Living in a rented apartment is not a test for the faint of heart, but it is necessary for those who want to learn to be independent. The Village magazine wrote that 54% of Russians believe that after the age of 18, young people should leave their parents and take on the responsibility of living separately. I talked to two girls who tried to live in rented apartments and found out what this experience taught them.

Svetlana, 27 years old, Saratov

The reason for starting an independent life is banal - I went to college, and my parents lived outside the city. Of course, every day it would be possible to travel from the suburbs to the city, but renting an apartment seemed more convenient and safer.

The first move was somehow long and dreary. I was 16 years old, and everyone helped: parents, relatives, friends. It felt like I was being sent on an expedition somewhere far away.

Now I can pack all my things in an hour.

I moved out from my parents several times. In this regard, I, like a star on my farewell tour, am currently looking for an apartment to move again. Relatives react calmly every time, because I am an adult, I have my own life, and it’s normal to live independently.
At first, my parents paid for my apartment, and when I started working, they simply helped with the move, repairs, and donated food.

Every time for me it all starts with the decision that I need to look for an apartment and live separately. The right apartment finds me on its own: either a friend rents out a room, or someone is looking for a neighbor with whom they can share the burden of rent. A couple of times I tried to find it through advertisements and through realtors, but they offered terrible apartments at inflated prices.
There was one apartment in which half belonged to some crazy grandmother; it was impossible to connect to the Internet, hang anything and remove other people’s things. I found out about this when I had already agreed to move in.
The biggest headache for me at the search stage were realtors who pretend to be owners, and scammers who rent out apartments that are not their own. There are also inadequate owners who consider their apartment, smelly or renovated from the times of the Soviet Union, to be Buckingham Palace.

When you start looking for an apartment, you have to accept the fact that you will encounter shacks that people mistakenly call housing. Or maybe not, because some people are lucky enough to immediately find their dream apartment.
I was not so lucky, although my housing requirements are minimal: hot water; the neighbors are not alcoholics, party animals or drug addicts; the apartment itself should be warm, dry and free of pets such as mice and cockroaches.

One of the disadvantages of renting an apartment is the risk of constant moving. It takes some getting used to. I had to move 4 times in six months. In the end, I no longer unpacked my things; they simply lay in large 120-liter garbage bags, into which you can, if desired, put a corpse or construction waste.

At 16 years old there is no talk of living independently, even if you rent an apartment. My parents not only helped me, but supported me. But in my 4th year I was already practically independent and paid the rent myself.

Living in an apartment is a lot of emotions. Moving, not being sure whether you will live in this apartment next month. The landlady or owner may ask to vacate the apartment, and this is always sudden.

In 90% of cases, my move was due to the fact that the landlords had relatives who had nowhere to live.

But there is also a plus: there are no unnecessary things, in principle, even personal ones, only what is necessary.

Living in an apartment eliminates materialism and teaches enlightenment. By the end I had two garbage bags full of things. I threw away everything that didn’t fit in them when moving. Minimalism is our everything.

What I like most is that I don’t have to answer to anyone because I haven’t slept at home for three days. Now there is no such luxury. Already at seven in the evening they call and ask where I am, when I will be and how long I can stay at work.
You rely only on yourself, and if somewhere you have a cash gap, a hole in the budget, only you are responsible for it. Therefore, you learn to think about the consequences, to handle money, because the owner of the apartment does not care that your salary is delayed, you are on vacation or without work at all.
You think about any move with money several times.

Apartment neighbors, and they will be, because renting an apartment for one person is not a cheap pleasure - it’s always a pig in a poke. You will never know what kind of relationship will develop with them until you start living together.

Living with your parents is much easier and calmer, but you have no freedom. You're like a dog that's always being walked on a leash. On a very short leash. Now my parents know if I have a boyfriend. They are aware of everything that is going on with me, because I am very emotional.

Now that I live with my parents again, nothing has changed in my life. I still hate bringing anyone onto my property. But, in general, it’s stupid to hope that this is how you’ll move out and how everything will work out! No, there will be a lot more problems and obligations. But no leash.

There are always hardships, but you need to look for the positives in everything. When I started paying for everything myself, it turned out that once a month I could afford McDonald’s and a movie. This brought variety to my life, consisting of “every day” products from Auchan.

Financial difficulties are a great motivation to look for a job in order to secure better conditions for yourself. Soon I began to have enough for travel, normal groceries, and some major purchases.

But no matter how enjoyable adult life is, no one is immune from falls. At some point, I simply burned out, tired of running this lifelong marathon. She quit her job and came to her parents to lick her wounds.
I sat at home for six months, sluggishly looked for work and almost didn’t go anywhere. My parents silently waited for me to rest, and they did.
It's important to remember that going back is not a bad thing; It's worse when there is nowhere to return. And when you have the opportunity to lie down somewhere and heal your wounds, or at least know that there is a place where they are waiting for you and will accept you in any condition - this already gives strength and confidence.
For those who can’t decide to move out of their parents’ house, I advise them not to be afraid. Yes, these are very big changes. Living on your own is very scary; a series of problems arise. But you need to fly out of your parents’ nest and start living your own life as early as possible.

