The rental contract

The four contracts you will be offered

Type	Length	Rent	When it makes sense
Free market (4+4)	4 years + 4 automatic renewal	Freely agreed	The normal case, if you are staying
Agreed rent (3+2)	3 years + 2 renewal	Within the municipality's local agreement	Lower tax for the landlord, often lower rent for you
Transitory	1 to 18 months	Often the agreed level	Only with a documented temporary need
Student	6 months to 3 years	Agreed level	If you study outside your municipality of residence

Registration is everything

Why it matters more than the signature

A lease longer than thirty days must be registered with Agenzia delle Entrate within 30 days of signature. The duty falls on the landlord, but:

• without registration you cannot apply for residency, and without residency there is no family doctor, no easy school place, no identity card;
• an unregistered contract is void;
• if the landlord does not register it, you can: registration by the tenant is allowed and cures the contract.

The tenant's hidden leverage

If the rent actually paid is higher than the one declared, or if the contract was never registered, the tenant can go to court to have the rent brought down to the minimum set by the local agreements, and claim back the overpayment. It is a strong protection, and it is why undeclared renting pays the landlord far less than it appears to.

Always ask for the copy of the registered contract with the registration details, and keep it.

Cedolare secca

An optional regime under which the landlord pays a flat substitute tax on the rent instead of adding it to other income: 21% on freely negotiated rents, 10% on agreed rents, 26% on short lets from the second property onwards. It concerns them, but it touches you for two reasons:

1. With cedolare secca there is no registration tax, which otherwise is 2% of the annual rent and is split equally between the parties.
2. A landlord choosing it waives inflation indexation: the rent stays flat for the whole term.

The choice must be notified to the tenant by registered letter or PEC. If that letter arrives, it is not a request: it is the landlord giving up the right to raise your rent.

Deposit and guarantees

• It cannot exceed three months' rent.
• It must be returned on handover, with accrued statutory interest.
• The landlord may withhold only for real damage, not for normal wear.

Instead of a deposit you can agree a bank or insurance guarantee. Common when the tenant has just arrived and has no track record in Italy.

Who pays what

The general rule: running costs and minor maintenance on the tenant, major maintenance and replacements on the landlord.

Item	Usually paid by
Central heating, water, stairwell cleaning, lift running costs	Tenant
Building manager, building insurance, lift replacement	Landlord
Replacing the boiler	Landlord
Routine boiler servicing and flue checks	Tenant
IMU (property tax)	Landlord
TARI (waste)	Tenant, who must declare it to the municipality

The exact split is in the table of accessory charges attached to the contract: read it, because that is where the surprises hide.

Leaving before the end

• If the contract gives the tenant a right of withdrawal — almost all do — the notice period stated in the contract is enough, normally six months, by registered letter or PEC.
• If it does not, you may still withdraw for serious grounds that arose later and could not be foreseen: a work transfer, illness, a significant loss of income. State them in the letter.

Notice runs from when the landlord receives it, not from when you write it: send registered post with return receipt or a PEC, and keep the proof.

At the first expiry

At the end of the first four years (or three, under the agreed-rent contract) the contract renews automatically, unless the landlord gives notice at least six months ahead and falls within one of the statutory grounds: they need it for themselves or a close relative, they are selling it, they must renovate substantially, or you are not using it.

It is not a free power: if the stated reason does not materialise, the tenant can claim reinstatement or damages.

Recurring scams and traps

• "I am abroad, send the deposit and I will post the keys." The classic listing scam. Pay nothing before viewing the property and verifying who the owner is.
• The person showing you the flat is not the owner. Ask for ID and the land registry extract or deed: anyone can open a door.
• Declared rent lower than the rent paid. It is illegal and exposes you to nothing: the law protects you, but the protection has to be claimed in court.
• Agency commission demanded before signature. It is due when the deal closes, not for showing a flat.
• A contract with no energy certificate attached. The APE is mandatory.

Common mistakes

• Not obtaining the registered copy, then standing at the town hall unable to prove your title.
• Not transferring the utilities: left in the landlord's name, you pay consumption you do not control and cannot change supplier.
• Not declaring TARI: it arrives later, with penalties, for every undeclared year.
• Giving notice verbally. It does not exist: you need written notice with proof of receipt.