Retailers turned to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a list of questions on the topic of regulation of rental relations

Retailers, tenants of retail real estate appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with a list of issues requiring resolution. The appeal was signed by 32 companies, representatives of the retail business.

On June 11, 2020, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation adopted a resolution on the termination of obligations; retail trade and, in particular, rental relations - are the main block of economic relations to which the indicated Decree will apply. However, disputes between tenants and lessors of commercial real estate amid continued suspension of non-food retail trade under the Covid-19 quarantine are ongoing. Practicing lawyers from the tenants appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation with more than two dozen issues that do not find proper legal resolution, wanting to dot all the “and” in the contentious moments of the rental relationship.

It is noted that the range of unresolved issues is quite wide, they relate to both the unlawful charging of rents and withholding of property, as well as abuse of rights by lessors.

Under the appeal to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 32 companies operating in the retail segment subscribed. Among them are Inventive Retail Group, Ralf Ringer, Econika, Noone and others.

“It is important, as soon as possible, to receive instructions from the judicial authorities on the procedure for applying both pre-existing rules of law in relation to rental relations in the event of force majeure circumstances across the industry throughout the country, and new laws adopted by the legislator in order to overcome the crisis situation. This is especially true of newly adopted norms (Article 19 of the Federal Law of 01.04.2020 No. 98-FZ), which are obviously adopted by the legislator to a greater extent to support tenants and eliminate abuses by lessors. Obviously, landlords who are used to dictating their rules are not ready and do not want to take the spirit of the law correctly and are in no hurry to implement it, ”said Ilya Yaroshenko, head of the Baon retail chain.

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The norms adopted in April on the right of tenants to defer and reduce rents (parts 1-3 of Article 19 of the Federal Law of 01.04.2020 No. 98-FZ) did not have the proper effect. Tenant requests are either completely ignored or landlords offer formal minor exemptions. The entry into force on June 8, 2020, part 4 of article 19 of the Federal Law of 01.04.2020 No. 98-FZ will allow tenants who are small or medium-sized businesses and operating in the affected sectors to more effectively assert their rights until the contract is terminated.

However, by literally interpreting the newly adopted norms, it is impossible to get answers to all the questions that arise. In this case, judicial practice is completely absent. In the face of uncertainty, landlords and tenants will seek to interpret the rules of each in their favor. This will interfere with reaching agreements and quickly stabilizing the situation. The number of litigations will increase many times.

A correct understanding by participants of legal relations of their rights and obligations will allow faster and with minimal losses to come to an agreement or resolve a dispute in court. Clarification of the issues raised by the judicial authorities will provide substantial support to domestic business, provided that they are given now. Otherwise, the formation of judicial practice will take months or years. And then the effect of the legislators' attempt to support the most affected and the least protected will be minimal. ”