When renting an apartment, utilities. What does the tenant pay for?

What does the apartment tenant pay for? The distribution of responsibilities for making payments, as well as their timing, is regulated by the Civil and Housing Codes. According to the Civil Code, you should indicate payment terms and obligations, if these provisions have not been introduced, then by default we are guided by the provisions of the code.

The lease agreement allows you to specify any conditions for payment of utilities and maintenance of the premises!

In cases where payments are regulated in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, tenant must pay public utilities, all other expenses - owner of the premises.

What should a tenant pay for? The tenant also pays the required amounts for renting the premises in accordance with the agreement.

Utility bills include:

• housing maintenance and repair,
• public utilities,
• telecommunications,
• telephony,
• electricity,

General house needs

Does the tenant have to pay for major renovation, housing maintenance and general house needs?

In accordance with current legislation, the employer is obliged to bear the costs for current repairs and maintenance of housing, general house needs.

Is the tenant required to pay for major repairs? Fee for major repairs must be contributed by the owner. However, upon concluding an agreement, these responsibilities can be redistributed in any way: both the owner and the tenant can fully pay all repair and maintenance costs.

How to reflect it in the contract?

Where are the tenant's payment requirements reflected? Payment terms include a separate clause in apartment rental agreement.

Must be installed rent amount, other payments need not be written down. If you do not stipulate them in detail or do not change the distribution of responsibilities for payments, then you can be guided by the provisions of the Civil Code.

Regardless of whether payment for housing and communal services is included in the fixed rent or is specified as a separate clause in the contract, its amount must comply with established.

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Tenants of non-residential premises, along with other residents of the house, also use the full range of utilities: light, hot and cold water, and sewerage. This is the basic one, without which the existence of any firm or commercial company is simply unthinkable.

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But along with paying for the rental of the premises, any tenant must additionally pay for the actual consumption of all supplied life-support resources. How are they paid? communal payments when renting non-residential premises?

Obligation to pay

To ensure that water, electricity, space heating or drainage are supplied uninterruptedly, all consumers of these resources are obliged to do so on time. Responsibility for payment lies with the owner of the premises, that is, the landlord.

Based on established practice, tenants compensate the costs of paying for utilities from part of the payment for renting non-residential premises to their landlord, since all supply contracts are concluded only with the true owner of the property, and not with tenants.

The amounts agreed upon by the contractual obligations of the parties cannot replace the rental payment itself; it is only part of the main payments.

Bring in cash can be done in two ways:

• Together with the main repayments for renting non-residential premises.
• By separate mutual agreement between the parties to the transaction.

If the parties have agreed to pay as part of the main income for the rental of premises, then a fixed amount will apply for the entire period of validity of the contract. But this option will most likely not be profitable for the landlord, since utility rates usually tend to increase.

But there are other agreements: the fee is actually the amount billed by the management company, as shown on the payment receipt.

Here the agreement will consist of two different parts:

• Actually, from the conditions, rights and obligations of the parties under a lease agreement, with a fixed rate of payment for the rental of non-residential premises.
• Another part, which will stipulate the terms of payment for utilities.

The legislative framework

A complete list of the rights and obligations of the parties to pay for consumed utility services is spelled out in the Housing Legislation of Russia; it details the moments when these obligations arise for premises owners and tenants.

Tenants are obliged to pay all expenses incurred for the maintenance of the property transferred to him under the agreement in accordance with Part 2 of the Civil Code.

The main regulation of payment for utility services by the tenant is provided for by the Civil Legislation and the Housing Code in Part 4: “payment for consumed utility services must be made on time and in full...”.

It should be taken into account that contractual relations may be recognized as not concluded if they only stipulate the conditions for making utility payments without taking into account rental rates (Article 654 Part 1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
This postulate is confirmed by the information letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia dated January 11. 2002 number 66, such contractual relations cannot be recognized as concluded in relation to the lease of non-residential premises.

