Renting in Hungary: the written contract, the deposit and the signature for your address

Can you, as a Dutch citizen, rent a home in Hungary? Yes, and the law mainly regulates the edges. The contract is only valid if it is on paper, you pay rent monthly in advance, and a court may reduce a deposit of more than three months' rent. The pitfall isn't in tenancy law but next to it: without your landlord's signature, or a contract that makes that signature unnecessary, you won't get your address card.

What does the law say about the contract?

The Hungarian Housing Act is strict on one point: letting a home is only valid if the contract is put in writing. A verbal arrangement with a landlord is therefore not a tenancy agreement. For you that counts double, because the contract is also the proof of accommodation the immigration office wants to see for your registration certificate. The OIF accepts a tenancy agreement, a statement that someone is providing you with accommodation, or, for a home you bought, a title deed no older than thirty days.

At the start the landlord must hand over the home in a state you can normally live in, with working facilities. He takes care of maintaining the building and the common areas. For everything else, what you agree applies, and without an agreement a rule that surprises many tenants: maintenance of floors, doors, windows and the home's fittings is at the tenant's expense, replacement at the landlord's. So put in the contract who pays for what.

Deposit, rent and notice in one table

Subject	Rule	Where it is
Form	only valid in writing	Housing Act, section 2
Paying rent	monthly in advance; without agreement by the 15th at the latest	Civil Code 6:336, Housing Act section 12
Deposit	freely agreed; above 3 months' rent a court can reduce it	Civil Code 6:343
Notice, indefinite term	by the 15th at the latest, for the end of the following month	Civil Code 6:347
Fixed-term contract expires	if you stay and the landlord doesn't object within 15 days, it continues for an indefinite term	Civil Code 6:338
Arrears	written reminder, 8 days to pay, then notice of at least 15 days	Housing Act section 25

How much deposit is normal?

The law sets no fixed maximum. You may agree a deposit freely; only if it is higher than three times the monthly rent can a court reduce it at your request. A deposit of four or five months is therefore not forbidden, but it can be challenged. Have the contract state when and how you get the deposit back.

How do you give notice?

You terminate an indefinite contract by the fifteenth of the month at the latest, for the end of the following month. Miss the fifteenth and the end moves a month. A fixed-term contract ends on the agreed date. If you stay on afterwards and the landlord doesn't object within fifteen days, it becomes an indefinite contract.

The signature for your address

No signature, no address. Anyone registering or changing their address in Hungary also has the landlord sign the notification form. That only falls away if you have a valid document with full evidential force that entitles you to live there, such as a tenancy agreement that meets those requirements. So when signing, ask for one of two things: a written contract in that form, or the landlord's promise to sign your address notification.

Without a registered address you have no address card, and without an address card no tax number and no TAJ card: the NAV and the kormányhivatal both ask for it. A home where you can't register is therefore no solution for an emigrant, however beautiful or cheap it is.

What if the landlord doesn't repair?

A defect the landlord must fix, and which he doesn't fix within a reasonable period after a written reminder, you may have repaired yourself at his expense. Send that reminder in writing and keep a copy. If it concerns something that endangers life or damages the building, the landlord must act immediately.

What to watch when you leave

The Civil Code gives the landlord a lien on your belongings in the home, up to the amount of unpaid rent and costs. As long as that lien exists, he may stop those belongings being taken away. Anyone who has the removal van pull up with an outstanding bill may therefore find the door closed. What you installed in the home at your own expense you may take away again when you leave, as long as the home isn't damaged by it.

Where renting fits into the rest of your move, from the first accommodation to the registration on day 93, is in the step-by-step plan for Hungary.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 3 of 5 of the journey, step 3.4: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to Hungary or go straight to step 3.4 in the open plan.