Lease agreement

What to check before signing

The contract should clearly identify the parties and the flat, the lease term, the rent, its due date and method of payment. List services and the advance payments for them separately. Also review the security deposit (called jistota in the law), any indexation, the handover of furnishings and the rules for continuing the lease. Knowing only the total monthly amount isn't enough.

For residential leases, the law requires written form. As the landlord, however, you cannot raise the lack of it against the tenant. So a verbal agreement is not a safe way to arrange a lease — but nor does it mean the tenant has no rights. Written form is governed by § 2237 of the Civil Code.

Which terms don't apply, even if the tenant signed them

A term that restricts the tenant's statutory rights may not be enforceable. A typical example is a blanket ban on pets: the law allows keeping animals as long as they don't cause unreasonable disturbance. The security deposit and any contractual penalty share a common cap. You can't get around it by splitting the amounts across different clauses. Tenant protection is set out in § 2235, § 2254 and § 2258.

A quick example: the contract states “monthly payment 25 000 Kč” but doesn't say how much is rent and how much is advance payments. Before signing, break the amount down and clarify what will be subject to settlement. Without this, you'll struggle to check payment changes later.

In practice, the contract is complemented by the handover protocol and an inventory of furnishings. These record the condition of the flat, which a generic statement like “the flat is free of defects” won't tell you.