However, utility payments under a lease agreement for non-residential premises can be made in a different way if the lessor has entered into separate agreements for the supply of services directly with the resource supplier or intermediary (Articles 990 and 1005 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Therefore, when transferring your property to the tenant, other terms of payment for supplied utilities may be included in the main lease agreement for non-residential premises (Article 421 of the Code).

Here the owner of the premises purchases necessary list resources, which he, accordingly, transfers on the right of use to the tenant of the premises.

Utility payments when renting non-residential premises

Since the rental of premises is associated with the implementation of economic or commercial activities, it is the tenant of the non-residential premises who spends all resources.

Based on the norms of Art. 616 part 2 of the Civil Code, the tenant is required to maintain the transferred property in proper condition and bear the costs of maintaining and maintaining non-residential premises.

In this regard, it is reasonable to assume that all costs should be covered by the tenant of the premises, but this is not always the case, and in most cases the calculations are carried out by the landlord themselves, if such conditions are agreed upon by mutual agreement. If this clause is absent, then the tenant of the non-residential premises pays for all consumed resources.

To ensure the accuracy of all calculations, the owner of the rented premises should install individual metering devices. Only under such circumstances will payment disputes not arise.

Who pays?

Based on the provisions of the Housing Legislation, payment is required to be made by the person who has entered into an agreement with the public resource supply services. Since in most cases this person is the lessor, the obligation to pay rests with him, unless otherwise specifically agreed upon in additional agreements.

But such circumstances do not always arise, and the owner of the premises has the right to transfer his responsibilities to the tenant by concluding a separate agreement with him or by including a reference in the main lease agreement.

In this case, everything received from management company The bills will be paid by the tenant of the non-residential premises independently, in addition to the basic contributions for the rental of real estate.

Reimbursement of expenses to the owner

The practice of reimbursing the landlord for all utility costs for the consumption of vital resources and for the maintenance of the premises has become widespread.

Based on the norms of Art. 421 part 2 of the Civil Code, parties to a transaction may enter into agreements as provided for legislative acts and government regulations, and in free form, not contradicting current legislation.

However, such agreements cannot be considered as independent agreements for the supply of resources, since the owner of the premises cannot be the true supplier of vital utility resources.

Features of concluding a contract

The parties can independently choose their method of payment for the consumption of utilities for renting non-residential premises:

• Write down the terms of payment in a separate block in the main rental agreement.
• Highlight the additional agreement of the relevant content.

In any case, the parties must provide for the following fundamental points:

• All bills are issued to the owner of the premises, and he, in turn, is obliged to notify the tenant of the payment in advance.
• Enter into agreements only in writing, two copies, in compliance with the structure of business contracts (reservation of conditions, rights and obligations of the parties, payment terms, etc.).
• The text should not contain blots or corrections; agreements are signed by both parties at the time of execution of the agreements.
• It is important to take into account issues of payment indexation, since the cost of services may increase repeatedly during the validity of the agreement.

Types of contracts

Based on the terms of the agreement, payments can be made by the tenant himself, with subsequent provision of payment receipts to the owner, or reimbursement of expenses by the owner of the premises is provided.

On this basis, agreements can be concluded:

• With a pre-agreed amount of compensation. Calculations are made based on the size of the area occupied by the tenant multiplied by standard utility tariff rates.
• Payment is made based on consumption calculations using metering devices.
• Combined payments: a certain part, for example, for the maintenance and provision of waste removal services or the use of elevator facilities and heat supply for fixed rate, and for the consumption of electricity and water according to metering devices.

Earning money as a rentier is not as easy as it seems. The idea of ​​renting out an apartment and eliminating yourself almost always turns out to be a utopia. The landlord doesn’t just receive money into his bank account every month - he regularly faces many difficulties and nuances. Rarely do residents turn out to be so disciplined that the rentier can leave for six months to the Indian Ocean with peace of mind. As a rule, in practice, he is forced to control tenants, make decisions on significant everyday issues and monitor payment for housing and communal services. The question of who and how will pay for water, light and heating is extremely important when concluding a rental agreement. The apartment owner needs to weigh the pros and cons in advance and decide whether to include utility bills in the rent. The amount of future troubles the landlord will have directly depends on this.

