Template · renting in Spain · fianza
How to get your rental deposit back in Spain
For tenants who have handed back the keys, often from back home, and whose Spanish landlord still has the deposit.
In Spain, the deposit on a rented home (the fianza) is one month’s rent. If your landlord hasn’t returned it a month after you hand back the keys, the amount owed starts to earn statutory interest (Tenancy Act, LAU, art. 36.4). A formal demand sent by burofax proves what you asked for and when the landlord received it, and you can send it online after you’ve left Spain.
What Spanish law says about the fianza
The rules are in the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (LAU), Spain’s Tenancy Act, which covers most residential lets in the country.
- How much. One month’s rent, paid in money, for a home (art. 36.1). Landlord and tenant can also agree an extra guarantee (garantía adicional). In contracts of up to five years, or seven if the landlord is a company, it can’t be more than two months’ rent (art. 36.5). If you paid one, the template has a gap for it.
- The one-month rule. The balance of the deposit that has to go back to the tenant «devengará el interés legal, transcurrido un mes desde la entrega de las llaves» without it being returned (art. 36.4). In plain English, it earns statutory interest once a month has passed since you handed back the keys.
- Regional deposit offices. Regions can require landlords to lodge the deposit with a public body until the contract ends (LAU, additional provision three). In Catalonia it is INCASÒL, which refunds the landlord. You claim from the landlord either way.
- The check-out document. Since 8 October 2026, art. 36.7 asks both parties to sign a written record of the home’s condition when it’s handed back (documento de finalización del arrendamiento). If none is signed, or it records no damage, the home is presumed to have been handed back in proper condition unless the contrary is proved. This was added by Royal Decree-law 29/2026, pending ratification by the Spanish Congress as of 22 October 2026.
Why the letter goes in Spanish
Your landlord, or the agency, has to be able to read it, and so does a Spanish court if it ever gets that far. You can send the Spanish text on its own, or the Spanish first with your English version underneath. The English gloss below each template shows what you’re signing.
Template: asking for your deposit back
The placeholders are in English; replace them with your details. You sign with your passport number or NIE, the identity number Spain gives foreign residents. Delete the interest paragraph if a month hasn’t passed since you returned the keys. The letter gives fifteen days to pay; that isn’t a legal deadline, and you can change it. The last paragraph is optional and proposes negotiation, which Spanish law generally requires before a court claim: the MASC requirement (medios adecuados de solución de controversias) in art. 5 of Organic Law 1/2025.
Asunto: Requerimiento de devolución de la fianza
Estimado/a [landlord’s or agency’s name]:
Fui arrendatario/a de la vivienda situada en [full address in Spain], en virtud del contrato firmado el [contract date], al firmar el cual entregué una fianza de [amount] € [if you paid one: y una garantía adicional de (amount) €].
El contrato terminó el [end date] y le entregué las llaves el [date you returned the keys], [«firmando ambos un documento de entrega» (we both signed a check-out document) or «sin que se firmara ningún documento de entrega» (no check-out document was signed)]. [if you have them: Conservo fotografías fechadas del estado de la vivienda ese día.]
Desde el [date] resido en [country]. Para cualquier comunicación sobre este asunto, mis datos actuales son [postal address abroad] y [email].
Ha transcurrido más de un mes desde la entrega de las llaves sin que me haya devuelto la fianza, por lo que, conforme al artículo 36.4 de la Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos, el saldo pendiente devenga el interés legal.
Le requiero para que, en el plazo de quince días naturales desde la recepción de este burofax, me transfiera [amount] €, más los intereses que correspondan, a la cuenta IBAN [IBAN], BIC [BIC], de la que es titular [account holder].
Si considera que debe descontar alguna cantidad, le ruego que en ese mismo plazo me envíe por escrito el detalle de cada concepto, con las facturas o presupuestos que lo justifiquen.
