Dangerous rental. How to rent an apartment without the risk of being deceived. Tips on how to rent an apartment correctly so as not to be deceived. What to do when renting an apartment

Every person who has at least once faced the need to rent an apartment, especially in big city, I probably realized how saturated the housing market is with unscrupulous people. To put it simply, they are scammers. Every year they become more and more cunning, using new deception schemes. How to avoid becoming a victim of apartment scams?

What should you pay attention to when renting or renting an apartment? So, what techniques, cunning and not so, are most often used today to deceive a gullible tenant.

Sections of the article:

Cheapest housing

This deception scheme uses low rental prices as bait. That is, an advertisement is given that offers a “ridiculous” price, usually 50% or more below the market price.

By calling the specified number, the client finds out that this particular apartment has just been rented out, but there is another wonderful offer.

And the real market price is called, in the hope that the person will not want to look for anything else, but will take advantage of what is offered.

This is the simplest and most harmless variation that can only take up a potential client’s time. But the next one is already luring real money.

Dummy databases

This type of apartment scam can be divided into telephone and real:



Renting with fake documents

Considering the level of modern technology, producing counterfeit documents is not very difficult, and there are plenty of such “specialists” on the fraudulent market. By acting according to this scheme, you can enter into an agreement with the owner and rent out housing using forged documents through dummies.

The tenant pays a deposit, moves in, and some time later an indignant owner appears, who was supposedly away. He declares that he does not know the persons who entered into an agreement for his apartment, and puts the tenant out on the street, naturally, without returning any money.

Sublease

This scheme is similar to the previous one, but the real owner of the apartment is not involved here. This type deception has long been known and very widespread. The fraudster rents an apartment, forges documents for it and his own passport, and rents it out to several people at an attractive price.

A security deposit or advance payment is required from each potential tenant. Then the “owner” asks to wait a couple of days to put the apartment in order, remove his things, etc.

News agencies

This is already more modern look fraud. Such agencies provide potential tenants with a list of apartments at prices below market prices, with addresses, telephone numbers, descriptions and photographs of housing.

When the client chooses the appropriate option, he is offered to sign a contract without preliminary review. Thinking that this is an apartment rental agreement, a gullible person signs the document without reading it and goes to the specified address.

Not finding even the house in which the apartment was supposedly for rent on this street, the indignant client returns to the agency.

They apologize to him for the “overlay” that occurred and select another option. Arriving there, the client finds out that the apartment has just been rented out or something like that.

The agency politely explains to him that, having paid several thousand rubles, he entered into an agreement only for the provision of information services (if you read the agreement, this is what it turns out to be), and these information services are provided to him. The contract has not been violated, it is almost impossible to make claims against the agency.

False agents

Sometimes scammers use the names of reputable real estate agencies to carry out their business.

Usually it happens like this: someone calls a potential client by phone, introducing himself as an employee of the company and offering favorable price behind good accommodation, with a minimum interest for intermediation.

Or first an advertisement is given on behalf of the company with a similar offer and a specified telephone number.

By calling the number, the client learns that to receive this wonderful apartment option in all respects, you just need to make an advance payment to the specified account. And overly gullible citizens really pay!

When they discover that no services will be provided to them, they start calling the office of the real company. Of course, it turns out that they do not have any agent with that name, and the advertisement was not given either.

This is how notorious scammers behave, for whom deceiving potential tenants is a profitable business. But real apartment owners can also behave dishonestly. Here are some of the most popular “divorce” options.

Early eviction

A fairly common occurrence is when the owners of an apartment, having rented it out, begin to deliberately create unbearable conditions for residents and make far-fetched claims.

The goal is simple - to evict the tenant without returning the security deposit, and often rent. There is a circle of people who have turned this vicious practice into a source of permanent income.

You can also ignore the actual rental period. For example, rent out an apartment for 2-3 months, and tell the tenant that it is for a long term.

The usual monthly rate for long-term hiring is approximately 15-20% higher. Thus, after several months, the owner has an urgent need to vacate the apartment, and the difference in payment ends up in his pocket.

