How to rent a home to avoid problems with the law

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Pay taxes so everyone can live in peace.

Why rent an apartment legally

It is obvious why housing is rented out illegally - so as not to pay taxes. However, if you look at the issue in perspective, there can be a lot of problems from this.

In recent years, the tax office has taken care of this seriously, so the secret can easily be revealed. And in this case, you will have to answer with a ruble. The penalty for failure to submit a declaration will be 5% of the amount hidden from the Federal Tax Service. You will also have to pay personal income tax, a fine of 40% of the accrued amount and interest.

The main ally of the tax service is the neighbors. But both the district police officer and the employees of the management company - whoever you want - can "hand over" you. This is often done by tenants with whom you have not shared something.

There is one more important point about the latter. When you rent out an apartment, you are building the usual contractual relationship. But illegal leasing puts tenants in a vulnerable position. They cannot call the police if the neighbors, the locksmith from the management company, are noisy, open the door when someone knocks on it, because this reveals your gray scheme of making money. It is normal for tenants to live comfortably in your apartment.

Finally, if you decide to sue the tenant yourself, it will be difficult for you to prove without documents that he rented an apartment from you. And if you succeed, then you will be forced to pay tax.

What to do before renting out an apartment

If the apartment has a mortgage

Reread the loan agreement. Many banks demand to agree with them the intention to rent an apartment. The documents also spell out sanctions for non-compliance with this condition. They can be very unpleasant: for example, the bank will demand to repay the loan ahead of schedule.

In order not to get into such a situation, clarify the position of the bank and coordinate with it the renting of housing, if required. Konstantin Bobrov, director of the legal service "United Center for Defense", advises to obtain a written consent from the credit institution and attach it to the lease agreement.

If you are not the only apartment owner

To rent out a home without problems, all its owners must agree to this: even those who own tiny shares.

Konstantin Bobrov Director of the Legal Service "United Center for Defense"

If this condition is not met, the contract may be considered invalid or not concluded. Other owners at any time can demand from you to stop violating their rights and recover damages from you.

There are two ways to do everything legally:

1. Get written consent from all owners - ideally notarized.
2. Issue a notarized power of attorney, in which the owners of the shares allow you to dispose of the property on their behalf.

What to do when the tenant moves in

Enter into a contract

Commitments sealed on paper are beneficial to both parties. (It should be noted that further we will talk about renting premises for an individual. Relations with commercial structures are much more complicated and deserve a separate article.)

The contract stipulates the responsibility of the parties and stipulates their obligations. For example, the owner of an apartment can provide for a penalty for late payments, make a clause according to which the tenant will provide minor repairs (by default, this is the responsibility of the owner). If the tenant ruins something in the apartment, you can get compensation. Do not be afraid to take into account all the nuances in the contract. This will help cut off tenants who are not ready to fulfill your conditions.

If you rent an apartment officially, there may be problems with the eviction of tenants before the expiration of the contract.

Tenants who do not want to leave their homes will have to be expelled through the courts. According to Konstantin Bobrov, director of the legal service of the United Center for Defense, good reasons are needed here:

• Tenants do not pay rent for more than six months, unless this period is extended in the contract. This measure applies only to long-term contracts; for those concluded for less than a year, two missed payments are enough.
• They use housing for other purposes: for example, for commercial purposes.
• They systematically violate the interests of neighbors: they litter the common space, make noise.

It is worth keeping in mind the following: according to the court, you can not only evict negligent tenants, but also collect from them a fee for the time they actually lived in the apartment, and the damage suffered. But all these measures will only be required if you want to evict them before the expiration of the contract. If it is over, the tenants lose the right to live in the apartment.

In this regard, it is much more profitable to conclude contracts for a period of less than a year:

• the contract will end quickly;
• two missed payments are enough to go to court;
• such an agreement does not need to be registered with the Federal Property Management Agency.

This is not all there is to know about the contract. Read more in the relevant article by Lifehacker.

Issue temporary registration for tenants

If tenants intend to live in your apartment for more than 90 days, you have two options:

1. Give them a temporary registration.
2. Inform the Office for Migration Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs that citizens are living with you without registration at the place of stay.

If this is not done, you will face a fine of 2-3 thousand rubles, or 3-5 if we are talking about Moscow. An exception is if the tenants have permanent registration in the same region. Then you don't have to do anything.

Temporary registration makes life a lot easier for tenants. It's easier to get medical help, find a job, and so on. And the owner costs almost nothing to do it: it is enough to go with the tenant to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and confirm your consent or issue the appropriate paper with a notary.

You can terminate the temporary registration at any time: it is enough to notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the early departure of the tenant.

There are some nuances regarding tenants with children. A tenant with temporary registration can arrange it for his children - already without your consent. But this only allows them to live in the apartment until the period of temporary registration expires. So it makes sense that this period coincides with the one specified in the lease.

The number of registered tenants can affect the size of the rent: bills for electricity, gas and water will increase, but only if there are no meters. If they are, nothing will change.

For the owner, temporary registration is practically irrelevant - until problems begin. If you have to deal with the tenant in court, this will be confirmation that the person really lived in the apartment.

What to do when a person lives in an apartment

Pay taxes

Annually, by April 30, you must submit a declaration to the tax service in the form of 3-NDFL. In it, you indicate all income for the previous year, including money from renting an apartment. It is necessary to attach a lease agreement and documents confirming the receipt of funds - receipts or a bank statement.

Personal income tax in the amount of 13% of income must be paid by July 15 of the year following the reporting period.

Please note that if the payment for a communal apartment is included in the rental price, you will also have to pay personal income tax from this amount. So it makes sense in the contract to separate these two payments and accept them in two transfers.

What to remember

1. It is not difficult to legalize the rental of housing.
2. The state has many ways to force you to pay taxes, so there is a great risk of being caught illegally renting out your home.
3. Paying taxes is okay.
4. Properly executed paperwork protects both you and the tenant.
5. By issuing temporary registration to tenants, you practically do not risk anything.
6. If you take a responsible approach to choosing a tenant, there will be no problems.