Or more precisely: “How I got a rental permit for my flat in Tivat.”
The first thing I had to do was check what was needed legally – According to Article 109 in Tourism Law, rental of private accommodation is allowed by individuals whose properties have up to 7 bedrooms and/or 15 beds.
Since my apartment is much smaller than 7 bedrooms and I am acting privately (not through the company) I was compatible with Article 109 and good to go.
In the next step, I was required to provide two documents:
Proof of ownership which is locally called a “List nepokretnosti” (LN). If the property is newly built or for any other reason still not registered with the Land Registry, the authorities will require a notarized statement that the property is owned by you.
A usage permit for the property called a “Upotrebna dozvola”. For properties that do not have such a document (older properties), a safety certificate of electricity installations is required, which is known as the “Atest”
I obtained the ownership list from the local land registry office (filled out a form, paid €8 tax, and of course queued). The “Atest” was bit more difficult. There are specially licensed engineers who visit the property and measure… something and, if all is OK, they will issue an official electricity safety certificate. They do not need to be necessarily from the same municipality and quotes varied from €50-70.
After I finally obtained these two documents (took about a week) I visited the local municipality to apply for the permit. First stop was office 30 (“Sekretarijat za finansije i razvoj”), where I was given a form to be filled in and submitted all documents to the public relations desk (“Gradjanski biro”). Taxes were €30+5 and 3 working days later, the surveyors visited my apartment. They are obliged to visit the property within 15 days from the moment you have submitted all the papers. Two days after the visit I was called back into office 30 to receive my permit. I was also required to bring with me two “books” that had to be stamped. Both can be purchased in any local bookstore for €7-8.
The Guest Book (pink one or “Popis gostiju”) is a guest register where we need to state the name and passport number of our guests as well as the length of their stay. The Complaints book (blue one or “Knjiga žalbi”) must be at the disposal of guests so that they can add comments.
So back to office 30, books stamped, permit received and a plaque with my apartment’s assigned star rating and which you can put on the wall next to entrance door (if it is worth showing off ;-)).
A permit lasts 3 years and I’ll find out if it was worth the hassle when I see how many guests I get!
Sasa Vukicevic