"Related" change

It happens that an apartment that is in shared ownership is rented out without the consent of the other residents. Which, naturally, becomes clear after the deposit has been paid and the contract has been concluded. As a result, the contract is declared invalid, and the unlucky tenant is evicted. Sometimes such situations are random, but most often they are provoked by the homeowners themselves.

The next version of deception: the apartment is rented out by close relatives.

The explanation goes something like this:“My brother inherited an apartment, now it is empty, but it could generate income.

Since he has no time to do this, I rent out the apartment. But there is no power of attorney, because they simply did not have time to issue it, etc. and so on.". Then the brother, the former one, naturally “is completely unaware,” returns from vacation, and the tenant has to move out. And the relative who rented the apartment is, of course, on a long trip at this moment; it is unknown when he will return; his phone does not answer.

Variations of “related delivery” can be very different:

  • husband for wife,
  • son for father
  • granddaughter for an old grandmother, etc.

In this case, a performance can be staged with a telephone call to the brother (wife, grandmother, etc.), in which the figurehead replies that he, of course, gives his consent. In any case, the result for the tenant is the same: eviction with loss of money.

It would also be a good idea to draw up an apartment acceptance certificate in order to subsequently avoid mutual claims for loss or damage to property.

The landlord, like the tenant, bears his own risks when renting out an apartment, because the tenant can also turn out to be a fraudster: run away without paying or rob the owner.

In this case, you will have to file a statement with the police. Having a concluded agreement and the tenant’s passport details in hand will make this much easier.

If the opposite situation happened, and the tenant became a victim of fraud, contacting the police with a statement about the fact of fraud can also sometimes help, especially if you do this, as they say, “hot on the heels.”

Since I was already living in a rented apartment and just wanted to find a better option, I had a lot of time to understand the common tricks and tricks of apartment letting agents. And there were not so few of them. Fake photographs, non-existent apartments and more serious money scams.

I was convinced of some of them myself, and I know about others from the words of people who were less fortunate and who gave their money to scammers.

Fake photos

This is the first scam I've encountered. Not believing the too cool photographs of inexpensive apartments, I decided to check them out Google search from the pictures. And I was not mistaken.

Excellent apartment in the center of Kharkov


Turns out to be an apartment in the center of Barcelona

Most often, such apartments do not even require verification using Google. The price-quality ratio in them initially looks implausible.

The meaning of divorce. You call based on this ad, and either the apartment is already rented and they offer you another option, or they ask for a small amount of money to view the apartment in advance. Needless to say, you should immediately send these people to Barcelona, ​​to their own apartment?

Non-existent apartments

I had the most trouble with this trick. Notice boards are full of fairly high-quality apartments, but after calling the indicated number, it turns out that the apartment has already been rented out. For a long time I could not understand what the essence of such deception was, until I accidentally went to the profile of one of the “owners” of the apartment.


Too many apartments for one owner

The meaning of divorce. After you are told that the apartment has already been rented out, two outcomes may follow: you are immediately offered another apartment, or your number is included in the database, and they call you the next day from another number to offer agency services.

Prepayment for viewing apartments

Never, remember, never give money for viewing apartments or for services before you have met the owner of the apartment and made a deal.

On the appointed day you can for free come and see the apartment. The same applies to agency services. What is the point of paying an agent for his services if you have not yet concluded a contract with the owner of the apartment?

The meaning of divorce. Scammers work on the principle of “little but often.” They ask for a small amount of money up front and then disappear with it.

Renting an apartment

A friend of mine who rents out an apartment for daily rent encountered this problem. Having rented the apartment to a young guy for one day and coming to get the key the next day, she found in the apartment an elderly couple who had moved from another city.

According to the elderly people, it turned out that they found an apartment for long-term residence on the website a few days before and contacted the specified number. They were offered to view the apartment in one day and move in immediately. When they arrived, the young man showed them the apartment, took the money for the first and last month, gave them the keys and disappeared. Perhaps the most unpleasant divorce of all.

The meaning of divorce obvious.

