· Written by the AxiRent team
Does a lease have to be registered?
No. The Civil Code says a residential lease can be used against third parties only if it is registered in a public register (art. 6.579(4)), but it does not require registration. We found no deadline and no penalty for an unregistered lease in the Code.
The lease binds landlord and tenant whether or not it is registered. The register matters once a third person comes in: a buyer, a bank or a new owner.
What does registration change?
If the flat is sold or otherwise transferred, the lease stays in force for the new owner when it was registered in the public register (art. 6.585). Once registered, the tenancy is public and visible to third parties, such as a future buyer. The Centre of Registers says it gives the tenant extra legal protection.
What is needed before you file?
The Centre of Registers asks you to check that:
- The lease is in force and its term has not ended.
- The lease states the flat's unique number in the register.
- Every party has signed it, and every annex it mentions is attached.
- If the flat is in shared ownership by parts, the other co-owners have agreed.
- If a notary's enforcement record is registered on the flat, the creditor (usually a bank) has agreed.
How do you file the lease?
There are two routes. A new lease can be drawn up in the Centre of Registers' own self-service portal: both sides sign it with a qualified electronic signature and it is passed on for registration from there. A lease that is already signed cannot be uploaded to the portal.
A signed lease goes in with a request, in one of three ways. You then pay the invoice you receive, and the request is processed only once it is paid.
- By email to info@registrucentras.lt: the request signed with a qualified electronic signature, and the lease as a single file. A scan of a lease signed on paper must itself be signed with a qualified signature by every party or by a notary.
- By post to Studentų g. 39, 08106 Vilnius: the signed request and the original lease or a certified copy.
- At a customer service office: with a passport or ID card and the original lease. Visits are by appointment only.
What does it cost and how long does it take?
The fee depends on how fast you want it done: €8.19 within 5 working days, €10.65 within 3, €16.38 within 1. Each tenant is a separate entry, so two tenants cost twice as much. The number of co-owners does not change the price.
What happens when the lease changes, is renewed or ends?
A change or a renewal is registered with a request and the annex, by email, post or in person. An annex can be registered only if the lease itself was, and the self-service portal cannot change a lease.
Once the term has ended, the lease is removed from the register in the self-service portal or at an office, for the same fees: €8.19, €10.65 or €16.38. Before the term ends, the service to use is ending the lease (Nuomos sutarties nutraukimas). The service is in Lithuanian only.
How does AxiRent handle it?
AxiRent keeps each lease with its dates, rent, deposit and the signed PDF, and warns you as its end approaches. Signed through Dokobit with Smart-ID or Mobile-ID (Business plan), the lease carries both sides' qualified electronic signatures, the kind the Centre of Registers asks for by email. A signature given in the browser is a simple electronic signature, so use a qualified one for a lease you will register. AxiRent does not register the lease for you. More on tenancies and e-signing.
Sources
- Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania: articles 6.478, 6.579 and 6.585 (e-tar.lt, consolidated version, in Lithuanian)
- Centre of Registers: how to register a signed lease (in Lithuanian)
- Centre of Registers: the fee for registering a lease (in Lithuanian)
- Centre of Registers: registering leases online (in Lithuanian)
- Centre of Registers: lease registration steps, PDF (in Lithuanian)
This is general information, not legal advice. For a specific dispute, talk to a lawyer. The official texts of the law are in Lithuanian.