Renting residential premises is regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Property owners who do not plan to live in an apartment for a long period prefer to rent it out and receive passive income. Such transactions occur quite often.
The law requires that a tenancy agreement be concluded in writing. If its term is more than 11 months, it is subject to registration with Rosreestr, since long-term lease is considered as an encumbrance on real estate. This is a paid procedure that also requires time, so citizens prefer to draw up an agreement for a period that does not require entering information into the register. If, after the expiration of the period specified in the document recording the transaction, the legal relationship between the landlord and the tenant has not terminated, the contract must be extended.
Legal regulation of prolongation
Renting residential premises is regulated by Chapter 35 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. To nuances that are not established by the articles of this section, rental provisions can be applied. In particular, the extension of a lease agreement is regulated by Article 684 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It must be applied based on the period for which the transaction was concluded.
According to the provisions of the law, the landlord is obliged to notify the tenant of the desire to extend the contract on the same or different terms or of the intention to terminate the relationship three months after the expiration of the period for which the transaction was concluded. The form of such a notice is not regulated, so this can be done in a personal conversation. But it is recommended to use a written notice, since if controversial situations arise, it will serve as evidence in court proceedings. This type of notice should be used especially if a trusting relationship has not developed with the employer or there have been some conflicts.
The notice of renewal or unwillingness to renew the contract is drawn up in two copies. One of them is given to the employer. He must put his signature on both copies, which will confirm the fact that the tenant has been notified. The landlord can also send the notice by registered mail with a list of the contents and a receipt confirmation.
Depending on the period for which the transaction is concluded, contracts can be divided into:
- Short term. They are issued for 11 months and are not subject to state registration. This type of agreement is the most common, since it does not require additional time and money costs associated with entering information into the register.
- Long-term. They are concluded for a year or more. The law limits the maximum rental period of residential premises to a five-year period. They require mandatory state registration.
- No expiration date specified. According to paragraph 1 of Article 683 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, such agreements are considered concluded for five years.
The extension must be made depending on the period for which the contract was concluded.
Extension and termination of the contract by the parties
As already noted, at the moment of expiration of the previous contract, the tenant has the right to declare his intention to extend the lease of residential premises of the social housing stock. Accordingly, the employer can enter into an agreement for a new period of time. With regard to the agreement under consideration, we can talk specifically about its extension: formally a new agreement is concluded, but regarding the same premises, and with the participation of the same parties, in fact, the legal relations of the subjects continue.
The agreement in question can be terminated at any time if the parties agree to this. Contractual relations are also terminated at the initiative of the employer. Mandatory conditions for termination in this case are the consent of the tenant's family and timely warning of the landlord's intentions. The law allows the termination of a contract at the request of the landlord, but always in court and subject to the conditions provided for in Article 91.10 of the Housing Code.
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Extension of short-term hire
In a short-term relationship, one of the parties must contact the other with a notification of the desire to renew the document on the same or different terms. After reaching consensus on this issue, the parties to the transaction draw up an additional agreement in writing.
It must be taken into account that if the additional agreement specifies an extension of the contract term, for example, in the wording: “the period for providing the premises is increased by 10 months” and the total period is more than a year, the lease becomes long-term. In this case, all provisions regarding long-term employment will apply to the legal relationship.
If the parties establish by means of an additional agreement a new period not exceeding 11 months, the lease remains short-term. To do this, it is necessary to indicate in the text of the agreement the beginning of the period from the moment of signing the additional agreement.
For short-term hiring, the provisions of Article 684 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation on the preemptive right of extension and automatic prolongation do not apply. If the parties have not notified each other of their desire to continue the legal relationship or have not reached consensus on the terms, the contract is terminated due to the expiration of the period for which it was concluded.
Extension of a long-term lease agreement
If the contract was concluded for a year or more, the employer has the preemptive right to prolong it. So, the owner of the apartment must offer to extend the lease first of all to him. Only after refusal will the landlord be able to enter into an agreement with another tenant. If the apartment owner does not plan to rent out the property in the next year, he has the right not to renew the deal upon expiration. But, if during this period he enters into a new contract with another tenant, the previous tenant has the right to appeal his actions in court and receive compensation for the damage caused.
In case of long-term employment, if neither party notified the other of the desire to extend the contract and the participants did not stop fulfilling their obligations, the deal is automatically extended under the same conditions and for the same period.
After the extension of the long-term rental agreement, it must be registered again with Rosreestr, since the encumbrance of the property has continued.