Agency contract

The last mistake that can be made when renting an apartment is concluding a contract not with the owners of the apartment. The agency you come to may not be real, which is what a lot of people have encountered. Having concluded a contract with an agency and received (or not received) a key, you end up with an amount of money that is equal to two months of rent, and the office where the agency was located is no longer open the next day.

The meaning of divorce. Rent an office for a couple of days, get money from several people and disappear.

Conclusion

Here are some tips to help you avoid getting into an unpleasant situation:

  1. Check the property thoroughly before calling the owner or agent. Don't forget about Google Images and your intuition. If you see that the apartment is too good for the money, most likely it's a scam. But you can call and see for yourself.
  2. Don't give any money before meeting the apartment owners. Paid viewing, advance payment to the agent and prepayment - all these are just banal ways to scam you out of money.
  3. Enter into a contract only with the owner of the apartment. He must have a residence permit in his passport and proof of ownership.
  4. Search Google for “landlord blacklist.” You will be shown a whole selection of sites with a list of unscrupulous landlords.

That's all. I hope you don't fall into the clutches of deceivers. And if you’ve already been there, tell us about your experience.

Namely, under paragraph 4: (fraudulent actions of an organized group of persons, resulting in the deprivation of the victim’s right to use residential premises).

Punishment for fraud involves a fine in the amount of the salary or other income of the culprit for a period of up to 3 years with restriction of freedom for up to 2 years.

But, as practice shows, it is very difficult to prove the existence of a crime in such cases. First of all, the problem becomes proof of fact participation in the scam of an organized group of people, because legally the relationship between fraudulent realtors and fictitious owners is not formalized in any way.

Secondly, a significant part of rental scams comes down to drawing up agreements for the provision of information services, which are not regulated in any way by law, and its presence cannot be the basis for initiating a lawsuit.

And thirdly, many citizens affected by the actions of scammers make mistakes themselves, if avoided, it would be possible not to lose your money: they agree to give a deposit without, do not check the availability of housing documents from the landlord, etc.

Analyzing the general statistics on rental fraud cases, it is safe to say that most scams are tolerated gullibility and negligence of tenants.

Most common schemes

Despite widespread coverage of the topic of rental housing scams on the Internet and in the press, citizens continue to fall for well-known, sometimes primitive fraud schemes.

Tenants often become victims of scams, but the owners themselves are not immune from deception.

How to protect yourself when renting out an apartment and what to be wary of? Divorce schemes and types of fraud are described below.

Underground sublease

Popular in big cities scheme for “divorcing” owners. Its victims are often landlords who... is verbal, while the owner is firmly convinced that he rents out housing only to those with whom he agreed.

The tenant, in turn, re-rents the rooms or beds - also, of course, without a contract. Thus, the property, from renting out which the owner planned to earn for many years, turns into a flophouse.

As a result, when the deception is revealed, the owner discovers your property in a “killed” state, and there is no one to file a claim with - after all, the current tenants will turn out to be the same victims of deception.

Repair on rent

Owners often practice full or partial collection payments from tenants in the form of repairs.

In case of fraud, the initiative to make repairs against payment comes from the residents themselves, often in an insistent form - they say, live in a house with such a state of the bathroom, electrical wiring, etc. impossible.

The owner, realizing the prospect of his losses (dissatisfied tenants will move out, and it will be difficult to find new ones for an apartment that requires urgent repairs), agrees to such conditions.

Process drags on for many months, as a result, the owner does not see any money for rent or the actual repairs. In the end, the landlord has no choice but to accept the loss.

Taking possession of title documents

The purpose of the scam is much larger than that of subletting or renovation scams: to take over the rental property. The victims in these cases are most often elderly landlords, who are easier to deceive.

Tenant under any pretext defrauds the owner of title documents(for example, he writes that at work they require you to provide proof of the fact of renting for, or offers to show these documents to a lawyer he knows for verification - of course, for free).

The next stage of the fraudulent scheme is the urgent sale of housing, in which case fake deed of gift or another document transferring real estate to a fraudster. It is this type of divorce that is classified as fraud committed organized group persons

Those who are more likely to become victims of a scam are those who who rents the house. The most common schemes for defrauding tenants without involving agencies are:

Sale of rented housing

Often, scammers demand pay in advance not in one, but in several months.

