Why temporary registration is dangerous for the owner: registration of foreign citizens and minor children

Renting out real estate is a popular way of earning money today, especially among native residents of megacities such as Moscow. But when completing such transactions, citizens often encounter problems. Therefore, the relevant question for homeowners is what is the risk of temporarily registering a stranger in their apartment.

Standard situation: the owner of the living space sees the danger that the registered tenant will be able to make claims against it in the future or it will be difficult to evict the person. We will discuss below whether such fears are justified and what the unforeseen consequences may be.

What is temporary registration?

The Russian authorities have made registration mandatory for a limited period in order to track the movement of state citizens and migrants on Russian territory. A resident staying at a particular address for more than 90 days must receive a corresponding stamp in his passport. Registration of this form gives the visitor the opportunity to stay in the house for only a certain period, but does not provide any property rights.

Temporary registration in an apartment can only be done when its owner has given permission to do so. There are separate conditions for registering minors.

To apply for short-term residence registration you must:

• collect a package of papers certifying the right of an individual to stay at a specific address (tenancy agreement, permission of the owners to allow a stranger to be in the house, agreement on the free use of housing, etc.);
• submit an application for temporary registration and supporting papers to the competent institution (FMS or MFC);
• receive a certificate of registration within eight days from the date of submission of documents.

It is possible to put a stamp in your passport regarding registration only in the presence of all owners of the living space. In such a case, registration of strangers without the consent of the owners is excluded. However, fraudsters can still commit illegal actions by taking advantage of the provision of documents in electronic format.

Persons who have made temporary registration do not lose their permanent registration. The right to reside at a specific address is valid for a maximum of 5 years. However, lawyers advise registering outsiders for a shorter period.

Pros and cons of temporary registration for the owner

There are risks for the owner when allowing another person to register. The benefits that accompany the registration process cannot be ignored.

What should the owner of the premises do?

Most landlords want to hide profits from the government to avoid legally paying taxes. Therefore, they are in no hurry to issue temporary registration to residents. Such actions are an offense. The owner of the premises is obliged not only to register tenants for some time, but also to independently inform the Federal Migration Service if this procedure is not completed within 90 days.

If it is established that people living in the house violate the registration rules, the owner faces problems:

• he receives a fine in the amount of 100 to 500,000 rubles;
• forced labor is assigned;
• possible imprisonment for up to 3 years and a ban on holding certain positions.

The owner of the premises must not give his consent to the registration of persons who are not his relatives and registered in the same locality.

If the owner refuses to register a tenant who has the right to do so, the tenant may go to court.

Possible positive aspects for the owner

Registration of tenants is an undeniable advantage for him, since it will allow him to avoid possible problems with the tax authorities. They may arise due to the fact that if the owner who rents out the apartment does not want to register the tenant at the place of residence, the latter can apply to the migration department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the court with demands for forced registration.

The owner will immediately be interested in the tax authorities regarding evasion of personal income tax in the amount of 13% of the rent amount. If the tax inspectorate manages to prove that the apartment is for rent, you will have to pay the tax itself, a fine of 20% of the unpaid tax amount and a penalty.

In addition, if the owner allows a citizen of the Russian Federation to live in his apartment without registration, it constitutes an administrative violation. According to Art. 19.15.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for him the court may order:

• fine from 2000 - 5000 rubles
• in Moscow or St. Petersburg - from 5000 - 7000 rubles .

Payment for housing services

Registration of strangers on the territory of your home can increase the cost of utility bills, which many landlords are afraid of.

According to Art. 30 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the obligation of the property owner is to maintain his home, except for the circumstances specified in the Federal Law or an agreement with a service company.

If the apartment does not have meters and additional residents move in, payments for electricity, gas and water may increase.

These costs also increase automatically due to the fact that more people use household services.

All other indicators do not affect housing and communal services payments. The homeowner can agree with the tenant to reimburse part of the utilities.

Important: if the tenant or other person legally residing in the house has agreed with the owner on the payment of housing and communal services expenses at the expense of the tenant, this fact should be indicated in the agreement. Otherwise, the apartment owner will not be able to legally demand compensation for payments.

○ Is it possible to sell an apartment if there is a temporarily registered person?

Problems may also arise if the owner of the property decides to dispose of it and sell it. What problems might arise in this case?

