Photo: pexels.comMore than 100,000 Russians and significantly fewer Ukrainians, mostly IT experts, came to Serbia in recent months and caused an uproar on the real estate market.
They buy less and rent apartments more, mostly in the central parts of larger cities, which has increased rents several times and forced local tenants to move quickly with very short notice.
The law allows tenants three months to find a new roof over their heads. Lawyers point out that there is a possibility of judicial protection, but these proceedings can last for years.
On social networks, you can find hundreds of posts about the drastic increase in rents, and they best illustrate how rents have grown in Belgrade and other major cities in recent months. Faced with the requirement to pay significantly higher rent, many tenants are given less than ten days to leave the apartment.
EVEN BEFORE THE WAR IN UKRAINE, THERE WERE NOT ENOUGH APARTMENTS IN BELGRADE
The arrival of Russians and Ukrainians only worsened the situation, but even before the war in Ukraine, in Belgrade, according to the agencies, there were not enough apartments. Currently, it is almost impossible to rent an apartment for less than 400, 500 euros per month in the capital.
If someone offers the landlord 50 percent or double the rent, they are ready to evict the tenants immediately.
“THE NOTICE PERIOD SHOULD BE AT LEAST TWO MONTHS”
Real estate agent Kaća Lazarević claims that there is a notice period in every lease agreement.
When signing a contract, tenants should do so in a licensed agency and read carefully what is written in it.
The notice period should be at least two months, both for the one who rents and for the one who leases, Lazarevićeva says.
The Law on Housing stipulates an obligation of 90 days for eviction. In practice, lawyers say, the lease agreement does not have to be in writing, it can be oral.
It is valid like any contract signed by a notary public. And it is very important, they point out, to agree on the eviction deadline in advance.
LEGAL PROTECTION AGAINST “GREEN” CONTRACTS
Lawyer Mihailo Pavlović points out that tenants can request judicial protection in some situations.
“The Law on Obligations recognizes so-called greenback contracts when someone’s state of emergency is used and you decide to raise someone’s rent. In those situations, tenants have the possibility or the right to initiate court proceedings and say that someone’s state of extreme need is being used and that the accident is taken money,” explains Pavlović.
The downside, he adds, is that it can take three or four years to complete such proceedings, so the question of the sense of starting such proceedings arises.
OBLIGATIONS OF LANDLORDS
Whether the apartment is rented by foreigners or our citizens, the landlord has obligations prescribed by law.
“First of all, landlords, if it is a foreigner, have a legal obligation to report him to the police, to have a record of who he is and where he is,” says Kaća Lazarević.
He adds that they should also report a 20 percent rental tax. “That 20 percent is reduced to overhead costs, so in the end it comes out to 15. It is paid quarterly, and it is reported to the competent Revenue Administration where the apartment is located,” says Lazarević.
This is precisely the key reason why landlords don’t report sub-tenants, and they don’t insist on it either, because it would automatically increase their rent.
Source: rts.rs