About what's coming sales process, the landlord is silent.

The tenant lives quietly for a week or two, until new owners appear on the doorstep with all the documentation.

Concluding a transaction with a person who is not the owner

Explaining his inability to provide title documents for housing, the landlord reports that it is registered in the name of his elderly mother/father/relative abroad.

The owner convinces the residents that there will be no problems with their accommodation, until that same “foreign” relative suddenly appears and demands to urgently vacate the living space.

A similar “divorce” scheme is the landlord’s silence about the right to live in the apartment for renting out to other persons registered in it. One fine day, the tenant discovers an unfamiliar face at the door, who, as it turns out, is registered here and has the right to use living space on the same basis as the owner.

Eviction under a false pretext

After receiving payment two or more months in advance, the owner begins make concocted claims against residents: complaints from neighbors, damage to property, etc., in the end he demands to vacate the premises.

The funds paid in advance, of course, go as compensation for allegedly damaged property.

Replacing locks

In this case, the tenants do not have time to live in the new place for a single day.

After receiving payment, the tenant gives the keys, but persuades the tenants not to move in for another day or two, supposedly during this time he will restore order.

Upon arrival at the new place of residence, the tenant discovers that the key doesn't fit, and the owner pretends that he sees this person for the first time and, naturally, did not take any money from him.

How to avoid getting scammed when renting an apartment? Common scams in this video:

How to protect yourself?

What to do if you were deceived and how to protect yourself from fraud? The chances of proving the fact of fraud when renting/renting residential premises bypass are very small, because there are no documents confirming the transaction.

But you should definitely write a statement to the police, because if several people suffer from the fraudulent actions of the same person, the chances of bringing him to justice increase.

You can protect yourself from the fate of a victim of an apartment scam if you don’t forget about the following things:

  1. Agreement- our everything. Its presence provides guarantees not only to those who will rent the property, but also to those who rent it out, so keep in mind that without documentary confirmation of the transaction you are at great risk.
  2. Don't be tempted suspicious low prices for rent. Especially if the owner emphasizes that there are many more applicants besides you. After the inspection, it is advisable to ask for at least a day to think about it - during this time you can find out from the neighbors whether the apartment is really for rent.
  3. Don't settle for paying rent several months in advance or require a receipt for receipt of money.
  4. When showing a property, ask the landlord to show the house register to make sure it contains “Gypsy camp” is not registered.
  5. Do not transfer originals or copies title documents for housing to third parties (applies to landlords).

You can learn about the rights and responsibilities and also from our articles.

What needs to be done to avoid being deceived at the conclusion? Tips in this video:

Deception in real estate agencies

How do realtors cheat when renting apartments? The fastest(but not always and not profitable for everyone) way to rent or rent out an apartment is to contact a real estate agency.

The organization is working, so it is in their interests to find the right option as soon as possible.

The real estate agency also acts guarantor of the transaction, and, if problems arise on one side or another, is obliged to resolve them as soon as possible.

The realtor bears the burden of checking the condition of the apartment before renting, whether the owners have the right to own the property, and reading the contract for controversial items.

But all this applies only to those agencies that conduct honest activities. Unfortunately, along with them, pseudo-real estate agencies, whose job is to deceive clients. Such organizations are divided into 2 groups:

  • news agencies;
  • fly-by-night agencies.

In the first case, the organization's activities do not go beyond the law. Under the guise of real estate services to the client slip vague wording“providing information, assistance in finding a suitable option.”

Employees of such agencies actually perform their duties, only they often consist of providing clients with unverified information from the Internet or newspapers.

Such agencies do not have their own database of landlords; employees also monitor websites and newspapers for the latest advertisements. Chances of renting a home using news agencies are minimal: often the interaction between the agent and the client ends with the latter providing 5-10 options that do not suit him.

The main feature of such “assistants” is that the fee for the realtor’s services is taken not as a percentage of the transaction, but in advance and in a fixed amount.

