Is the lease agreement a panacea for all conflicts between the tenant and the landlord or just a piece of paper? If you are still inclined to the second option, it is time to read our new material. THE Capital experts talked to their clients and came to the conclusion that only a small percentage of tenants understand what unjustified risks they are taking by neglecting to sign the contract. In the real estate market, nothing is done just like that, so every document that we ask you to provide or issue can be decisive in one or another situation. Just like after buying you redistribute real estate for yourself, in order to have the right of ownership of a specific object, and during the lease, you should have a document certifying your rights and obligations in your hands. Why is this so important? We suggest to figure it out together.
Rent without a contract: risks for the tenant
Why do you sign a lease? This document consists of a standard set of points that guarantee the safety of both parties. Its absence makes you defenseless before the law and the potential arbitrariness of the landlord. Of course, the person on the other side of the apartment can be crystal clear. But how do you know that? The tenant and the landlord are strangers to each other, so it will be quite logical and legitimate to demand that your arrangements be officially formalized.
In the absence of a lease agreement, the apartment owner can:
- to visit you without prior agreement, your consent and even your presence;
- to carry out repair work without agreement with you;
- pick up furniture, appliances and decor elements that he suddenly needed;
- use your dwelling as a warehouse for storing your waste;
- send strangers to you;
- arbitrarily increase the rent;
- notify you of the eviction day by day.
All these actions appear to be illegal. Actually, they are like that, but only if there is a lease agreement. Without it, you remain a nobody, a person without a home, whom the owner of the apartment simply let in temporarily out of kindness and for a symbolic reward. Particularly complex conflict situations between the parties can be resolved in court. But even here you can't do without a contract, because in order to announce the winner, you need to know the rules of the game.
The rights of tenants in the presence of a lease agreement
So, we found out that in the absence of a contract, you remain a party without rights. It's time to figure out what rights you secure for yourself thanks to just one signature.
The tenant can (not everything, but enough):
- to use the housing provided to him and the property present in it for its intended purpose;
- to demand compensation for damage to life or health in cases where the traumatic experience occurred due to the improper condition of the object;
- emphasize the need to review the rent in accordance with the market situation or the deterioration of living conditions;
- independently improve the conditions with the consent of the owner;
- subleasing real estate or subletting persons with the consent of the lessor;
- claim compensation for your home improvement and renovation expenses;
- remove self-made improvements, such as a filter, air conditioner, heater, and others.
You can read more about the legal side of the employment contract and its definition in the relevant sections Civil Code of Ukraine. We recommend Articles 778, 793, 794, 821 and 822 as mandatory reading.
Where there are rights, there are duties: what is required from the tenant
You cannot demand a decent attitude towards yourself without giving anything in return. The homeowner puts his property at your service, so he has every reason to impose certain obligations on you to take care of it. As an official tenant, you must:
- to transmit meter readings in advance;
- properly pay bills for utility services, so as not to accumulate borg;
- compensate for the damage caused and, if possible, eliminate malfunctions;
- not to move in strangers and not to sublease the object without the consent of the owner;
- do not carry out repair work and do not replanning premises without the owner's knowledge;
- do not prevent the lessor from visiting the home to check its condition (with prior consent);
- take care of the rented property and keep it in proper condition, keep it clean and tidy.
In general, nothing impossible is required of you. All the mentioned rules can be reduced to a slightly paraphrased categorical imperative of I. Kant, or the so-called golden rule of morality - treat other people's real estate as you would like others to treat yours.
