Abuse of guarantees (deposit) requested from tenants have their days numbered. A BE proposal approved in the European Parliament will limit these abuses. The payment cannot be greater than the equivalent of 2 months of income. Currently, the amounts requested already reach up to 12 months. The objective is to guarantee access to the lease for more people.
Landlords will only be able to demand 2 months of advance rent and deposit.
This is a proposal by the Bloco de Esquerda approved this Thursday (25) in Parliament, and which aims to combat “abuse of guarantees” that are currently requested by landlords from tenants when signing a new lease contract.
The initial version of the proposed amendment to the State Budget for 2023 (OE2023) presented by the BE limited that advance to one month and security, but the Bloc ended up accepting the PS's suggestion to increase it to two months.
The approved text thus provides that the payment of rent can be anticipated, with a written agreement, for a period not exceeding two months, and the parties may guarantee, “by any of the legally provided forms, the fulfillment of the respective obligations, up to the amount corresponding to two rents”.
BE justifies this proposal with the need to stop the abuse of the guarantees that are requested by landlords from tenants to proceed with the lease contract, referring to the fact that reports are common in which one year of rent is required in advance, a situation that, warns the party “is illegal”.
“The amount required in advance rents and guarantees makes it impossible for many people to access the lease and is a disproportionate requirement that must be urgently corrected, limiting the amounts that can be requested to guarantee the execution of a lease contract”.
Source: Idealista/Lusa