Renting an apartment in Brazil: leases, guarantors and deposits

Brazil’s rental law, Lei 8.245 of October 18, 1991, lets a landlord ask for one guarantee only. A cash deposit (caução) cannot pass three months’ rent, and asking for two guarantees is a criminal misdemeanor. Furnished or unfurnished stays of up to 90 days count as “temporada” rentals, and the landlord may collect the whole rent upfront.

This page covers the federal rules for urban residential leases. Your contract and your state’s courts handle the details, so ask a Brazilian lawyer before you sign anything unusual.

Two kinds of lease

Pick the lease type first. It decides how you pay and how you leave.

For a standard lease, the term changes what happens at the end:

• Written leases of 30 months or more end on the end date, with no notice needed (art. 46).
• Leases under 30 months roll over automatically into an open-ended lease. The landlord can then take the property back only on the grounds the law lists, such as unpaid rent, own use, or a lease that has run for more than five years without a break (art. 47).

A lease of ten years or more needs spousal consent (vênia conjugal, art. 3).

The four guarantees

Article 37 lists the four guarantees a landlord may ask for. Its sole paragraph voids any contract that stacks more than one.

Asking for more than one is a criminal misdemeanor under article 43, item II. The penalty is five days to six months of simple imprisonment, or a fine of three to twelve months of the latest rent, paid to the tenant.

Unless the contract says otherwise, the guarantee lasts until you hand the property back, even if the lease rolls over (art. 39).

Many newcomers have no Brazilian guarantor. The law gives you the deposit or the insurance as equal options. For seguro fiança, insurers usually ask for ID and a CPF, plus proof of income such as payslips, bank statements or a tax return.

Check before you go: ask the insurer or rental agency what it needs from a foreign tenant, such as a CRNM or proof of foreign income, before you apply. If your income is from abroad, a cash deposit is often the fastest route.

When advance rent is allowed

Article 43, item III makes charging rent in advance a misdemeanor, with two exceptions:

1. Temporada rentals. The landlord may collect all rent upfront (art. 49).
2. Leases with no guarantee. The landlord may require rent and charges by the sixth business day of the month the rent covers (art. 42).

In every other lease, rent falls due on the date in the contract. If the contract names no date, it is due by the sixth business day of the month after the one it covers (art. 23, I).

The same article 43 bans charging any amount beyond the rent and the charges the law or the contract allows (item I).

Who pays what

The law splits costs between landlord and tenant. Read the contract, because some lines can be moved to you.

Extraordinary costs are the ones outside routine upkeep. The law names structural works, facade painting, works to restore habitability, staff severance from before your lease, new security, fire, phone and leisure equipment, decoration of common areas, and the reserve fund.

Two landlord duties protect you on move-in and move-out:

• On request, the landlord must give you a detailed written description of the property’s condition at handover, listing existing defects (art. 22, V).
• The landlord must give itemized receipts for what you pay. A generic receipt is not allowed (art. 22, VI).

Ask for the description, add your own dated photos, and keep both until your deposit comes back.

Rent increases

Rent can rise once a year at most. Lei 10.192 of February 14, 2001 allows index-linked adjustment only in contracts of one year or more, and voids any adjustment more frequent than yearly (art. 2). The contract names the index.

Two common contract indexes and asking rents moved at different speeds in the 12 months to September 2026:

Asking rents on new listings rose almost twice as fast as consumer prices. Your yearly increase follows the index named in your contract.

Leaving early

You can hand the property back before the end date. You pay the penalty in the contract, reduced in proportion to the time you have already served, or a penalty set by a judge if the contract has none (art. 4).

You pay no penalty if your employer, public or private, transfers you to another city, and you give the landlord 30 days’ written notice (art. 4, sole paragraph).

On an open-ended lease, you can end it with 30 days’ written notice (art. 6).

What rent costs

FipeZAP, an index from the Fipe research foundation, put the average asking rent at R$ 54.77 per m² in September 2026, across 36 cities. One-bedroom units averaged R$ 72.68 per m². At the overall average, a 50 m² apartment lists for about R$ 2,739 a month (about US$539, checked Oct 2026).

The index uses asking prices from online listings for ready apartments. It does not track rents on existing leases. Treat it as rent only: listings usually show the condominium fee and IPTU as separate lines, so ask for the full monthly total before you visit.

City by city figures are in cost of living in Brazil and best Brazilian cities for long stays.

Short platform rentals

On May 7, 2026, the Second Section of Brazil’s Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ) ruled by majority (REsp 2.121.055) that short stays offered on platforms such as Airbnb are neither residential leases nor hotel contracts. In a residential condominium, offering a unit this way needs approval by at least two-thirds of the owners.

In September 2026 the same Section took up the question as a repetitive appeal (Tema 1.443): whether a residential-use clause in the condominium rules is enough to block these rentals, or an express ban is needed. It suspended related cases across the country until it rules.

Before you book a platform stay, ask the host whether the building allows it. If you rent directly from a landlord for up to 90 days, the temporada rules above apply.

Finding an apartment

Most long-term rentals are listed online and handled by real estate agencies (imobiliárias). The big listing sites include ZAP Imóveis, Viva Real and QuintoAndar. Some platforms offer their own guarantee in place of a fiador, with the cost built into the monthly price, which helps newcomers without Brazilian credit history.

For a first stay, many foreigners start with a furnished temporada rental for one to three months. That gives you time to learn the neighborhoods, get a CPF and a bank account, and then sign a standard lease from a stronger position.

When you view a flat, check these points:

• Total monthly cost. Rent, condominium fee and IPTU together, plus typical power and gas bills.
• Security. A 24-hour doorman (portaria) or controlled entry is common in big cities and worth paying for.
• Noise and light. Visit at night and on a weekend. Street noise, bars and churches can be loud.
• Water and power. Run the taps, check the water pressure and the shower heater, and test the outlets.
• Air conditioning. Many apartments have none, or only in bedrooms. In hot cities this matters.
• Building rules. Ask about pets, moving hours and use of common areas.

Working with agencies and landlords

Agencies handle the contract, the guarantee and rent collection for many landlords. They will ask for your documents and run a credit check on your CPF. By law the landlord pays the agency’s management and brokerage fees (art. 22, VII), so question any such fee charged to you.

Renting directly from an owner can be faster and more flexible, especially for furnished units. It also carries more risk. Never pay a deposit before you have seen the apartment in person, and check that the person you deal with owns it or has a written power to rent it. Scams with fake listings are common on social media and classified sites.

Get everything in writing, in Portuguese, and have a Portuguese speaker or lawyer read the contract before you sign. Signatures are usually recognized by a notary (cartório) or signed digitally.

Checklist before you sign

1. Decide: temporada (up to 90 days) or a standard lease.
2. Ask which one guarantee the landlord wants. Refuse a second.
3. Cap a cash deposit at three months’ rent, held in a savings account.
4. Ask for the written condition report, and photograph every room.
5. Find the adjustment index and the anniversary date in the contract.
6. Check who pays IPTU and the condominium fee.
7. Read the early-exit penalty and how it is prorated.
8. Keep itemized receipts for every payment.

You will need a CPF for most of this. Start with how to get a CPF as a foreigner, then open a Brazilian bank account to pay rent from it.