The real estate market does not stand still. Every day people are looking for housing, changing, selling, renting out. If you do not have your own “corner”, then you have to rent a room, apartment or house. How not to get into trouble, what are the features of concluding a contract? We will talk about some of the nuances of renting a living room today.
Hiring concept
To date, the conclusion of this agreement is governed by the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
From the contents of the articles of the said law, a definition of hiring can be deduced - this is the provision by the owner (or authorized person) of an interested citizen for temporary possession and use of residential premises for living for a fee.
The first side is called the landlord, the second - the tenant. A legal entity cannot act as the latter under this agreement. For them, the law provides for the conclusion of a lease, while housing should be used only for the settlement of citizens.
Hiring distinguish between short-term (up to 1 year) and long-term. The main feature is the need for state registration of the encumbrance of the owner's rights to housing in the second case.
Some often confuse the concept of hiring and renting. From a legal point of view, these are different institutions. Consider the main differences:
- Only a citizen can act as a tenant, and a legal entity can also be a tenant.
- The object of the contract under consideration is exclusively residential premises, leases - it can be movable and immovable property (mainly production, offices, etc.).
- Lease can be unlimited, hiring - no more than 5 years.
- A real estate lease agreement should always be registered with government agencies, and a hiring contract - drawn up only for a period of more than 1 year.
An object
As such, under an employment contract between individuals, an isolated residential space suitable for permanent residence may act: a house, an apartment, its part, etc.
Such a quality as suitability is determined in accordance with the requirements of the housing legislation of the Russian Federation (LC, Government Decree of 2006 No. 47).
In the room for recognizing it as residential, the necessary engineering systems must be available: water supply, drainage, heating, sewage, electricity, gas (where available). In villages and other villages, the absence of sewage and water supply in 1-2-story buildings is allowed.
These systems must comply with sanitary standards.
If the house has a storey above 5, then there must be an elevator. The basement or basement cannot accommodate living quarters. The construction and foundation of a residential building must not be damaged leading to destruction.
This is an incomplete list of conditions for recognizing an object as residential, the rest can be found in the Government Decree.
Landlord: his status
As this person, the law considers the homeowner or a citizen authorized by him (for example, by notarized power of attorney).
It follows that, concluding a tenancy agreement, it is necessary to check the authority of the landlord. There are cases of fraud when a person rents an apartment and receives a deposit several months in advance, without having the right to do so. To restore the original position in this situation will be very problematic.
Principal rights of the landlord:
- enter the premises, monitor the condition and safety of the property located in it;
- to receive payment for rent;
- agree to accommodate tenants not specified in the contract;
- prohibit keeping animals.
Responsibilities:
- transfer the premises free, in a condition suitable for living;
- properly operate the apartment building where the apartment is located;
- provide the tenant with utilities for a fee;
- to ensure the repair of common property of MKD.
Tenant: rights and obligations
This party to the contract can only be an individual.
If other family members are settled with the tenant, this should be indicated in the agreement.
In the event that they arose later than the moment of signing the lease agreement for a dwelling, they shall be settled with the consent of the landlord and other tenants, subject to the norms of conformity of the area.
They have the same rights as the main tenant. These persons may enter into an agreement with the specified person, having notified the landlord, of joint liability to the owner of the housing. In this case, they will be co-tenants. This status gives them equal responsibility in paying utility bills, maintaining housing, etc.
Tenant Rights:
- to provide premises in good condition, suitable for living, and in accordance with the terms of the contract;
- to supply quality utilities;
- reorganize / reconstruct the premises only with the consent of the landlord;
- to instill other family members permanently living with him, with the permission of the owner, subject to the standard area for 1 person (in the case of minor children - not required);
- preemptive right to conclude a contract for a new term;
- enter into lease agreements with the consent of the owner.
Responsibilities:
- operate housing in accordance with its purpose - for the residence of citizens;
- maintain the condition of the premises that existed at the time of rental;
- pay in accordance with the terms of the contract;
- pay utility bills unless otherwise provided by agreement;
- responsible for the actions of persons living with him.
