Tenant’s obligations and liability

Pay the rent as agreed

You must pay the agreed amount of rent on the agreed date.

If you do not pay your rent in time, you may have to pay collection costs and overdue interest. If you have not paid the rent for a few months, or if your payments are always irregular, this may also give the landlord the right to cancel the lease without a separate warning.

If you are sometimes unable to pay the rent in time for some unexpected reason, contact the landlord at once.

Inform the landlord about other occupants

If other people live in the dwelling in addition to you, you must inform the landlord in writing of the number of occupants and the basis for their right to live in the dwelling. For adult occupants, you must also provide their name, date of birth and contact details.

You must submit a notification whenever a new occupant moves into the dwelling or an occupant moves out.

If the lease was concluded before 1 October 2026, the landlord must inform the tenant of their obligation to provide information about other people living in the dwelling. After receiving this information, the tenant must notify the landlord of the other occupants without delay. Thereafter, the tenant must report any changes on their own initiative, without a separate reminder from the landlord.

Report any damage to the landlord

You must immediately notify the landlord of any damage to or defects in the apartment for which the landlord is responsible for repair. You must report the damage at once if the repairs must be made straight away to stop the damage from getting worse.

In emergencies, follow the instructions the landlord and the housing company have given. Usually you must contact the building manager at once about any sudden problems.

If you do not report a problem, you may be liable for the damage caused by your negligence.

Take good care of the apartment

You must take care of the apartment carefully. You are liable for any damage you cause to the apartment intentionally or negligently. You are also responsible for the actions of any persons who stay in the apartment with your permission.

In addition to normal everyday cleaning, you are responsible for such tasks as changing the light bulbs, clearing the floor drains and cleaning the grease filter in the cooker hood. You should ask the landlord about the maintenance tasks that are your responsibility.

You should note that as a rule, you may not make repairs or alterations in the flat without the landlord’s permission.

You are not responsible for the normal wear and tear of the apartment

If you could have avoided the damage by being more careful, this is taken into account when assessing your liability. However, you are not liable for the normal wear and tear of the apartment. Even if you caused the damage by negligently, you are only liable for the repair costs if they are higher than the cost of repairs needed because of normal wear and tear.

Normal wear and tear refers to the normal wear and tear of the dwelling over time and the traces of normal living. For example,
marks on the wall or ceiling made by hanging pictures and lights are usually regarded as normal wear and tear. You are not liable for small marks, dents and scratches. On the other hand, large dents or marks caused by dropping things on the floor, for example, are not usually considered normal wear and tear.

Factors that may be taken into account when considering normal wear and tear include

• the condition of the apartment when you move in
• if the damage was caused suddenly or slowly over time
• the age of the apartment and previous renovations
• how long you have lived in the apartment
• the number of people living in the apartment.

Damage caused gradually over a long period of time can often be regarded as normal wear and tear. If you have been living in the flat for a long time, more wear and tear is usually acceptable than if your lease has been short. A family with young children usually causes more signs of wear than the household of a single person.

Read more about normal wear and tear and cleaning of a flat on the website of Suomen Kiinteistönvälittäjät (SKVL). The instructions were drawn up by RAKLI, the Finnish Real Estate Management Federation, SKVL, the Finnish Landlord Association, Finnish Tenants and the Finnish Real Estate Federation.

Do not smoke in the dwelling without permission

From 1 October 2026, smoking in the dwelling, on the balcony and in the private outdoor area is prohibited directly by law.

The smoking ban does not need to be included separately in the lease. The ban also applies to electronic cigarettes.

The smoking ban also applies to leases concluded before 1 October 2026, unless smoking is expressly permitted in the lease.

The landlord may permit smoking in the lease or grant separate permission at a later date, for example at the tenant’s request. However, permission may only be granted if smoking is not prohibited on other grounds. For example, if the housing company has prohibited smoking, the landlord cannot permit it.

The smoking ban applies to everyone staying in the dwelling, including guests.

If a smoking ban is in force, odours or staining of surfaces caused by smoking are not regarded as normal wear and tear. The tenant may therefore be required to compensate for any damage caused to the dwelling by smoking.

Clean the apartment carefully when you move out

You have a duty to leave the apartment clean and tidy at the end of your lease. If the landlord has given instructions for cleaning, you must follow them.

If the landlord is unhappy about the results of the final cleaning, you can ask if you could clean the flat again before it is handed over to the next tenant. However, the landlord does not have a legal obligation to agree to this, which is why you should carry out the final cleaning carefully once and for all.

Keep your keys safe

When you take over an apartment, make sure that the number of keys the landlord hands out to you is documented. You have a duty to keep the keys safe throughout the lease term. When the lease ends, you must give back to the landlord the same number of keys that you received at the beginning of the lease.

If you are careless and lose a key, you may have to pay the landlord for the costs of changing the locks.

Empty the dwelling and other premises when you move out

When your tenancy ends and you move out, you must remove all your belongings from the dwelling, storage space and any other premises that have been in your possession.

If you leave belongings behind, they may become the landlord’s property without compensation

• one month after the landlord has notified you of the belongings left in the dwelling
• four months after you moved out, if the landlord is unable to serve the notice on you.

The landlord must store the belongings left behind until they are collected or the statutory storage period expires.

You may be required to reimburse the landlord for the necessary costs of taking care of and disposing of the belongings.

The landlord may immediately dispose of waste and other property that is clearly of no value. However, photographs, documents and other comparable personal items may not be disposed of on this basis

Careful inspection of the apartment prevents

Before you sign a lease, worth carrying out a careful inspection of the apartment. You and the landlord check the condition of the flat and the household appliances and write down any faults and defects you notice. You can also take photographs or videos of the flat.

A documented inspection pf the flat prevents disputes, because it can later be used to determine the condition of the flat at the start of the lease and show if a fault or defect already was in the flat at that time.

When the lease ends, you should also have a final inspection together. You can check the condition of the apartment in the same way it was done in the beginning. Cleaning can be approved and faults documented.

Proof of damage

If the landlord claims compensation from you, they must prove that the damage to the apartment is worse than normal wear and tear, or that the you  didn’t do the cleaning properly when you moved out. The landlord’s observations are not usually enough, and they must have reliable proof of the damage, for example photographs.

The landlord must prove that the damage is worse than normal wear and tear and that it was caused when you lived in the apartment, for example based on documents made at the initial and final inspections. If the landlord does not have such proof and the apartment is old, in resolving disputes, it has often been assumed that at least some of the defects occurred during the course of previous tenants.

If the final cleaning has not been done properly, the landlord’s order confirmation and invoice for cleaning services have often been considered reliable and sufficiently detailed information about the need for cleaning.