Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, the demand for real estate by citizens of Russia and Belarus has increased in Georgia. Demand is grown on both residential and commercial spaces. Beyond that, real estate experts and lawyers are already talking about risks, that can follow to the rental of the real estate by the sanctioned Russian citizens.
According to the lawyers, the holders of the real-estate are not protected by the current legislation. Lawyer Davit Kldiashvili states that if the tenant of the apartment is not able to pay the rent, the owner of the apartment has no leverage to return the property.
According to Kldiashvili, this practice is in force since the end of 2015, when police evictions has been abolished in the country. Kldiashvili advises citizens to sign a mortgage agreement in order to protect their positions in the court.
"Unfortunately, the rent of space to private individuals was mainly done without a contract so far. They verbally agreed on the terms. In this case, it would be advisable for them to sign a lease agreement, which will specify the terms, the cost of the lease, as well as the circumstances in which the agreement is terminated, for example, if this person does not pay the amount stipulated in the agreement”, - says lawyer Davit Kldiashvili.
MG LAW OFFICE Managing Partner and Founder Archil Giorgadze says that today there is no exact way how a landlord can be protected from existing risks. He said if the apartment owner fails to get the unscrupulous payer out of the apartment, the case goes to the court.
"There is very little ready-made recipe on how holder of the apartment can handle this process and insure the risks. The only thing I can remember is that the holder can choose arbitration instead of the court to resolve the dispute, assuming that in this case the dispute will be resolved faster, but there are risks here as well," - says Archil Giorgadze, Managing Partner and Founder of MG LAW OFFICE.
Lawyers also talk about protracted trials, which often last for years. Consequently, the owners are not been able to return the property for years.
