On the uncertainty of the legal regulation of the state registration of the lease agreement of a building or structure

Abstract

The reform of civil legislation through the adoption of separate laws and amendments to certain sections of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation has caused the appearance of many contradictory and uncertain provisions in this normative act. The article considers one of such cases concerning the state registration of a lease agreement for a building or structure. The purpose of state registration of a real estate lease agreement is to establish in the Unified State Register of Real Estate in respect of real estate encumbrances arising from a real estate lease agreement; as a result of entering information about the lease agreement into the register, the rights of the lessee become known to all third parties (potential buyers, mortgagees and others). Currently, a significant place in the regulation of relations on the state registration of a real estate lease agreement is occupied by judicial practice, compensating for the shortcomings of legislation. The authors analyse the gradual development of judicial practice of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation, and then the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on the application of norms on the state registration of lease agreements of a building or structure. Taking into account the established judicial practice, in order to improve the legal regulation of the lease agreement of buildings and structures, it is proposed to amend paragraph 2 of Article 651 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, thereby eliminating the contradictions between the general rules on the conclusion of the contract and special rules on the lease agreement of buildings and structures.