Renting a home in Baku: lease, deposit and registration

You have found a flat in Baku, and a stranger wants you to sign and pay today, under rules you do not yet know. The short answer: before you pay anything, check that the person letting the flat is the registered owner or holds the owner’s power of attorney^1,2, and get a written lease that states the rent, the deposit and how it is returned. The Civil Code caps a tenant’s security at twice the monthly rent, and in a residential let an agreement obliging the tenant to pay “key money” has no force². Then agree who files your place-of-stay registration: the duty lies with the owner, as the “receiving party”, and you may also file it yourself³.

First, check who is letting to you

The key document is the extract from the State Register of Immovable Property (çıxarış). Under the Law on the State Register of Immovable Property (the Register Law), the creation and transfer of ownership are formalised by an electronic extract that shows the property’s register number and is placed on the e-government portal¹, and the register operator offers an online service for checking an electronic extract⁴. Compare the name on it with the landlord’s identity document, and the address and area with the flat.

Under the same law, a register certificate on the property, its rights and its encumbrances is issued to the right holder, a person they authorise and their heirs¹; a prospective tenant is not on that list, so ask the owner to obtain it and show it to you.

If the person letting the flat is not the owner (for example a relative, an agent or a property manager acting for the owner), ask for the power of attorney. The Civil Code defines it as authority given to represent someone before third parties, and requires it to be notarised for transactions that the law requires to be notarised². Check that it names this flat and the power to let it, that it is still valid and that the grantor’s name matches the extract.

If the owner later sells, the buyer takes over the landlord’s rights and duties under your tenancy, according to the Civil Code².

The written lease and what it should state

As the Constitutional Court summarised in a ruling of 11 June 2025, parties may as a rule choose the form of a contract (oral, simple written or notarised), while the law prescribes a form for some transactions⁵. A written lease is still your evidence of the deposit and of what was agreed. The lease should cover:

Termination. Notice terminating a lease must be in writing and state the grounds². In a residential let, an agreement allowing the landlord to terminate without waiting for the notice period, on grounds other than those set by law, has no force².

Leases of more than 11 months. The Register Law provides for state registration of a lease of immovable property for more than 11 months, and either party may apply¹. Whether that applies to a residential lease is a legal question for a notary or a licensed lawyer in Azerbaijan.

Deposit, booking fee and key money

Article 688 of the Civil Code deals with this directly:

• Cap: a tenant’s security may not exceed twice the monthly rent².
• Cash deposit: the landlord must place it in a bank separately from their own funds, at the usual deposit interest; the interest belongs to the tenant and is added to the security².
• Booking fee: a fee paid to the landlord ahead of a lease counts towards the rent, and can be reclaimed in full if the lease is not concluded through no fault of the payer (a fee paid to a broker follows a different rule)².
• Key money: in a residential let, an agreement obliging the tenant to pay “key money” (dəbbə pulu) has no force, and nor does any agreement departing from the rules above to the tenant’s detriment².

On market practice, such as typical deposit sizes in Baku, we found no official source or reliable data, so we quote no figures. Pay by bank transfer or against a signed receipt, and allow deductions only for documented damage or unpaid bills.

Moving in and moving out

The Civil Code does not make the tenant liable for changes or deterioration resulting from use under the contract², and obliges the tenant to return the property when the tenancy ends². That is why the record you make on arrival matters.

• Moving in: photograph every room; photograph the electricity, gas and water meters and enter the readings in an inventory you both sign; ask for the latest paid bills and agree that charges incurred before you move in are the landlord’s; note the keys.
• Moving out: give written notice stating the reason²; inspect the flat together against the inventory; record final meter readings; sign a handover record stating when the deposit will be returned.

Registration and tax: who does what

Place-of-stay registration

The State Migration Service (Dövlət Miqrasiya Xidməti) states that a foreigner staying temporarily for more than 15 days (more than 30 days for citizens of Kazakhstan) must be registered at the place of stay⁶. Under Article 21 of the Migration Code, the owner of the home, as the receiving party, files the application within 15 days of the foreigner’s arrival in the country³ (the Service gives 30 days for citizens of Kazakhstan⁶), and the foreigner may also apply under the same procedure³. Write into the lease who will file. The steps, the exceptions for some nationalities and the consequences of filing late are covered in Place-of-stay registration in Azerbaijan: who, when and how.

Tax on the rent, and a company as tenant

Who pays tax on rental income is explained from the owner’s side in Letting your Baku apartment from abroad: lease, tax and oversight.

If a company, such as your employer, will be the tenant, the position differs. The State Tax Service’s guidance (2026 edition) gives an example in which an individual entrepreneur renting a property (“obyekt”) from an individual withholds the tax at source⁷, but it does not say what applies when a company rents a home⁷. The company’s accountant or tax adviser should confirm whether it must withhold tax.

Red flags

• Pressure to pay cash without a receipt, or to pay before you have seen the extract or power of attorney.
• No written lease, or a name on the extract that does not match the person letting the flat, with no power of attorney.
• A deposit above twice the monthly rent, or “key money” for a home².
• A clause letting the landlord remove you immediately for any reason².

When this may not suit you

• A hotel or hotel-type stay: the management is the receiving party³; daily lets are not covered here.
• You want to buy: see Can foreigners buy property in Azerbaijan? Apartments and land.
• You are the owner, not the tenant: the landlord’s side is covered in Letting your Baku apartment from abroad: lease, tax and oversight, and what a manager acting for an owner may do is covered in our guide on what a property manager in Azerbaijan should and should not do.
• A dispute has already arisen over the deposit or eviction: consult a licensed lawyer in Azerbaijan.

Frequently asked questions