Temporary residents
In this category, the law classifies persons who live in rented accommodation free of charge on the initiative of the tenant with the prior consent of the owner. They are also referred to as users.
The landlord may prohibit the instill of these persons if the norm of housing area per person is not respected. The employer will be responsible for their actions.
The period of residence of such citizens may not be more than 6 months.
They must leave after the period agreed upon at the time of check-in. If one has not been established, then within a week from the presentation of such a request.
Social recruitment
This is a variation of the concept we are considering in this article. The main difference is that the state or municipal authority acts as the owner of the housing stock . These relationships are governed by the provisions of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation.
Already in the very name “social housing rental” lies its purpose: to help the poor who are recognized as needy. They are not charged, but they must fulfill the obligation to pay utility bills and repair.
In view of this, socially rented premises can only be obtained by persons recognized as needy and registered. Apartments are provided in order of priority. For registration in different regions, their own criteria, while the check-in rate is taken into account - at least 18 square meters. m per 1 person.
Social hiring and rental of premises for commercial purposes shall be concluded by agreement. The main difference between the first contract in the status of the tenant is that persons living with him have equal rights and obligations, have the right to enter into an agreement after the death of the main tenant.
The rental of housing in this situation is not limited to any period.
The obligations of the owner are almost the same; capital repairs are also added to them.
A feature of the contract is also that the employer and his family members can be evicted with or without housing (including comfortable housing). In the first case, this can happen due to reconstruction and overhaul of the house, demolition, transfer to non-residential, recognition as unfit for living, transfer to religious organizations. Unfavorable premises can be provided to citizens who, for more than 6 months, without good reason, have not contributed a “communal apartment”. And without anything they can evict people who use housing for other purposes, destroy it, repeatedly violate the rights of neighbors, as well as people deprived of parental rights.
All these procedures are carried out only in court.
Pay. Term
Commercial tenancy differs from social housing in these two important conditions.
The amount of payment is agreed by the parties and is indicated in the contract. The exception is cases when the law establishes a maximum size that cannot be exceeded. The deadline for making it can be set in the same way (monthly, quarterly, every 2 months, etc.). If the time of payment is not specified in the contract, then this obligation must be performed once a month.
The landlord cannot alone change the amount, unless otherwise specified in the agreement or law.
It is usually envisaged that the increase is made once a year.
An agreement on the rental of premises between individuals, concluded for a period of up to 1 year, is called short-term. The provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the resettlement of permanently resident household members, temporary guests, a sub-loan, the replacement of the main tenant, the pre-emptive right to conclude a new agreement, and deferment of its termination by a court decision do not apply to him.
The legal deadline is 5 years. If this condition is not defined in the contract, then it is considered valid until the expiration of the specified period.
The form
The contract for the rental of housing by individuals is necessarily in writing.
If the validity period of such an agreement is more than 1 year, then encumbrance of the property right of the owner of the housing must be registered with state authorities.
If this requirement is not observed, the transaction will be considered void.
What does an example of a tenancy agreement between individuals look like? Let's get to practice. Typically, the structure of a document is constructed as follows:
- name of the contract;
- place of detention, date;
- Name of the landlord and tenant, place and date of birth, passport details, addresses;
- Section 1 - the subject of the contract: it is indicated that the object is transferred for living, its characteristics, location, information about the owner, persons instilled with the tenant;
- Section 2 - rights and obligations: the main ones are quoted from the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, can be supplemented with your own (ban on keeping animals, etc.);
- Chapter 3 - on the amount of payment and the procedure for making it, including the currency of settlements, the issue of the execution of utility bills, the condition of a pledge for the proper performance of obligations may be prescribed;
- 4 - term;
- 5 - responsibility of the parties;
- 6 - termination of the contract, extension: the points of the law can be taken as a basis + added, not contradicting it;
- 7 - other conditions: here the number of copies of the agreement, the method of resolving disputes, their jurisdiction, the procedure for amending and supplementing the conditions are determined;
- 8 - signatures of the parties, their contact details;
- Appendix No. 1: acceptance certificate;
- Appendix No. 2: an inventory of the property located on the premises, indicating the market value.