Employees of fly-by-night agencies, or more simply put, scammers, do not find it difficult to find fresh advertisements. They simply hand the client a printout with contacts of owners whose offers have long been irrelevant.

When calling the specified numbers, the client hears one answer "already completed". Another option for deception is that the agency provides numbers of supposed owners, who willingly answer phone calls and say that the property is still available, but there is one caveat: they themselves are currently away.

The client patiently waits for the “owner” to return, confident that the transaction will take place, but on the agreed day the subscriber turns out to be unavailable. Needless to say, the “owners” in this case are the agency employees themselves.

How to recognize scammers?

It’s easy to determine whether a particular agency wants to scam you if you know the distinguishing signs bona fide real estate organizations:

  1. The agency's office does not consist of one meter-by-meter room located in the slums. Reputable real estate organizations are usually located in office centers in business districts of the city.
  2. Payment for services is calculated in % relative to the monthly rental cost and it cannot be the same for a client who is looking for three rubles in a new building and for a renter of a bed in a residential area.
  3. In the contract clearly stated provision of housing search services.
  4. Payment for agency services is made only upon completion obligations specified in the agreement, that is, when the corresponding agreement is signed with the owner.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to deceive citizens in this market, and they will flourish until both owners and tenants learn to show maximum vigilance.

Remember that if there is anything alarming in the behavior of the other party, it is better to refuse the deal rather than later stay with suitcases on the street.

You can learn how to avoid falling into the trap when renting from the video:

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Experts have calculated: 57% of citizens who independently search the housing rental market sooner or later encounter scammers or scammers. Moreover, both apartment renters and landlords are deceived. Over time, some methods of deception stop working, but scammers tirelessly invent new ones. Thus, stories about re-letting already rented apartments and selling old advertisements from the Internet are outdated. Today, electronic theft with the use of well-known brands of real estate agencies by scammers, illegal subletting with forgery of documents and the sale of a rented apartment are in the forefront.

Ways to withdraw money

But the first place is still held by the banal “kid” - the ability to “disappear in time.” “Among the types of fraud on the part of tenants, the most popular is non-payment, when a tenant moves out without warning before the deadline, without paying the landlord, without paying bills, for telephone calls, for the Internet,” says Deputy Director of the Apartment Rental Department of a large real estate agency Oksana Polyakova. “It happens that tenants take with them something from the owner’s property.”

Both professional scammers and amateurs know how to “get away in time.” But only professionals dare to commit more serious scams related to forgery of documents. In such cases, a fake stamp is placed in the passport with registration at the desired address, and copies (and sometimes originals) of property documents are forged. Fortunately, the technical level of such counterfeits is usually not very high, so tenants should ignore any copies and demand only the original passport and title documents for the apartment. And carefully consider these documents.

Among the “tricks” of landlords, deliberate early eviction of a tenant is popular. This can be done by presenting fictitious claims - in order to terminate the contract without returning the deposit amount. Or by changing the rental period. First, the tenant is told that the property is being rented out for a long term (long-term rates are 20 percent higher). But “suddenly”, after three months, the owner has insurmountable circumstances in which it is necessary to vacate the apartment... It even happens that the apartment is sold without terminating the lease: the tenants went on vacation, and returned to the doors with new locks and owners. The owner of the apartment does not intend to return the money.

Data fraud is on the rise bank cards and names of reputable real estate agencies. Depending on the scope of their activities, fake realtors may even open fake offices and present fake documents. Next, the scammers, posing as agency employees, offer a lucrative deal, but ask the tenant to transfer the prepayment to the account or card specified by him in order to “rewrite the number” for “immediate transfer of the deposit” to the landlord’s account. Further, depending on the computer literacy of the “realtors”: either personal data, the number, and the cvv code are copied using technical devices, or simply rewritten.

Features of national rental

The rental market has changed - a share of 9-11% is firmly occupied by offers worth up to 20 thousand rubles. per month. At this price, rooms are most often rented out in the Moscow region. In addition, people have become less likely to turn to professionals. The reason for both was the fall in household incomes.