And at first it will be difficult, but then this will be your life, your way of life. It will be possible not to iron clothes, not to wash dishes and not to worry about the mess, or, on the contrary, to arrange all things according to colors and shapes.
In any case: it will be as you want, and a little as the apartment owners want.

Daria, 23 years old, Krasnodar

I decided to rent an apartment when I realized that living with my parents was very difficult. From the age of 16, I got used to independence: I lived with my grandfather while my mother and father arranged their lives in their own houses. There was no sadness for the family as such, because I was used to the fact that I needed to take care of myself.

I had my own room, in which I created comfort out of emptiness, and freedom of action, which was limited only by the uncomfortable conditions that my grandfather created. I grew up next to him, and new interests and goals appeared in my life, but there were no opportunities to realize them in the conditions in which I lived.

I started dating a guy, and bringing other people home was strictly prohibited. But scandals on this basis were the most insignificant problem. I was used to seeing chaos around me and accepted that nothing could be fixed. I was simply ashamed to bring home friends or young people. Maybe I was just looking for excuses.

Constant quarrels and hysterics with my grandfather escalated the situation to the limit: I packed my things and went to live with my father. A wonderful house was waiting for me there, full of care, affection and comfort. I didn't have to cook, clean, or worry about anything. My father's wife took care of me as if she were her own child. This piece of paradise was far from the city, so I was soon faced with the problem of time.

Going to work, staying out late, inviting guests was problematic due to the fact that my father lived far away. In addition to problems with transportation, I was faced with the fact that there was simply nothing to do in a cozy and quiet house, and I was young - I wanted to have fun and be easy-going.

A month later I moved in with my mother. She lived in a residential area, far from the center, but tolerable because transport runs until late. Life became more convenient, but conflicts with the new family were not long in coming. After another quarrel, I realized: it’s time to live separately.

When renting an apartment, the worst thing for me was the money issue. I was used to spending my salary on myself, and now I had utilities and rent waiting for me.

While I was looking for apartment options on the website, the prices did not seem terrible to me, and besides, my parents promised to help. All that remained was to find an option that would suit me.

In terms of housing, I am very demanding: I want the apartment to be beautiful. My dream version is a one-room apartment, whose clever owner furnished everything with furniture from Ikea. In addition, the apartment should be in the center or at least in an area that I like.

After looking through hundreds of options, I realized that the real estate market is hell. The prices are high and the atmosphere is depressing. Terrible wallpaper with monograms or giant bright flowers, old furniture, an unorganized kitchen, no hint of a sense of taste. The furniture is in random order (we call it “where it fits”), there is rubbish everywhere that you wouldn’t mind throwing away, but for the owners it is obviously a source of pride.
After my aesthetic views fell under the yoke of the harsh Russian reality, I, gritting my teeth, began to call advertisements that caused me a minimal amount of disgust.

Now I'm faced with a new problem: realtors. They were everywhere.

In my romantic fantasies, a well-dressed specialist took me from apartment to apartment, showed me the situation and persuaded me to rent something. In reality, it turned out that finding a good realtor is even more difficult than finding a decent apartment.

All sorts of people constantly called me back, obviously having completed the NLP course, and literally forced me to see them, promising that they wouldn’t take any money until I found the apartment of my dreams. Completely desperate, I turned to one of these specialists - a young girl who promised to send me dozens of apartment options every day until I was satisfied. This pleasure cost 3000 rubles.

In front of me, she called with a wonderful ad: an apartment in my favorite area, at a great price, with wonderful furniture and amenities. But it has already been handed over. The following options did not have photos, and I had to call and go myself.

And so at about 8 pm I’m standing somewhere in the area of ​​the city station, next to a house that looks like a dungeon from porn, and I’m met by a woman who doesn’t want me to go inside at all. She asked if I was going to live here alone. This question surprised me, but just in case, I let her know that I love guests, and there is always a possibility that I will want to move in with a guy.

The owner of the dungeon stunned me with the fact that her house is a kind of women’s community, and men are strictly prohibited from entering here. I said goodbye to her and went home angry and disappointed.

In desperation, I told my best friend's father about my difficulties, and he scolded me for not looking at ads and collaborating with just anyone. I shrugged my shoulders, not even bothering to tell how long I had been flipping through sites with advertisements.

Maybe this is the magic of an adult and experienced person, but in 30 minutes of our communication, my friend’s father gave me 5 different options, among which was the apartment of my dreams.
I called the phone and the very next day I came to inspect the future properties.

