Non-payment of lease payments without state registration of the contract

The absence of state registration of the lease agreement is not a reason for non-payment of lease payments

Between our client (Landlord) and the opponent (Renter) a lease agreement for non-residential premises was concluded. Since the transfer of the premises for rent, the debtor (Renter) has not paid the rent, referring to the fact that the lease agreement was not registered, and under the terms of the contract, the obligation to pay rent payments arises only from the date of state registration.

We proved that in the case under consideration, the parties to the lease agreement agreed on all the essential terms of this transaction, including the procedure for making and the amount of rent; the rental object was transferred for use to the lessee, i.e. the lease agreement was actually executed, as a result of which the lessee had an obligation to pay rent from the moment of the actual transfer of the rental object for use. Thus, the Tenant's opinion that he should not pay rent is erroneous. A different interpretation of the rules of civil legislation on the state registration of a lease agreement contributes to the unfair behavior of the parties to the contract, which has not passed the necessary registration, but is executed by them (paragraph 3 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated 25.02.2014 N 165).