Actions:

Action 1

We clarify what is included in utility costs

Maintaining real estate is not a cheap pleasure in itself. Even square meters They are empty, no one is registered in the apartment and virtually no water, gas or electricity is consumed; the receipts regularly add up to a decent amount. Inexperienced employers or rentiers often do not take into account the fact that in addition to direct rent, they will have to somehow share utility costs. Often, after the first month of residence, it becomes clear that this burden is too much for one of the parties to bear. To avoid ending up in an unexpected financial hole, it is worth calculating the entire list of additional payments in advance.

The concept of utility costs includes:

1. 1 Maintenance and repair of residential premises

   This is the total management cost apartment building. These include content common property, current repairs, cleaning of land around the building, elevator maintenance, operation of common building metering devices, etc.

2. 2 Public utilities

   These costs largely depend on the number of residents in the apartment and their economy. This includes the costs of hot and cold water supply, drainage, heating and electricity supply to the building.

3. 3 Telecommunications

   Almost every apartment has TV antenna, wired radio and internet cable. But, if for using the World Wide Web, as a rule, the consumer pays a specific provider based on the services provided, then television bills can be added to the rent receipt every month simply based on the fact that the room has the necessary wire - even if there is no TV.

4. 4 Telephony

   Minimum landline telephone bills are also received by the consumer simply based on the existence of the line and the subscriber’s personal account. In this case, the service provider does not care whether someone uses the connection. The only way to get rid of these payments is by disconnecting the line and losing the number - many are afraid of being left completely without a home phone and pay a monthly “tribute” for years.

5. 5 Electricity

   Electricity bills directly depend on how many kilowatts the consumer uses. The bills can be very modest or exorbitant.

6. 6 Gas

   Gas costs can be included in the general rent receipt or come in the form of separate payments. Blue fuel costs and tariffs depend on what type of stove and heating was originally provided in the building - gas, electric or central.

Most utilities are supplied to consumers exclusively at tariffs that are approved in accordance with the established procedure. If the rental agreement specifies an arbitrary price for such services, in the event of a conflict due to non-payment, the court may recognize this document as void. It would be legally correct to indicate that the amount of compensation for the cost of housing and communal services is determined on the basis of invoices issued by utility service providers.

The future rentier must clearly understand what real costs await his tenants. This will help set an adequate and affordable rental price: after all, the tenant will take into account every penny spent on housing. It doesn’t matter whether you include payment for housing and communal services in the main amount or indicate it as an additional clause in the contract - in order to rent out the apartment quickly and for a long time, it is important that the total costs correspond to the market price. Before setting a specific price, research other rental offers for similar properties online.

Act 2

We include utilities in the rental price

The simplest and most obvious way is to include utility costs in the cost of renting an apartment. In this case, a fixed amount of rent is determined, which automatically includes housing and communal services costs - they are not additionally allocated in the contract. This scheme will simplify the interaction between the apartment owner and the tenant as much as possible: a single payment, no additional claims or problems. However, there are also negative aspects.

1. 1 The tenant knows exactly how much he will spend on an apartment per month.
2. 2 The rentier is confident that payments are made in full and on time.
3. 3 The employer and landlord do not have to meet in person - just transfer money to the account.
4. 4 Rentiers have an argument for raising rents when utility tariffs increase.

1. 1 The employer has no incentive to save resources.
2. 2 The homeowner has to spend personal time paying bills.
3. 3 The tenant often feels that he is overpaying for the apartment.
4. 4 If the rental agreement was concluded in the summer, in the winter the rentier’s income will decrease due to the seasonal increase in housing and communal services prices.

