Rental deposit (jistota / kauce)

How we calculate

• The deposit and contractual penalties together must not exceed three times the monthly rent (Section 2254(1) of the Civil Code). Arrangements that shorten the rights of a flat tenant are disregarded (Section 2235(1)).
• When the lease ends, the landlord returns the deposit and sets off whatever the tenant owes from the lease (Section 2254(2)). The tenant is not liable for normal wear and tear from normal use (Section 2293(1)).
• The tenant is entitled to interest on the deposit from the day it was given, at least at the statutory rate (Section 2254(2)). The law gives no figure for the rate and interpretations differ. If the interest is neither set by a regulation nor agreed, the usual interest on bank loans at the place and time the contract was made applies (Section 1802). That is why you set the rate yourself — ideally the one from your contract.

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