What questions should be raised with the owner or realtor over the phone and when inspecting the apartment: what to pay attention to, what points should be on your guard.
How competently and accurately you discuss issues of interest with the owner of the rented apartment and the realtor directly determines the entire subsequent period of your residence in someone else’s territory. Studying the ad, photographs and inspecting a potential home is important, but there are things that cannot be seen at first glance. To ensure a relaxing stay in a rented apartment without unpleasant surprises and a feeling of unsaidness, you should voice your concerns in advance and not miss anything.
What to check with the landlord
For any length of rental period, the first step is to make sure that the landlord is the actual owner of the apartment.
This fact will be confirmed by a certificate of ownership, a purchase and sale agreement (if the housing was purchased), a gift agreement (if the housing was donated), an inheritance certificate (if the housing was inherited) or a privatization certificate. The landlord is required to show only original documents confirming ownership. Photocopied or scanned copies are easy to forge and cannot be relied upon for their content. It is also necessary to compare the data of the original passport of the apartment owner with the information specified in the documents of ownership of the housing.
It is necessary to find out the number of owners of the apartment being considered for rent. If there are several of them, their signatures will be required in the lease agreement. It's easier if there is only one owner. You can verify the correctness of the owner’s information through the MFC or the Rosreestr website by requesting an extract from the Unified State Register for a rented apartment. According to Federal Law No. 218-FZ, data on copyright holders (registered) and the main characteristics of a real estate property are publicly available (Part 7, Article 62 of the said federal law).
If it is established that the data of a citizen who represents himself as a landlord does not match the information of the cadastral extract, further discussion of the lease is unsafe. The person representing the owner may be a tenant, a citizen registered in the apartment, or a shareholder. But a valid lease agreement, especially a long-term one, can only be concluded with the copyright holder of the property (i.e. its legal owner).
Stage 3. Inspection of housing
- Evaluate the entrance. Its condition can say a lot about the residents of the house - your potential neighbors.
- Try visiting your neighbors and asking who lived in the apartment before you. It is advisable to do this together with the owner: if the residents of neighboring apartments are not new residents, then they will recognize your landlord, and you will once again be convinced that he is the owner.
- Carefully inspect the bathroom, especially the plumbing. If a faucet is leaking, it is worth pointing this out to the owner immediately.
- Check the condition of the furniture and assess its wear.
- Pay attention to the location of the outlets. You may need to rearrange your furniture.
- If you are allergic to animals, check to see if the previous occupants had a cat or dog.
- Take the time to turn on all the appliances and appliances you plan to use.
- Check all switches in the apartment.
- Ask about internet availability.
- Check the locks so you don't have to wait outside the door until they let you in. If there are several locks, but you are given the key to only one, find out the reason. The owner may say that the lock has been broken for a long time and has not been used. You should insist on replacement or repair and ask for a complete set of keys.
- Make sure the seals on the meters are intact.
- Check the condition of your balcony doors and windows if you don’t want to freeze in winter.
- Evaluate the sound insulation throughout the apartment.
If none of the above in the apartment bothers you, you can proceed to drawing up an agreement.
What is the difference between short-term and long-term leases?
The main difference between the contractual registration of an apartment lease for a long term (more than a year) is the need to register restrictions on the lessor’s property rights in Rosreestr (Civil Code, Art. 674, clause 2). In addition, the long-term format of the rental agreement normatively expands the powers of the tenant:
- the tenant has the right to move minor children into rented housing without the consent of the landlord (Civil Code, Art. 679);
- The tenant has the right to accommodate temporary residents on a free-of-charge basis, subject to notification to the landlord. The landlord has the right to refuse temporary residents only if the number of residents does not correspond to the general standard for living space (Civil Code, Art. 680);
- in the event of the death of the tenant, the long-term lease agreement remains in force and the previous conditions with the transfer of the legal status of the tenant to the citizen who previously lived permanently with the deceased tenant, or all permanently residing citizens receive the status of co-tenants (Civil Code, Art. 686);
- the tenant receives more lenient conditions for terminating the rental agreement in court (Civil Code, Art. 687, paragraph 2).
However, all of the listed legal powers of the tenant can be canceled by the landlord (Civil Code, Art. 683, paragraph 2), provided that the relevant clauses are included in the rental agreement and signed by both parties, followed by registration with Rosreestr.
As for the legal advantage of the tenant to extend the lease, it applies to any duration of the apartment rental agreement (Civil Code, Art. 684). Also, regardless of the duration of the contract, the tenant can act as a sublessor, but only after agreeing on the sublease with the owner of the property (Civil Code, Art. 685).