You need to remember the following:

• Temporary registration does not make the tenant a co-owner of the property - therefore, you can sell without informing him or asking his consent.
• However, if the tenant lives on the basis of a rental agreement, then according to Art. Art. 558 and 675 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a change in the owner of the property will not lead to termination of the contract. In this case, the tenant will retain the right of residence until the end of the agreement. And the buyer of the apartment will not be able to evict him ahead of time if the terms of the contract are not violated.

What should the seller and buyer do in this case?

The best option for the seller is to simply wait until the registration period expires. It will be removed automatically, and the apartment can be sold without problems. But if you don’t have time to wait, you can take the following measures:

• Agree with the tenant that he will change his place of residence and deregister.
• Cancel registration through the court, if there are grounds for this.

In turn, the buyer needs:

• Make sure that no temporary residents are registered in the apartment. To do this, it is necessary to require the seller, even before the transaction, to provide a fresh original certificate from the local Main Directorate for Migration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (to which the functions of the Federal Migration Service of the Russian Federation have now been transferred). The point is that this information cannot be considered

If there are such tenants, you can either cancel the registration, acting as the owner (that is, after completing the purchase), or terminate the contract for the sale of the apartment through the court. In the latter case, the parties return to their original position: the apartment is returned to the seller, and the money is returned to the buyer.

Temporary registration of foreign citizens

The representative of the receiving party is obliged to notify the migration service about the presence of a visitor from another country. The owner of the property must inform the Federal Migration Service about this during a personal visit or send a registered letter. The following shall be submitted to the competent authority:

• application of the established form;
• copies of the visitor's passport and migration card.

Within a week after entering the Russian Federation, a foreigner is required to register. In the future, he can issue a temporary residence permit and residence permit.

Citizens of countries for which there is a visa regime for entry into Russia can obtain temporary registration only for the period of validity of the visa. Representatives of the CIS countries and other republics with a simplified entry system into the Russian Federation receive registration for 3 months and then have the opportunity to extend it. Kazakhstanis have the right to stay in Russia for 30 days without registering.

Submitting documents electronically

On February 1, 2010, an Internet portal for the provision of State Services began operating, with the help of which many legal procedures can be simplified. Citizens can submit an application for temporary registration on the specified website by first filling out a special form. If the request is approved, the applicant receives a corresponding notification by email. Within three days, FMS employees are required to inform the applicant that his documents have been accepted for consideration.

If at least one property owner is against an outsider occupying his living space, such an application will be canceled.

With the consent of all owners, the tenant must come to the passport office within 3 days to obtain a registration stamp.

Rights and obligations of temporarily registered citizens

Persons registered in the premises for a certain period may remain there for the specified period and use all the services provided. Upon completion of registration, they are required to leave the apartment. If people deprived of the right to be on the territory of the living space refuse to leave it, the owner can call the police or write a statement to the court. The claim must be satisfied, regardless of who the evicted citizen is.

The rights of homeowners are protected by such regulations as the second section of the Housing Code and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

People with disabilities, incapacitated persons, and current and former relatives of the owner must leave the apartment after termination of registration. The reservation in this matter is made only regarding minors.

○ Minor flaws.

Additionally, temporary registration can cause the homeowner some minor troubles:

1. If a temporarily registered person has taken out a loan for himself, but does not pay on it, representatives of a bank, microfinance organization or collectors will look for him exactly at the address that he indicated. Accordingly, there may be calls to your home phone or even visits from representatives of these organizations.
2. If a tenant is wanted for committing an administrative offense or even a crime, he will have to deal with the police, whose officers will certainly visit the apartment. In addition, receipts for fines for traffic violations may be received by mail if the resident has a car.
3. If a person evades conscription into the armed forces, summonses may be sent to the temporary registration address. Moreover, military registration and enlistment office employees may even accuse the owner of the apartment of helping the conscript to hide from the summons. This will not cause serious problems, but it will fray the owner’s nerves.
4. If a tenant abuses alcohol or takes drugs, is rowdy, disturbs the peace of neighbors, etc. On the one hand, all this is a clear reason to terminate the contract and discharge such a tenant. On the other hand, you will have to go to court. In addition, if, for example, a temporarily registered person flooded an apartment on the floor below - answer according to Art. 210 Civil Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 67 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the owner will have to, unless otherwise specified in the agreement with the tenant.

