Why do you need a transfer deed when registering apartment rentals?

The transfer and acceptance certificate for the sale of an apartment is one of the most important documents . In fact, it is a mandatory addition to the purchase and sale agreement. Such a document completes the entire process of transferring ownership (in the form of real estate) from one person to another.

The transfer and acceptance certificate must be drawn up correctly, including information about the seller and buyer , the object of the transaction and other information. Also, along with the transfer deed a number of documents that confirm the ownership of the new owner of the apartment.

In order to avoid problems with registering rights to real estate, as well as with the transfer of risks, it is necessary to insist on signing the act, and in case of disagreements with the other party, try to resolve them. In general, the conclusion of the act is in the interests of all parties to the transaction.

Transfer deed to the apartment purchase and sale agreement

In many transactions, including real estate transactions, where the transfer of certain property from the seller to the buyer is provided, a transfer deed . We are talking primarily about large transactions, that is, when the property has a significant value. Art. 556 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the only possible method of transfer by the seller and acceptance by the buyer of real estate - the signing by the above parties of a transfer deed or other document on the transfer.

A sample apartment transfer and acceptance certificate can be viewed and downloaded below.

The apartment is considered transferred (unless otherwise provided by law or agreement) only after two conditions :

delivery of property (for example, handing over keys);
signing the transfer document.

The law directly provides for the need to draw up an act of acceptance and transfer of property, however, registration of ownership by the relevant body in some cases can occur without the parties submitting such a document.

When conducting a transaction, it is recommended to draw up a transfer deed , as it will serve as additional evidence that the apartment has actually been transferred into ownership and will help to avoid some risks.

Procedure for signing the act

The process of drawing up a rental agreement is regulated by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in particular Article 671.

Drawing up an act of return of the apartment is not a prerequisite for signing a rental agreement. The legislation does not have a specific standard form for this act. This act is drawn up together with the act of transferring the apartment for temporary use.

The acts are drawn up with the consent of the parties when signing the main agreement and are printed in duplicate. If drawn up correctly, it subsequently provides a guarantee that the residential premises will be returned in the same condition in which they were handed over for use. The act is also used for early termination of a tenancy agreement.

Only after the parties sign this act is it considered that the owner of the residential premises has no claims against the tenant.

Transfer of an apartment according to the transfer and acceptance certificate

The most correct end to the entire purchase and sale transaction is the drawing up of an act of acceptance and transfer of such property. Having previously agreed to the terms of such a transfer (including the price) in the contract, the parties must determine the moment when the apartment passes from the seller to the buyer . This moment is the signing of the transfer deed.

The legal consequences of transferring an apartment, first of all, are the risks that pass from the seller to the buyer. That is, after signing the above document, the risk of accidental loss (fire, flood, etc.), bills for the provision of utilities, communication services, and so on are transferred to the new owner of such property.

It is advisable not to sign the deed until the apartment is completely vacated by the previous residents (owners).

The deed usually indicates in what condition the buyer accepts the apartment or actually begins to use it, and it must correspond to the condition specified in the purchase and sale agreement.

How to correctly draw up a transfer acceptance certificate

The transfer and acceptance certificate must be prepared in the most competent and meaningful way to prevent controversial situations between the parties if they arise. Its preparation must be approached with all seriousness, without treating such a document as an ordinary formality.

The law does not prescribe any requirements for the content of the act, except for the obligation to draw up such a document in writing .

It is best to include the following information in the text of the act

about the seller and buyer (full name, passport details);
about the object being transferred (physical address of the object, area, etc.);
on the transfer of the specified property from the seller to the buyer;
about other items transferred along with the apartment (built-in furniture, interior items, plumbing fixtures, etc.);
about the absence of claims (it is better to resolve all disputes before signing the act);
on the transfer of the risk of accidental loss of property to the buyer;
about the documents transferred along with the act (indicate the list with the number of sheets);
on the number of copies of the act (usually drawn up in three copies : one for the buyer, the second for the seller and the third for the registering authority).

apartment transfer and acceptance certificate

After drawing up the act, it is necessary to indicate the date of its signing, as well as put the signatures of the parties to the transaction.

