Renting in Brazil: thirty months, a fiador or a three-month deposit, and a rent that may not be in euros

Yes, you rent in Brazil from the day you land, on your passport and with the CPF you already got in Amsterdam; you do not have to wait for the residence card. What it costs in security is capped: a deposit in money may, according to the tenancy law of 1991, be no more than three months' rent, and advance payment of rent is as a rule forbidden. The pitfall is in the term. Brazil has no minimum duration like Costa Rica, but it does have a threshold of thirty months that determines whether the landlord can simply let you go after the end or only on fixed grounds.

Rule	What the law says	Article
Term	free; written and thirty months or longer, the contract ends on the end date, without notice	46
Shorter than thirty months	runs on indefinitely after the end date; the landlord only gets out on fixed grounds	47
Leaving early	allowed, against the penalty in the contract, pro rata to the months still running	4
Security	deposit, fiador, rental guarantee insurance or a pledged investment fund; one kind per contract, otherwise void	37
Deposit in money	at most three months' rent, in a savings account, with the interest for the tenant	38
Advance payment	forbidden, except without security (until the sixth working day of the current month) and for holiday lets	20 and 42
Currency	freely agreed, but not in foreign currency and not linked to the exchange rate or the minimum wage	17
Revision	after three years either party can ask the court to set the rent at the market price	19

Thirty months or shorter: what is the difference?

Article 46: with a written contract of thirty months or longer the tenancy ends on the agreed date, "independently of notice or notification". If you then stay more than thirty days without objection from the landlord, the contract runs on indefinitely, and then the landlord may give notice at any time with thirty days to leave.

Article 47: with a verbal or a shorter contract the tenancy automatically runs on indefinitely after the end date, and the landlord only gets the property back on the grounds the law names: mutual consent, a breach of contract or non-payment, urgent repairs, own use by himself or his close family, demolition or renovation, or a tenancy that has run more than five years without interruption. For you as a tenant a short contract is therefore the stronger position; for the landlord the long one, and that is why it almost always says thirty months.

Leaving early is always possible. Article 4 forbids the landlord to reclaim the property during the term, but lets the tenant return it "against the agreed penalty, pro rata to the period already fulfilled". The law does not cap that penalty in amount.

Deposit, fiador or insurance?

Article 37 lets the landlord ask for one of four securities: a deposit (caução), a fiador (a person who stands guarantor), a seguro-fiança (a rental guarantee insurance) or a pledged investment fund. More than one kind in the same contract makes the security void. The deposit in money is capped at three months' rent and must be in a savings account whose proceeds go to the tenant (article 38).

The fiador is the Brazilian custom, and for a newcomer the problem: the guarantor usually has to own real estate in the same city himself, and you do not have that acquaintance yet. The seguro-fiança is then the way out, against an annual premium the insurer sets, or the three-month deposit if the landlord accepts it.

A rent in euros or dollars is void. Article 17 forbids a rent in foreign currency and a link to the exchange rate or the minimum wage. Whoever as a foreigner is presented with a contract in euros signs something that does not hold up before the court, and the annual indexation is not fixed either then. Have the rent set in reais, with the index next to it.

What must the landlord deliver?

Article 22 lists it: deliver the property in a state fit for its use, guarantee quiet enjoyment, on request a detailed description of the state at the handover of the keys, an itemised receipt for every payment, the costs of the agent and of the credit check of you or your fiador, the taxes and the fire insurance of the property unless the contract says otherwise, and the extraordinary charges of the owners' association. Always ask for that description of the state; article 23 obliges you to return the property as you received it, and you only prove that with paper.

Why the contract is your address

Brazil does not register you anywhere at an address; the address is you. Article 70 of the migration decree asks for a physical address at the registration with the Polícia Federal, and the rental contract with the receipts is the document for it. NederlandWereldwijd says the same for the certificate of residence at the consulate-general in São Paulo: a rental contract with your address on it counts as proof. So pay by transfer, keep the receipts that article 22 guarantees you, and put the contract in your own name — the bank will ask for it soon too.

Whoever wants to buy after a few years first reads buying a house in Brazil.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 5 of 5 of the journey, step 5.6: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Brazil or go straight to step 5.6 in the open plan.