Registration of children

What else is dangerous for the owner of temporary registration of visitors in 2020? Litigation over the eviction of minors. After all, the law does not indicate that in order for children to register in a home, the permission of the owner is required.

It is enough for one of the parents who legally resides at the address to present a passport, the child’s birth certificate and write an application, and the minor will be registered in this living space.

If the passport office employees make a mistake or are interested in such a development of events, the child may be registered in the premises for a period longer than the registration of the father or mother. In such a case, the parent has the right to confirm his/her continued registration in court.

As practice shows, there are cases of forced eviction of minors by decision of the competent authorities. But such cases are considered with the participation of employees of the guardianship and trusteeship authority, relatives and legal representatives of the children, which makes the proceedings more complicated. It may be delayed for a long time, for example, due to the non-appearance of interested parties.

To avoid pitfalls, it is advisable for the property owner to find out whether the tenants have children, and only then register them in their home.

If the owner of the living space agrees to register the child, he needs to personally appear at the passport office and ensure that the registration deadlines are set.

○ Difficulties with eviction of a temporarily registered person.

However, cases are not uncommon when a tenant who has received temporary registration in housing does not want to voluntarily move out. What to do in this case?

The most reliable algorithm of actions for the apartment owner will be like this:

• First of all, it is necessary to send a written request to the tenant, which will clearly formulate the need to leave the premises. If the case goes to court, this requirement will become one of the proofs that the owner of the apartment fulfilled his duties in full. The period for fulfilling the requirement must be given at least 7 days.
• If there is no response, and the tenant who has lost registration does not want to move out, you must contact the district police officer on whose territory the apartment is located. The district police officer does not have the authority to independently expel someone from the apartment - but the conversation he conducts often turns out to be effective, and the collected materials will again become evidence in court.
• If even after this the tenants refuse to leave the premises, then it is necessary to go to court and recognize the tenant as having lost the right to reside in the apartment. If the court grants such an application, the eviction can already be carried out forcibly with the participation of law enforcement officers - bailiffs and police.

But there are things that the owner absolutely cannot do:

• Threaten the tenant with violence if he does not leave the apartment. This may be considered a crime under Art. 119 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
• Arbitrarily throwing away his things when he is not at home. This is an unambiguous act provided for in Art. 330 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, namely arbitrariness. It doesn’t matter that the tenant is in the apartment illegally - the owner of the apartment will still be in the wrong.

The danger of registering certain categories of citizens

Difficulties and unforeseen situations may arise in the case of registration of not only children, but also some other social strata. These include refugees and pregnant women.

In the first case, visitors may have children, information about which they are in no hurry to provide. Also, according to the law, when registering forced migrants, it is required to notify not only the local passport office, but also the regional departments of the Federal Migration Service. And if the owner of the living space forgets about this procedure, and the refugees appear at the migration service, the owner of the apartment will be fined.

There is one more nuance regarding immigrants. Numerous relatives often come to “visit” them for six months or more. This issue can be resolved with the participation of police officers or the Federal Migration Service.

As for pregnant women, their temporary registration in itself does not involve any risk, because formally they are ordinary citizens.

Problems may appear after the baby is born. As described above, the mother has the right to register the baby without even telling the homeowners about it. After which she can register with her child herself.

There are also known out-of-the-ordinary cases when visitors who have received temporary registration change the locks in the apartment and threaten the owners or commit other offenses. Such situations are considered only in court, and a lot of nerves and effort are spent on eliminating them. So, when deciding to register a stranger in your home, you need to weigh the pros and cons.

What does it threaten the owner financially?

One of the serious disadvantages of an extra registered person is the increase in utility bills:

If there are meters

If you have meters for water, gas, electricity, then the amount will increase in proportion to the volume of resources consumed.

Example: The Solomin family - husband, wife and their child consumed 8 cubic meters of cold water and 5 cubic meters of hot water per month. According to tariffs for the Western Administrative District of Moscow, they paid:

• for hot water - 151.36 rubles/cub.m. x 5 cubic meters = 756.8 r;
• for cold - 30.87 rubles/cub.m. x 8 cubic meters = 246.96 rub.