Contents of the apartment rental agreement
The agreement should be prepared with the assistance of an experienced lawyer, since the content of this document will be a priority for the judicial authorities when considering disagreements with the lessor. Of course, taking the conflict to court is an extreme measure, but it is more rational to provide for it in advance, maximally protecting the tenant’s position with the relevant clauses of the contract.
We emphasize the non-application of the concept “standard” to the lease agreement. It must indicate only the data of the parties (tenant and lessor), data about the housing (copyright holder, address, parameters of the living space, etc.), payment terms (amount of payments, procedure for their production, payment terms), obligations of the tenant and landlord, and also the conditions for termination of the contract.
Landlords usually insist that the security deposit will not be returned to the tenant if the lease is terminated early - this condition is included in the termination clause.
Special conditions of the apartment rental agreement
The section of special conditions in the rental agreement specifies solutions to situations that arise in the process of rental relations between the landlord and the tenant. These contractual points must be considered by the parties before approving the contract, indicating their decisions in the “special conditions”.
Rental rate cost
. More than 30% of disputes with rental housing occur due to the conditions and timing of the revision of the amount of rental payments. Of course, the landlord will insist on an unlimited period for changing the rate (the “at any time” option). And this, of course, is completely unprofitable for the tenant. It is necessary to discuss realistic terms and indicate in the contract a period during which the rental rate does not change (optimally - once a year). It is also necessary to agree on the conditions for increasing the rental price, indicating them in the text of the contract.
Fines for late rent payments
. The lessor has the right to terminate short-term housing rental agreements through the court if payment is late (expiration of the contractual period) more than twice, long-term - if the six-month rental period is not paid (Civil Code, Art. 687, clause 2).
An adequate formulation of the fine for late payment of rent for housing is a penalty of 0.3-0.5%, accrued for each overdue day. The specific amount of the penalty is not established by law. According to the terms of the Civil Code, the amount of the fine (penalty) is determined by the agreement of the parties, i.e. parties to the agreement (Article 330, clause 1). Note that if the contract does not contain conditions for the tenant’s liability for obligations not fulfilled or fulfilled later than the contractual period, the lessor has no right to demand payment of a fine (Civil Code, Art. 330, clause 2).
Notice periods for termination of tenancy
. As a rule, one month's notice for each party to the lease agreement is sufficient. The tenant is comfortable with a one-month period, which allows him to easily find a new apartment before moving out of his rented home. But for a landlord, one month to find a new tenant is often not enough; he may insist on specifying a 2-3 month notice period in the contract.
Frequency of checking the condition of rented housing
. Every landlord is interested in the safety of the property of the apartment for rent. Typically, the contract specifies the permissibility of inspection once a month. However, some owners ignore the contractual terms, considering themselves the right to visit the rented housing more than once a month, without prior notice to the tenant and even in his absence.
Visits to
rented living space by third parties
. In the rental housing market, there are proposals from tenants who categorically prohibit visits from friends of the tenant. It is important to discuss this point before signing the contract. It is usually possible to arrange visits with close friends and relatives.
Communal payments
. In the lease agreement, it is important to reflect the terms of payments for utilities, namely electricity, natural gas, water, telephone line, Internet and cable TV. The utilities are partially included in the rental payments, and the part associated with the direct consumption of services by the tenant is paid by him separately. A prerequisite for payment of consumed utilities is the presence of working metering devices.
Force majeure
. In the practice of renting housing by legal entities for their employees, their lawyers insist on including in the contract a condition for the immediate arrival of the apartment owner in the event of certain domestic force majeure events, such as a leaking heating radiator or a neighbor’s leak from above. This condition is also appropriate when renting housing by an individual.
The tenant should carefully study the text of the lease agreement during the process of agreeing on it and before signing, in no case perceiving the documentation of the lease as an annoying formality. The agreement protects the interests of the landlord and the tenant equally. If the tenant notices clauses in the contract that are contrary to his interests, he should think carefully before signing up for an obviously inconvenient lease.
Stage 1. Finding an apartment
If you choose an apartment yourself
When searching for an apartment through a specialized classifieds website or groups on social networks, you run the risk of encountering scammers. To avoid falling for their tricks, you need to pay attention to several important points.
Average cost of renting an apartment according to your criteria
Ads that are too “sweet” are often fake. A spacious studio with a modern renovation in the very center of the city, a minute’s walk from the metro and for pennies? A very dubious proposal.
Please transfer the prepayment to the card
This point often follows from the previous one. You call an ad you like, they tell you that there are so many people interested, and then they ask you to transfer at least a few thousand so that the apartment remains yours. Don't be fooled by this: you just talked to a scammer.
Never transfer money to strangers as a deposit without a personal meeting.
Authenticity of photographs of the apartment
To ensure the accuracy of the information from the ad, check the photographs of the apartment for authenticity. This can be done, for example, through a Google image search.