The man who brought me to the apartment turned out to be a realtor, but only a normal one, thus from a dream. He explained to me that the owners live outside the city and therefore he selects clients himself. I needed to pay the first month and utilities. No other additional payments were required.
The very next day the owners arrived, we signed an agreement, and I moved into my new house, where I still live.
My apartment is the most wonderful in the world. There is no ugly furniture here, and the wallpaper is a beautiful pink color. The kitchen is small, but everything in it is done the way I would like. And the most pleasant thing is the area, the one in which I grew up and know everything around.

The fact that I absolutely love the environment saves me from financial sadness. I pay almost everything I earn for my home.

In six months of living independently, I learned to get by with less money than before. I buy clothes less often and don’t travel, but I can’t say that life revolves only around rent. If you wish, you can find funds for everything.

But now I am calm and happy. I always have a place to return to after a hard day at work, I can invite guests, and I even lived in an apartment with a young man for some time. I can walk until the morning and crawl into my native pink walls without worrying about anything.

Living independently also gives room for creativity. I only do what I want, when I want. No one will tell me that I forgot to buy bread or didn’t wash the dishes. No one will ask where I am going or what time I will be back.

Even when I'm completely alone, I feel good - before I didn't have enough of my own place. I had the feeling that there were many places I could go to after work, but I equally didn't want to go to any of them. And after renting an apartment, this feeling went away. Now I know: I'm going home.

Even though this is a rented apartment, I still feel like a hostess. I cook, clean, add decor to my liking. After moving, I immediately changed the curtains in the living room and bathroom, placed candles, laid a rug in front of the chair, and brought in musical instruments and flowers.
When you try to restore order, you realize that after all, a person decorates a place, and not vice versa.

Since my arrival, the apartment has become more comfortable, which means I can adapt to any conditions.

With new housing came new responsibility. When the water heater broke down, I had to look for technicians to fix it myself. The filter in the faucet was clogged - I had to look for a solution. There were cockroaches and they started poisoning them. The light bulbs have burned out - you stand on a stool and screw them in.
Something is constantly breaking, breaking or running out. And I have to do general cleaning more often than I was used to, living with my parents.

But I have long perceived all this as part of life. Anything can be dealt with, any difficulty can be solved. The main thing is that the owners are adequate, and I was lucky with them.

For those who have not yet decided to live independently, I advise you to take this step as soon as possible. This is a school of life, in which, in addition to valuable lessons, there is also pleasure, tranquility and adventure.

To favorites

What to do if the rented apartment is your first independent home, and the owners are tightening the screws? It is worth finding out in detail what you are entitled to and what, alas, you are not. So, the tenant has the right:

. use the apartment and the property located in it during the rental period.

This means that, having rented an apartment, you have the right to live there and use all the property that was left by the owners in the apartment. In order to avoid claims that may be brought against you after the expiration of the rental period, before moving into the apartment, it makes sense to draw up an inventory of the existing property and its condition with the owners. This is done in order to leave the apartment quietly and calmly, and not amid curses and shouts: “Where did you take my grandmother’s dinnerware?”

Move in your spouse and minor children into the rented residential premises (moving in other persons is allowed only with the consent of the landlord).

This point of the law may upset same-sex couples and those who, following modern youth fashion, hope to rent an apartment with friends. However, modern legal realities are precisely this: having told the landlady that you will live here with your husband, you will not be able to move a flock of sweetly cooing girlfriends into the apartment in a week. Otherwise, the hostess will have every right to terminate the contract with you. Then both your deposit and the agency’s commission will be wasted, and the search will have to start all over again.

. provide residential premises to temporary residents, having previously notified the landlord.

Temporary residents are any citizens who come to the tenant of a residential premises from their permanent place of residence and temporarily reside with him. If, nevertheless, you have an urgent need to provide temporary shelter for friends, it is better to notify the landlords in advance. If you are lucky and the owners are sane people, they are unlikely to mind. But if you “forget” to tell them about the planned “increase in the family”, and the guests are seen by, say, observant grandmothers at the entrance, then be prepared for an unpleasant conversation, and possibly for termination of the contract. Is it worth risking your home for the dubious pleasure of washing dishes for an aunt from Makhachkala for a whole week?

As you know, there are no rights without responsibilities. Well, as for the employer, his responsibilities are as follows:

Use the apartment handed over to him under the lease agreement for its intended purpose (only as housing), without the right to sublease.

This restriction established by law, as a rule, upsets those who plan to use a rented apartment for business: to organize an office, rent it out “by the hour,” organize some kind of home production, and so on. In practice, none of these actions are permitted by law, and the landlord, that is, the owner of the apartment, having learned that you, for example, are renting two rooms out of three rented, has every right to ask you to go outside along with your subtenants.

. comply with the rules for using residential premises.

