Long-term holiday accommodation services

Application for certificate of good conduct

The certificate of good conduct can be applied before creation and maintenance of a legal relationship (e.g. employment relationship)or in order to verify that the applicant complies with requirements defined by an act. 

 

Please ask your employer whether you need a certificate of good conduct or not, and in case the answer is yes, what kind of certificate do they need.

 

The certificate of good conduct can verify that the individual

  • has not got any record in the register of convicted persons, and/or
  • is not under the effect of deprivation of civil rights, and/or 
  • is not prohibited to exercise a profession or an activity, or
  • complies with requirements defined by a Hungarian act.

 

The application can be submitted 

  • by mail on an official application form,
  • by phone via Government Customer Line 1818,
  • electronically using the Client Gate at the Hungarian eGovernment portal, where Client Gate identification is required, 
  • personally at the Customer Service of the Criminal Records Authority in Budapest, in case of priority service, 
  • personally at Hungarian Embassies or Consulates abroad.

 

The certificate of good conduct is free of charge 4 times a year, but there is a consular fee, if the application is submitted at a Hungarian Embassy or Consulate abroad.

 

The certificate of good conduct is delivered

  • by mail as recorded delivery (in case the application was submitted by mail, by phone or via Client Gate) 
  • personally at the Personal Customer Service Centre in case of priority service,
  • at the diplomatic or consular representation of Hungary.

 

Length of the process: 8 days (5 days in case of applying in person)

Long-term holiday accommodation services qualify as tourist services of a commercial nature which include the right to use accommodation on a regular basis, at recurring intervals, for fixed, non-extended periods for the purpose of night-time stay and relaxation provided within the framework of business activities pursued on a gainful basis, or as better-known to the wider public, timeshare. In the Standard Classification of Economic Activities (TEÁOR'08), long-term holiday accommodation services fall into sector 68.2 Letting and operation of owned and rented properties; more specifically, into sub-category 68.20 Letting and operation of owned and rented properties 

Long-term holiday accommodation services may only be provided if

  1. the senior officer, senior employee of the business or, in the case of an individual business, the individual entrepreneur has a clean criminal record and is not under the effect of prohibition from engagement in long-term holiday accommodation services, and
  2. the senior officer, senior employee of the business or, in the case of an individual business, the individual entrepreneur was not the owner, member, senior officer or senior employee of a business which was prohibited in a final and absolute official decision from engagement in long-term holiday accommodation services at any time during a period of five years before the commencement of the services due to the violation of the statutory rules relating to long-term holiday accommodation services or due to the provision of such services without a licence.

Any advertising relating to such services must state that the consumer is entitled to information before the conclusion of a contract and where this information may be obtained. If the service provider wishes to make the consumer an offer for the conclusion of a contract at an event organised for the sale of the services, the invitation to the event must state that this is the purpose and nature of the event. Throughout the duration of the event, the pre-contractual information must be made available to the consumer.

The service provider is required to provide detailed information for the consumer in a timely manner before the issuance of the consumer’s contractual declaration, in writing, free of charge. The written information forms part of the concluded contract. The information must be provided in the form designated for each contract type:

  1. for contracts relating to long-term holiday timeshare accommodation for multiple periods,
  2. for contracts relating to long-term holiday products,
  3. for resale contracts,
  4. for exchange contracts.

If the consumer is a national of an EEA State or resides in an EEA State, the written information must be placed at his/her disposal, according to his/her choice, in the official language of the State of his/her citizenship or residence if the given language is also an official language of the European Union. If there are multiple official languages in the above-mentioned States, the consumer likewise has a choice of language.

Any departure in the contract from the written information is only permitted, with express reference to the fact of such departure and the content of the modification, if

  • the parties expressly agreed thereon, or
  • the modification is warranted by an external circumstance falling beyond the business’s control which the business was not required to reckon with at the time of the disclosure of the written information to the consumer and where the business was not reasonably expected to avoid or to eliminate the consequences thereof.

If any of the stipulations of the contract departs from the content of the written information, the business is required to specifically inform the consumer thereof in writing, prior to the conclusion of the contract, by stating what such departure lies in. Prior to the conclusion of the contract, the business is required to specifically draw the consumer’s attention to the following:

  1. the consumer’s right of withdrawal and the period available for the exercise thereof, and
  2. the fact that the business cannot demand or accept any partial payment from the consumer during the period available for the exercise of the right of withdrawal.

Conclusion of contract, right of withdrawal 

The contract contains

  1. the pre-contractual information,
  2. name and address of consumer,
  3. name and head office of business as recorded in the company register or the register of individual entrepreneurs,
  4. the form relating to the exercise of the right of withdrawal, complete with the name and head office of business and date of conclusion of contract,
  5. place and date of conclusion of contract, and
  6. in addition to the signatures of the parties, the consumer’s separate signature in respect of the right of withdrawal and the contractual terms stating the prohibition of a request for and acceptance of any partial payment.

