Do foreigners need a local guarantor to rent ?

marcus-bremen wrote:

Is it true, that foreigners need a local guarantor to rent an apartment in Portugal?

yes it is
"locals" also have to present a guarantor for warranty

@GuestPoster562 Nope, what you said is not true. Guarantors are often requested; it depends on the rental contract.

Not needed - it depends on the landlord. He / she can demand it or not. Same as anywhere else.

@GuestPoster562 Hi there i would be hugely appreciative if you were still active and could share details

Hi Cathal, Welcome.

That profile is no longer active.

You may find this information useful:

Solicitors, Lawyers & Administrative division of Portugal:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=941009

Best Regards

Hello

I am just buying a house in Moncarapacho and will propose it for location long term without garants but some months payed in advance.

Kind regards,

@GuestPoster562 what if we are new and don't have id?

Hello Sumairahfeez30412,

Guestposter is no longer on the forum. Is it for long term or short term rental ? And what do you mean by "you don't have an ID" ?

Regards

Bhavna

@mrosephoto oh! you are so kind and information you gave is gold for us!!!

@mrosephoto

Please can you share the contact details of Gail Aguira

Hello,

Just a quick reminder,

Contact details should not be posted on the forum.

Kindly use the private messaging system to share such information.

Cheers,

Cheryl

Expat.com team

@TonyJ1 I am reading that some landlords are extremely demanding. Some not only want a local guarantor (quite impossible to obtain if you are new to Portugal or even if you have been in Portugal for a few years) but also the last 3 months of his/her salary pay stubs and the ones from the potential tenants and income tax return from both the guarantor and the tenant. And in addition to all that, 2 ou 3 months of security deposit and 2 months rent in advance. This is totally insane. With all those unreasonable requirements and I would say unnecessary too, how can a foreigner or even local person possibly obtain a rental accommodation given that many do not have any pay stubs to show or would be kind of skeptical as to show their income tax return if any ? I think it's abusive from the landlord's part to request all that. What a sad situation. Who in the right mind would put up with all those requests ? Being a guarantor is basically putting your financial life at risk ! And why would you have to show all those confidential information. I wouldn't and I understand that many wouldn't either. I am happy that my nice landlord didn't request any of that when I moved in and it works perfectly well. Of course, I am not in Lisbon so there isn't as much abuse. But still be careful of over greedy and over demanding landlords.....

This is an example of what requirements many landlords are asking, which appear very unreasonable and even abusive (not to say discriminatory....) for just an average, old apartment with performance energetic 'D' (so not that good) on the outskirts of Lisbon. 1 200 Euros/month. I would definitely avoid those types of landlords.

'Rental Conditions:

Amount of 4 rents upon signing the contract (1 month rent plus 3 months deposit)

guarantors

Presentation of IRS (tenants and guarantor)

3 last salary receipts (from tenants and guarantor)

Schedule your visit to me.'

'Rental Conditions:
Amount of 4 rents upon signing the contract (1 month rent plus 3 months deposit)
guarantors
Presentation of IRS (tenants and guarantor)
3 last salary receipts (from tenants and guarantor)
Schedule your visit to me.'
-@juliajonesjy

Unfortunately, except for the "Presentation of IRS" and the "guarantor" these requirements are quite normal, not only in Lisbon or Portugal but in other EU countries as well. Possibly landlords have had bad experiences with tenants and, the risk for the landlord is always higher than that of the tenant.

Fortunately our landlord (we rented for 18 months in the beginning) was much easier going, but I also offered to pay one year rent in advance, if needed. It was then not needed.

My recommendation is to just ignore all rental offers where a guarantor is required.

@nz7521137 Yes definitely boycott all the ads with guarantor needed. I would never dare to ask someone to be my guarantor.  That's kind of embarrassing and even if it's a friend, it may ruin your friendship at some point.  I am glad my landlord didn't ask me anything except the first month rent (normal) and security deposit (normal too). No background check or stupid requirements that foreigners usually don't have such as an IRS from the last 3 years or what have you. Even if I had those, I would never show that to them. None of their business. I pay and that's it. Everything is working just fine.

If Portuguese make approximately 1000 euros a month, I wonder how they can afford those high rental prices unless they have 3 or 4 people living under the same roof, officially or not.

Also, but that's another story, some of them want to be partly paid in cash ( I guess that's to avoid paying too much tax on their rental returns).

This is an example of what requirements many landlords are asking, which appear very unreasonable and even abusive (not to say discriminatory....) for just an average, old apartment with performance energetic 'D' (so not that good) on the outskirts of Lisbon. 1 200 Euros/month. I would definitely avoid those types of landlords.
'Rental Conditions:
Amount of 4 rents upon signing the contract (1 month rent plus 3 months deposit)
guarantors
Presentation of IRS (tenants and guarantor)
3 last salary receipts (from tenants and guarantor)
Schedule your visit to me.'
-@juliajonesjy

This is NOT unreasonable to ask for 1 month rent plus 3 months deposit. This is the norm in pretty much every European country. Asking for a guarantor is often when a landlord has been screwed offer in the past.