It is also important to remember that the so-called “rules for the use of residential premises” formulated in the Housing Code of the Russian Federation apply not only to your own housing, but also to any residential premises you occupy. Therefore, it’s not worth scratching walls before 11 am, putting garbage in the hallway and annoying your neighbors in other ways, encouraging them to call the police. Firstly, why do you need unnecessary communication with law enforcement officials? Secondly, landlords will definitely not like interest from law enforcement agencies, especially if, like most Muscovites, they do not pay taxes on the income they receive from you.

. vacate the residential premises upon expiration of the rental period established in the rental agreement.

This point is quite subtle. As a rule, the employment contract is concluded for a year. But this does not mean that if both you and the owners are satisfied with everything, you are still obliged to leave the apartment after this period. Rather, it makes sense to renew the contract in advance and extend its validity for another year. Well, if you have accumulated some questions and complaints against each other, then the end of the contract is the best time to find out all of them.

Many apartment owners use the end of the agreed period as a reason to raise the price of the apartment - well, if you understand that prices have objectively increased, and a new apartment will cost you, as usual, 3 times the price (including the deposit, the realtor's commission and the first month's fee), that is, there is every reason to agree. If you think that you are simply being scammed for additional expenses, carefully pack your things and leave the apartment at the agreed time. And don’t forget that the “deposit” that you paid before moving into the apartment is payment for the last month you lived.

To freely allow the landlord into the apartment for the purpose of checking its use and the condition and condition of the property.

Many people have the most acute friction with tenants on this point. This happens especially often if the apartment is rented out by elderly pensioners who want communication; or if the apartment is being rented out for the first time, and there are a lot of belongings of former tenants and now landlords left in it.

In order not to meet every day with an astonished face the owner who came in for old times’ sake, it makes sense to stipulate in advance in the contract the number of possible visits per month. It is optimal if you can limit yourself to one meeting and combine it with the transfer of money. Otherwise, be prepared for the fact that the owner may move to “live” with you for a while. And what? The apartment is his.

. bear financial responsibility for the condition of the apartment and the property located in it.

According to the current Civil Code of the Russian Federation, from the moment the contract is concluded, all responsibility for the apartment passes to the tenant. Accordingly, the consequences of a flood of neighbors, a fire that occurred through your fault, or any similar trouble will have to be eliminated independently and at your own expense. Although, to the credit of landlords, many of them agree to share this kind of responsibility in half. So in this matter - one of the few - practice turns out to be more merciful than the law.

Pay electricity bills and long-distance and international telephone calls on time; carry out routine repairs of the apartment.

It was this point that at one time became the reason for the appearance of the so-called “collateral” in the capital’s market. The fact is that too many irresponsible tenants left their temporary homes, leaving the owners with thousands of telephone bills or unpaid electricity for a year. To protect themselves, landlords began to collect this money preventively. Although, as a rule, the tenant simply regularly pays off his debts for electricity and telephone, without burdening the owner with this.

Of course, not only the tenant, but also the landlord has their rights and responsibilities.

First they look for each other: those who want to rent out living space and those who want to rent it. Found. Then - it would seem that nothing could be simpler - live, be happy, just don’t forget to pay for rented housing or cut off coupons from rented meters. But in reality everything is not so simple. Today's material is devoted to the rules for renting and renting out housing.

By yourself or through an intermediary?

There are two main options for renting/renting housing:
– independently (by sifting through volumes of newspapers and magazines, specialized Internet sites, interviewing friends and acquaintances, re-reading advertisements on poles and entrance doors;
– contact professional intermediaries.

If you search for a rented apartment yourself, you can save a certain amount on the services of intermediaries. But there is a risk of losing a lot of time and even becoming a victim of scammers.

The second option will save you from unnecessary contacts. But even here you are not immune from dishonest intermediaries.

There are two types of companies operating in the apartment rental market: information agencies and real estate agencies. The first, for a fee (money in advance), provide a list of addresses of premises for rent. But often the housing at the named addresses is already rented or is not rented at all. Money, of course, is not returned.

There is more trust in real estate agencies. They have databases that are updated daily. And at the client’s request, they undertake the search for suitable apartment options and check them, go to view the property together with the prospective tenant, and negotiate with the apartment owners. Payment is made only after the conclusion of a tenant agreement with the apartment owner.

Accommodation stage

Before moving in, the owner and the future tenant need to discuss their relationship and fix it on paper.

What is a residential lease agreement? This is an agreement under which the owner (lessor) provides, for a certain fee, residential premises to the other party (tenant) for a limited period of possession and use. Currently, these relations are not fully regulated by law. Therefore, you can often find another wording: a lease or sublease agreement. Essentially, we are talking about the same thing. In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an agreement between the owner and the tenant for renting an apartment must be drawn up in simple written form or notarized. Both types of contracts have the same legal force.