After Solomina A.A. I temporarily registered my friend Ivanenko G.V., water consumption along with the amount of payments increased:

• for hot water – 151.36 rubles/cub.m. x 6 rubles = 908.16 rubles;
• for cold – 30.87 rubles/cub.m. x 10 cubic meters = 308.7 rub.

If there are no meters

Then the payment is calculated according to the number of registered people in the apartment, which is even more expensive.

Example: General standards for water consumption per person are set in the following sizes: cold - 6 cubic meters, hot - 3 cubic meters per month. This means that after obtaining a temporary registration for G.V. Ivanenko, the Solomin family will pay for 4 people, and not for 3, that is, 6 cubic meters more for cold water and 3 more for hot water.

To prevent such consequences for the apartment owner from turning into a big minus, it would be rational to initially discuss this point with the temporary tenant. Typically, the tenant and the owner enter into a rental agreement, which stipulates the procedure for paying for utilities. If you do this, then such registration should in no way affect your finances.

How are disputes resolved?

The owner’s consent to the registration of strangers at his address does not reduce the risks of further proceedings. The owner of the house has the right:

• sell residential premises;
• evict guests for improper actions and failure to comply with the terms of the agreement, as well as due to complaints from neighbors;
• obtain information about the entry into the apartment of people not specified in the contract.

But at the same time, the desire to evict residents after the end of their temporary registration period is fraught with consequences in the form of disputes. Such problems are resolved through the court, and the claim must be filed in the territory where the property is located.

It is unlikely that the owner will lose his home as a result of disputes, but he may spend a lot of time and money. The owner of the property changes only if a purchase and sale agreement is concluded, a deed of gift is signed and other procedures in which property rights are transferred. Such transactions must be recorded in the State Register.

Risk of damage to property by tenants

Are the new tenants decent people or not? There is no way to know this in advance. And the registration of an unknown person only aggravates the fears. After all, if these are just tenants without a contract, without registering a place of residence, in the event of some inappropriate actions on their part, you can take and evict these individuals. And if there is a registration, then everything will have to be decided either through the court, or wait for the registration period to expire.

Early cancellation of registration of citizens

In some cases, it is possible to evict a person or deregister him without his consent. Such actions are permitted not only after the end of the temporary registration period, but also in connection with the following circumstances:

1. Mobilization or conscription into the armed forces by decision of the military commissariat.
2. Imprisonment. The citizen is deregistered when the sentence comes into effect.
3. Death or recognition as missing. The extract is made after the relevant court decision has entered into legal force.
4. Eviction through the competent authorities for damage to property, storage of explosives in the apartment, presence of a dangerous chronic diagnosis.
5. Registration of an individual at a new address.
6. Provision by a citizen of fictitious or forged documents through which registration was carried out. A court decision is required.
7. Establishing an act of violation on the part of the FMS inspector regarding the provision of temporary registration to an individual.

How to minimize risks?

The homeowner can minimize the risks associated with the temporary registration of third parties as follows:

• Place a temporary encumbrance on the apartment while it is rented. This can be done through the MFC or online in Rosreestr.
• Draw up a rental agreement, which spells out the responsibilities of the tenants and the rights of the parties. Responsibility for violation of the terms of the contract can be expressed in material terms: fines, penalties, prosecution, forced eviction.
• Control what happens in the apartment: systematically check the condition of the premises, payment of utilities, collect receipts for their payment.

The lawyers on our website can help you draw up the correct employment agreement. Initial legal consultation is free - call or write in feedback.

Who is denied registration?

Migration service employees do not have the right to refuse a visitor temporary registration at the place of stay without real reasons. Here are the good reasons for this:

• lack of required documentation;
• errors in the provided papers or incorrect information;
• there is no agreement between the landlord and the tenant on the latter’s temporary registration;
• incorrect form of the agreement for the rental of premises, which is the basis for registration (the necessary details or signatures are missing)

The state registrar does not have the right to require that the lease agreement be certified by a notary; such actions are illegal. The agreement between the owner of the apartment and the person temporarily residing with him must include only the signatures of these persons.

The landlord should not worry about possible problems when evicting temporarily registered citizens, since their registration ends sooner or later and does not give them privileges, regardless of their status.