6 Things to do Before Renting an Apartment

At first glance, renting an apartment is quite simple – one person offers housing, the other pays a certain amount and both sides are satisfied. In practice, however, quite often these simple at first glance relationships become so complex that the arising disputes reach the trial.
Fresh repairs, a friendly and smiling owner and, most importantly, the attractive price is not in all cases the reason to immediately rent an apartment, and even more to make advance payments for periods of several months.
In this article, you will find six tips that will help you avoid troubles and possible disputes when renting an apartment.

1. Check the identity of the lessor.

When you finally decided that you will rent a dwelling, ask a person who introduced himself as the owner of the apartment, to present you his identity card.

2. Check if the lessor has the ownership of property or whether he has the right to dispose of this real estate.

Ask the person, who introduced himself as the owner of the apartment, to present you documents certifying ownership rights, for example, an apartment purchase agreement, registered by the real estate register of the Agency of public services, or a fresh extract from this register.

3. Sign a lease agreement.

If you are convinced that the person with whom you agree to rent an apartment has the right to do so, and you are satisfied with other details, such as the condition of the apartment, the availability of amenities, the amount of payment, etc., insist on concluding of an agreement in writing. Do not limit yourself to downloading the contract from the network, but draw up a contract that indicates essential provisions, such as – for what period the agreement is concluded, the amount of the rent, under what conditions this fee can be changed, the conditions for terminating the contract, mandatory written notice from the initiator of termination of the contract, mention of who pays for utilities, other rights and obligations of the parties.

4. Prepare and sign a document confirming the receipt of the apartment.

Upon receipt of the apartment, draw up a document confirming acceptance. In the document, indicate the general condition of the apartment and the condition of things in the apartment. If some things are damaged, indicate in detail what defects were found, if the defect is difficult to describe, take a picture of the item and attach the photos to the document.

5. When paying rent, prepare and save documents confirming the fact of payment.

If you have agreed with the lessor to pay your rent by bank transfer, keep your receipt of payment. In the case of cash payment, prepare and sign a receipt confirming the transfer of a specific amount to a specific person, indicating the purpose of the payment. As an example, we present an approximate text of such a receipt – “I, First Name, Last Name, IDNO………. received the amount of 000 USD… as payment for the rent of apartment No. …, located at …, for period from…until….. “.

6. Prepare and sign a document confirming the return of the apartment.

Upon the expiration of the rental period of the apartment, when returning the leased property to the owner, draw up a document confirming the transfer, in which indicate the condition of the apartment and things in the apartment.

The above is intended to provide a brief guide only. It is essential that appropriate professional advice from a Real Estate Lawyer is obtained. Our office will be glad to assist you in this respect. Please do not hesitate to contact us.