The contract must indicate:
1. Subject of the agreement (exact address and area of ​​the apartment to be rented);
2. Amount and procedure for paying rent;
3. Rights and obligations of the tenant and landlord;
4. Responsibility of the parties in the event of early unilateral termination of the contract;
5. Lease term and procedure for extending the lease agreement;
6. Details of the parties (last names, first names, patronymics of the tenant and lessor, their passport details and registration addresses);
7. Date of signing the agreement.

In addition, an integral part of the lease agreement is the act of handing over the property located in the apartment, listing all things and objects.

The parties may, at their discretion, provide for other conditions in the agreement. For example, the possibility of the landlord's access to the premises. This will protect the tenant from unexpected visits from the landlord. The contract must include a special condition - to notify the tenant in advance about visiting the apartment, for example, in order to check its condition. The time of such visits is also agreed upon.

More often, an agreement is concluded between two parties - the homeowner and the tenant. Sometimes there is another participant - a real estate agency that has found a client to move into this apartment. But, as a rule, in the future it does not bear any responsibility or obligations to him (except for cases when the apartment is in his trust). Then an agreement is concluded with the property owner, the agency, having received money for “pimping”, washes its hands. It happens that a real estate company enters into an official agreement with a client, which states that if within 3 months the client moves out of the apartment for any reason, the agency undertakes to find another option free of charge. But this rarely happens. Therefore, contact the company that provides such a service.

On a note

The legislation does not provide for any time limits for concluding an apartment rental agreement. It is established by agreement of the parties. However, in practice, the contract is usually concluded for a year and then extended under the same conditions.

Why a “paper” contract?

It would seem, wouldn’t it be easier to agree verbally?

A “paper” contract is necessary to protect the interests of both parties. If we assume that the apartment is rented on the basis of oral agreements between the owner and the tenant, then several problems arise:

1. The tenant does not have proof of the legality of his stay in the apartment, therefore he cannot register his place of temporary residence with the internal affairs bodies;

2. If conflict situations arise, when the owner tries to evict the tenant and collect damages and rent from him in court, the owner will have to provide witnesses who can confirm his claims. The tenant will also have to defend his interests with the help of witnesses. Even if the lease is simple, the legal process can drag on for a long time, and all this time the apartment will be occupied by the tenant.

In addition, each party can interpret oral agreements in their own favor, so we recommend that you always draw up a written lease agreement, even if you are renting out an apartment to a close relative.

On a note

If the apartment is state-owned, then it can be rented out under a sublease agreement and only with the permission of the landlord represented by the city and everyone “registered” in the apartment. If the apartment was purchased with a mortgage, you must provide written permission from the bank to rent it out, unless otherwise provided by the contract.

Caution won't hurt

Before concluding an agreement, the apartment owner should check the passport of the future tenant (and make a copy of it in case he suddenly has to look for him together with law enforcement agencies), preferably and make sure of his solvency. It wouldn’t hurt to ask him for information about his place of work (company name and address), as well as contact numbers.

The future tenant also should not be embarrassed to ask the owner of the apartment to show documents for the living space (order, purchase and sale agreement, deed of gift, etc.). A passport to make sure that this is really the owner of the property and not a figurehead. It happens that housing is rented out by a person who is not its owner. An agreement is concluded, the tenant pays money for accommodation, and the next day the real owner of the apartment appears and throws the “guest” out the door.

By the way, about relatives

Sometimes a situation arises when, on behalf of the owner, the apartment is rented out by any other person: son, relative, acquaintance, etc., or when the owner of the apartment is under the guardianship or care of other persons. The general rule is that if, by law, the owner of the property has the right to independently carry out transactions, he can transfer this right to any other person. In this case, he must express his will in a power of attorney, which he issues to the authorized person. This person, as it were, replaces the owner in the transaction for renting out an apartment. The power of attorney must list the powers that the owner grants to the trustee. The document must be certified by a notary.

A completely different situation arises when guardianship is established over the owner of the apartment or he is in the care of another person. Let us recall that guardianship is established over minors (children under 14 years of age) citizens, and guardianship over minors (from 14 to 18 years of age). Guardians have the right to independently rent out an apartment for the owner, and trustees have the right to give consent for the owner to rent out the apartment only after receiving permission from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities.

Money up front!

The amount of rent is established by agreement of the parties (tenant and lessor). But often, in order to reduce the tax, the landlord and tenant indicate a smaller amount in the lease agreement. If the disputes that arise are resolved in court, the court will operate with exactly this amount, and it will be impossible to prove that the apartment is actually being rented for other money.

As a rule, when moving into an apartment, the tenant pays for the first month of residence and makes a deposit for the last. If the tenant has complied with the terms of the contract by the end of the rental period, the deposit is either returned or counted towards the last month of occupancy. With the help of a security deposit, the landlord insures himself in case of possible damage to the property, or if the tenant unexpectedly moves out, forgetting to pay.

