The apartment is standing empty: who finds a tenant and what happens between tenants
The apartment is standing empty: who finds a tenant and what happens between tenants
The tenant is found by the management company — it posts the listing, holds viewings, checks the candidate and signs the contract under your power of attorney. A gap between tenants still remains: every property has one, and the point is for it to be short and calculated, not random. Costs do not disappear during this period, but some of them are removed on a written application to the owners' association. Below — who finds a tenant and how, what happens to the money and documents between tenants, and what to do if the apartment stands empty for months.
Who finds a tenant when the owner is in another country
The search is handled by the management company: the listing, photos, listing channels, viewings, checking the candidate and signing the contract under the owner's power of attorney. The owner takes part in the process at 1 point — agreeing the rental terms: the term, the size of the security deposit, requirements for the tenant, whether pets are allowed, how utilities are paid. After that the work goes on without them: viewings are held on site, the candidate is checked on documents and ability to pay, and the owner receives a report on every inquiry and its outcome. Armonia connects its rental catalog and its own demand database, so the property is seen by more than just the external market. The key condition for speed is that the property is ready to move into: an empty but unprepared apartment collects viewings and does not collect contracts.
Why the apartment is not renting: a breakdown of the causes
There are usually 4 reasons for vacancy, and all of them can be managed.
The first — the price is set without regard to condition: a prepared and an unprepared apartment compete in different segments, not on one price list.
The second — weak presentation: dark photos, an incomplete description, mandatory data missing from the listing.
The third — season and location: Constanța works year-round, Mamaia lives by the resort rhythm, and a seaside property takes longer to find a tenant in the off-season.
The fourth — the owner's requirements are too narrow: the longer the list of restrictions, the smaller the funnel of candidates. An organizational cause stands apart: if there is no one to hold viewings, the listing works for nothing — a tenant does not wait but moves on to the next property.
What happens to costs and documents between tenants
Costs fall into 2 groups: those that remain while the apartment is empty, and those that are removed on application. The owners' association allocates payments by the number of residents, by the share in the common property and by direct consumers of services. Under Law 196/2018, if no one lives in the apartment for at least 15 calendar days a month, the owner may ask in a written application to be exempted from charges calculated per person — for example, electricity for common areas and the elevator. Payments by share in the common property, the building tax and the subscription components of utility contracts remain in any case: not using the common property does not release you from the obligation to pay. 2 things are closed off in the documents: the termination of the previous lease is registered with the tax office in the same way as its conclusion, and when a new tenant moves in, the owner notifies the association's president in writing within 10 days of signing the contract.
How the search for a tenant goes, step by step
The search runs in 6 steps, and most of the time falls on the first two.
Step 1. Preparing the presentation: photos, description, the energy efficiency class in the listing — under Law 372/2005 it must be stated.
Step 2. Posting and handling inquiries: listing platforms, the Armonia catalog, our own database.
Step 3. Viewings, including online viewings for candidates from other cities.
Step 4. Checking the candidate: documents, employment, ability to pay, readiness to sign the inventory.
Step 5. Contract and security deposit: terms based on the template you agreed, registration of the contract with the tax office within 30 days of signing.
Step 6. Move-in under a handover report: meters, inventory of contents, keys; notification of the association within 10 days.
A report on each step goes to the owner — there is no need to travel.
What to do if the apartment stands empty for months
Vacancy is cured not by waiting but by recalculating: in 4 steps the property goes back on the market. The typical picture: the listing hangs unchanged, calls are rare, there are almost no viewings, and the costs keep running — the share in the common property, the tax and the subscription charges. Meanwhile the owner counts the losses only as unreceived rent, although the bill is made up of two parts at once.
Step 1. An honest calculation: how much the property costs the owner per month of vacancy and what part of these costs is removed by an application to the association.
Step 2. A review of the presentation: new photos, a full description, the mandatory data in the listing, a check of positioning by district and condition.
Step 3. A review of the property: what is preventing a move-in right now — from broken appliances to a missing inventory; the preparation work is done without you having to travel.
Step 4. Widening the funnel: revising the requirements for the tenant, adding channels, online viewings and, in a resort location, comparing a yearly contract with a seasonal mode for the specific property.
The recalculation is done before the next month of vacancy, not after the season.
How Alliance works and what Armonia is responsible for
Armonia finds the tenant and moves them in, Alliance holds the structure and the money. The formula for dividing the roles does not change: Armonia shows the properties, Alliance protects the money and builds the structure. In this task Alliance handles the contractual and tax side, the banking route for incoming payments, financial monitoring and coordination of the processes; accounting is kept by specialized audit firms. The management company covers the property in full: turnkey preparation, finding and moving in a tenant, day-to-day management. The cost of management depends on the scope of the package and is fixed in the contract — together with the timelines, the amount and the working procedure. We run 2 products: full support of a real estate transaction and obtaining EU residence or citizenship. The right to Romanian citizenship is confirmed by documents — and we carry that right all the way to a passport. The authority makes the decision: no one can guarantee the result, but the file can be put together so that it raises no questions. The timelines, the amount and the working procedure are in the contract. The company's licenses are publicly available on the website.
Where to start: conclusion and next step
Start with a free compliance assessment — it is carried out before any decisions and commits you to nothing. In the written opinion you receive a recommended bank, a list of documents for the source of funds, an assessment of the origin of funds, the ownership structure and the way of working with the property. And a straight answer: whether this structure suits you. The assessment may end in a reasoned refusal — that is also a result of the work. Vacancy is not an absence of income but costs without revenue; a vacancy that has been calculated becomes a short one. Send the word АКТИВ — we will review your situation and your property.
Do you have to pay for an apartment no one lives in?
Yes, but not for everything: payments by share in the common property, the building tax and the subscription components remain. Under Law 196/2018, if no one lives there for at least 15 days a month, you can ask in writing to be exempted from charges calculated per person.
Who holds viewings if the owner is abroad?
The management company, under the owner's power of attorney: in-person and online viewings, checking the candidate, signing the contract and move-in under a handover report. The owner agrees the rental terms and receives a report on the inquiries.
What to do with the old contract when the tenant has moved out?
The termination of the contract is registered with the tax office in the same way as its conclusion — this step is often skipped. A new contract is registered within 30 days of signing, and the association is notified within 10 days.
Sergey Valentinovich Kononov — head of the consulting company Alliance Consulting (Constanța, Năvodari). More than 30 years of management experience; the company has run a licensed practice in Romania for four years and supports clients from the first consultation to receiving their documents. The company's licenses and documents are publicly available on the website.