“If in pre-crisis times, owners, as a rule, rented out rooms in empty apartments, today some are forced to allocate living space where they themselves live,” explains Oksana Polyakova. — Adapting to new conditions is difficult not only financially, but also psychologically: many are resorting to such measures for the first time and for them it is more comfortable to look for tenants “through acquaintances” - most landlords of rooms first try to find tenants-neighbors in this way. However, then they still turn to specialists. For various reasons - for example, practice shows that most often problems with discipline and timely payment of rental rates arise when relatives, friends or acquaintances become tenants.”

According to real estate experts, in 2016, less than half (37%) of the surveyed tenants came to agencies. 63% looked for options and concluded deals without the help of lawyers and realtors. 50% of these independent tenants searched for apartments on sites on the Internet, 25% placed requests on specialized resources, 15% counted on the help of friends, 10% simply bought information from agencies. A third of landlords also used their own methods of finding tenants. Of these, 25% of owners posted advertisements on the Internet, 3% posted them on poles and entrance doors, 35% relied on random intermediaries, and 37% relied on acquaintances and word of mouth.

If you have free living space at your disposal, then the most reasonable solution for using it would be to rent it out to other people.

This is both an additional source of income for the owner and a way to cover monthly utility bills for housing.

According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the legal right to rent out an apartment has, first of all,.

This right can be granted to any individual or legal entity authorized by the owner to enter into a rental agreement with people renting housing. This means that only those persons in whose name the owner of the apartment has drawn up the corresponding power of attorney certified by a notary.

No family relationship, even the closest, is a legal basis for disposing of property that is not one’s own.

In the same case, when the apartment is owned by several owners, and one of them wants to rent it out, he will have to take care of a notarized power of attorney from all co-owners of the apartment or their personal presence at the conclusion and signature of this document.

Preparing residential premises for delivery

The first question that most often worries a landlord is preparing the premises for rent.

This is necessary not only from the point of view of the cleanliness of the landlord, who wants to make a good impression on the tenants.

The main benefits of preparatory activities:

  • increase in rental cost of a rental apartment approx. by 15-50%;
  • reduction in the search time for a tenant by approximately up to 1-2 weeks.

There are even cleaning companies that offer services to properly prepare residential premises for rental. They are developing entire complexes of similar events.

However, after reading the list of actions below, you can be convinced that this can be done by one person without special training.

  • putting documents for the apartment in order and paying off all utility debts;
  • preparation of the hallway (redecoration);
  • preparation of living rooms: updating wallpaper, ceiling, floor covering (if repair work has not been carried out for a long time);
  • testing and repair of plumbing (if necessary);
  • general cleaning of the apartment;
  • transportation of personal, valuable or memorable items, documents from the apartment;
  • furniture, equipment with household appliances (TV, refrigerator and washing machine);
  • washing household appliances;
  • preparation of elevators and front doors;
  • removal of odors and subsequent aroma design;
  • interior design (fragmentary).

It happens that the whole range of activities cannot be completed for some reason (furnishing, equipment household appliances). But the points relating to the legality, cleanliness and attractiveness of the apartment during its first inspection must be carried out.

Drawing up an inventory of property in the apartment

In order for the landlord to protect himself in the event of intentional or accidental damage by the tenant to furniture, household appliances and other things left in the apartment, it is necessary to draw up a sample inventory of apartment property, which must be attached to the residential lease agreement.

It can be documented directly in the text of the agreement or in an annex to the agreement.

The inventory of property should be as complete as possible, that is, it should reflect not only the number of all things left to the tenant for use, but also all item characteristics: appearance, year, production model, degree of performance, defects, scratches, wear, if any.

A well-drawn inventory, attached to the same agreement, will guarantee the safety of the property and make it possible to assess its condition after the tenants move out.

Search for a tenant

After preparing the property for rent and drawing up an inventory, the stage of finding a tenant begins. If you do this yourself, you need to advertise on special sites on the Internet, as well as press announcements.

You can also ask for help at any real estate agency(free of charge or for some payment).

At the moment when you have already found a suitable tenant who is ready to cooperate with you, you should verbally discuss all the most important aspects with him in order to come to an agreement. Only in this case can you move on to the next stage - paperwork.