The main risk for rentiers is careless tenants who will turn on the lights and pour water around the clock. However, in some situations it makes sense to take a risk. For example, if the owner of an apartment permanently lives in another city or country, it is more convenient for him to have rental income go directly to his bank card. At the same time, he will be able to make all utility payments online directly from home, without fear that tenants will forget about some important receipt and accumulate debts.

Often, with such a scheme, a clause is separately stated in the lease agreement stating that the landlord has the right to increase the rental price ahead of schedule if housing and communal services become significantly more expensive.

Law-abiding rentiers who pay contributions to the treasury from rental income will be able to register tax deduction for the costs of maintaining the property - the total amount of utility payments for the year will significantly reduce the tax base and the landlord will pay less.

Act 3

We trust the tenant to pay the bills

Often the apartment owner decides to relieve himself of worries about receipts. The tenant can independently pay for all housing and communal services - in the amount in which he consumed. Utility services have no objections to this matter - payments are calmly accepted from third parties at the apartment address or subscriber number.

• — The rentier does not waste time and effort on paying bills.
• — The rentier's income will always be fixed.
• — The tenant can save on rent by spending less electricity and water.
• — The tenant can be sure that he did not overpay a penny for the apartment.
• — In an advertisement for renting an apartment, you can indicate a lower cost + housing and communal services. This psychological trick works on many residents.

• — The rentier is forced to monitor monthly bill payments and personally collect receipts.
• — There is a risk that the tenant will leave debts on rent - under a plausible pretext, he will be late on several payments and run away.
• — With a seasonal increase in housing and communal services, the tenant will have to pay significantly more.

If the rental agreement states that the tenant paid for utilities, it is considered that he saved on the maintenance of the property. Because of this, the entire amount of housing and communal services expenses will be included in the general tax base, from which the rentier will have to pay a percentage to the budget.

Act 4

We will reimburse utility bills separately

Finally, there is a compromise option, which involves the tenant compensating the property owner for utility costs in a separate payment. This scheme is often used in practice, as it eliminates many questions. In this case, the lease in the contract consists of two parts: a fixed amount and a variable payment - utilities for the past period. The floating part of the rent can be formalized in a separate agreement, for example, an agreement on reimbursement of expenses for housing and communal services.

• — The relationship between the tenant and the rentier is absolutely transparent: everyone is sure that they will not spend extra money.
• — The rentier can be confident that bills will be paid on time.
• — The income of the apartment owner is always fixed - he does not lose anything when utility tariffs change.
• — Resident expenses can be reduced by saving water and electricity.

• — The landlord is forced to spend additional time and effort: he has to come personally to collect the money and pay the receipts himself.
• — Since the contract will directly indicate that the variable rent amount is intended to compensate for housing and communal services costs, it will be included in the rentier’s tax base - he will have to pay more.

The variable part does not violate the clause of the lease agreement that the rent cannot be increased more than once a year, since in this case the calculation condition remains unchanged.

Action 5

We conclude a rental agreement

There can be no clear answer to the question of whether to include utility bills in the rent. In each specific situation, the rentier will have to independently set priorities. According to the observations of realtors, when renting housing in Europe, all issues with utility bills, as a rule, are taken care of by the owners of the property - tenants do not see any bills. In Russia, on the contrary, the more popular options include compensation for housing and communal services or tenants paying their own bills. Perhaps this is because water and gas meters are not installed in every apartment, and most Russians are not yet accustomed to saving resources.

It is important that the rentier understands: the condition for payment of utilities is one of the key provisions of the lease agreement. Like the rental price itself, it cannot be revised more than once a year. Therefore, the apartment owner needs to carefully weigh the pros and cons and choose the most convenient algorithm. It is better that your position is initially well-reasoned, otherwise, at the time of concluding the contract, the tenant and his realtor will be able to convince the inexperienced rentier to agree to conditions that are more beneficial to the tenant.