What a sample rental contract looks like, see the photo above. As you can see, the document must contain the mandatory "legal" elements:
- a heading with the name of the contract, parties, date and place of conclusion of the contract;
- Object name;
- term;
- payment procedure and amount (in case of absence there will be a contract of use free of charge);
- signatures of the parties;
- acceptance certificate.
Other elements are optional, if you do not prescribe them (rights and obligations, termination, liability, etc.), these issues will be governed by the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
Termination
The specified procedure can be carried out both by agreement of the parties, the tenant’s initiative with the obligatory warning of the landlord for 3 months, and from the filing of the latter by court decision in certain cases, which we will now consider.
So, the judicial grounds include:
- the tenant does not pay for housing for 6 months or more, unless otherwise provided by agreement, in case of short-term employment - if the amount is not paid twice;
- tenants spoil or destroy the premises;
- use it for other purposes or systematically violate the rights of neighbors (the right to file a lawsuit arises after the first warning in the absence of a reaction);
- emergency condition of the facility, invalidation;
- other stipulated by the LC RF.
For the last two reasons, the contract can be terminated at the request of either of its parties.
The court may, on its own initiative or at the request of the employer, provide the latter with a term of up to 1 year to eliminate the violations that caused the landlord to file a lawsuit. In the absence of an adequate tenant reaction in the indicated period in the form of “work on errors”, the owner can re-apply to the court with the same requirements, and the court will take his side.
In case of termination of the contract, the tenant and other household members are subject to eviction by this decision. At the same time, he may request to postpone the execution of the adopted act also for a period not exceeding one year.
The judicial grounds for terminating the social tenancy agreement are almost identical to the above. It is also considered terminated from the moment the tenant leaves the new place of residence, with the death of a lonely tenant, due to the destruction of the premises.
Litigation
This is the main method of protecting the rights of the parties under the agreement in case if it was not possible to reach an agreement by peaceful means.
It should be noted that all pre-trial correspondence, in particular warnings on eliminating a violation of rights, letters, proposals on the extension of the contract, on changing its terms, is better to be done in writing. So it will be easier to defend your position in a possible lawsuit.
Of course, no one is protected from dishonest employers. Imagine you are renting a renovated apartment with all amenities, furniture, appliances, etc. The tenants seemed like a pretty young couple. You, without bothering, downloaded on the network and signed a printed template of the contract of employment. At the same time, having arrived at the apartment a month later, they found spoiled furniture, a smoked carpet, a large dog, tearing off the wallpaper and the door, and a mountain of cockroaches on unwashed dishes. What are your actions in this situation? First you need to record everything you saw: with the help of a video, a photo with a date, neighbors - by drawing up an act in the presence of the employer. Issue a warning to the latter on elimination of violations and threaten eviction through the court, establish a reasonable period for the elimination of the “nightmare”.
This example clearly demonstrates the consequences that a negligent approach to paperwork can lead to, the lack of an initial definition of the boundaries of what is permitted.
In this case, it is worth mentioning right away that it is better to include clauses on the possibility of keeping pets in the lease agreement for the premises, a sample of which is presented in the review. As well as an inventory of available property and its value.
If, after the set deadline, the tenant does not take any measures, you can safely go to court with a statement of claim to terminate the contract on the basis of “damage to and destruction of housing,” perhaps there will be a “systematic violation of the rights of neighbors,” as well as claim damages to you .
In any case, a weighty evidence base must be gathered before the court.
As for the sphere of rights of employers, a violation in the form of an unmotivated increase in fees is often found here. The law prescribes that unilateral change is not allowed, unless otherwise provided by the contract. When there is no such reservation, the amount shall be unchanged throughout the term of the agreement. In such cases, litigation is rare: people either agree or look for a more acceptable option, since the lawsuit also involves spending and wasting time.
Thus, the rental of housing is a rather specific area, requiring a detailed study of each item of the relationship. Missing important points can lead to sad consequences. Therefore, before you rent or rent an apartment, get a competent contract for the rental of housing.