CrimeaPRESS reports:
After legislators introduced a ban on the use of apartments for the provision of hotel services, controversial issues began to arise in practice regarding the legality of renting out apartments to residents for a fee (under a commercial lease or lease agreement). The issue turned out to be so acute, the portal’s specialists note Legal subtletiesthat the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation drew attention to it: last year it issued a resolution (dated March 23, 2023 No. 9-P), where it formulated a number of criteria by which it is necessary to distinguish between the rental of housing under a rental agreement and within the framework of the provision of hotel services.
The court noted that the mere fact of renting out housing on a daily basis does not indicate that the owner is violating the law by providing hotel services. But he ordered legislators to regulate in more detail the specifics of renting out housing for temporary accommodation of citizens in order to remove uncertainty in this issue.
The result was not long in coming — and the other day, State Duma deputies approved in the third reading a bill that clarifies the rules for leasing residential premises for temporary use (No. 445620-8).
A template for an apartment rental agreement that meets these requirements is available to subscribers of my channel on the Boosty platform.
So, soon Article 30 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation will be supplemented with a number of conditions under which owners of residential premises (apartments, as well as houses) are allowed to rent out their housing to citizens under a lease agreement (including short-term), free use, or under a lease agreement (to a legal entity) :
1) if at the same time the rights and legitimate interests of neighbors are ensured (i.e., do not violate the rules of maintaining silence, prevent the occurrence of emergency situations that could harm the property of neighbors, etc.);
2) if the rules for the use of residential premises and maintenance of the common property of the house are not violated (i.e., residents should not create obstacles for the other residents of the house in using the common property, do not damage it, use the residential premises for their intended purpose);
3) if the requirements for energy efficiency and the provision of residential premises with metering devices are met. The Federal Law “On Energy Saving…” dated November 23, 2009 No. 261-FZ (Article 13) obliges owners of residential premises to install meters for water, gas (if the residential premises are heated with gas or the volume of gas consumption is more than 2 m3 per hour), electricity (with with the caveat that since July 2020, the responsibility for replacing and verifying electric meters has been assigned to energy sales and network companies).
Accordingly, renting out an apartment may now be considered illegal if the apartment does not have the required metering devices, or they are faulty, or their verification period has expired.
This rule is aimed, first of all, at protecting the remaining residents of an apartment building from having to pay for utilities for those apartments that are rented to residents without meters;
4) if the requirements for the provision of utility services are met — incl. for waste removal (MSW).
In other words, the owner may be prohibited from renting out his home if he has not entered into an agreement for the removal of solid waste (with a re-operator), for water supply, gas supply, etc.
He is also formally responsible for the quality of utilities supplied to the residential premises being rented out (that is, he must promptly resolve issues with the management company and resource supply organizations).
The new law does not introduce special fines or any other penalties for owners who rent out their housing in violation of these conditions.
But it gives the remaining residents of the house the right to go to court if the landlord violates their housing rights. Accordingly, a rental or rental agreement for residential premises may be declared invalid (Article 168 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
source: Legal subtleties
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