When is a contract extension needed?
A contractual agreement subject to extension can be concluded between individuals, individual entrepreneurs, companies, contractors and even the state and its citizens.
The scope of contracts that require extension can be extremely diverse: from fixed-term employment agreements to deliveries between divisions of one enterprise, leases.
The most common contracts in practice that require extension are:
- cooperation;
- supplies;
- implementation;
- storage;
- rent.
Depending on the legal area, a certain code will regulate the renewal process: Labor, Civil, Tax, Housing.
Types of extension legalized in the legal framework of the Russian Federation:
- automatic renewal;
- possibility of renewal for an unlimited period;
- execution of an additional agreement.
In order for the extension of both the conditions and the contract itself to be legitimate, the text of the document must contain clear language about the possibility of carrying out (“automatic” or “manual”) extension in any form.
From a legal point of view, signing a new contract (even one similar to the previous one) is still not a renewal. Therefore, in most cases of registration of fixed-term employment agreements, they are not extended (re-concluded), but rather new documentation is created.
Before the extension takes place, the other party and/or the person mentioned in the contract must receive notice. The written notice must be given to the person no later than 14 calendar days before the expiration of this contractual agreement.
Extended documents are stored in the same way as regular ones, since the basic rules for changing the terms or conditions of extended contracts are not established by law.
Clerks of an individual company, in agreement with the management, can collectively create local acts to “sort” regular and extended agreements. Scanning and inventory are carried out according to standard rules, as for the “general” category.
How to apply for an extension of the agreement
You can extend the validity of a document in various ways.
The most important nuance is to prepare a notice to the other party and obtain written consent from him. Otherwise, the process will be invalid (the contract cannot be renewed unilaterally unless this is stipulated by law).
The simplest way, which allows you not to strictly monitor the process of terminating an old agreement, is to conclude a new one or turn the old one into an indefinite one. This can be done at any time, but since this is not considered an official extension, we will not consider these processes.
The best ways to extend the contract:
- “Set up” automatic renewal. This can be done when the contract is initially created. The extension proposal must be entered as a separate clause. It is necessary to very clearly state how often, for how long and by whom the automatic extension will be carried out. Before the end of the next “cycle”, the parties must receive notice of automatic renewal. The contract is considered extended if neither party expresses a desire to interrupt the interaction.
- When drawing up additional agreements, the terms of the process must be specified in advance. The second party must receive notification of the conclusion of the additional agreement. The parties sign an optional document. The clause is written: “The parties agreed to extend the validity of agreement No.xxx.”
If necessary, you can contact a legal consultant.
Download a sample for a rental agreement, supply
Example of wording in the text of the original contract for automatic renewal:
“The contract is automatically extended for the next calendar year if neither party declares its termination within N days before the estimated date of termination of the contract”
additional agreement on contract extension:
- rent;
- supplies;
- labor
Procedure for implementing the procedure
To renew a residential lease agreement, the parties should adhere to the following algorithm:
- contact the other participant in the legal relationship and inform about the desire to extend the transaction;
- agree on terms. If they are planned to be changed, the parties must come to a consensus, otherwise the contract is terminated due to the expiration of the term;
- draw up an additional agreement, including new conditions if they have been changed;
- register the extension of employment in Rosreestr. This must be done if the lease is long-term.
It is important to put the renewal agreement in writing because it will document the legal relationship between the parties and will serve as evidence in court if unresolved disagreements arise in the future. The document must indicate the following:
- name, number and date of the agreement;
- number and date of drawing up the main agreement to which the additional agreement is drawn up;
- data of the parties in the same way as in the main agreement;
- the issue of prolongation of the legal relationship. Parties who do not wish to register the encumbrance should note that the new period begins from the moment of signing this agreement;
- reflection of changes in the terms of the main agreement. If the parties decide to increase or decrease the rent or other provisions of the document, this fact should be specified. If no changes are expected, this must be indicated;
- a clause stating that the remaining terms of the main agreement remain in force;
- the day on which the new document comes into force. Typically, this is the moment the agreement is signed;
- date and signatures of the parties to the transaction.
The additional agreement must be concluded and signed by the same citizens who executed the main agreement. They can delegate this right through a notarized power of attorney to another person.
If the expiration of the main contract was missed, it is better to draw up an additional agreement retroactively. This will eliminate the emergence of controversial situations regarding the unregulated period of employment and possible litigation.