The provisions regarding the use of languages also apply to the contract. If the contract is aimed at the acquisition of the right to use a specific property on a timeshare basis for multiple fixed periods, at the consumer’s request, a certified translation of the contract into the official language of the EEA State in which the property is located must be placed at the consumer’s disposal if that language is also an official language of the European Union.

The consumer may withdraw from the contract within 14 days of the conclusion thereof without stating his/her reasons. If the service provider did not place the relevant form at the consumer’s disposal or otherwise violated its obligation to provide information, the period available for withdrawal is extended.

During the period available for withdrawal, the business may not request or demand any payment (advance, instalment) from the consumer in any form; any payment so made must be repaid forthwith.

Procedures related to commencement of and engagement in service activities

Based on the Government’s appointment, the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office proceeds as the authority overseeing long-term holiday accommodation services with nation-wide competence.

The service provider is required to report the commencement of its activities to the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office, whether it wishes to engage in long-term holiday accommodation services within the framework of residential or cross-border services.

The report so filed is valid for an indefinite term in the case of residential (settled) service providers and for five years in the case of service providers offering cross-border services.

The service provider may report its long-term holiday accommodation services to the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office in person, verbally or in writing, by mail in writing, or by completing the relevant electronic form.

The form that may be used for reporting the commencement of long-term holiday accommodation services may be downloaded here.

The information necessary for the electronic submission of the form is accessible here.

A form filed with respect to the long-term holiday accommodation activities of service providers with the freedom to provide services intended to be pursued in the territory of Hungary as cross-border services must contain additional supplementary data:

  1. service provider’s nationality, in case of legal entity or unincorporated organisation residing and registered in another EEA State, title of register of EEA State in which service provider resides, and service provider’s registration number,
  2. name of EEA State in which service provider is settled,
  3. service provider’s declaration that it wishes to engage in long-term holiday accommodation activities within the framework of cross-border services, and
  4. name of licensing or registering authority and number of service provider’s licence or registration number if the service provider’s service activities are tied to a licence or registration in the EEA State in which the service provider is settled.

Except where the report is filed electronically, the document verifying the payment of the administrative service fee payable for the procedure (bank certificate of transfer, payment order slip or a copy thereof) must be enclosed with the form used for reporting the commencement of long-term holiday accommodation services.

If the report conforms to the requirements and the procedural duty or administrative service fee has been paid, the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office sends a certificate of the details of the report.

Service providers engaged in long-term holiday accommodation services are required to pay an administrative service fee of HUF 20,000 in connection with the filing of the above report. The fee may be paid by cash payment order or by transfer to the account of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office No. 10032000-00282448, by entering Treasury Transaction Code 310. More information on reports filed electronically.

As part of the procedure related to the report filed, the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office, as the authority overseeing these services, registers the service provider ex officio within fifteen days of the receipt of the report and posts the data of its records on the Internet.

Service providers engaged in long-term holiday accommodation services must report any subsequent change in the data stated in the report to the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office forthwith. The service provider may report any change concerning its long-term holiday accommodation services to the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office in person, verbally or in writing, by mail in writing or by completing the electronic form. Long-term holiday accommodation service providers are required to pay an administrative service fee of HUF 20,000 per change report filed. This fee may be paid as described above.

The service provider must report the termination of its long-term holiday accommodation services to the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office within eight days of the termination of such services. The trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office deletes the service provider from its records forthwith after notification. Simultaneously with reporting the termination of the long-term holiday accommodation services, the service provider is required to pay an administrative service fee of HUF 20,000. The service provider may report the termination of the long-term holiday accommodation services to the trade and market monitoring authority of the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office in person, verbally or in writing, by mail in writing or by completing the electronic form.

 

Cross-border service provision

If you wish to launch this service in the form of cross-border service provision, please click here to read the general conditions of cross-border service provision in Hungary.

 

Legislation relating to services and procedures

  1. Act CLXIV of 2005 on Trade,
  2. Government Decree No. 141/2011. (VII. 21.) on the right to use accommodation on a timeshare basis, contracts relating to long-term holiday products and long-term holiday accommodation services,
  3. Act LXXVI of 2009 on the General Rules of the Commencement of and Engagement in Service Activities,
  4. Act CXL of 2004 on the General Rules of Public Administration Proceedings and Services,
  5. Government Decree No. 320/2010. (XII. 27.) on the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office and the territorial measurement and technical safety authorities,
  6. Decree No. 101/2005. (XI. 24.) on the administrative service fees of certain procedures conducted by the Hungarian Trade Licensing Office,
  7. Government Decree No. 186/2009. (IX. 10.) on the fines payable in the event of non-reporting in the case of services subject to reporting and the general appointment of the authorities overseeing services.