[optional] Asimismo, a los efectos de la Ley Orgánica 1/2025, le propongo resolver este asunto de forma negociada. Puede responderme por escrito a [email] en los treinta días naturales siguientes a la recepción de este burofax.
Atentamente,
[full name, passport number or NIE]
English gloss of this letter
Subject: Demand for the return of the deposit
Dear [landlord’s or agency’s name],
I was the tenant of the home at [address] under the contract signed on [date], when I paid a deposit of [amount] € [and an additional guarantee of (amount) €].
The contract ended on [date] and I handed back the keys on [date], [and we both signed a check-out document / and no check-out document was signed]. [I have dated photographs of the condition of the home on that day.]
Since [date] I have lived in [country]. My current details for anything about this matter are [address] and [email].
More than a month has passed since I handed back the keys and you have not returned the deposit, so under article 36.4 of the Tenancy Act the outstanding balance earns statutory interest.
I ask you to transfer [amount] €, plus any interest due, to IBAN [IBAN], BIC [BIC], held by [account holder], within fifteen calendar days of receiving this burofax.
If you believe any amount should be deducted, please send me the details of each item in writing within the same period, with the invoices or quotes that support it.
[Optional] For the purposes of Organic Law 1/2025, I also propose that we settle this by negotiation. You can reply in writing to [email] within thirty calendar days of receiving this burofax.
Yours sincerely, [name, passport number or NIE]
Send this letter (the Spanish subject line is filled in; paste your text once you’ve adapted it).
If you got only part of it back
Replace the two paragraphs that start «Ha transcurrido» and «Le requiero» with this one, and list each deduction you dispute:
El [date] recibí [amount received] € de los [total deposit] € de la fianza. No estoy de acuerdo con los descuentos aplicados: [item and amount: why you disagree, e.g. el desperfecto ya existía al entrar, como consta en el inventario]. Le requiero para que me transfiera los [difference] € restantes en el plazo de quince días naturales desde la recepción de este burofax o, si mantiene los descuentos, me envíe en ese plazo las facturas que justifiquen cada uno.
English gloss of this paragraph
On [date] I received [amount] € of the [total] € deposit. I disagree with the deductions made: [item and amount: why]. I ask you to transfer the remaining [difference] € within fifteen calendar days of receiving this burofax or, if you maintain the deductions, to send me within that period the invoices that justify each one.
What to attach, and what to keep
- The tenancy contract and proof that you paid the deposit (bank transfer or receipt).
- The check-out document if you signed one, and the inventory from when you moved in.
- Dated photos or video of the home on the day you left.
- Your last rent receipts and the final meter readings or closing bills for utilities.
- Emails or WhatsApp messages in which you already asked for the deposit.
Attaching documents is optional, and attached pages count towards the page total. Keep the originals with the proof of delivery and the certified copy of your letter.
What usually happens next
- The landlord pays, or pays part of it and lists the deductions.
- The landlord replies disputing the condition of the home. The photos and the check-out document matter here.
- Nothing happens, or the burofax isn’t collected, and the proof of delivery records that. The next step is usually a court claim. Before filing, Spanish law generally requires an attempt to negotiate (LO 1/2025, art. 5). In a claim of up to €2,000 you can act without a lawyer or a procurador, a court representative (art. 23 and art. 31 LEC).
Sending it with proof
You can send it from the UK or anywhere else. Only the landlord’s address has to be in Spain, usually the one in your contract, or the agency’s if an agency manages the flat.
Through us, a Correos burofax with proof of delivery (acuse de recibo) and certified content (certificación de contenido) costs €49.90 for up to 3 pages. A certified notification from Notificados costs €29.90. Notificados is a trusted third party, and that option is not a Correos burofax. You see the exact PDF before you pay, nothing is sent or charged until you approve it, and if we can’t send it you get a full refund.
The templates and legal references on this page are general information, not an assessment of your case. We are a sending service, not a law firm, and we don’t check whether a letter is enough for what you want to achieve. You decide what to write and what to ask for. A legal professional can assess your case.