Tips for tenants
How to rent a flat in Rīga safely.
- How to spot fraudsters when looking for a rented flat in Rīga
A fraudster posing as a landlord usually wants one thing: for you to transfer money before you have seen the flat. The State Police (Valsts policija) has been warning about this fo…
- What a landlord may ask before renting
When you look for a flat, the landlord often asks you to tell them about yourself. That is normal: they are choosing whom to trust with their property. Even so, not everything can …
- Tenancy agreement: what the law requires and how to give notice
Renting a flat in Latvia is governed by Dzīvojamo telpu īres likums (Residential Tenancy Law). Whatever it does not cover falls under Civillikums (Civil Law) (article 2, paragraph …
- Security deposit: how much it can be and when it is returned
A security deposit (drošības nauda) is a sum the tenant pays when signing the tenancy agreement. It secures that the tenant will meet the agreement: pay the rent and the bills and …
- Registering a tenancy agreement in the Land Register: why and how
A tenancy agreement can be registered in the Land Register (zemesgrāmata). This is not compulsory (Dzīvojamo telpu īres likums (Residential Tenancy Law), article 35), and there is …
- Declaring your place of residence in a rented flat
Your declared place of residence (deklarētā dzīvesvieta) is the address at which the state and the municipality reach you (Dzīvesvietas deklarēšanas likums (Declaration of Place of…
- Utility bills: what a month costs in winter and in summer
The rent is only part of what you pay each month. In a series-built apartment block in Rīga, a winter month can cost almost twice as much as a summer month, mainly because of heati…
- Insurance for tenants: why you need it and what it covers
The owner's policy usually protects the owner. It does not cover your belongings or your liability towards others.
- Moving in and moving out: what to write down and photograph
Most disputes about the security deposit and bills start with one question: what did the flat look like on the first day? If you write it down and photograph it, the answer is on p…