If the apartment was found through an agency, an agent commission may be paid, equal to or close to the monthly rate.

The rental payment should not change throughout the entire term of the contract.

It is imperative to clearly stipulate the terms and amounts of payment, who will pay for what. In particular, utility bills. Standard scheme: the owner pays for the utilities himself, and everything that runs through the meter - water, electricity, heat - goes to the tenant. It is better if utility bills are included in the rent, and in this case the owner himself will be able to control the monthly payment for these services in order to avoid debts. If you have a telephone, it is advisable to specify in the contract the terms of payment for long-distance calls, the use of cable television, the Internet, etc. In any case, all additional payments must be agreed upon in advance, at the time of check-in and signing of the rental agreement.

When transferring money, you must exchange receipts.

About the cat and the birds

It is advisable to spell out in detail various little things in the contract: right down to whether it is possible to move in with a cat, Murka, or a parrot. If the owner objects to animals in his home, this clause must be included in the additional conditions. Or, on the contrary, write that four-legged “tenants” will also live in the apartment. Stipulate, in the event of damage to property, the amount of compensation for the damage caused.

A separate story is with repairs. Who should do it? If the contract stipulates that the apartment must be returned to the owner in its original form, that’s one thing. You may have to make repairs or financially compensate the owner for losses.

Although there is such a thing as depreciation of property and premises. The same wallpaper, furniture, and floor coverings wear out over time. When the owner and the tenant separate, an assessment of the damage is made and it is determined who should pay for it - whether to write off the deterioration of the apartment as depreciation (which means the owner makes the repairs at his own expense). Or consider it as damage caused, which is paid by the tenant. This is where the parties come to an agreement. The contract usually states that the tenant does not have the right to do any repairs or redevelopment without the consent of the landlord. To, for example, drill a hole in the wall to hang a picture or mirror, you must obtain the written consent of the apartment owner.

On a note

If, after signing the agreement, one or the other party wanted to add something else to the document, an additional agreement to the agreement is made - also in writing, and signed by the parties.

Who is responsible for the damage?

It is advisable to provide for various types of risks - flood, fire, etc. and who is financially responsible for this.

In the event of damage to the residential premises by third parties in the absence of the tenant’s fault, all risks of damage or destruction of the housing fall on the owner of the property. An exception to this rule is those cases when the tenant did not leave the property within the period specified in the contract. In such a situation, all risks fall on him.

What is the procedure for compensation of losses? In the event that, due to the fault of the tenant, damage or destruction of the apartment or the property located in it occurs, he is obliged to compensate for losses in full. If he refuses to do this voluntarily, the landlord has the right to file a claim in court for damages.

When concluding a contract, the owner can contact the insurance company and insure his property against the actions of third parties. The amount of insurance compensation is 1 million rubles. – 4–5 thousand rubles.

When renting out an apartment, an inventory of the property and a transfer certificate must be drawn up. This document is necessary to protect both parties from damage, both material and moral. If such a document is missing, and one of the parties suffers for any reason, it will be difficult to prove their case. An inventory of property will help to avoid unfounded claims from both the tenant and the lessor.

The inventory is drawn up in two copies, in simple written form, indicating the full name and passport details of the parties.

Door checks

The tenant needs to walk around the apartment and check the presence and condition of items with the text of the inventory. Typically, the property acceptance and transfer act contains the following points:

• Description of the object's shortcomings. For example, the tiles in the bathroom are cracked, the socket in the room is faulty, there is a stain on the ceiling in the kitchen.
• Inventory of property transferred for use. List all furniture and interior items located in the apartment at the time the tenant moves in. Experts advise that when describing household appliances, not only indicate the brand and model, but also write down its serial number. Suddenly, an enterprising employer will replace the TV or washing machine with similar equipment, but faulty or of worse quality.
• Counter indicators. When drawing up an apartment transfer and acceptance certificate, it is necessary to take all meter readings and enter them into the act. This will help avoid overpayments by both the homeowner and the tenant.
• Transfer of a complete set of keys to the facility.

Memo for the owner and tenant

The lessor (owner of the apartment) has the right:
– conclude a lease agreement, renew it after the expiration of the established period on the same or other conditions, or refuse to conclude it;
– make transactions with the apartment provided for by civil law;
– give consent to move in other citizens at the request of the tenant; offer the tenant at his own discretion the amount of payment for residential premises, while a unilateral change in the amount of payment for housing is not allowed;
– terminate the lease agreement in court;
– require the tenant to comply with the rules for the use of residential premises;
– require the tenant to pay rent on time;
– enter the apartment in order to check its condition and the condition of the property at any time by prior agreement with the tenant;
– require the tenant to vacate the premises upon expiration of the lease term.

Must:
– provide residential premises for rent in a condition suitable for habitation;
– ensure the provision of public services.

