Main aspects when signing tenancy/lease
agreement in St. Petersburg
Tenancy/lease
agreement in St. Petersburg is concluded with a help of the broker directly
between the owner of the apartment and the potential tenant. This contract is
rarely notarized. If one of the parties does not speak Russian, the contract is
drawn up in two languages - Russian and English.
There is a
difference between tenancy agreement and lease agreement. Tenancy agreement is concluded
between individuals, the lease agreement is concluded when one of the parties
is a legal entity.
The
standard text of the agreement consists of a few pages, but the terms offered
by different companies may differ significantly from each other, so before
signing up, the parties must read the contract attentively and make sure that
it fully protects their interests.
Documentation required when signing the
tenancy/lease agreement
Documents provided by the landlord
There are
not so many documents required to be provided when renting an apartment. The
owner of the apartment must provide the following documents proving his
ownership: certificate of state registration of right and the agreement on the
basis of which the certificate was issued. (For example, the transfer agreement
in the case of privatization of the apartment, purchase-sale agreement, gift
agreement etc.)
If there
are several owners of the apartment they must be present when signing the
contract, in other case notarial consent from all the owners is needed. Such
consent is also required from all the people registered in the apartment since
they have the right to use the premises. List of all the people registered in
the apartment can be checked by getting an extract account at Housing
Department (ZHeK).
Documents provided by the tenant
In Russia
there is still no single way to check the credit history and credit capacity of
potential tenants. Of course, the landlord will require a copy of the passport from
the future tenant, but it is not enough to ensure his payment capacity. As the evidence
the landlord might require the information concerning place of work of the
future tenant, the name of a contact person and his/her telephone number.
Terms of Lease / Tenancy Agreement
Lease
agreement in St. Petersburg is usually concluded for a period up to 1 year with
a priority to prolong it which allows the owners not to register officially the
lease agreement at Federal Registration Service.. The majority of tenants want
to find an apartment for the whole period of their stay in St. Petersburg,
especially if they are moving to the city to perform a contract for an
international company or they are on a diplomatic mission. Average duration of
these contracts are two or three years, and future tenants are looking for a
permanent stay for this period of time. If the tenant has the reasons to
terminate the contract earlier, he must notify the landlord in advance. The terms
of notifying (one month prior to moving out, sometimes more) are usually
discussed when signing the contract.
In
accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the owner of the apartment,
on the contrary, cannot terminate the contract, except the cases when the
tenant violates the terms of the agreement, for example, delays rental
payments.
Rent and security deposit
Rent in St.
Petersburg is usually set in U.S. dollars and paid in advance, monthly or
quarterly. Sometimes, the tenant can offer an advance payment, for example, six
months or even a year in advance, thus hoping to a significant reduction of the
monthly cost of the apartment. Payments are still often carried out in cash,
although most large companies insist on transferring money in rubles or foreign
currency.
One of the
standard conditions of the lease agreement is a security deposit which is paid
by the tenant as insurance for the landlord in the event of possible debt
payments or damages. If there is no damage to the apartment the deposit is
often used as a payment for the last month of rent.
Additional expenses
Quite often
the apartment for rent can be renovated upon a client’s request. For example, a
tenant may request to take out the furniture, or, on the contrary, to furnish the
apartment, install new equipment, provide Internet/Satellite TV. The contract
usually specifies the conditions under which the improvements are made and at
whose expense they are executed.
The
important issue in discussions is public/communal payments. Usually the rent
already includes public charges, excluding long-distance and international
telephone calls and electricity. The tenant usually pays a monthly fee for
cable TV and Internet.
Night Sky Realty Support
Experienced
consultants Night Sky Realty will help you to conduct negotiations effectively and
conclude a lease/tenancy agreement according to your individual requirements
and wishes.
Please
contact us by phone +7 (812) 333-15-15 and our consultants will be happy to
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