Required Disclosures and Registrations in Romania

Unlike the highly regulated, form-heavy disclosure systems found in the United States or the United Kingdom (with their mandatory lead-paint warnings, asbestos registries, and detailed "How to Rent" guides), Romania operates a significantly simpler bureaucratic framework. The primary "disclosures" in Romania are designed to satisfy either European Union environmental directives or the Romanian state tax authorities, rather than to protect the tenant from obscure structural hazards.

The Mandatory Energy Performance Certificate (CPE)

The single most strictly enforced physical disclosure mandated by law for residential tenancies in Romania—driven entirely by EU directives—is the Certificat de Performanță Energetică (CPE) or Energy Performance Certificate.

As a landlord in Romania, you are legally obligated to:

1. Advertise with the Rating: Every public advertisement for a rental property (on Imobiliare.ro, OLX, or via a real estate agency) must prominently display the property's energy efficiency rating (ranging from Class A to Class G).
2. Present to the Tenant: You must present a valid original or a certified copy of the CPE to the prospective tenant before they sign the lease agreement.
3. Include in the Lease: A copy of the CPE is almost always physically attached to the final written lease agreement as an official annex.

Failing to possess a valid CPE, or failing to disclose it, can result in significant fines from the State Inspectorate for Construction (ISC), and theoretically, can render the lease contract voidable if the tenant decides to challenge it in civil court. With Romania’s harsh winters driving up intretinere (heating and maintenance) bills, modern tenants demand to see this rating to estimate their winter utility costs.

Good Faith Disclosures (Hidden Defects)

While there is no standardized, state-mandated "Property Condition Disclosure Form," the Romanian Civil Code enforces the overriding principle of Good Faith (Buna-Credință) in all contractual dealings.

A landlord must explicitly disclose to the tenant any known, hidden (latent) defects that:

• Significantly limit or impede the tenant's ability to live comfortably in the apartment.
• Pose a genuine health or safety risk (such as a severely cracked main sewage pipe, a known infestation of black mold hidden behind wallpaper, or dangerously ungrounded electrical wiring from the Communist era).

If a tenant moves in and immediately discovers a severe, pre-existing defect that the landlord intentionally hid, the tenant has strong legal grounds to demand an immediate reduction in rent, force the landlord to pay for the repairs, or terminate the lease immediately without penalty.

Protection Through the Handover Protocol (Proces-Verbal)

To protect themselves from post-move-in disputes regarding "what was broken" versus "what was pristine," professional Romanian landlords rely entirely on a meticulously drafted Proces-Verbal de Predare-Primire (Handover Protocol).

This document serves as the ultimate factual disclosure of the property’s physical state on Day 1. It is signed by both the landlord and tenant immediately upon handing over the keys. A robust Romanian Handover Protocol must contain:

• Exact Meter Readings: Timestamped readings (with photographic proof) for electricity, gas, and water. This is essential for transferring utility contracts or proving the starting point for monthly utility întreținere calculations.
• Inventory List: A comprehensive checklist of all provided furniture and appliances (the washing machine, the central heating boiler, the AC unit) and their operational status.
• Physical Condition Log: Diligent notation of any pre-existing scratches on the parquet flooring, stains on the walls, or chips in the bathroom tiles, serving as undeniable proof that the tenant did not cause them.

The ANAF Registration (The Ultimate State Disclosure)

The most critical "registration/disclosure" action a Romanian landlord must take is registering the signed lease agreement with the state tax authority: ANAF (Agenția Națională de Administrare Fiscală).

While historically this was seen merely as a tax collection mechanism, recent changes (and the Civil Code's concept of the "Enforceable Title") have made ANAF registration the single most powerful tool in a landlord's arsenal.

1. Tax Compliance: Landlords are legally required to declare their rental income to ANAF. Failing to do so constitutes tax evasion.
2. The Enforceable Title (Titlu Executoriu): As previously detailed, registering the lease with ANAF transforms the private contract into an official state document. If the tenant stops paying rent, an ANAF-registered lease allows the landlord to entirely skip the slow civil court trial and proceed directly to a Bailiff to execute an immediate, forced eviction and garnish wages.

Without ANAF registration, a landlord is financially naked against an aggressive, non-paying tenant.

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