When renting a home, tenants give landlords a deposit as a guarantee that they will return the house in good condition. This bond must be deposited by the lessor in the corresponding administration of each Autonomous Community, and although the law on urban leases (LAU) establishes that it can be a maximum of one month in some cases, the owner can request more than one month of guarantee, always within the limits established by the regulations.
Article 36 of the LAU regulates everything related to the deposit, its amount, its updating and when it must be returned. Although the general rule is clear, one month’s deposit for housing, and two for rentals for use other than housing, there are exceptions and situations in which the owner may require higher amounts.
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The first thing to keep in mind is that the deposit can be updated. According to the law, during the first 5 years of the contract (or 7 years if the landlord is a legal entity), the deposit cannot increase, but when the contract is extended, the landlord can request that the deposit be adjusted to the current rent. That is, if the rent has increased over the years, the deposit can also be updated once the contract is extended.
Additional guarantees that landlords can ask for from tenants
In addition to the mandatory bond, article 36 of the LAU allows the parties to agree on additional guarantees to ensure compliance with the contract, such as extra deposits or guarantees.
As in the case of bail, there are limits on the amounts that can be requested. In the case of rental housing with contracts of up to 5 years (or 7 if the landlord is a legal entity), the additional guarantees cannot exceed two monthly rent payments.
This means that, in total, in a housing rental the landlord can ask the tenant for a maximum of 3 monthly rent, one corresponding to the mandatory deposit, and 2 more as an additional guarantee.
In leases for use other than housing, the parties can freely agree on additional guarantees.
When does the landlord have to return the deposit to the tenant?
Article 36 also regulates the return of the deposit that the tenant gives to the landlord, and establishes that once the keys are delivered, the owner has one month to return them. If that month passes without having returned it, the outstanding amount will begin to generate legal interest in favor of the tenant.