The law also does not provide for notarization of the transfer act and its mandatory state registration.

What documents are handed over to the buyer when selling an apartment?

Based on the results of the transaction for the purchase of an apartment, the buyer must prepare a package of documents that confirms the acquisition of such property. The buyer must have the following set of documents:

contract of sale of an apartment;
an extract from the Unified State Register of Rights to Real Estate and Transactions with It (formerly a certificate of registration of ownership);
a receipt from the seller confirming receipt of funds for the apartment (drawn up when paying for the transaction);
certificates of payment for utilities and other services (it is advisable to make sure of payment, since otherwise the debt will have to be paid to the new owner);
technical documentation (technical passport, plan);
deed of transfer.

all of the above documents in the transfer and acceptance certificate in order to confirm the fact of transfer of these documents.

Inventory of property for the lease agreement

The lessor can make an inventory of the property in this appendix to the contract in advance, either typewritten (in MS Word) or with a simple pen. It is advisable to describe as many items as possible in the transfer deed of residential premises:

household appliances located in the apartment;
furniture;
interior items.

The employer, in turn, must check the functionality and absence of external mechanical damage on the rented devices and interior items.

If any defects are discovered, it is necessary to add the nature of the visible damage for each item at the time of acceptance, and put dashes in the empty columns.

This is required so that the landlord does not add non-existent elements and does not accuse his counterpart of theft or damage when transferring housing during check-out. It would be a great help to have photographs taken by each party upon check-in.

We sincerely hope that you will find a respectable tenant who will regularly pay for the rental housing provided. It is better if you forget about it immediately after signing this form, because you will not need it in the future. But if the tenant damages the residential premises or steals something, you can recover the full cost from him in court, based on this act of acceptance and transfer of residential premises.

With such competent legal preparation of the transaction, the judge is guaranteed to side with you. However, do not forget that if you are not going to register the agreement with Rosreestr, it should be concluded for a period of up to 11 months, otherwise it will be declared invalid. Also, do not forget about declaring your income and submitting reports to the tax office, otherwise in court you will be justified for organizing illegal business activities.

Deadline for vacating an apartment after sale according to law

Often the seller lives in the residential property he is selling until it is transferred to the buyer. However, in this case, it is necessary to determine the moment of vacating the apartment after its sale. In practice, there is a concept of legal and actual exemption.

Legal release involves the removal of registered persons from the apartment being sold. To do this, such persons must independently contact the relevant authorities to deregister them from their place of residence, since deregistration does not occur automatically upon a change of owner. However, Art. 292 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the transfer of ownership as the basis for termination of the right to use residential premises by family members of the former owner.

It is best to include a legal release clause in the purchase and sale agreement or enter into an additional agreement.

Actual release involves the physical removal of the former owner from the sold apartment. Such a period must be determined by the apartment purchase and sale agreement. If it is not established, then in this case a reasonable period of time , determined exclusively by the court. In practice, it corresponds to one month.

Sample

Despite the fact that the document is relatively free-form, there are some points that must be written down in the document. The sample transfer deed must contain the following information:

The name of the document itself;
Place and date of compilation;
Full name, passport details of the parties;
Information about the details of the main agreement, to which the document being drawn up is an appendix;
General information about the residential property - number of rooms, square footage, location;
Detailed information about the residential property, including characteristics of the housing and a list of related property and interior items (the quantity and identifying characteristics are specified, for example, the serial number of household appliances);
The transferred documents, keys and their quantity are specified;
The current readings of metering devices, if installed, are entered;
Defects, shortcomings, and malfunctions identified during the inspection are indicated.

After a detailed inspection and identification of shortcomings, if any, the transfer deed is signed by the parties to the agreement.

Note! Such a document is drawn up in two copies, one for each party to the agreement.

