Apartment Rental Policy

Understanding the legal regulations related to apartment rental business activities becomes extremely necessary, not only for the lessor but also for the lessee. In this article, Property Plus will provide necessary information about the legal regulations on apartments and things to note when renting an apartment!

1. General regulations on apartment rental forms

1.1. Legal regulations on apartments

An apartment is a type of real estate built from the construction of a building or a set of buildings, in which each building has many separate apartments. Apartments in apartment buildings are often designed and built to serve the housing needs of residents, and they can own or rent these apartments. According to the provisions of Clause 3, Article 3 of the 2014 Housing Law:

“Apartment house is a house with 2 or more floors, with many apartments, with common walkways and stairs, with private ownership, common ownership and a common infrastructure system for households. families, individuals, and organizations, including apartment buildings built for residential purposes and apartment buildings built for mixed use purposes for residence and business.

1.2. Does renting an apartment require business registration?

Pursuant to Clause 5, Article 5 of Decree 02/2022/ND - CP has regulations

“Organizations, households, and individuals that sell, transfer, lease, or lease purchase real estate specified in Clause 2, Article 10 of the Law on Real Estate Business are not required to meet the conditions specified in Article 10 of the Law on Real Estate Business. 4 of this Decree includes:

5. Organizations, households, and individuals sell, lease, lease-purchase houses, construction works under legal ownership, transfer, lease, sublease land use rights under legal use rights his law.

Housing rental activities are a form of real estate business but are not subject to business registration. Households and individuals renting apartments falls under the category of small-scale and irregular real estate rental, so there is no need to establish a business.

2. Legal regulations on apartment

2.1 Regulations on apartment rental contracts

Pursuant to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 17 of the Law on Real Estate Business 2014:

"2. Real estate business contracts must be made in writing. Notarization and authentication of contracts are agreed upon by the parties, except for contracts for purchase and sale, lease-purchase of houses, construction works, and contracts for transfer of land use rights in which the parties are households and individuals specified in Clause 1 of this Article. Clause 2, Article 10 of this Law must be notarized or authenticated.” Therefore, apartment rental is also a field in real estate business, so drafting and signing an office rental contract is a mandatory condition.

Pursuant to Article 121, Housing Law 2014, the basic content of the Apartment rental contract includes the following provisions:

• Information about the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the two parties renting and renting the apartment
• Lease term (specify the rental start date and lease expiration date)
• Information about apartments
• Shared apartment rental price (including services if any)
• Payment method and term
• Deadline for delivery and receipt of the apartment and accompanying documents
• Rights and obligations of the parties
• Liability due to breach of contract
• Contract violations
• Cases of contract termination and cancellation and handling measures
• Dispute resolution
• Effective date of the contract
• Date, month and year of signing the contract
• Signature and clearly state the full names of the parties. If it is an organization, it must be stamped (if any) and clearly state the position of the signer.

2.2. Apartment rental conditions

Based on Clause 1, Article 118, conditions for residential apartments participating in rental transactions must meet the following criteria:

“Article 118. Conditions of housing participating in transactions

1. For transactions on buying and selling, leasing, purchasing, donating, exchanging, mortgaging or contributing capital with housing, the housing must meet the following conditions:

a) Have a Certificate as prescribed by law, except for the case specified in Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Not subject to any disputes, complaints or lawsuits regarding ownership rights; currently in the housing ownership period in case of definite-term housing ownership;

c) Not be distrained to execute a judgment or not be distrained to comply with a legally effective administrative decision of a competent state agency;

d) Not subject to a land recovery decision or notice of house clearance or demolition by a competent authority.

The conditions specified in Points b and c of this Clause do not apply to cases of buying, selling, renting and purchasing houses to be formed in the future.”

3. Notes when renting an apartment 

3.1. Check legal documents about the apartment

Before renting an apartment, you need to check relevant legal documents such as the Certificate of Apartment Ownership or the Apartment Sales Contract with confirmation from the Investor. Ensure that there are no disputes or complaints about ownership and use rights of the apartment. You should also have the right to review the actual legal status of the apartment and ask related questions. Don't ignore the possibility that the apartment is mortgaged and the bank may restrict rentals.

3.2. Sign the apartment rental contract and prepare a handover record​

When agreeing on the rental price, the parties need to consider and discuss the deposit. Deposit regulations need to be clearly defined, and this must be stated in the written lease contract, signed by all parties. You should pay special attention to the costs related to utilities and services in your lease, and be sure to read the contract carefully to avoid confusion and problems in the future.

Make careful handover records to record the condition of the apartment and equipment when you receive the apartment.

3.3. Declare temporary residence when moving into an apartment

If you are a tenant of an apartment for residential purposes, you and your family need to notify the Police agency in the commune, ward or town where the apartment is located about your temporary residence. The temporary residence registration period is usually 30 days.

Property Plus's management services support customer representatives in working with local authorities on accommodation and administrative procedures such as temporary residence declaration.