment was flooded due to utilities, repairs are the care of the owners, not yours. Of course, if the accident occurred through the fault of the employer, that is yours, you yourself must eliminate the consequences.
You also have duties, and they are listed in the section “Duties and Rights of the Employer”. Examine this section as much, and better, more carefully than everyone else. Firstly, only you and those specified in the contract should live in the apartment. That is, if you are going to live with your husband, partner, friend, aunt, be sure to include them in the contract - otherwise the owner will point them at the door and be right. Also indicate in the document your favorite dog or cat so that they will not suffer the same fate. The only person you can bring with you to live without warning the landlord is your minor child (the refusal violates his interests). But why extra problems - it is better to specify a son or daughter.
If the owner allows you to surrender to sublease (which is unlikely), this should also be written in the contract. If this is not in the document, it means that you should not retake the apartment or its part to anyone else. Also in this clause of the contract it is indicated that the employer cannot install the equipment (do not be alarmed, you can put the microwave oven - it’s rather about the built-in equipment), alarm systems, carry out reconstruction and so on. So if you thought to tear down the wall to enlarge the room - forget it. If you want to make redecoration in the apartment, this also needs to be coordinated with the landlord.
Please note that the tenant of the apartment has the right to live there only. If you open a law office or a shop, it will be a serious violation of the contract and the legislation of the Russian Federation. If one of the parties violates the terms of the contract, it may result in its early termination, so take everything written seriously.
Do not forget the act of reception and transmission
The contract of acceptance of the apartment, which must also be signed in two copies, must be attached to the contract. If there is no such act and it does not describe in detail the condition of the apartment, what things are in it, and what they look like, it can go sideways. After a week, the owners can forget that the dishwasher has not been working for a year already, and it’s a great chip on the bathtub, and they will blame you for this damage. The court will take their side, and you will have to pay for it.
To summarize: you must have a copy of the certificate of ownership, the permission of another owner or apartment owners, if necessary, two copies of the contract and two copies of the act of reception and transmission. Now you can sign documents, give one copy to the owners, take the keys and say goodbye, specifying when they will come next time. After signing the contract, your task is not to violate its conditions. As an extra precaution, you can always carry documents with you — for example, to prove that you have them if the owner suddenly changes locks.
Defend the deposit
In the future, whether distant or not, you will most likely have to leave the apartment. In this case, you with the landlord will need to sign a new act of reception and transmission, which will indicate in what form you return to him the apartment and property. He will return the insurance deposit to you (or hold it, partially or completely, if necessary), you will return the keys to him and, wishing each other good luck, say goodbye. This is an ideal option - but in reality there can be difficulties.
If the landlord “forgets”, “does not want”, “cannot” or for other reasons refuses to return your security deposit, but you still want to get it, you will have to go to court. A second, later act of reception and transmission signed by both parties will be proof that you have fulfilled all obligations under the contract, so the landlord must return your deposit.
Remember that the contract can be terminated early
Problems may also arise if the contract is terminated early, due to the fact that one of the parties seriously violated it. For example, if you brought five more people to live with you. Or if, after leaving the owner, cockroaches and rats suddenly climbed out of all the cracks, about which he did not tell you anything, and the landlord refuses to eliminate this trouble. In these cases, it is worthwhile to focus on two articles of the Civil Code: article 451 “Amendment and termination of the contract due to a significant change in circumstances” and article 687 “Termination of a contract for renting residential premises”.
You have the right to terminate the contract at any time, in writing having warned the apartment owner about this within three months. In addition, in some cases, the law allows you to do this through the courts - for example, if the premises are in emergency condition. The landlord has the right to terminate the contract through the court if you have not made a lease for more than two months with a short-term lease (the contract is less than eleven months) and more than six months with a long-term (the contract is valid for more than a year).
Defend your rights
In the case when you want to terminate the contract ahead of time, the landlord can take a dull defense and simply refuse to undergo this procedure. Then you have to act independently, so as to protect yourself from possible claims on his part. Send a written notice to the landlord that you terminate the lease on such and such grounds from such and such date (after the last paid period). In the notification, warn him that if he does not come to the apartment, you will simply move out and put the keys in the mailbox. It is necessary to send this by registered mail with notification and attachment list. Then keep a copy of the notice along with all the postal documents in your account - they will be useful to you in case of a court as evidence of your actions.
If the landlord has not responded, he thereby places the risk of adverse consequences on himself. Simply put, silence in this case is a sign of consent. On the appointed day, having cleaned the apartment, take out your belongings, lock it, drop the keys into the mailbox and quietly leave. All papers - a lease agreement, a copy of the notice sent by you with postal documents - keep for three years from now on, in case the landlord suddenly decides to charge you for the remainder of the period. The statute of limitations is three years.
Photo:serkucher - stock.adobe.com, Feng Yu - stock.adobe.com, Igor Kovalchuk - stock.adobe.com