Drawing up an agreement with the tenant

If your tenant is an individual, then you need to enter into an agreement with him apartment rental agreement (residential premises). If the apartment is transferred legal entity, then the document will be classified as lease contract.

When composing the text of a document, you can use the standard standard contract, which spells out all the responsibilities of both parties, as well as adding those items that the lessor deems appropriate.

TO main responsibilities The tenant may include the following:

  • current repair of all defects, breakdowns that appeared during the period of use of the apartment or compensation for losses at your own expense;
  • ensuring the safety of the apartment;
  • independent replacement of furniture and household appliances as they wear out;
  • payment on the agreed date of the month.

Additionally The tenant's responsibilities can include, for example:

  • maintaining living quarters in appropriate condition;
  • self-payment of utilities;
  • carrying out routine repairs of all defects and breakdowns that appeared during the period of use of the housing.

Other conditions must also be reflected:

When drawing up an agreement, you should always remember that if the document is incorrectly drawn up, not only the lessor’s money and property, but also the apartment itself will be at risk.

Inspections of the apartment after handing it over to the tenant

Competent owners know that even behind the mask of decent people, skilled scammers can hide, so there is a practice tenant control checks.

It is thanks to such unexpected visits of an inspection person that it is possible to identify in a timely manner the dishonesty or fraudulent intentions of employers. Of course, to do this unexpectedly, This clause should be written down in the contract.

If he is not registered, then the owner must arrange his arrival in advance so as not to cause inconvenience to the tenant. The check is carried out usually once a month or less.

There is another way to keep an eye on the apartment behind the scenes - asking your neighbors to keep an eye on the tenants.

Temporary registration of tenants

Citizens who came from other cities for a period more than 90 days, according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, must go through the registration procedure. If they do not have a living space where they can, it is possible at their location.

If the tenant of the apartment has not registered with specified period residence, then government authorities impose fine for both the owner of the living space and the tenant.

The period of temporary registration is not limited by law, and it is canceled automatically upon the deadline specified during registration.

At the same time, in order to protect yourself as much as possible from unscrupulous tenants, it is recommended to set a registration period not more than for 6 months. After the expiration of the period, if an extension is necessary, this procedure will need to be repeated.

Landlord income tax

Renting out an apartment falls under Art. 23 Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which states that any individual receiving any income must pay the appropriate tax.

Periodic leasing of any housing with constant receipt of rent is equivalent to entrepreneurial activity.

The tax rate that the owner is required to pay is 13-30% and depends on the taxpayer status:

Anyone who wants to reduce their tax rate needs to register an individual entrepreneur. Then the contributions to the tax office will be only 6% of income.

In case of non-payment of taxes for renting out an apartment, the owner will have problems with the law:

  1. Those who risk renting out an apartment illegally, without paying income tax, should remember that in addition to collecting the entire hidden amount, an additional penalty may be imposed on the illegal tenant. a fine of 20-40% of the non-payment amount.
  2. If the amount of non-payment of taxes exceeds 600 thousand rubles, the owner of the property may also be brought to criminal liability under Art. 198 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The maximum penalty in this case may be imprisonment for up to 1 year.

Early termination of the lease agreement

Mandatory condition of the lease - the contract must be drawn up for a certain period.

However, depending on the situation, the rental agreement can be terminated early. The conditions for this are usually prescribed in advance in the contract itself. Otherwise, you should act based on the letter of the law - Civil Code RF.

The tenant (individual) may unilaterally terminate the contractual relationship without specifying the circumstances. The main condition is that you must communicate your decision give the landlord at least three months' notice.

The lessor himself has the right to terminate the agreement only if the tenant fails to comply with the terms of the agreement:

  • failure to pay rent;
  • improper use of the apartment;
  • worsening of her condition.

Video: How to successfully rent out your apartment?

In the story, a professional realtor gives advice on what you need to pay attention to when preparing an apartment for renting, how to select decent tenants, how to legally draw up a rental agreement for residential premises, and an inventory of the property transferred with the apartment.