Moreover, the deed of transfer to a residential rental agreement is usually drawn up twice - the first time when the tenant moves in, and again when, after the expiration of the contract, the housing is returned to the owner. Based on the secondary deed of transfer, the owner accepts the residential premises after temporary residents have lived in it. Thanks to such a document, the parties can be sure that the agreement has been fully complied with and there are no mutual claims.

Just as with the initial transfer of housing, when temporary residents move out, the transfer act between the tenants of the premises and the owner is drawn up in two copies, identical to each other. The document describes the condition of the living space, furnishings, identifies breakdowns and possible damage that could be caused by the tenants during their stay. The differences in the two deeds of transfer give the property owner the right to file a claim for damages in court.

Sample transfer deed to a residential lease agreement

Act of return of residential premises under a rental agreement

If the apartment acceptance certificate is not signed

Civil Code of the Russian Federation in Art. 556 directly provides for the need to draw up a transfer deed. Otherwise, the property will not be transferred.

The seller’s refusal for any reason to sign the transfer and acceptance certificate is tantamount to refusal of the transaction.

In addition, without a transfer deed, difficulties may arise in registering ownership of an apartment (for example, in Moscow, where Rosreestr requires the provision of such a document).

Example

Larin A.S. entered into a purchase and sale agreement for an apartment with N.A. Izmailov. The seller (Izmailov N.A.) refused to sign the transfer deed, citing the fact that he would sign it only after the transfer of the entire amount for the transaction. Larin A.S. refused to pay the remaining amount of money, citing the fact that the transfer of ownership was not completed, since Rosreestr refuses to register ownership without the above document.

In this regard, the transaction had to be terminated, and the money already paid had to be returned to the failed buyer.

If one of the parties evades signing the act, the other party must insist on this, trying to resolve controversial issues in advance. The terms of the purchase and sale agreement must contain an indication of the time frame for vacating the apartment by the seller. If he does not comply with them or refuses to vacate the premises altogether, the buyer has the right to go to court , where his claim will be satisfied and the seller will be forced to move out.

Certificate of work performed under the premises rental agreement: sample

Renting premises is not only an agreement between the landlord and the tenant. Legal relations are accompanied by the execution of special documents that are necessary to confirm the absence of disagreements. One of these legal means is the act of completed work.

The certificate of completed work on renting the premises proves the fact that there are no claims on the part of the lessor. The title of the document is solely the influence of business practices. Formally, it is more logical to classify it as an act of providing services, because rent does not imply the performance of any work.

Role of the act:

confirmation of the agreement and the emergence of rental relations;
reporting to government agencies.

The document reflects the landlord's expenses. Most often they are utility bills. The act fixes specific cost items of the counterparty. This is beneficial for the tenant. In case of disputes and conflicts, the lessor will not be able to refer to other expenses that are not recorded in the act.

Confirmation of the lease relationship is also beneficial for the lessor. The counterparty will not be able to refer to the fact that the premises were not transferred. The document is a kind of legal guarantor of transparency in relations.

The law does not stipulate the drawing up of a deed as a mandatory condition of any lease. Its design is solely the initiative of the parties.

In addition to confirming the agreement between the counterparties, the act is drawn up for government agencies. In this case, the document serves as a report. This function is enshrined in the Letters of the Ministry of Finance of 2014 and 2020.

In the case of a tax audit, the document confirms the taxpayer’s expenses and the object of taxation.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the Loan Agreement, loan of funds

In addition, it can also be used as a certificate for other government agencies, which confirms the costs.

As a general rule, the document is drawn up by the lessor as the most interested party and the direct owner of the property.

Compilation rules

The law does not contain the mandatory clauses that a work completion certificate must have. In this case, practice dictates the rules.

Form requirements:

written form;
requisites;
business style.

Written form is required. This follows from the very essence of the document. The work performed cannot be confirmed verbally. Government agencies will require a physical medium. Details – mandatory information about the parties. The text itself should be kept in a businesslike manner, without unnecessary statements and phrases.

Act of transfer of residential premises to the tenant (annex to the residential lease agreement)