FixrOS records the deposit for every lease, flags which ones still need to be lodged with the regional body, stores the lodging details and, when the lease ends, works out what is returned and what is withheld, with every deduction justified.
Ten years can pass between signing and return. Along the way they must be lodged, updated on renewals and, at the end, returned on time with every euro withheld justified.
Each region sets its own body and deadline. With properties in several, it's easy to miss one.
Without the lodging reference, recovering the deposit from the body at the end of the lease gets complicated.
Once a month has passed since the keys were handed back without returning the deposit, the balance accrues statutory interest.
Withholding for damage without photos, invoices or a handover record ends in a dispute.
When you set up the lease, the deposit is recorded with its amount. Each one moves through three statuses (pending, lodged, returned) and stores the body, the lodging reference, the dates and your notes. The tenant sees it in their portal.
FixrOS identifies the region from the property's location, not the firm's. In Catalonia and Galicia, where we have verified the body and deadline, it shows them; elsewhere it uses a cautious indicative deadline to warn you in time. You lodge the deposit with the body yourself; FixrOS does not file it for you.
You record the return with its date, the amount returned and each deduction with its reason: unpaid rent, utilities or damage with the supplier's invoice. Tenant and owner see the same breakdown, and the one-month deadline stays under control.
Article 36.1 LAU requires a cash deposit to be demanded and paid when the lease is signed: one month's rent for housing and two months' for other uses (shops, offices). It is mandatory: the parties cannot agree to waive it, except where the tenant is a public authority or another of the bodies listed in Article 36.6 and pays the rent from its budget.
Besides the deposit, the parties may agree another guarantee (a bank guarantee, an extra deposit). For housing, in leases of up to five years, or up to seven if the landlord is a legal entity, that additional guarantee cannot exceed two months' rent; in temporary lets, one. And the tenant can never be required to take out rent default insurance or similar cover (Article 36.5, as worded by Royal Decree-law 29/2026).
During the first five years of the lease (seven if the landlord is a legal entity) the deposit is not updated. But each time the lease is renewed, the landlord can require it to go up, or the tenant to go down, to match one or two months of the current rent (Article 36.2). After that period, what was agreed applies and, failing that, what was agreed for the rent review (Article 36.3). Failing to pay the deposit or its update is grounds for terminating the lease (Article 27.2).
The third additional provision of the LAU lets regions require landlords to lodge the deposit, interest-free, with the regional authority or a body it designates, until the lease ends. Most have done so, each with its own body, deadline and procedure. We explain it region by region in our guide to lodging the rental deposit.
Under Article 36.4, the balance of the deposit to be returned to the tenant at the end of the lease accrues statutory interest once a month has passed since the keys were handed back without it being returned. The same applies to the regional body towards the landlord: if it does not return the lodged amount within a month of the lease ending, it also accrues statutory interest (third additional provision).
Since Royal Decree-law 29/2026, Article 36.7 also requires both parties to sign an end-of-lease document recording the condition of the home when the lease ends. If none is signed, or it records no damage, the home is presumed, unless proven otherwise, to have been returned in good condition. Without that document, withholding for damage will be much harder.
| Item | Housing | Other use (shop, office) |
|---|---|---|
| Cash deposit | 1 month's rent | 2 months' rent |
| Additional guarantee | Up to 2 months (leases of up to 5 or 7 years); 1 for temporary lets | As the parties agree |
| Update | Only on renewals during the first 5 years (7 if the landlord is a legal entity) | Same, Article 36.2 and 36.3 |
| Lodging with the regional body | Depends on the region | Depends on the region |
| Return | Statutory interest after one month from handing back the keys | Statutory interest after one month from handing back the keys |
Article 36 and third additional provision of the LAU, as in force on 18 October 2026. Sections 36.5 and 36.7 come from Royal Decree-law 29/2026, awaiting ratification on that date.
One month's rent for housing and two for shops and other non-housing uses, always in cash (Article 36.1 LAU).
With the body designated by the region where the property is located, if its rules require it, and within the deadline it sets. We detail it in our region-by-region deposit guide.
If a month passes after the keys are handed back without returning the deposit balance, that balance starts to accrue statutory interest (Article 36.4 LAU).
An additional guarantee can be agreed. For housing, in leases of up to five years (seven if the landlord is a legal entity), it cannot exceed two months' rent, and one for temporary lets. The tenant cannot be forced to take out rent default insurance.
No. The firm or owner lodges the deposit with the body. FixrOS records each deposit, alerts you to those still to be lodged, stores the lodging reference and tracks the return.
Deposit management is part of the Portfolio module, with a 14-day trial. Pricing depends on your portfolio: we explain it in a demo.
Information checked on 18 October 2026 against the Spanish Urban Leases Act 29/1994 (arts. 27.2, 36 and third additional provision) and Royal Decree-law 29/2026, awaiting ratification on that date. We will review this page if Royal Decree-law 29/2026 is not ratified or is amended. It is not a substitute for professional advice.
We show you FixrOS deposit management with your own leases.
One operating system. 6 apps.
