Costa Rica
Last verified August 7, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
Deposit Rules
- Under the Ley General de Arrendamientos Urbanos y Suburbanos (Law No. 7527), the security deposit is capped at 1 month's rent — any contract clause demanding more is legally void.
Eviction (Desalojo)
- Eviction runs through an administrative process, not self-help: notification to the tenant, a hearing, and then execution of any eviction order — a landlord can't remove you or your belongings unilaterally.
The Gotcha
A landlord in Costa Rica asking for more than one month's rent as a security deposit is asking for something the law explicitly voids — that clause has no legal force even if you signed it, since Law 7527 sets a hard 1-month cap regardless of what the contract says.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change — check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- Ley General de Arrendamientos Urbanos y Suburbanos, Nº 7527 — Sistema Costarricense de Información Jurídica (SCIJ), Procuraduría General de la República