The tenant has the right:
– use the apartment and the property located in it during the rental period;
– move your spouse and minor children into the rented residential premises (moving in other persons is allowed only with the consent of the landlord); provide residential premises to temporary residents, having previously notified the landlord. Temporary residents are any citizens who come to the tenant of a residential premises from their permanent place of residence and temporarily reside with him.

Must:
– use the apartment handed over to him under the lease agreement for its intended purpose (only as housing), without the right to sublease (a rented apartment cannot be “re-rented” again);
– comply with the rules for using residential premises;
– vacate the residential premises upon expiration of the lease term established in the lease agreement;
– freely allow the landlord into the apartment in order to check its use and condition of the property;
– bear financial responsibility for the condition of the apartment and the property located in it;
– pay electricity bills and long-distance and international telephone calls on time;
– carry out routine repairs of the apartment.

Divorce early

The lease agreement can be terminated at any time by mutual agreement of the parties (landlord and tenant).

The list of grounds for early termination of a lease agreement at the initiative of the lessor is strictly limited. A residential lease agreement may be terminated in court at the request of the lessor in the following cases:
1. Failure of the tenant to pay rent for the apartment on time.
2. Destruction or damage to residential premises by the tenant or persons living with him.
3. If the tenant of the residential premises and other citizens living with him use the residential premises for other purposes, or systematically violate the rights and legitimate interests of neighbors.
4. The lessor may terminate the apartment lease agreement early on his own initiative and in other cases (for example, there will be a need to urgently sell this apartment). At the same time, he is obliged to notify the tenant for a certain time specified in the contract (say, a month in advance) and incur certain losses (for example, compensate the tenant for a month’s rent if he rents a new apartment or pay for the services of a real estate company to find a new option), if this is provided for by the terms of the apartment rental agreement.

At the request of the tenant, the lease agreement can be terminated in court if the residential premises are no longer suitable for permanent residence or are in disrepair (not through the fault of the tenant), for example due to a fire in the staircase. In other cases, for example, if there is a change in life situation, the tenant can also terminate the lease agreement early. At the same time, he is obliged to notify the landlord about this within a certain period of time and incur losses specified in the lease agreement (for example, to compensate the landlord for the costs of finding new tenants).

Consulted with the head of the Miel office “On Kakhovka” Maxim Borodynya

Owners of rented apartments are divided into two categories. The first prefer to renovate their housing with high quality and equip it with the necessary equipment. They don’t allow couples with small children, cats, or smokers into the door; they charge prices above the market price, but it’s nice to live in such rented apartments.

The owners of the second type rent out ruined apartments: those they inherited from their grandmothers, renovated and furnished from the time of the Moscow Olympics. And the tenants’ proposal to make repairs at the expense of the rent is met with a categorical refusal. It turns out that such an apartment can be made pleasant to live in, even if nothing in it can be repainted, re-glued and thrown away.

Hide things

The feeling of clutter is created primarily by the abundance of small objects. We pack the owner's inheritance into boxes and try to find a place for it on the mezzanine, under the bed, or place it in a niche between the ceiling and the upper cabinets of the kitchen unit.

Failed to hide everything? We move the sofa half a meter from the wall, install stacks of boxes flush with the back along the entire length of the seat, cover the resulting structure with a wide board from the nearest construction market or a ready-made shelf from IKEA - we get a functional console. In the same way, boxes can be used to organize an extension of a computer desk or a column stand for a giant flower pot. So that the boxes do not irritate with their appearance, they can be covered with a mirror film - let them dissolve in space.

Make a rearrangement

Start with the wardrobe and the wall: they should be near the wall where the interior door is located. The fact is that voluminous objects make the space visually heavy, so it is better if they are not visible from the entrance.

Modify the furniture

Almost any closet can be enhanced with beautiful fittings; visit your nearest Zara Home or one of the interior decor stores. A simple replacement of handles can sometimes save even a hopeless kitchen set. Just in case, don’t throw away the old ones: if the owner doesn’t like the update, when you leave the apartment, return the furniture to its original state.

Spend some money replacing the shelves in your lower kitchen cabinets with drawers. You will be surprised: much more items fit into the drawer, they can be seen at one glance and they are easier and more convenient to use. The sizes of the sets, especially in older apartments, have a standard width of 40-60 centimeters; the filling for them is sold in any modern kitchen showroom.

An attractive tablecloth will cover an ugly kitchen table. A shabby computer desk can be improved with the help of plexiglass: press it with something that will be pleasing to your eye - beautiful wallpaper, wrapping paper or even a collection of substrates from McDonald's trays.

A beautiful blanket and decorative pillows, removable chair seats will help hide the ugly upholstery of upholstered furniture. And new bright bed linen doesn’t even need a bedspread.

