When searching for a house, a door to door research in the area of interest should be done, ask everyone around, even where there are no “TO LET” signs. Thereafter you may resort the classified section of the newspapers. If you still do not find what you are searching for then you find yourself an official local broker's office. Try and avoid the supposedly offices of “information”, which are not broker's offices. Most of the times the “information” that they give you is long gone and without any value. Strictly do not pay any money in advance, only once you have found the house that you are interesting in renting.

Check out the house you found, together with the persons you will be living with, carefully without hastiness, check the condition that it is in. If it is evening you should ask to see it again by daylight. If obvious faults exist, you ask for them to be restored or they should be quoted in the lease. Check the area around the house, if the things you need exist e.g. (transport, market, schools etc.

Do not be in a hurry to engage a residence if the rent appears excessive or is beyond your economical possibilities. Another residence can always be found which can be closer to your economic terms. Also you should be informed about the other economic obligations you will undertake with the rent e.g (regulation of block of flats, maintenance charges, accounts, municipal dues etc).

Do not make any advanced down payments until you are sure that the person with whom you are negotiating is the rightful householder or permitted representative thereof.

Each hire of main residence has minimal duration of three (3) years from the beginning, unless an independent lease has been agreed with a shorter time period. After the expiry of the three-year period, the hire is usually continued with a tacit agreement of householder and tenant. This means that the tenant can leave and houseowner can ask for the house whenever they want.

In the lease it should always be stated the entire agreed rent together with the, agreed increase, so much for the duration of initial three-year period as well as for the period thereafter. Usually agreed as an annual increase is the percentage of price index plus 1-2 units. If the duration of hire is smaller than three-year period, then for the years of hire that remain up to the completion of three-year period, in the event disagreement contracting it is forecasted annual increase equal with the 75% of increase of price index at 12[mino] that precede

At the write up of the hire contract a guarantee of one rent is payable if its an old building and two months rent for a new building. This guarantee is returned to the tenant upon the retirement of residence and if no amount is due from any other levies to the householder.

If you regularly offered the rent to the householder but he denied it illegally to collect it, for you not to be considered way willed, you have the right to deposit the money to the Fund of Deposits and Loans, in his name, and a juridicial commissary with present him with the bill of deposit, or you can ask for advice from your lawyer.

It has been foreseen in this particular case that a Legal Notice of leave? [exosis] of the tenant that does not pay the rent. First a note of extrajudicial invitation is sent to the tenant asking him to pay the outstanding rent. If owed rents are paid off within a month, then the process stops automatically at this point, unless this is not the first time this has happened. If the owed rent has not been paid off it is published immediately and noted in the “order of attribution of letting” which is executed after 20 days. The tenant has however the right to practice with his lawyer and ask that the order is stopped, as long as there appears to be a well founded reason for the delay in payment.

BEWARE! If you leave the rented home and you owe rent to the landlord, he in return, to be exempted from the obligation of payment of tax on the income of which he hasn’t received, he (the landlord) has the right when submitting his tax return to request that this money owed to him be given to the State (as a donation). The State will collect this money from you without fail, as public income, that is to say with application of provisions of Code of Income of Public Income, while at the same time, it does not grant you tax awareness until you pay them off! For this reason it is best that you do not leave a deliberate debt to your landlord, and of course you ask for proof of each monthly payment of rent.

Source: Hellenic Property Federation (P.O.M.I.D.A)