Brazil
Last verified August 7, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Deposit & Guarantee Rules
- A cash security deposit (caução) is capped at 3 months' rent by the Lei do Inquilinato (Law 8.245/91), must be placed in a savings account, and is returned with interest at the end of the lease.
- A landlord cannot require more than one type of guarantee on the same contract — a cash deposit and a guarantor (fiador) together is not legally allowed; it's one or the other.
Eviction (Despejo)
- Eviction requires a judicial order — a court process, not a landlord's own decision, even for unpaid rent.
- If you fall behind on rent and have no guarantee in place (deposit or guarantor), the landlord can pursue an expedited eviction process with as little as 15 days' notice before the initial hearing; with a guarantee in place, the standard process typically allows 30 days for voluntary move-out.
The Gotcha
Whether you have a guarantor or paid a cash deposit genuinely changes how fast a Brazilian eviction can move if you fall behind on rent — no guarantee at all shortens the timeline considerably. It's not just a formality landlords ask for; it materially affects your legal runway if things go wrong.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change — check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- Lei nº 8.245, de 18 de Outubro de 1991 (Lei do Inquilinato) — Presidência da República (Planalto), Brazil