If the same apartment is posted on several housing rental sites, it’s not a big deal. It’s another matter when photographs circulate on the Internet, and the description, apartment address and contact person change radically from time to time.
Lack of apartment photos
Ads without photos look at least strange. In most cases, this means that there is something wrong with the apartment or that such living space does not exist at all.
Ad frequency
It happens that the same advertisement for renting an apartment appears and disappears with enviable frequency. Two weeks ago the apartment was rented out, then it was rented, and a month later it is still up and running again. And so on in a circle.
Of course, the problem may not be with the owner, but with the tenants. Well, a person is unlucky when it comes to tenants, and that’s all. However, the frequently flashing advertisements are alarming.
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The contact person
Who deals with the issue of renting out an apartment? The owner himself or the realtor? If you don't want to pay a commission equal to half or even the entire monthly payment, then realtor ads are not for you.
If you contact a realtor
Realtors can make your life easier and help you find your dream apartment. Or they can fray your nerves, empty your wallet, or waste your time. This is when you should be wary.
The realtor cannot name the company where he is currently an employee or where he worked before
If a realtor claims to be on staff of an agency, you can contact the company directly and clarify this.
If the realtor is a private entrepreneur, in any case he should tell you at least a few companies in which he worked before. If you have difficulty with this, you may have a scammer in front of you.
The realtor is not interested in who will live in the apartment and in what composition
Almost every owner has at least an approximate idea of who he sees as a tenant, and notifies the realtor about this. If during a conversation you are not asked about the number of residents, the presence of animals and permanent work, this is a bell.
The realtor is not an expert in his field
It’s hard to imagine that a realtor doesn’t know how to write a receipt for money or fill out a rental agreement. And if he still doesn’t know, then this is not a realtor.
You are asked to pay a commission before concluding a contract
The realtor receives a commission only after the transaction is concluded. If you are required to pay in advance, do not give in and do not transfer funds.
The realtor deals with only one apartment
Typically, a realtor has several properties in the works. It is suspicious when a specialist devotes all his time to only one apartment. Try typing the phone number into the search bar of your browser and see how many ads you get.
The realtor introduces himself as an employee of a news agency
You are offered to come to the office, sign an agreement and gain access to the database of owners after paying a commission.
The realtor will not go with you to inspect the apartment and meet with the owner, and even if you can get through to anyone from the received database, after a preliminary agreement on the meeting, the landlord will cancel everything at the last moment.
In this case, it will not be possible to return the money, because you signed an agreement on the provision of information services. To achieve justice, you can contact lawyers and try to file an application in court. However, no one guarantees you a successful outcome. Therefore, carefully study all the documents on which you sign.
Mandatory annexes to the rental agreement
A detailed property description is not carried out; it is enough to indicate the most expensive things and household appliances. The contents of the inventory must correspond to the actual situation with the property before directly signing the contract.
Those. If the inventory lists a working refrigerator and an automatic washing machine, but the first appliance barely cools, and the second appliance has some faulty washing modes, the tenant must demand a change in the inventory, otherwise the tenant will have to repair the landlord’s faulty property at his own expense.
The deed of transfer of residential premises must contain all defects of the apartment discovered by the future tenant - this is very important! Otherwise, before leaving the property, for example, with an initially damaged fragment of the baseboard (the defect was not indicated in the transfer act), the owner has the right to refuse to return the security deposit.
Stage 2. First contact with the owner
You have chosen the ideal option, in your opinion, and to celebrate, call the owner to arrange a meeting. First, make sure you are actually talking to the owner and not a realtor or anyone else. Even if the ad indicated that the apartment was for direct rent.
Ask your landlord a few questions. For example, where the windows of the apartment face or what floor it is on.
If a person hesitates, perhaps he is trying to deceive you. The owner will answer such questions without delay.
If you feel that everything is in order, go through the information provided in the ad: check the cost, the need for a deposit and the last month's payment. Find out how long the apartment is being rented out, and whether it really is a 10-minute walk to the metro, not 30. In general, talk through all the nuances that are important to you.
How to pay rent
Payment terms, including a convenient payment format (cash, non-cash), are specified in the agreement. If payments are made in cash, it is important to request a receipt from the landlord for each payment made. To expedite payment processing, the tenant should ask the landlord to prepare “blank” receipt forms in advance.
Contents of the receipt
: passport details of the landlord and tenant, payment amount (in words too) with currency designation (for example, ruble), payment period. The receipt is always prepared in two identical copies, since a photocopy of the receipt does not have legal force. Each copy of the receipt has legal force for three years.
When making payments by transfer (bank, postal, etc.), the tenant should keep the receipts along with the rental transaction documentation in a safe place.