Decorate the window

Naturally, you can and should change the curtains. It is not necessary to buy any special designer textiles; it is enough to simply replace the old Soviet tulle with modern curtains. Be sure to place several pots of lush greenery on the windowsill. There are a lot of low-maintenance plants on sale: for especially forgetful gardeners and those who often go on business trips.

Change the light

Most often, apartments in the old building have a single chandelier in the center of the room. Living with such lighting is uncomfortable: there is either little or a lot of it, no matter what bulbs you screw in. Replace the push-button switch with a rotary rheostat: you can control the brightness of the lamp.
Try to avoid overhead light in the evenings: it mercilessly emphasizes all the shortcomings of the apartment. Lower floor light, on the contrary, will help create a chamber atmosphere. The more local lamps (floor lamps, table lamps), the better - just forget about the existence of general light.

Arrange your bathroom

Did you know that shower heads are sold as a separate product? To replace them, you don’t even need to call a plumber: unscrew the old one along with the hose and screw on the new one. It would seem like a small thing, but how nice it is to finally wash yourself in the shower with normal pressure.

Shabby walls and peeling paint can distract attention. For example, a mirror in an intricate frame, a curtain with an original print, bright rugs, high-quality towels, and finally. All that remains is to place a living plant in the bathroom. Bamboo shoots, for example, do not need natural light, and they tolerate enormous humidity very well.

Don't place furniture along the walls: try to define zones. For example, a sofa in the living room can be turned across the room or you can highlight the dining room by moving the dining table away from the wall.
Walls with old wallpaper can always be disguised with posters or large-format paintings. In general, you can hang anything on the walls: place a collection of hats mixed with mirrors in the hallway, and photographs from travel, old records and engravings in the living room. The denser the hanging, the less the walls are visible.

And the most important advice: do not treat a rented apartment as temporary housing. Decorate your house for the holidays, buy beautiful accessories, bring things back from your travels - in a word, do everything you would do in your own apartment.

Masha Yashina

interior designer

I myself have had to rent a house more than once, and I know firsthand the difficulties of living in such an apartment. So, let’s imagine that you were able to wash and clean everything that was possible as much as possible, got rid of what the owners agreed to part with, and made a rational rearrangement. I advise you now to go to the store and buy a bed with a normal mattress. Yes, yes, transporting a bed from apartment to apartment is not so easy. But it’s still more pleasant to sleep on something that’s truly yours, and most importantly, of good quality and quality.

It is better to cover up peeling walls and worn wallpaper as much as possible. If the owners do not allow you to drill into the walls, purchase a gallery mounting system. Paintings, posters, fabric panels with your favorite designs - it’s up to you to decide what to hang. The terrifying holes from the drill will be covered with a thin metal profile right under the ceiling. In the end, it will be easier to repair the holes when leaving; at a height, the flaws are not so visible.
In general, textiles are your savior. Start with the windows, change the curtains. Once, instead of spreading organza, I hung thick canvas on the windows, which artists stretch on a stretcher. Thanks to its structure, it created architectural folds, and the windows in this frame began to sparkle.

The impression of the kitchen can be changed by lowering the lamp lower above the table. Such a light source will show only the most beautiful and cozy thing in the room - a table with a beautiful tablecloth. Even if there is only one lamp and hangs in the center of the ceiling, this is easy to fix: replace the original pendant with a long wire and fix it in the right place on the ceiling so that the lamp itself is exactly in the center of the dining area.

Do the owners prohibit re-pasting the wallpaper? The most effective solution in such cases is to buy a lot of linen or cotton fabric and hang it on the walls. Firstly, you will hide everything that is unpleasant to your eye, secondly, it is easy to hang personal decor and photographs on the textiles, and thirdly, this will radically change the atmosphere of the room. You can fasten the material either with pins or by carefully nailing it to the upper plinth. Don't forget to vacuum when necessary.

Among the purchases for a rented apartment that you can take with you, I would recommend a screen. You can hide behind it something you don’t want to look at, but you can’t throw it away. You can also use it to store clothes that you don’t want to put away in your wardrobe yet or plan to wear tomorrow. The second item is a chest - an atmospheric object in which you can hide a lot of things.
An unnoticed but powerful part of our perception of space is aromas. Remember the feeling after a fresh wet cleaning, when not only the eye is pleased by the absence of dust, but also the nose feels the pleasant light smell of the cleaning product. For us, it is automatically associated with cleanliness. It’s the same with the interior of an apartment: by choosing a scent that is pleasant to you personally, you can make your temporary place of stay much more familiar.

No - old photographs and paintings, yes - personal decor! I have a 15 cm copper Buddha head brought from Thailand. She helps me make every new place of residence my own, soulful one. This thing is a symbol. I highly recommend having at least one such object. Good luck with the move and settling in. Remember that home is not a place, but a feeling.

Text: Svetlana Volina
Illustration: Nastya Yarovaya